Kid-speak Sunday

Being a Mum is the best job in the world and sometimes there’s the added bonus of hearing your kids come out with an absolute gem…

Xander hasn’t been very well this week – a cough and a high temperature have made him feel rather under the weather, but it hasn’t stopped him being a sweet little boy. In fact, I’ve found that when he’s ill, he tends to be on his best behaviour – perhaps because he doesn’t have the energy to act up!

Kid-speak Sunday

Being a Mum is the best job in the world and sometimes there’s the added bonus of hearing your kids come out with an absolute gem…

The festive season is fast approaching and although as I type this I am all sorted in the gift shopping and wrapping department, we have started to tentatively approach the subject of Santa Claus with Xander who, at three-years-old, is now getting to an age where he might start to understand such things. So far he shown more than a little apprehension at the thought of a strange man creeping into our home while we’re all sleeping (which is fair enough, really), but all year he’s said he would really like some bridges for his train set.

Kid-speak Sunday

Being a Mum is the best job in the world and sometimes there’s the added bonus of hearing your kids come out with an absolute gem…

~***~

We all know kids love watching television (well, most of them do) and they get bombarded with all kinds of shows aimed at them, from Ballamory to In the Night Garden to Mr Bloom’s Nursery to I Can Cook. However, it’s not always the kids’ shows they like best, as was proven to me this week.

Xander has recently taken an interest in helping me in the kitchen. Mostly I’m baking when he wants to lend a hand – biscuits, cakes, scones, you name it, I’ve baked it – but he’s also been slowly creeping into wanting to help me make our meals too. It started with pizza – helping make he base from scratch, spreading the sauce, grating the cheese, and adding the toppings – but it’s happening more and more often with other foods too.

Although I love cooking, I think one of the main reasons Xander has suddenly shown an interest in the kitchen is because we’ve been watching Fabio Viviani‘s Chow Ciao videos on Yahoo together and he really enjoys them. In fact, whenever we watch one of those videos, Xander shouts out,

“Chow Ciao, Fabio!”

Then he snuggles on my lap and watches, all the while giving a running commentary on what’s happening, “Look, Mummy, he’s putting the oil in. Now he’s got the tomatoes. Now he’s got it on the cooker. Mmmmm it looks yummy. Is it tasty, Fabio?”

So, it seems that children’s shows can take a back seat once in a while, and we can watch a cookery show or two, even if they’re all under seven minutes long, and we can both learn something new together.

And then we can try to recreate  it together in the kitchen!

What did your kid say lately?

Kid-speak Sunday

Being a Mum is the best job in the world and sometimes there’s the added bonus of hearing your kids come out with an absolute gem…

We’re always hearing about how demanding kids are for the latest toy or gadget they’ve seen advertised (we cheat and get around it by making sure the only TV channel Xander ever sees is CBeebies as it has no adverts!), but more often than not, all they really want is to spend time with us, and often doing an activity that costs very little, if not nothing at all.

Take last week, for example. Xander and I had an impromptu day of culture when he decided that he wanted to go to the library to pick out some new books for us to read together. Usually we would hop on the bus there and back, but this time, Xander decided he wanted to walk into town. So we did.

Then we got to the library and had a lovely time choosing a batch of books. Then it was time to go, but Xan wasn’t ready to go home just yet. Instead he said,

“I want to go to the art gallery. I really like the art gallery!”

We’d been a couple of times before and he’d enjoyed it, but I hadn’t realised how much he’d enjoyed it. Entry to the gallery is free too. (The photo I’ve used today shows Xander gazing with glee at one of his favourite exhibits – I guess art is in the eye of the beholder, because I just don’t “get” this particular piece.) Then he fancied a stroll through the graveyard across the road (just like me, he has a great love of graveyards!). And then he decided he wanted to walk home, rather than get the bus.

He was absolutely shattered when we got home, but we’d had a lovely day and it hadn’t cost us a single penny.

Sometimes it takes a child to remind us the best things in life really are free!

What did your kid say lately?

Kid-speak Sunday

Being a Mum is the best job in the world and sometimes there’s the added bonus of hearing your kids come out with an absolute gem…

Everyone parent I know likes to think their kid is special in some way and I’m no exception – Xan is a smart little lad who knows all his letters, can do basic spelling and is beginning to recognise some written words; can do basic addition and subtraction; and is a wonderfully sensitive and loving boy.

See? He’s special! He’s the best little lad in the world and, of course, we want him to know that, so we tell him. The other day, though, Xander surprised me with his response to praise and being told he’s special:

“I’m not special. I’m ordinary. I’m just Xander!”

He said it with a smile too.

And you know what? I’m glad. I’m so pleased that he’s happy just being who he is. It’s perfectly alright for him to be an ordinary little boy, doing what three-year-old boys do and having fun.

I only hope I don’t ever put too much pressure on him to be anything other than himself. It’s difficult to get the right balance between being encouraging and supportive of your child, and going overboard, being pushy and instilling a belief in your child that they must always do better.

I, for one, will be happy if Xan just tries his best. Whether he comes first or last, so long as he’s done the best that he can do, that’s fine by me. I love him just the way he is and I always will. Now I just have to get him to realise it’s alright that Mummy and Daddy think he’s a little smasher, because he is!

What did your kid say lately that made you smile, laugh, cry, or simply think twice?

~***~

 

Kid-speak Sunday

Being a Mum is the best job in the world and sometimes there’s the added bonus of hearing your kids come out with an absolute gem…

Sometimes your kids remind you that even for them, it’s not all always fun and games. The other day, after a bit of a stooshie, I was hugging Xander and I asked him if he was ready to calm down yet? Xan replied,

“No, Mummy. I just need to cry.”

Sometimes we do just need to cry and get it all out – it’s much healthier than bottling it all up inside. Sometimes it takes a kid knowing that to remind you of it. Sometimes kids are far wiser than their parents – even if they do still throw a wobbler because they can’t have an entire bar of chocolate in one go!

What did your kid say lately that made you think?

Kid-speak Sunday

Being a Mum is the best job in the world and sometimes there’s the added bonus of hearing your kids come out with an absolute gem…

This morning, after the clocks went back in the early hours and I didn’t go to bed until way later than usual last night, Xan woke up before 6am, but still managed to make my day straight away. He held my face between his little hands and said,

“I love you in the whole world, Mummy. Hold me tight!”

So I did.

Yes, I know he missed out a word, but he’s three and the sentiment behind it was lovely.

I love YOU in the whole world too, Xan!

What did your kid say lately that made you smile?

Booking Through Thursday – Vacation

Hosted by Booking Through Thursday

Vacation
Do your reading habits change when you’re on vacation? Do you read more? Do you indulge in lighter, fluffier books than you usually read? Do you save up special books so you’ll be able to spend real vacation time with them? Or do you just read the same old stuff, vacation or not?

It really depends on how much reading time I have. I used to read a lot more while on holiday as I had more time to myself. Now that I have a child, that time is taken up with him whether I’m on holiday or not. If we’re going away I do still take books with me to read, but usually only in the evenings in bed after Xander is asleep.

As for it influencing my reading choices, that’s a definite yes. I always try to take at least one novel set in the place I’m visiting. For example, when we visited friends in Swindon, I read The Eyre Affair (Thursday Next 1) by Jasper Fforde which is partly set in that city. I took other books too (Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See, and Anne of Green Gables by L M Montgomery) but I made sure that the one I read from start to finish whilst there was The Eyre Affair. I also read Karma by Holly A Harvey whilst visiting family in Northumberland as it’s set in that area.

I do still read some of the same stuff I’d be reading anyway and no matter what I don’t switch to “lighter” or “fluffier” just because I’m on holiday – I read what I like, which is often historical fiction. If I can tie it to the area I’m visiting, so much the better!

All Things Baked And Beautiful

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Continuing with my baking for Xan’s party (which is today) here are the last yummies I put together to take along for everyone to enjoy.

First off, I thought I’d cater specifically for the vegetarians (my sister is a demi-veg and is going to be there today) and thought I’d offer an alternative to the sausage rolls we’ll no doubt be having. My vegetarian (not vegan, I’m afraid) version is cheese and tomato rolls.

I’m afraid I didn’t make my own puff pastry. Rather than leave it to chance, I bought some ready-made stuff (also, I was fast running out of time, so I really needed to go down the route of convenience here!), rolled it out and trimmed off the edges so they were nice and straight and even. Then I painted on a load of tomato puree, grated some cheese on top of that, and finally sprinkled on some mixed herbs. Then all I had to do was roll them up, cut them up and bake them in the oven till they were crisp and golden. Delish!

Then it was the turn of the brownies! I’ve only made these once before, so it was a bit of a risk, but they turned out so good last time I just had to try it again. They certainly look good and while I was cutting them into little bite-sized squares, I tried a little crumb that fell off and it tasted gorgeous, so I’m hopeful these will go down well. I’ve left them in the trays for easy transport so I hope they come out easily and don’t fall apart!

Last, but not least, I made some flapjacks. Chocolate chip flapjacks. Except I mucked them up a little bit. See, you have to melt the syrup, butter and sugar then stir in the oats, and I didn’t leave them to cool long enough before stirring in the chocolate chips so they got sort of, well, melty. Still, judging by the bit I licked off the spoon after smooshing the mixture into the trays, they should still taste pretty good (at least, I hope they will!). They’re all cut into squares, ready to pop out of the trays, so here’s hoping they hold together rather than crumbling – I guess we’ll see when we get them out at the party!

How do you get fussy kids to eat vegetables?

… Bake them into muffins!

Yup, you heard me. Lovely, yummy muffins. With carrots and courgettes in them. Trust me on this, they’re lovely!

I used the recipe from the CBeebies show I Can Cook and can highly recommend them as both kid-friendly and appealing to grown-ups alike. On this occasion, I multiplied everything by four so I could get two dozen muffins in two batches for Xan’s birthday party. And I’ll admit I threw in a few extra big, fat, juicy raisins for good measure too.

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