Wicked Wednesday 6.5.2015.
Wednesday, May 06, 2015
Sibling age gaps, does it matter?
Tuesday, May 05, 2015
Sooner or later after having your first child everyone gets on the bandwagon of asking 'when are you having another child?'
This question is usually really hard to answer while you try to adapt to having a baby around and especially if your first child doesn't sleep well and has been harder than you expected.
For us, there is 6 years between our first and second child. This wasn't going to be the case as I got pregnant when Hollie was 2 but I miscarried at 8 weeks which was very painful and hard to deal with.
Although I wanted a second child, deep down I knew I wasn't ready to have another child while Hollie was still little. I didn't feel I could cope with 2 children with under 3 and it took me a long time to feel ready to have another child as I feared I would miscarry if I wasn't completely ready.
When we were ready to have another child, Hollie was 5 and had settled in at school. This was the right time for us to have another child and kind of felt like it was meant to be!
To some people this age gap would be too big but when you look at families in society and how they all differ, you begin to wonder 'what is the ideal age gap?'
There are so many reasons for larger age gaps like miscarriage, step families and lifestyle changes. We just adapt to the life we have.
I know families where the age gap is 12 months and it was hard when they were little but as they have gotten past being teenagers, they get on well.
It is like me and my sister. There is 11 years between us and she is my half sister but she is like full sister to me and is now my best friend but when we were little it was really hard so it doesn't necessarily make a difference.
Whether there is an age gap of 1 year or 15 years, it doesn't have to matter. I am so thankful that I have my 2 girls as I know life is so precious and we just adjust to what life brings us.
Do you have an ideal age gap? Does it matter? Let me know your thought on this, I would love to hear.
Silent Sunday 3.5.2015
Sunday, May 03, 2015
My favourite stationery
Thursday, April 30, 2015
As it's World Stationery week I thought I would share my favourites. I love love stationery and have a fair bit of it. I love to browse shops like Homesense and Staples to see what interesting things I can pick up.
When it comes to browsing Homesense I love looking at all the colourful notebooks and notepads they have. These are some of the ones I have picked up recently.
I also love post its notes. I love the ones in the set at the back that I found in Wilkinson's especially the list with hearts.
Whether it be in a planner or just a recipe book and I want keep track of a page, these page flags are great. The colourful ones are from Paperchase and are so easy to store too.
Labels are great for adding to envelopes and presents and handy too for other uses to. I love the Martha Stewart range at Staples but sadly it's discontinued so have picked up a few bits in the clearance.
When it comes to paperclips, I love the gold hearts from H and M they are so cure and the numbers from Ikea are handy for projects.
My favourite pens for a long while are the Pilot Frixion pens. I have some standard ones and some clicker ones too.
It might or might not be stationery but washi tape has so many uses from wrapping presents to adding pictures to a wall and I love all the colours and patterns you can buy. I have seen that they do some pastel coloured hi lighters so they may be on my shopping list soon!
These are a few of my favourite stationery items that have been handy to get me a bit more organised and tidy.
Do you love stationery? What are your favourite items? I would love to hear.
*All items were purchased by myself.
Wicked Wednesday - 29 April 2015
Wednesday, April 29, 2015
Only child to older child!
Tuesday, April 28, 2015
When we knew we were having another child we knew that telling Hollie, who was 5 at the time, would be easier than explaining it to a toddler.
I tried to make sure that Hollie got enough attention before Amelia came but also wanted her to be independent so she wouldn't feel more isolated and excluded than she was going to feel.
Hollie loved being involved in seeing how to look after Amelia and being able to fetch things to help. She took on a lot more responsibility than we realised but luckily, at the age she was and was quite sensible for her age, it worked really well. She did kind of grow up faster than we realised.
Trying to cope with a baby and felling tired etc, we were going to get grouchy. The one thing I found we were doing more is telling Hollie off for quite trivial things and would take things more out of context and worry unnecessarily, like not tidying her toys away where she would say she was still playing with them. It would make us realise that we weren't explaining things enough to her, just taking it for granted she understood.
It wasn't until Amelia was born that the guilt set in. I didn't feel much guilt really until after giving birth.
I have found that somethings have slipped, like reading Hollie a bedtime story and reading her school book. This I felt guilty for and know she needs to keep reading but before Amelia was born we would read her school book straight after school but routines slip and can be hard sometimes to bring them back.
The one thing that Hollie and I haven't had is quality time just the two of us. We have lots of family time, her dad takes her swimming and to football and I spend a lot of time with Amelia but I feel like I don't give Hollie enough one on one time. So that's something I hope to change this, this year. We will see!
Now that Amelia is 15 months and Holllie is 7, they play really well and love spending time together. I know as they get older this will change but for now we are enjoying how the girls relationship develops.
Here are a few of my tips for a child which is going from only child to older child:
- Get your older child to help you but don't expect too much from them.
- Spend time all together playing and interacting so your older child doesn't feel isolated.
- Ask if your older child has any questions about anything so they don't bottle things up and you don't presume they know things and are fine.
- Let them know you are proud of them, you appreciate them and like how grown up they are.
- Make sure your older child get the special quality time with you, your partner and family so they feel appreciated.
Do you have any tips or tricks that can help with being the older child? Would love to hear your thought too!
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