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Category: Real Living

Guest Post: How To Keep Children Entertained When Travelling

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For many, embarking on a family holiday is an exciting time. You and your partner are looking forward to a break away from the daily strains of work and the kids can’t wait to splash around in the hotel pool and make sandcastles on the beach.

But there’s often one part of the big family adventure that many of us parents dread: the car journey. Why? Because, no matter whether you’ve only got a short drive to the airport or opted for the choice of rental cars to give you more freedom to explore at your destination, you know there’ll be the constant echoing of “are we nearly there yet?!” ringing in your ears with every journey you make.

So, with the kids being less than sympathetic to your need for concentration and wanting the fun to start right there, right now, you’ll need to come up with some ingenious ideas to save your sanity.

Well, to help you, here’s my top 5, tried and tested ways to keep the children entertained for the next time you embark on your family travels:

1. Give Them a Simple Map of The Journey

Since they’re always asking “are we nearly there yet?”, why not give them their own little map so they can find out the answer for themselves! Before each journey, print off a small simple map of the route you’re going to take and let them track where they think they may be.

If your children are a little older, and if the map includes any symbols of landmarks they may recognise, give them a little key of what each symbol means so they can keep an eye out for the landmarks as you drive past them. Or, if your children are a little younger, let them draw their own landmarks onto their maps they may spot on the journey.

This pastime activity is a great way to teach them about what’s around them, will let them be creative and will keep them quiet – all at the same time!

2. Connect The Dots

If you’ve got several children, a great way to keep them all entertained at the same time is with the ‘Connect the Dots’ game. Simply draw on a piece of paper lots of rows of dots adjacent to each other in a big square, and give each child a different colour felt tip pen or crayon. Each child then takes it in turns to draw a single line between the dots with the aim of trying to make a ‘box’. The person who makes the most boxes once the whole square has been filled in, wins!

3. Scavenger Hunt

Before you set out on a car journey, jot down a list of items that your children have to try and spot whilst you’re driving around – simple things, such as ‘a red car’, ‘a field of cows’, or ‘a church’ are a great way to keep them captivated and quiet!

4. Duck

This game can be tied in with ‘scavenger hunt’ and has proven successful with many children I know. If you’ve written out a list of items for your children to spot throughout the duration of the journey, you can make the game more exciting by them not only ticking these off their list, but also ducking and shouting ‘duck’ when they see the item. The quickest person to spot the item and duck, wins!

5. Next-door Neighbour Game

If you’re stuck in a traffic jam and the children are starting to get a little fidgety and agitated, then playing the ‘Next-door Neighbour Game’ is a great way to keep them entertained when traffic is at a stand-still. Take a sneak peek at the person in the car alongside (or behind!) you and get your children to imagine what kind of person they are. Make up a name, job, what hobbies they have or what their favourite dinner is. Get the children to be as inventive as possible and you’re all bound to have great fun trying to guess what that person may be like!

What games do you play in the car?

Experienced freelance writer, Lara Anderson, wrote this article. Lara specialises in providing travel advice for families!

February 22, 2013
How to remove pen from leather lounge suite
Last night I posted this photo on Facebook of Texta all over our good leather lounge suite.

and 200-odd comments later we had this…

After trying a host of things (eucalyptus oil, baby wipes, eye makeup remover…), guess what it was that took the Texta – also known as marker or pen for those outside Australia – off the leather lounge suite?

For us, it was hairspray – and a fair bit of elbow grease. And not just any hairspray. It had to be decent hairspray. L’Oreal hairspray in fact, as the cheaper brand did nothing to get rid of the marker.

Although, after half a bottle you wouldn’t want to have lit a match in the lounge room! Boy, oh boy!

Here are some of the most popular answers from readers (you may want to try a small inconspicuous area first):
- WD40
- Hairspray
- Chux Magic Eraser
- Toothpaste
- Jif
- Windex
- Enjo Fabric Glove
- Baby wipes
- Eucalyptus oil
- Gumpton
- Milk or hot milk
- Bi carb made into a paste
- Perfume
Thanks for all the suggestions, including new kids, just pretending it’s not there, buying a new couch, colouring in the rest of the couch with a Texta and pushing the couch up against the wall…..

And by the way, the culprit was a rather cheeky two year old who simply couldn’t resist drawing a Van Gough on that amazingly white canvas!

WANT THE HAIRSPRAY? CLICK THE IMAGE BELOW

What have you used to remove pen, marker or Texta from leather and which one worked best?

*NB: Some links in this post are affiliate links. I only recommend those products I use myself.
February 15, 2013
A morning ritual to live by – says the woman who gets to stay in bed
Back in the days when The Bloke in The Shed was trying to impress me, he’d bring in a cup of tea every morning. He was an early riser anyway. I’m more inclined to prize one eye open to check the alarm clock and then roll over.

Now, 12 years on (it’s our 10th wedding anniversary tomorrow), the morning ritual still involves him getting out of bed every morning to make one cup of tea, one coffee and, now, two milks – “warm, please’’. They’re fussy these two.

Cheekily, the other day Julian remarked how it must be my turn to make the coffees. Are you kidding? I’m not starting any new routines now. We’re too far down the track for that.

Coffee for me happens at 10.30am. It used to be a latte at work, but as a mumpreneur it’s now me hitting up the instant in the pantry. We’ve been eyeing off those swish, push button coffee machines since I left work and lost having a cafe outside my work front door.

Ten years ago coffee machines were too expensive, took too much cleaning and looked like hard work just to make a simple cuppa. It would be quicker and easier to boil the kettle. Of course, none of that seemed to deter me when Nescafe offered up a Dolce Gusto Genio coffee machine. I was hoot tootin’ excited. Or words to that effect.

I’ve been quickly won over too. Here’s my rundown on the Nescafe Dolce Gusto coffee machine:
- It’s easy. Even the girls could use it. Now there’s an idea… Fill the back with water. Pull up the silver lever, take out the tray and pop a capsule in it. Return the tray and pull down the lever – you’ll hear the capsule being pierced. Highlight the setting (each capsule tells you what setting it should be on). Press the red or blue button, for hot or cold, and it appears in your cup. Some drinks require two capsules.
- It’s clean. The mess is contained within the capsule, so you just take the capsule out and bin it. What could be easier than that? No coffee grinding either. It also requires one good clean every six months. Every. Six. Months. As long as I remember to do it.
- There are 14 varieties of beverages in hot and cold. I can change from having a chai tea in the morning, skinny cappuccino mid morning and a hot chocolate at bedtime. The Cafee Americano and Espresso Ristretto were not my cup of tea (pardon the pun).
- It’s hot. I was dubious about having luke warm coffee. Nothing worse. But it’s hot – every time. We’ve yet to try the cold setting for the Cappuccino Ice.
- It’s affordable – 50c per capsule. As I said, you’ll need two for certain beverages. It’s cheaper than buying a cafe coffee. Although, Julian has made jibes about the “tide being out”. A cappuccino makes a 240mL cup. The machine is also easily affordable at $229.
- It looks stylish. For some reason that’s high on my priority list! It also doesn’t take up much bench space.
- Storage is an issue in the pantry with all the capsule boxes at the moment, so I’m looking into purchasing one of the capsule holders.
The Nescafe Dolce Gusto Genio retails for $229. You can buy machines or capsules online or at Harvey Norman, Target, The Good Guys, Myer, Big W, Coles, IGA and more.

Are you a tea or a coffee drinker? What’s your favourite type of coffee?

DISCLAIMER: I was sent a Nescafe Dolce Gusto Genio to try. I was not paid for this review and all opinions are my own.
December 19, 2012
12 days till Christmas: getting organised

How on earth did Christmas come upon us so quickly? I’m in last-minute Christmas organising mode, so I thought I’d write down some of the things I need to get done in the hope it might help someone else too. Plus, some of my bloggy friends have some amazing resources that I’m relying on this year and thought were well worth sharing.

OK, here’s the countdown:

12 days till Christmas: Finalise all your last-minute Christmas gift shopping. Make all the necessary purchases at your local stores or get in online orders to ensure they arrive before the big day. Don’t forget Santa stockings, with items for creative kids through to outdoor adventurers.

11 days till Christmas: Clean up your outdoor area, including replacing missing outdoor light bulbs, removing clutter and adding a wreath to the front door.

10 days till Christmas: De-clutter the children’s toys and set aside those toys you’ll want to send to your favorite children’s charity organisation. It will still get to the recipients in time. If you’ve already done this, congratulations!

9 days till Christmas: Update you phone book, address book and diary (whether the paper, computer or phone variety) ready for holiday greetings. I somehow forget to delete old numbers when people give me their new number. Although, it can lead to some interesting conversations with strangers.

8 days till Christmas: Print holiday labels and gift tags. Check these sites out for your printable gift tags and print and fold gift boxes.

7 days till Christmas: Now you have the labels sorted, it’s time to wrap gifts. Create a Christmas toolbox for wrapping and look through Pinterest for gift wrapping inspiration. Then be sure to hide the gifts well!

6 days till Christmas: Make great holiday memories for the children by doing craft activities, like Christmas day placecards, Christmas crackers or even write a letter to Santa.

5 days till Christmas: Now the kids have had their fun, it’s time to treat yourself to a spa package and shape up for the best holiday mood. A happy mum makes a happy family – and don’t we know it. Get your hair done, a manicure, pedicure, foot spa or body massage. Who said you can’t give a Christmas gift to yourself.

4 days till Christmas: If you haven’t already, finalise your Christmas day menu plan. Create an inventory of ingredients for your holiday baking. If necessary, do your last minute supermarket trip.

3 days till Christmas: Do as much baking as you can today to make things easier on Christmas Eve. Get everyone to help out in the kitchen. Unless, of course, they’re aged two and are more interested in licking bowls and spoons. You can easily pre-do rum balls, shortbread and those cute little Christmas puddings.

2 days till Christmas – Give yourself a beauty rest. Relax, read a book or watch a movie and get enough sleep..

Christmas Eve – Complete your holiday meals.

OK, what have I missed?

photo credit: queenbeeofbeverlyhills via photopin cc

December 13, 2012
What to do in Melbourne with young kids

Melbourne has become a bit like our second home. We visit so often we nearly need to buy a house – if only they weren’t so bloomin’ expensive. Seriously, I could buy three houses in Tasmania for the price of one in Melbourne.

Our regular visits also mean we have done, what feels like, most things in Melbourne. This time however, we did get outside the usual Melbourne zoo and aquarium – both of which we love, by the way – to have some new experiences.

Here is what we did:

Build a Bear

Build a Bear was part of our first day in Melbourne. We headed to Chadstone Shopping Centre and Ella got to make Rabbi (a hugely original name for a rabbit). She chose the bear, gave him a heart, selected a sound (she chose the song Under the Sea), watched him being stuffed, cleaned him and then picked out an outfit. The whole bear cost us $60. It might sound a lot for a teddy bear, but it really was worth the experience. Plus, she gained a bear at the end that holds sentimental value because she created him herself. And it was with less pain than I went through to bring her into the world.

Scienceworks

Julian and I went to Scienceworks years ago – pre-kids – and thoroughly enjoyed it. We knew the girls would love it because it’s so hands on. When we got there we were blown away. It was just fabulous, with a Wallace and Gromit display (ending this month). The highlight was certainly Nitty Gritty Super City.

Collingwood Children’s Farm

We arrived on a day when the Collingwood Children’s Farm was free and a Channel Nine film crew were there, so it was extremely busy. Ella unfortunately didn’t make an appearance on TV, but she didn’t care – she “got to milk a cow, Mum’’. Her summation was that it was “very wrinkly’’. She also rode a pony, lining up for about an hour for that five-minute ride. I’ve never seen her so patient. Holly, absolutely petrified of animals, was excited by the whole show. Just as Ella dismounted, Holly piped up with: “my turn’’. Maybe next time. By the end of the day, Holly was feeling much more comfortable being around animals.

Royal Botanical Gardens

We’d had a picnic dinner in the Royal Botanical Gardens before, but had never had the chance to look in the children’s garden. Super sweet, it gave Ella the chance to learn about The Magic Pudding. She also found a ladybird she was thoroughly fascinated with. The girls were excited to see all the veggies and herbs growing and asking which we were going to plant this year. We also sat by the lake at the other end of the gardens and watched the ducks, geese and a few eels. Eww.

There were plenty of other smaller things, but that sums up the main attractions.

What are your favourite things to do in Melbourne?

November 9, 2012
Easy Chocolate Fudge Cake Recipe

It’s hard to go past a chocolate recipe, so when I opened up Nan’s mothers’ group cookbook the girls immediately wanted chocolate cake. Chocolate Fudge Cake to be precise.

I was a tad dubious. The recipe had two steps. – beat together and bake. It didn’t even tell me how long to cook for – usually a recipe for disaster for this home cook. However, it’s proven a success, especially with the addition of chocolate icing. It’s now on our favourites list.

Chocolate Fudge Cake

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup SR Flour
2 dessert spoons cocoa
1 egg
¾ cup sugar
¾ cup milk
1 tablespoon melted butter

METHOD:

Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl. Beat together for two minutes. Place in two 20cm round tins. Bake in moderate oven for 20-25 minutes.

ICING:

Combine 200g softened butter, 200g icing sugar and 200g melted chocolate.

You can download the recipe here:
[scribd id=111889883 key=key-25qntlz1ozc4gaq8kzce mode=scroll]

What recipes are on your favourites list?

November 2, 2012