what no one tells you about a child

The Things You are Never Told about Having a Child

We all know the cliche’s, we hear all the ‘advice’  and we read all the relevant books but nothing can prepare you for having a child and the joys of parenthood until you experience it firsthand. From here you learn that some of those tips were true… for instance, get your sleep whilst you can, as annoying as it may sound. However, there are many that never even cross others’ lips. Now I don’t know if this is because they don’t wanna worry you or

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Making the Most of Your Small Garden

Most new houses now come with very small gardens and ours is no exception. It was the compromise we made to have a house we wanted in the right location but it is still something I struggle with even 6 years on. When I sit and watch gardening programmes I dream of having the space to be able to recreate some of their looks, to be able to have a pond or water feature and the land to have a separate play area away from all my plants. One day, when I win the lottery eh! So, for now, I have had to learn how to make the most of our small garden all whilst keeping it functional for all of us as a family. 

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Mental Health Awareness Week- Tips to help achieve good mental well-being

When you have suffered with your own mental health for a number of years you begin to learn what can trigger a bad mood, what can bring on anxiety, what can make you angry and the patterns that often emerge. I personally find that spending a long time alone can make me miserable and low, one bad event will outweigh several good ones and upsets from friends/family/husband can linger for far too long. By recognising slight changes occurring in my moods, I have started to acknowledge what can help or even prevent these issues from escalating. As I stated in my last post, counselling has been one the best ways of coping with my innermost thoughts and I can highly recommend finding somebody with expertise to speak to yourself. In fact, I’ve recently come across online professional support from BetterHelp which offers helpful resources and the option to connect with a counsellor. If this isn’t for you, do try and be open with your closest family and friends. Communication is definitely key in helping mental health problems.

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Teething is NOT a Myth!

Believe it or not, there are a certain amount of health practitioners out there who have claimed that teething pain does not exist. That teething is, in fact, a myth. Whilst researching for my book I came across articles that claimed every symptom parents’ have ever reported, over hundreds of years, are not linked to teething, that children get approximately 20 viral infections in their first couple of years and coincidentally they get 20 teeth, so we are mistaking teething for colds and that most of the signs are in fact made up in our own minds. According to some dentists, teething pain doesn’t even exist… tell that to the next adult who complains about their wisdom teeth.

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When Chicken Pox Strikes

Chicken pox has finally reached us after knowing quite a few people coming down with it in the last few months and it hitting pre-school just recently too. It is inevitable when your child comes into close contact with so many other children but it was still a surprise and then the realisation hit that we didn’t actually know anything about what we needed to do.

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First Time Parents: my little bit of advice

If you are expecting for the first time you may have a thousand questions, secret worries and be feeling bogged down with information coming from all directions. Suddenly everybody is a baby expert and thinks they know best. There are hundreds of baby books in the shops, classes to attend and health visitor leaflets. How can you take it all in? Well, here’s my little bit of advice for first time parents on how to get through it all and which parts actually may work for you:

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If you follow my blog and facebook page you will be aware that we recently travelled to Zante for a two week holiday to watch my sister get married. Taking a toddler abroad was one experience we hadn’t wanted to do until he was a little bit older as we were concerned about taking him on plane being so young, we were unsure on how he would cope in the heat, we were reluctant to let the routine go out the window and, mostly, we had slightly selfish reasons because we felt we wouldn’t be able to enjoy the beach as we used to when we were child-free!

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