A Mother's Heart
A Teacher's Mind
A Writer's Hand
Ok, so I’m just sneaking in my Real Aussie Mum for September. (Thanks to the reader who noticed I hadn’t featured a “Miss September” yet! LOL) Christie Burnett is an experienced Early Childhood Teacher and a Mum who has worked with hundreds of families with young children. Even though we’ve never met in real life I’d call her a friend. She blogs at Childhood 101 about growing memorable, healthy childhoods, with lots of ideas, tips and information for families. Here are her five faves and her biggest struggle as she raises her daughter, Immy.
1. Favourite outing with your child – If you asked Immy, she would stay swimming but I hate being in my bathers so I usually make my husband take her in! We recently found a wonderful toddlergym at our local PCYC which Immy adores. They have a lovely big space to run in, heaps of interesting equipment set up in a really, fun attractive way that engages the children, and Immy loves running, jumping, climbing, dancing and playing with balls and hoops. I was really uncoordinated as a child, so for me it is great to see Immy developing her physical skills and enjoying active play at such a young age.
2. Favourite at-home activity with your child – One of the major reasons we relocated back to Perth from Sydney this year, was to be able to enjoy more of the great outdoors, both space-wise and weather-wise! So, playing outside in the garden would have to be a favourite way for us to spend time together. You’ll find us tending the vegie patch, searching for snails and bugs, digging in the sand, jumping in puddles, or just lying on the lawn looking at the clouds.
3. Favourite family meal – I am really fortunate that Immy is a great eater and will eat almost anything, especially vegetables. For us, its not so much what is on the table (especially given my domestic disaster status) but that we are all sitting around the table together. We have made it a priority to sit down together as a family to eat dinner each night. Immy especially enjoys it when extended family members join us for a meal.
4. Favourite bedtime stories – We visit the local library fortnightly so our bedtime stories change regularly. This week’s favourites include Handa’s Surprise (Eileen Browne), Polar Bear, Polar Bear What Do You Hear? (Eric Carle) and Time for Bed (Mem Fox).
5. Favourite way to wind down – Sleep ins or hot baths! If neither of these are available, chocolate is a worthy substitute!
6. Finally, what’s your biggest struggle as a mum…? – My biggest struggle has been adapting to life as a Stay at Home Mum. I love being home with Immy and feel very blessed to have that opportunity but I don’t enjoy feeling greater responsibility for the domestic drudgery as the person ‘at home.’ I have also had to learn to manage a much tighter budget thanks to our move to one income, which feels a bit cruel given that I have more time to shop!
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Christie is off to Singapore in a few weeks as a finalist in the Nuffnang Asia Pacific Blog Awards for Best Parenting Blog! How exciting!! Voting only takes a few minutes – make sure you click on Childhood101.
Congratulations to the winners of Small Fry: Inspiration For Cooking With Kids! The random winning numbers were 11 (Ros) and 1 (Nat). Next week I’ll be giving away Small Fry: Outdoors with another two chances to win a gorgeous book.
I love 
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