Thursday 31 July 2014

A probiotic suitable from birth? A review & in-house experiment (2)

You might remember a previous Life As It Is post about Bio-Kult Infantis, a probiotic for infants and children? I was really interested in this product as having had babies with gut problems, I wanted to know if it could help.  

I gave a friend, Andrea, the Bio-Kult Infantis to try with her three-month-old baby Zak, who was unsettled at times with a windy tummy. Here are the results - recorded in the diary she kept throughout the trial. Thank you Andrea - and Zak!


Tuesday 29 July 2014

Do you have an itchy baby due to eczema? This website's for you...

You might remember a previous Life As It Is post about Bio-Kult Infantis, a probiotic for infants and children. I was really interested in this product as having had babies with gut problems, I wanted to know if it could help.  

I gave a friend, Andrea, the Bio-Kult Infantis to try with her three-month-old baby Zak, who was unsettled at times with a windy tummy. More on how that all went soon. For now though, I would like to highlight Andrea's fab website itchy baby.co.uk 


Monday 28 July 2014

FAMILY TRAVELLER’S TOP TIPS FOR A HASSLE-FREE FAMILY HOLIDAY

With the holy grail of holidays looming – the great summer escape – many parents will be looking forward to family time together with some trepidation, not least because of the big expense associated with getting away from it all. Here, editor of Family Traveller Magazine and mum-of-two Jane Anderson, offers her top five tips for getting the best value out of your summer break, with minimal fuss.

Musings of a unique 5YO

E: Mummy, you should have called me Sparkles. No one is called Sparkles.

M: For a great reason my love.

Saturday 26 July 2014

30/52 The GraceFaith year long art project

Choosing a favourite piece of art, each week of the year


Sofia Faith (my bug obsessed 2YO), continues her love affair with garden insects... drawing her first snail this week.

Friday 25 July 2014

Is that a butterfly? - a library book review

A great book we discovered at the library, that does a brilliantly simple job of explaining the life cycle of a butterfly to a small child, is this one by Claire Llewellyn and Ant Parker. 


FRAMED Life As It Is - CATERPILLAR TO CHRYSALIS



DAY 47 OF FRAMED - CATERPILLAR TO SPIDER'S BELLY AND A BUTTERFLY

Here's what else we discovered around our porch today...

An empty chrysalis, and below it...


DAY 47 OF FRAMED - CATERPILLAR TO BUTTERFLY - Wrapping up


DAY 47 OF FRAMED
CATERPILLAR TO SPIDER'S BELLY?

Well it is not looking good now is it?! And I fear that our half-morphed potentially sucked upon butterfly may never emerge.


Bocketts Farm Park, Surrey - A great day out with the kids

Bocketts Farm Park proved a surprisingly great day out with the GraceFaith girls.


DETAILS:
Bocketts Farm Park
WhereYoung Street, Fetcham, Leatherhead, Surrey, KT22 9BS
When: Daily from 10am
Age appropriate for: tots and young children in particular
Car park available: Yes - no extra charge
Admission: Adults £9.20, children from £8.
Wheelchair/pushchair friendly: Yes
Food options: Take your own picnic option, or, packed lunch available to buy
Do not leave without: Sunscreen, Sun hats, Towels, Swimmers (water play often available).

Wednesday 23 July 2014

Saturday 19 July 2014

29/52 The GraceFaith year long art project

Choosing a favourite piece of art, each week of the year


Esme's art was inspired this week by watching m m m m m m m m more milkshake. Yes, the advert fuelled children's breakfast television show on Channel Five, which shows Bananas in pyjamas, has a competition running currently... and the prize is three nights, staying in a zoo. (Not a lot different to being at home then).

All you have to do is send in your child's animal/favourite Milkshake character theme led pic to be in with a chance to win. I'm secretly praying we don't. Meanwhile Esme thinks she already has. This will be interesting.

Friday 18 July 2014

Great ways to spend Summer days at home...

The Summer Reading Challenge gets three quarters of a million children into libraries to keep up their reading skills and confidence during the long holidays. This year the theme for 4-11year-olds is a mythical maze. Visit your local library for details.


Great ways to spend Summer days in London, Hampshire & Surrey

Want to know what to do with the little ones over the Summer? I've put together some great ideas to inspire you and yours, throughout the six week holiday.


DAY 40 OF FRAMED - CATERPILLAR TO BUTTERFLY

DAY 40 OF FRAMED
CATERPILLAR TO BUTTERFLY

No real change except that a fine line now hangs in the balance of nature, and off of the bottom of the chrysalis.


Wednesday 16 July 2014

The 'f' word.

And there it was. Hanging in the air like my child. The 'f' word.

Esme had been gleefully upturned on the igloo when I had told her it was time to leave the park. Her quizzical look and 'oh fuck' response had completely taken me aback.

What made matters worse of course, was that I thought I'd heard her incorrectly, quickly asking, 'What did you say?' just as another mother and her beautifully turned out tot walked past... right in time to hear my little girl say again - this time with gusto... 'Oh fuck.'

I didn't have to look her way to know the woman was outraged. I felt the intensity of her stare. Its glare like the adjacent early evening summer sun, blindingly low in the sky. What with this, the shame, and the embarrassment, I began to burn inside out. There was no time to apologise, for now with her toddler wrapped about her and seemingly with disdain and disgust, she increased her pace and left the park.

Of course, completely stunned, I had grabbed Esme DIS-Grace and fled to a nearby bench, scolding her as we went, saying... No! And what? And why? And if she ever used that word again... blah blah blah. And she had cried. Great bulbous tears. For she had no idea what it all was about, let alone what it meant. And she had no idea that my reaction would be so aggrieved. So sadly disappointed. And that truly bothered her. For even though Esme had happened to use it in the right context, with the right amount of expression, intonation and 'tude', I realised she hadn't a clue. But still, there it was. Complete with her perfect delivery, my little girl, had opened her mouth and used the 'f' word.

Choice.

FOOTNOTE
Later that day as I recalled the events to my husband, he told me that on the weekend when he and Esme were at the park, some teens had also been there apparently with nothing better to do than cuss and mess. Wish I'd been there too. If I catch them back in the small children's play area, I'll have to have words. Polite ones of course.

Monday 14 July 2014

Friday 11 July 2014

Replaying that first morning of sickness:

Two days ago (my sensitive 5YO) Esme Grace appeared downstairs pale and peaky, announcing she felt bloody awful - not quite in those words - before losing her balance and falling on me. At which point, Sofia Faith (her 2YO drama queen of a sister), with no sense of concern whatsoever, announced somewhat louder - by yelling in fact:

"No Esme. I am sick. You aren't." (Accompanied with foot stamp and fake cough).

Meanwhile...

We went to the doc yesterday. Turns out Esme has tonsillitis and is very unwell. And Fia?
Well, what she has is something a little harder to treat: A classic sibling case of toddleritis.

It has been a testing couple of days.

Thursday 10 July 2014

Musings of a poorly 5YO

E: Mummy, I wish you would call the school and tell them I was sick on a day that I wasn't, just so I could stay home with you and have fun.

Tuesday 8 July 2014

Win a free family ticket to see the new Octonauts stage show

The OCTONAUTS AND THE DEEP SEA VOLCANO ADVENTURE 
full length theatre experience


Yes kids, there's a brand new stage show coming, 
and it's touring the UK from Oct 2014 into 2015.
Life As It Is has a family ticket to giveaway.

More funding for children's drama please

David Wood, a playwright that has written around 75 productions for children including The Tiger Who Came To Tea - one of my favourite books, spoke out recently, saying that children who took part in drama workshops were "very unlikely to be going out with knives" because they would learn teamwork and tolerance.

Friday 4 July 2014

I love Mothercare...

...and I think that's probably because I remember being dragged around the store myself when I was a child. Nostalgia is a massive part of a brand's success. But then, so is being British. We all love a home grown brand don't we?


Can't concentrate? Udo's Choice Ultimate Oil Blend - a review

Did you know that the brain is around 60% fat? And therefore needs feeding fats - essential fats, Omega 3 particularly. Here's one great way of doing that... 
DETAILS: 
Udo's Choice Ultimate Oil Blend 

PRICE: £21.99 (500ml)

AVAILABLE FROM: Udo's Choice and selected retailers


Thursday 3 July 2014

Can't concentrate? I try an in-house experiment (5)

If you follow Life As It Is, you'll know that back in November of last year, Esme Grace (my fidgety 5YO), was struggling to concentrate. In class this was particularly obvious to the teacher, who then raised it as an issue one parents evening. Esme was unable to focus for long periods of time. Often, she would be in a world of her own;  not listening to what the teacher was saying.

I'd heard that omega 3 could be beneficial in this scenario, and as a result, I wanted to try Esme on a blend of omega oil. I was interested to know if it could help. For more about this, read here and follow the posts Can't concentrate? I try an in-house experiment, of which the last post (4), concludes:
The result of my in-house experiment with Udo's Choice blend of plant omega oils, and my fidgety 5YO is therefore, that this product does indeed have a positive effect on a child's ability to concentrate. It will help your child to sit still and focus for longer periods of time - not to mention the other health benefits it brings. Whacko. As a consequence, I'm putting Sofia on it too. 
When I began Esme on Udo's Choice, it was back in November 2013. As far as I knew, my in-house experiment was one of a kind. How naive of me. Turns out that's not the case at all. Udo's carried out its own study at Lever Park School in Bolton, with remarkable results:



Tuesday 1 July 2014

DAY 24 OF FRAMED - CATERPILLAR TO BUTTERFLY

DAY 24 OF FRAMED
CATERPILLAR TO BUTTERFLY
Today the chrysalis is suddenly much darker in colour.
The protected pupa within, is nearing the end of this stage of its life cycle.
Any day now it will emerge.
Oh and I for one have learnt something new... a moth makes a cocoon - a silk covering.
And a butterfly makes a chrysalis - a hard, smooth covering with no silk.
So there you have it, we have a butterfly on our doorstep after all.
Whether we get to see it or not, is another story.