I hired my first nanny when Miss Z was 9 months old. I went back to work when she was 12 months old. When I had Mr A (2 years later) I was on maternity leave for 9 months. People would often be surprised that I still had a nanny whilst I was on maternity leave. I really loved my…
The end of the afternoon nap… bring on Special Playtime
When my daughter was about 2½ years old, she no longer wanted to have an afternoon nap. She started crying every time I took her upstairs and was very strong in her resolve that she didn’t want to sleep. I was on maternity leave at the time with Mr A. He was 6 months old and he had a long…
Naughty step
I think probably everyone that has children knows what the naughty step is. Some people also call it timeout. I first heard about it from the Supernanny TV series. It’s funny really, because both my husband and I thought that smacking was a good way to discipline children. This was before we watched Supernanny on TV. Seeing is believing –…
My children are not cows!
I am conscious that this post may not go down well with lots of people. But remember, you don’t have to agree with me. I mentioned before that I follow a nutritionist called Patrick Holford. And what Patrick says about milk (and dairy in general) makes sense to me. Cow’s milk is for baby cows. We are mammals, and just…
Free for all on weekends…
I am really strict about the kids’ diet. They have 3 healthy meals a day and fruit snacks in between. The only drink allowed is water. But I also think one needs to be reasonable. As with everything, you have to have balance. And it’s impossible to sustain a healthy diet with kids 100% of the time. So, I let…
Vanilla, chocolate, choose!
I tell my child to do something. Let’s say it’s “put the brown shoes on so we can go”. He says “I want the wellies Mommy”. This is probably a silly example, but it’s the first one that comes to mind. So I say “No, darling, it’s the brown shoes”. Inevitably, there’s some screaming or shouting or stomping his feet…
Baby manipulation? Let them cry – but only for 1 minute
I am not sure if I got this idea from anywhere or if I made it up. When Miss Z was a bit older (probably around 10 months, but I can’t be sure), I started having trouble with putting her to sleep at night. She would cry as soon as I left the bedside. To start I just stayed a…
The land of Zzzzzz…
I have a very strong view about sleeping, mainly because I love sleeping. So it was important for me to get the kids onto a good sleeping routine from the start. I know my method is strict and that most people don’t do it like me. And I have no problem with that. I will share anyway because I figure…
Mammals don’t drink juice
You’ve probably noticed by now that I am a pretty strict Mom. Some people will probably think I’m a control freak, a perfectionist, a military sergeant. And you’ll be right on all counts. I like rules and I like order. And I know these are not children’s favourite cups of tea, but I’m ok with who I am. Luckily I…
There are 24 hours in a day
I’m a Programme Manager by profession. What that means is that I manage projects (of software development) that are complex to deliver. I coordinate virtual teams of people (software engineers, designers, lawyers, business development people, marketers, partners, etc.) that are located all around the globe, and for it all to go smoothly requires strong organisational and management skills. I spoke…