Mummy and Me activities

Lincolnshire Mums offer their top Mummy and Me activities 

In a world where we are with our children 24 / 7. Being Mum, teacher and Friend all at the same time, sharing quality proper bonding time has become a challenge.  We are so caught up in ‘surviving’ the pandemic it is really difficult to find the time for the important task of living.  I asked some of my clients what lockdown activities they and their children have enjoyed together.  Here are the Top 5 Mummy and Me activity suggestions:

1) Top of the list and reccommended by everybody was Cooking!   Weather it be preparing meals together or baking cakes you can’t go wrong!  Kids love to help in the kitchen so it’s always a winner!  The most recent creation in our house was an amazing Mini Egg Cookie Cake!

2) The second most popular suggestion was Arts and Crafts.  This can work well with any age.  Simple activities of sticking of finger painting for little ones right through to DIamond Art for older kids!  We currently have diamond Art on the go here and I have to say I am really enjoying it!  Can you guess what mine is going to be?

3) How about a Scavanger Hunt walk?  Creat a list of things to find and head out for a fun filled walk hunting for things.  If your children are older Geocaching is a great scavanger hunt style App that is really good fun.  

4) Den building was one of my favourite activities to do as a child and I loved it even more when my Dad and brothers joined in.  A giant blanket fort in garden or the living room would be awesome.  Add popcorn and a film for a movie night with a difference.  

5) Sewing was popular with my children when they were younger.  We spent hours making blankets, cushions and clothes for their dolls!  In fact talking about it is making me think it’s time to dust of the sewing machine again!  Wonder what creation I can come up with. 

Being in a national Lockdown might restrict our choices for Mummy and Me activities but what is important is remembering to take time out from the challanges that life bring.  Spend time having fun and enjoying our children.  Being together, laughing, chatting and smiling and making priceless memories they will never forget. 

And lastly make time to relax and enjoy the little things   From a Mum of 2 teenagers . Enjoy every minute! Make wonderful memories together and capture the moments with pictures and video. Sadly they grow up way to quickly and before you know they will be baking on their own and building dens won’t be cool so enjoy the fun times why you can. 

Have you done some fun lockdown Mummy and Me activities with your little ones, why not add them to the comments section for my readers to benefit from.

Marie x

Do you wish to get in touch? 

If you want to share your ideas privately, or have something else to share with me please feel free to drop me a message via the form below.  I love to hear from you all. 

Family Photographs – Why are they important?

Family photographs are such an important part of building confidence in children. Seeimg themselves next to their proud parents builds confidence and reminds them of the love and bond you all share.  Often when parents book a photoshoot they will say ‘just the baby’ or ‘only the children’ and my plea to you all is to get in the photographs with your children.  Enjoy the experience, be present in the moment and exsist in photos.  

We are great at capturing random selfies and pulling silly faces with our kids, but if you’re anything like me this is all you have, especially us Mums.    I bet as a mother you are always snapping your kids playing with Daddy or grab your camera when you see a moment Daddy and daughter share.  But does your partner do the same with you?  I bet for 90% of Mums the answer is No.  Very few men see things in the same way as us Mums and so it would not cross their mind to grab a snap of a Mummy and Daughter bonding or a Mother and son sharing a cuddle.  For me as a single parent I have not got anyone to capture those moments and all I have is the few professional family photographs we have had taken with another photographer or when I have managed to bribed my children into the studio and taken one with the camera on self timer.

This picture above of me and my girls is the last one taken that is not a selfie and it is a year old already.  I can see so many changes in my children.  My youngest has gone from looking like a child to a young lady and we all have new glasses so I definitely need to get an update done.  Lockdown has not been kind to me, my waistline has expanded and my hair hasn’t had a trim for well over a year!  But my kids don’t see those things.  For me it is important to still have photos taken despite being self conscious of these things because I don’t want my children to grow up with body confidence issues.  I wonder what I can bribe them with this time? 

The Pandemic and national lockdown restrictions has been a stark reminder of how much our loved ones mean to us and how much we miss them when they are not around.  Family photographs with grandparents and cousins proudly displayed at home have no doubt provided a great topic of conversation, sharing memories of happy times together.  

I have been extreamely fortunate that I have not lost anyone close to me to Covid, but I did lose my younger brother suddenly 2 years ago so I know all to well the pain and heartache many families are experiencing.  The sudden unexpected devestating loss, not being able to say goodbye or make final memories together brings another level to grief and sometimes guilt too.  I treasure the photos I have of my brother and laugh about the good time we shared.  However there are very few photos in exsistance of us as a family.  I have 4 siblings in total and there are only 3 photos of all of us together, just 3!   2 of these also include my Dad and 1 of them also includes my children.  How is it possible that we only ever got together for 3 photographs?  

So my plea to you all is to be present in your photos!  Your children love you just the way you are, lets face it if we wait til we are happy in our skin we will never do it and tomorrow may be to late.  

Marie

Do you wish to get in touch? 

If you want to share your thoughts on my blog privately, or have something else to share with me please feel free to drop me a message via the form below.  I love to hear from you all.