Back to School!

As we approach the Australia Day long weekend I’m looking forward to a relaxing and fun weekend with my kids because on Tuesday they head back to school! I’ll miss them but in truth I won’t miss the fighting, bickering and screaming at each other! This year I’m returning to work full time so have spent the last week trying to prep everything so we are incredibly organised for school. This is the hope anyway! So far I have crazily cleaned out each of their rooms so we can find things quicker and this includes their clothes. Everything has been washed, ironed and labelled all ready for Tuesday. I’ve made up a cabinet in the garage for each bag to go straight out of the car, each hat to be hung and each pair of shoes to sit on. The hope behind this is that in the morning we aren’t madly racing around looking for things. Next up is my study so that I can happily sit at night and work in an organised environment.

What have you done to prepare for next week?

Teacher Gifts

With Christmas just around the corner (actually 70 days to be exact), I’ve just begun the teacher gift brainstorm. There are so many cool ideas out there. If you type ‘teacher gifts’ into google there are 426 MILLION results! Each year I have tried to do something different and tried to be really inventive but it’s getting harder and harder!

It’s particularly hard for daycares and preschools because they have multiple teachers. Personally hampers have always worked for this and been well received. They can feast as they celebrate not having to see our kids everyday for a little while!

So let’s help each other out. What have you done in the past? Or are you a teacher that has received an unforgettable gift and want to share what it was?

Our bullying epidemic

I was horrified to hear of the recent story of the young girl tortured by a group of teenagers and then thrown off a bridge. These were her friends at one stage, in fact one had been romantically involved with her at one stage. Horrifying and incredibly scary stuff. So I did a quick google search into bullying and was even more horrified to read just how young our children are experiencing bullying. One report suggested bullying in preschool years!

One in 4 Australian kids experiences bullying at school so unfortunately if your child does experience bullying they are definitely not alone.

It’s important to be able to recognise the signs that your child is being bullied. These can include:

• cuts, marks and bruises

• withdrawal from activities

• losing items at school

• feelings of stress and anxiety

• avoidance of school

• ripped clothes

• loss or increase in appetite

• friendship breakups

• loss of sleep

So what can you do?

It’s important to keep the lines of communication as open as possible. Ask them directly if they are being bullied and try to work together to help prevent it. Try to relate to them as much as possible, this could mean talking about your own experiences. Encourage them to talk to someone else. Kids Helpline have great resources and is a safe place for kids to call to chat.

Spring Holidays

A close friend of mine and I are the parent network coordinators for our respective son’s years at the same school. Essentially a parent network coordinator is like a parent connection between the school and parents, but we like to refer to ourselves as the social coordinators. We happily organise mums nights outs and play dates. We also happily get together before each school holidays and organise impending school holiday activities, we also do this over a bottle of wine, so you see the appeal. So I thought I’d share some of our ideas with you.

• There are obvious things like the movies. These holidays the ones that are out are Christopher Robin, Luis and the Aliens, Teen Titans Go! to the Movies, Smallfoot and The House with a Clock in its Walls.

• Old faves like bowling, Holy Moly Putt Putt, Inflatable World, Revolution and Ice Skating, the Wetlands, Museum and the Reptile Park

• Playgrounds, I’m recommending these holidays to try out the new ones in Cameron Park and Richley Reserve

• As the weather starts to get warmer we have planned a trip to Caves Beach to go cave walking (is that what you call it?)

• We usually plan a lunch date somewhere - I’d recommend the newly revamped Argy Hotel, SJs, Wallsend Diggers, Blackbutt Hotel, the Mattara

• Go grab a freak shake from The Depot on Darby. I took my littlest for one the other day and I think he nearly fell off his chair in shock when it arrived

• Mega Creatures is on again at Hunter Valley Gardens and they promise new and exciting rides and creatures

My friend and I are meeting at the end of this week… come on help me out with ideas of what your plans are to entertain our little darlings these holidays!