Tips on how to succeed as a work-from-home parent

Being a parent is hands down one of the most rewarding human experiences – one that is at the same time challenging, exciting and deeply meaningful. Given the tools previously available, parents traditionally had to choose between being at home with their kids or working. Recently, especially in western society, major changes have taken place in the ideals of motherhood and major technological developments that offer stay-at-home parents the opportunity to earn a dependable income, while at the same time being able to enjoy more family time and flexible working hours. I started my blog many years ago and was already collaborating with brands before having my eldest who is now 6. I had been working at the time and was off on maternity leave when I decided to take the plunge and become self employed, I didn't know if it would work out but I am glad I did it as it's allowed me to have the hands on approach to parenting I was hoping for. Of course this is not possible f......

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A busy Mums guide to getting Glowing Skin

When you become a parent time does two things, it moves faster than before and you have far less of it to yourself. Suddenly I look in the mirror and I see I am no longer that 20 something free spirited woman with little responsibly other than looking after myself and now I see a a mother in her thirties full of love for my boys but also with a few more lines than before from years spent becoming comfortable with myself. Over these years I have discovered how important taking time for basic self care is really important and here are a few simple tips on keeping that skin glow going no matter how busy you are.  Hydration Hydration is the cure all to your body’s needs. Drinking eight 8oz. glasses of water a day is what doctors recommend as the minimum water intake. Water flushes out toxins in your body, whether it’s pollution from the outside world, poor ingredients from food you’ve eaten, or from having a little too much fun at the bars the night before, H2O will t......

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Climbing high at Bluestone National Park Resort

My eldest can at times be a bit of an over thinker, he loves the outdoors but occasionally feels unsure and while of course we want to instil personal responsibility and love that he takes well calculated risks, equally we don't want him to miss out on amazing experiences because he doesn't have the confidence to take part. I think facing and conquering things that make us feel a little nervous or gets our adrenaline pumping is a good thing for building your self esteem.  He has done a fair bit of low level bouldering at a local bouldering centre but has never gone very high so we were really happy to see he was so keen to take on the tree climb at Camp Smokey at Bluestone National Resort . We booked this activity early on during our midweek stay and he couldn't wait for the morning to come and was up and ready to go as soon as the sun came up. It was a very fresh morning with the winter sunshine flowing through the tall trees of Camp Smokey. Once ......

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4 things to keep your kids inspired to learn this winter

So close and yet so far. We’re slowly closing in on the end of the school year. With just a few months left, you’ll want your child to finish out the year with enthusiasm and success. As parents it’s our job to give our children the necessary resources to excel. With about a quarter of the year remaining our youngsters might be a bit burnt out. If you think your little girl or guy is in need of a little boost, equip them with a couple of these essential items. New Shoes Being in the same environment everyday will inevitably produce monotonous results. Seeing the same things everyday leads to doing the same thing. Give your child a new outlook and confidence boost with a new pair of shoes. Not only will they look good, but they’ll feel confident as they strut their stuff in their footware. Confidence leads to raised hands and hand raising leads to better learning. We opted for a pair of Dr Martens for my eldest, check out the post I did about their kids school shoes ......

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5 Ways To Make your Home more Energy Efficient

Today, finding an easy way to help out our rather struggling planet, without making one’s own life difficult, can be challenging. One of the easiest ways we, on the individual level, can try and do so is by improving the energy efficiency of our homes. Not only does this improvement produce cost savings for us as the homeowners, but while doing so, it simultaneously helps the health of our environment! Energy efficiency of a home can be achieved in many different ways, and here are the five simplest (and cheapest) ways to make a difference. 1, Temperature Control - Nobody likes having a chilly house during the winter, and sometimes blankets don’t really do the trick. Insulation is a great way to warm one’s house. Apart from making one’s home cosier during the winter, it also gives the bill at the end of the month a cosier touch! Heating and cooling one’s home is one of the most expensive and highest energy-consuming activities. Having an adjustable thermostat means reducing......

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Stylish clothes for out-going Boys

As you may already know 2017 is the year that we as a family are striving to become far more conscious about what we purchase and bring into the home. We are leaning towards the rapidly popular minimalist movement and have set myself a minimalist challenge but there are still things you simply cannot go without and being the parents to two healthy growing young boys we know how important it is that when it comes to choosing clothes that are going to last an be worth the money we have to part with. As adults we at times sacrifice comfort for style but when it comes to children you simply can’t do that as comfort means they are more likely going to be happy with what they are wearing and if they uncomfortable it simply won’t work and being a parent of two very out-going kids I can vouch for that. We have made the mistake of doing this in the past and it’s surprising how sensitive kids can be when it comes to how something is tailored or cut, even down to socks and vests, both ......

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Celebrating National Handwriting Day

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #CollectiveBias As some of you may already know today is National Hand Writing Day and there is something really wonderful about putting pen to paper in this digital world we live in. Ever since I had my youngest each year I write him a letter which I will present to him on his 21st Birthday. They are simply documentations of our times together, memories, antidotes and milestones. I know we will all enjoy reading them in years to come and that is what is so fantastic about actually writing a letter and having a material thing to hold onto.  There is also something very therapeutic about picking up a pen and writing and the freedom that brings, you can decorate your words and paper, add pictures and get creative in a way that is far more instant than if you tried to replicate it digitally and there is something about it that I will never get bored of. ......

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Building your child’s self-esteem with #LoveYourselfProject

As parents we all want to see our children turn into confident young adults, to have a self belief that they can achieve the goals they set themselves and that they have a positive body image. However that is easier said than done when we live in such a manic and at times judgemental society. From the moment we wake up we are bombarded with unrealistic ideas of what life should be like, from the magazine you look through at breakfast time with size zero models peddling watches equivalent to a down payment on a house and telling you "you deserve it" is a little out of proportion if you ask me. Of course we want to see our children be successful but also have an idea of what really makes one happy as well as gratitude and moderation. As adults we can also forget how children process information and while we often let things go, mean words in social settings such as a school playground or passing comment from an adult who is overworked and over tired can leave a la......

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Creating the perfect minimalist workspace

As they say a messy home is a messy mind and if you work from home that can certainly affect your productivity as well as creativity. Most home offices are fairly limited in space and can easily become cluttered if you don't keep on top of things and even if the house is not anywhere near minimalist (as is mine right now…I’m working on that) than at least try and make your workstation as simple as possible and a space that allows you to think clearly and work more efficiently. So how do you go about creating a minimalist (or at-least clutter free) haven to work from ? Find a Quite spo t with lots of natural light- besides your laptop and possibly your mobile phone, you really want to be as far away from any other technology or distractions such as TV, and Hi-Fi. It’s also important to find somewhere that is preferable light and airy, loft conversions are usually great for this as they have large roof windows that help full the room with sunshine.    A s......

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Slow down at Karma, St Martins

With these short days and dark nights my mind certainly wanders to memories of the fantastic adventures we had over 2016, especially that of our trip to the Isles of Scilly. It was on my bucket list of 40 things to do before I'm 40 and it was a wonderful as I thought it would be, in fact if your looking for a place to really slow down, relax and disconnect from the rest of the world this is the place! During our trip we spent the first few days on St Martins and then two nights on St Mary's, both equally wonderful but both with a completely different feel. St Martins certainly captures that slow lived feeling where everything is laid back, wifi is slow at best (which is perfect if you want to get away from it all) the island is practically traffic free apart from one or two vehicles and much time is spent relaxing and looking out across the sea and crystal waters. During our time on St Martins, we stayed at the fantastic and luxurious Karma Hotel which is p......

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10 ways to bring simplicity to your home

So as some of you may already know I've set myself a Minimalist challenge for 2017, which means our family is having a major sort out in the aim of cleaning our home , minds and leave behind only what truly makes us happy and things that bring joy into our lives. A few weeks in and I am already learning a lot about myself and the reality of trying to minimise a whole home that is crammed with not only toys, books, DVD's and everything else in-between but also lots of memories and sentimental things, but what I can say is once you start to sort through things it does slowly get easier, letting go becomes easier but it's not something you can do overnight so I thought I would share my top 10 ways to simplify your home this year and make it a place that is calm away from the chaos. 1. Get rid of Stuff Daily - Okay so yes this may seem obvious but there is one thing talking about it and another thing actually putting this change to practice and even a small declutter ......

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