Month: August 2017

Travelling with kids 

When we become parents we don’t wish to give up the opportunity to travel, however travelling with kids can be daunting and overwhelming to say the very least. Being a parent doesn’t mean you can’t travel, it just means you may have to travel slighlty differently. Taking the kids along on your holidays doesn’t have to be painful and I’ve got a few tips that might help! 


Personally we have only travelled by car with our little ones, they have yet to experience air travel. Travelling by car has its perks, in that we have an immediate way to get around the destination and we can stop whenever needed to give the kids a break. However just as car travel has its perks, it also has its negatives, such as the added length of time needed to reach the destination, the boredom the children face from being strapped in the car for hours and the lack of being able to move around without stopping and losing yet more time. 

I’ve found the best way to tackle travelling with kids has been organisation. It is impossible to have a smooth trip, without being adequately organised. I start packing days before we leave and have a huge checklist that I slowly tick off and even add to, as I remember other things we need. Having a 9 month old means we always take a portacot with us, it’s cumbersome and takes up a lot of boot space, however I don’t like relying on cots supplied from accommodation. It’s not always to our standards and is often forgotten. We pack bottles  half full of water for the car and a thermos of hot water to add to ensure the temperature is just right. I used to put formula into travel containers but found this unnecessary in the car, so I just have the whole tin in an easy to reach spot and add it straight from there. (I still pack our empty travel formula containers, to use while on holiday) 

We are lucky enough to have a dual screen DVD player in the car that was gifted to my eldest for her birthday and that thing has been a favourite since it was installed. It may not be everyone’s idea of entertaining children but it works for us. We also have toys in reach for the girls to play with and snacks upon snacks readily available at any given moment. 

We have a double pram and tend to pack that whenever we have the space, however an umbrella stroller and carrier can work just as well and take up much less space in the boot. Another thing we have found helpful when packing the boot is to pack the kids clothes in a small bag each and our clothes in one large bag, it allows us to make the most of the small available areas that always tend to appear when stacking a boot. 

Travelling with kids, toddlers and babies can be daunting and does mean that you usually travel with a lot of extra things but with a lot of organisation and smart use of the space in your car  it can be (nearly) painfree. 

We have yet to travel by air with the kiddies but the moment we do, I’ll be sure to share my tips on that too. If you have any tips please comment them below. If you have found my post helpful please like and share. 
Until next time 

BCM 

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The terrible twos! 

The terrible twos, we’ve all heard of it, a lot of us have experienced it and others are dealing with it right now. But how terrible are the ‘terrible twos’? 

I’m the latter, I’m completely in the middle of the terrible twos, we’ve got the tantrums and the blantant disregard of rules. But is it terrible? No, I don’t think so, I think there is a lot more to a toddler than we realise. 

I know a lot of people think this generation is too soft on their kids, but I think that is utter bullshit. We may parent differently than older generations but it doesn’t mean it’s the wrong way to parent – it’s just that, different.

I think the terrible twos are the time in a toddler’s life we they are beginning to learn about their emotions and how to handle and process them correctly. I know even as an adult,  this can be an extremely hard skill to master. (Some days I totally want to throw myself on the ground when I don’t get my way) Feelings are difficult to understand and toddlers are experiencing new ones all the time. It can be really overwhelming to feel extremely upset about something that they aren’t able (allowed) to do simply because they are too young or small. And that’s where pushing the boundaries begins to come into it, once they realise that they are aren’t allowed to do certain things, such as take toys off their sister (I wonder who does that?!) they want to find out if that rule applies every time and to everyone or only in that particular situation – I guess it really is the best way to learn. 

So I say that for the most part the terrible twos are not actually ‘terrible’, they are simply the phase in a child’s life where they are beginning to understand their emotions and that they have to behave a certain way, and sometimes it just becomes way too much!

Of course I’m not saying sometimes children aren’t naughty – because they are (don’t I know it) but I don’t believe in saying a particular age is terrible. Lets be real, children can be naughty at any age! 
Until next time, 

BCM

Baby names we love but won’t be using… part 2 

Hi again, 

Last year I shared baby names we love but won’t be using and thought that I’d do it again, seeing as we had another visit to the baby books for our newest baby and had to go through the naming process all over again. (Isn’t that one of the hardest parts of having a baby) 
1.


This was a name my husband wanted for Rhemy, I liked it, but didn’t love it. We revisited it for Miami as he still really liked it, but I couldn’t commit. 

2. 

This one I still love and my husband likes it too. It was a contender, but I guess Miami was just the winner this time.

3. 

This was our boys name, we found out the gender of baby #2 as well, so we didn’t look at many boys names. 

4. 

This was my baby girl name for as long as I can remember. I really don’t know why it wasn’t used for either girls, I guess it just never felt right.

5. 

Simple and elegant. I love this name, my husband loves this name. Just not enough. 

6. 

I love this name for a girl, my husband wouldn’t budge! 

7. 

We talked about Rosie, it has sentimental value to us, but I just didn’t like it with our surname. 

8. 

I loved this for a girl, my husband didn’t hate it, but just wasn’t as big of a fan

9. 

This was a high contender for Miami, we both really liked it, and then I changed my mind! 

I’d love to hear your names that you love but won’t be using, post them below in the comments. Share around with your friends and see their names, it can be a great source for names for other parents. It can be fun to see what a couples baby could have been named, etc.

Until next time 
BCM