Wordless Wednesday: Made in Love

Wordless Wednesday: Made in Love

5 Crafty Projects Your Kids Will Love

Content provided by Janice

Doing crafts is a great way to spend an afternoon, particularly if the weather’s not so nice outside.
Check out these amazing ideas to get some inspiration for your own crafty projects.

Cupcake Baking
Baking is a great way to keep your kids occupied and will hopefully teach them more about how to operate in a kitchen too. Cupcakes can be as plain or fancy as you like, but with the proliferation of interesting cupcake recipes around these days it’d be a shame not to try some out. Encourage your kids to experiment with different recipes and hopefully this will start them off making taste suggestions of their own.

Make Your Own Fancy Dress
Most parents, when confronted with the prospect of a fancy dress party, will opt for the ease of shopping at Fancy Dress Empire Ltd. But the more intrepid parents will spend a little more time creating costumes that are truly original. Not only is costume making a great activity to do with your kids, but it’s a great way to recycle old clothes that aren’t used any more. And fancy dress isn’t just suitable for parties – it can also be used for putting on home performances.

Write and Perform Your Own Play
Getting your kids to write their own play is the perfect rainy day activity. Not only will it fire up your kids’ imaginations and get them thinking creatively, but putting on a play in the comfort of your home is the perfect way to encourage a shy child to come out of their shell.Historical events aregreat sources of inspiration, which will get your children thinking actively about history in a way that is interesting and fun for them.

Create Artwork
Artwork can take many forms, so creating art is the perfect project for kids of any age. For really little ones, a finger painting station is a fascinating way to spend an afternoon. For older children, card silhouettes, stencils, pencils, paints and crayons can be used to create amazing artworks which can then be hung on the wall or fridge.

Make Your Own Stuffed Animals
All kids love stuffed animals, but the ones they love the most are the ones which have real meaning. Making your own stuffed animal is a great way to give your kids a new friend who they’ll adore for a long time. You can use almost anything to create stuffed animals, from felt and wool to old gloves or socks.

5 Crafty Projects Your Kids Will Love

3 Tips for Breastfeeding in Public

Content provided by Janice

Breastfeeding is one of the most beautiful and rewarding experiences of motherhood. It’s a perfectly
natural and special wayfor babies and mothers to form a unique bond, not to mention thatbreast milk is renowned the world-over for its mesmerising healing and nutritional benefits. For first-time mums, however, breastfeeding can often be a tricky challenge with latching difficulties and painful problems. But there’s plenty of support to be found both online and amongst your family and friends so don’t feel afraid to reach out for advice. As you get more confident, you might want to take your little one out and about with you. Here are a few tips that can help you take those first steps.

Figure out How You Feel

It’s a good idea to figure out how you feel about breastfeeding in public before you step out to enhance your confidence. Decide how much you’d like to be covered or not, if you prefer to be in a group or alone and what type of environment you think you’d be comfortable in so that you can plan ahead.

Plan ahead

Remember that you have a legal right to breastfeed in public as the Equality Act of 2010 has made it against the law for anyone to ask a breastfeeding woman to leave a public place such as a café, shop or public transport. Although it is sad that a law has had to be passed in the first place, it’s still a good idea to prepare what you would say if you were confronted. Depending on where you are going, have a quick think about possible places you could breastfeed such as a bench, café or even a dressing room if you like privacy.

Wear Comfortable Clothes

Keep clothes comfortable when breastfeeding and figure out what works best for you. There are some great options for maternity wear nowadays that make accessibility much easier. Some mums like to lift up their top whereas others like wearing two stretchy tops so that the top layer can be lifted up and the bottom layer can be pulled down. Be sure to stick to soft non-underwired bras that can be easily moved aside when you want to feed too.

Breastfeeding is a natural process that you shouldn’t feel ashamed of at all. Providing your baby with essential nutrition as well as love, warmth and care matters more than feeling inappropriate in public. That being said it is each to their own. Everyone is entitled to their opinion so just work out what feels right for you. Just remember that the more you build up confidence and experience, the easier it will be!




photo credit: c r z via photopin cc

3 Tips for Breastfeeding in Public

What is Unassisted Childbirth?

The question floats around the interweb now and again: what's the definition of Unassisted Childbirth?
I want to have a birth with a midwife but do it unassisted, is this still unassisted childbirth?

I was having this discussion in a forum and wanted to share the definition with you all.

UC is birthing without medical assistance. This draws a pretty clear line. There can be as many or as few people at your side, they can be doula's or family or friends...
The line is philosophical. If you have a midwife or OB present, even if they're knitting in another room, then you have the need to have a medically accredited person present. Hence, you accept childbirth as a medical instance. That's ok, but it's not unassisted childbirth, this is called a hand's off midwife assisted delivery.

Women who consciously choose unassisted childbirth often come to that decision - either consciously or unconsciously - because of the conviction that a routine childbirth is not a medical event, but a natural one. Just like going to the bathroom, having sex or breastfeeding.

As a little sidenote: viewing a process as natural does not mean you don't acknowledge the possibility of complication. It's the difference between viewing everything as a potential complication and handling complication as it arrises.

What is Unassisted Childbirth?