Supporting the youngest in the classroom

Sophie is the youngest in her kindy group, and will likely be the youngest in her school cohort next year. And while I don't have any plans to keep her back (once she finally started talking, learning things has been quick for her, thatnks to her siblings) I do worry a bit about how she will transition to school and cope with learning the skills required. So when I connected with Allison from Jack the Wombat, I asked her if she would help me out with some tips. And I'm guessing if they'll help me, they'll probably help someone else, too.

Starting school is hard for parents

This is a guest post by Rebecca Bowyer from Seeing the Lighter Side .

You know that moment when your shiny new parenting gig turns to crap around 6 weeks after you bring baby home? The ‘Why didn’t anyone tell me this?’ moment, where you’re sure nobody ever mentioned how soul-sucking constant sleep deprivation is, how painful breastfeeding can be and how you may not actually love that little bundle of joy every second of every day.

5 tips to help kids (and parents) with anxiety | guest post

Inside - A psychologist shares her back to school tips for helping kids with anxiety

Has someone in your house got the back to school blues?

Twelve months ago I became a school mum for the first time. My five year old was off to Primary School. It was a big step.

He has never been a child who coped well with new things and he did NOT like to be separated from me but he loved his preschool year and I figured that starting school might be a little nerve-wracking at first - for both of us – but we’d get into the swing of it after a week or so.

Well it took him about five weeks to settle in. Five weeks until he stopped asking me to stay in the classroom with him. Five weeks until he would sit at his table and start the morning’s activities, chatting to his classmates, rather than hanging firmly by my side. It was five weeks before, on pickup, he said he had a great day and regaled me with stories of what he did at play time rather than tell me it was, ‘okay’ and nothing more.

I expected this stuff. I know him well. What I did not expect was the tantrums, the acting out and the generally difficult behaviour that occurred in the two weeks before school even began and well into those first five weeks.

Starting school, and starting a new school year after the long summer holidays, can be a cause for real anxiety for some kids. 

There are a number of symptoms you might pick up on, including:

• Complaints of physical symptoms such as headaches, stomach aches, nausea, and diarrhoea. These might occur in the days, maybe even weeks leading up to the start of the school year but may be particularly prevalent in the hours before you set off on the school run.
• Behavioural signs such as tantrums, inflexibility, clinginess, avoidance and defiance (that’s what I got from Mr 5 last year.) 

What causes it?

Kids, like adults, can be fearful of new situations and starting a new school year, even if they have been at that school for years already, is new and different. A new classroom, new teacher, new classmates. This can be compounded if there is something additionally new for your child this year. Maybe a new campus, new playground or even something exciting like a new leadership role. It’s all different and that can unsettle the best of us.

Additionally, some children can harbour deeper fears that they may not be able to put into words; the fear that something might happen to a loved one while they are at school, or they may not do as well this year as they expect of themselves. Some kids may fear another student if they have experienced bullying or social difficulties in the past.

What can we do to help? 

Try talking to your child about what might be worrying them and reassure them if you can. This will be easier with older rather than little kids who might not yet have the language and ability to understand or express their fears. Even older kids might find it tough, however, and you might need to do a bit of probing and careful questioning to uncover the issue. 

Explore and establish a support system at school. Chat to you child about friends they have in their class, teachers or other staff they feel comfortable with and who they might go to if they are feeling sad or anxious at school. 

Relaxation is great for kids and adults alike when dealing with anxiety. Simple, kid-friendly mindfulness techniques can help kids to get less caught up in their thoughts and worries. Lying in bed and listening to outside noises such as birds and street sounds for a minute or on waking can help set them up for the day. 

Get them out and about to play. This is a great distraction if kids are getting anxious about the approach of the school year. Physical play like running, trampolining, climbing, swimming, ball play and bike riding does wonders for kids’ mental wellbeing as well as their physical health. It also helps their sleep, their concentration, their social skills (when playing with others) and it has been shown to help their ability to cope with emotional challenges.

Laughter! This is a wonderful way to shift a negative mood to a positive one and it has been shown to soothe physical tension and to help the body relax. Pull funny faces, tickle, make a joke or watch silly cartoons. A great distraction from anxiety too.

My boy hasn’t shown any signs of worry about the beginning of the new school yet but two weeks is a long time when you’re six. I have no doubt there are tantrums and difficult behaviour on the horizon. But I know what to expect this year and I know what to do about it. Hopefully you do now too.

Onwards and upwards,

Ellen.

P.S. If anxiety about school continues for more than six weeks into term, if you are concerned about the degree of anxiety your child is experiencing or if symptoms of school anxiety are becoming too difficult to manage please see your GP who can refer you to a psychologist. Many psychologists are now able to bulk bill their services through Medicare.

About Ellen

Ellen is a Psychologist, writer and mum. Melbourne-born she spent most of her 20s and 30s in Sydney and now lives in beautiful Ballarat, in the Victorian Goldfields. Ellen writes stuff to inspire, to inform and sometimes to challenge. She knows a lot about how people work at work, how people are different and unique and how people make the most out of life. Ellen blogs at www.potential.com.au. If you’d like to ask a question or share a story she’d love to hear from you. You can email her at psych@potential.com.au.

the best bits of queensland {guest post}

Today's guest post is from my friend Annmarie, from Annie's Lane

Cate is celebrating living in Queensland longer than living south of the border (V.I.C). After living in Queensland for only 18mths I’m going to share with you what I love about living in Queensland.

Richard Marks once sang ‘Oh those endless summer night’s” after our first week of living up here I think I was ready to die from the heat day & night. I started dreaming of snow angels. But it took a while to get use to. I’m still on the lookout for a really good hat to suit the climate up here. I feel now that I’m coping better with this heat. After I stopped whinging about the heat…..I started to enjoy having the warmer days nearly all year round.

We live in Brisbane, which is so wonderful to live in a capital city. We are 1 hour from the Gold Coast (Goldy as the locals say) 1 hour from the Sunshine Coast (sunny coast). Right smack bang in the middle of it all. Brisbane is the BEST city to live if you have children. After living in Sydney & Melbourne, Brissy seems to be more family orientated. A few things to back this up….

What my family love about Queensland

The park’s there are so many. Always somewhere to go and have a BBQ or a picnic, very well looked after.

The Theme Parks, need I say more…

South Bank (where Expo ‘88’ was) always something going on there ALWAYS.

The free stuff, they have free swimming pools or lagoons as they call them. Most people would think or have been to Street’s Beach at South Bank. Great in the middle of summer to go late in the arvo give the kids a quick swim. This is a big hit with my children. 

The Beach now if you don’t mind getting a bit of Sand between your toes you can go for a drive to one of the many beaches Queensland has to offer, the added bonus of QLD’s longer summer means more time to swim.

 Brisbane Roar after moving we needed a winning team to support.

A hidden gem I thought I found but the locals had kept it a secret was Maleny. Not to mention how good the cheese is at Kenilworth I was told about this little gem and had to make my hubby drive the long way home just to buy cheese.

Find Annmarie on facebook

the view from home {guest post}

Today's guest poster is Amy from Actually Amy

So Cate is celebrating living longer in Queensland than living in Victoria and I wanted to share some things that I miss about living in Queensland.

You see we moved from the Central Queensland coast to the Pilbara region of Western Australia towards the end of 2012 for my husband’s work and whilst we are enjoying living here I still miss Queensland immensely.

I'm not quite sure what it is exactly about Queensland that I miss. Some would say my family, but they sure ring me often enough to make sure I don't get a chance to miss them (joking!).

The thing is that QLD is just well QLD, if you've lived there you'll know what I mean.  But the people, the atmosphere, the wildlife it's all great. Overall it's a pretty friendly place. And I guess there I'm not referred to someone from 'over east'.

You see, Western Australia is very different from the rest of Australia. It certainly feels like a different country sometimes and I'm not saying that in a derogatory way, so you Western Australians can stop feeling offended! The terminology is different, Rugby League is not simply Footy, they call it Rugby here. Where I'm from if you were talking about Rugby you were talking about Rugby Union.

Devon is polony, desserts are sweets, shoes or runners are sneakers, swimmers or togs are bathers, the list just goes on! I've even heard soft drink being referred to as soda! See it IS like living in a different country.

I can tell you one thing I DON'T miss about Queensland, it's the cane toads. For the first few months here it was strange going outside and not seeing any. The kids kept asking where they were too. Now we just don't notice that they aren't around. It makes a nice change from finding them everywhere.

Would I move back to Queensland? If B got offered a super great job then yes, but until that day I think I just have to go on remembering about how big cane toads can get!

Queensland in the 80s {guest post}

Today's guest post for Queensland Week is from Holly at Simplify.Create.Inspire.

When I was 4 years and 11 months old, my family moved to Queensland. The year was 1988. Before that time we were living in the small town of Portland, Victoria, towards the end of the great ocean home and the place of the first convict settlement in Victoria. Looking back, it was a place filled with some fairly unique history. 

While I was too young to remember it clearly, I have flashing memories of our big trip to Queensland. We travelled up in 2 cars. One was blue and the  other brown. One may have been a Valiant Charger... still Dad's favourite model of car. One of the cars also had a trailer attached. We had CV radios connecting us (mum, dad, my brother and I) to my sister and her boyfriend in the other car. 

family

I remember going down Cunningham Gap as we neared Queensland and having mum say it was a bit 'hairy' and asking her how on earth the road could be hairy? What she actually meant was "This is really freaking scary as our breaks have failed and a truckie just said over the CV radio that his mate crashed over the edge last week and died". Glad I was too young to remember that part of the trip. 

We lived with my mum's older brother and family for about a month or so. We lived in the big shed, while my sister and boyfriend lived in a caravan. I remember waking up for my first day of school in that shed, in my bed, unable to open my eyes as I had conjunctivitis and missed around a week of the start of grade 1.

Soon after starting primary school in Queensland we moved into our own home. An old Queenslander style double story house. I loved that it had a massive front veranda that I could play on and a window that opened from my playroom onto the veranda. Crime wasn't really an issue back then compared to now.

We had an above ground pool installed in the backyard soon after we moved in. We spent so much time in that pool since the weather was hot enough for it. So much fun! I had a swing set and trampoline too.

3 years later we moved house again. Another old Queenslander, this time with a massive inground swimming pool and 1/4 acre block. So much of my summer was spent outside. I loved the summer weather and being able to get up and go straight for a swim in the morning, then lay in the sun reading a book for hours. That probably explains all the freckles I have now. Red hair and tanning isn't such a great combination.

I am now 31. I've lived in Queensland since I was almost 5 years old. I feel like a Queenslander... not a Victorian. I am a hot weather loving, sunshine-type of gal. While I don't necessarily need the beach nearby, I love being able to spend my days outside in the sun or get away with shorts and t-shirt most of the year. Winters in Queensland are mild, just the way I prefer it. Victorian winters can be awful!

Although if you ask me who I support in the state of origin... I will gladly tell you neither... as I am a Victorian, but in actual fact it's because I simply hate football! But if you ask me where I'm from... Queensland comes to mind first these days.

Don't get me wrong... I still love visiting my home state and seeing relatives and reminiscing. But I belong here in Queensland. This is my home! 

I’m Holly. Aussie mum of one, part time professional, small time small business owner, life long student, travel addict, amateur photographer & DIY-er. I have a lot for all things creative and am on a journey to turn my creative mess into life simplified, all while trying to survive the work life balance and have a whole lot of fun along the way. Facebook  |  twitter  |  pinterest

twenty years in Queensland {guest post}

Today marks twenty years since my family and I arrived in Queensland. It also marks the start of Queensland Week celebrations this year. I thought a week of guest posts about people living in Queensland (and one far, far from home) was a good way to celebrate.

To kick it off, here's part my story, as told by my mum.

photo from my sister's balcony

Have you ever made a decision that you thought was the best one for you and your family, put it into action, found that it totally destroyed your life as you knew it but in the long run was probably the best thing that could have happened to you?

In late July 1993, a one week family (well most of the family) holiday from Victoria lasted 3 weeks. It started as a 2 day road trip to a favourite northern holiday location but that place had changed so much that, after one night, it was back in the car and driving further north.

Next stop on the road, half a day further on, was a small but very ‘touristy’ village. After a one night stay, the next day saw a drive further north. The intended destination was at least another day or two away.

An early start and 8 hours drive and we’d earned a short detour to a place we’d heard of but never been to. The error (or was it a fortunate decision) to ask for information from the people who should know the area culminated in booking scuba dive lessons on the Great Barrier Reef in the Whitsundays.

Absolutely magical.

We not only learnt to breath underwater, but seeing the amazing sights of the Great Barrier Reef changed what was important in our lives.

That clinched it Going back to our mundane jobs, although at our own ridiculously successful business, just wasn’t enough.

He couldn’t do it

She said ok.

The rest is history

4 months later and 2 flying trips to the Whitsundays saw the decision put into action.

Bought the property, started the process of changing the business structure, spent our first Christmas holiday as a family in beautiful Queensland, and planned when the final move would take place.

June 1^st 1994 was the first day of this lifestyle.

And we still haven't made it to the final destination on that fateful holiday.

guest post | a bloggy baby shower for me!

Hello friends of Cate! My name is Deb ~ I blog over at PaperTurtle, and I’m throwing an online baby shower for our dear Cate.

Since Cate lives in Australia and I'm in the US, it would be a bit tricky {if not impossible} for me to host an actual baby shower in her honor. And since we have been blog friends for over three years now, it kind of makes more sense to do it the bloggy way.

You're all invited ~ and you don't necessarily have to have a blog to join in the fun!

There are a few different ways you can participate:

Create an 8"x 8" scrapbook page to be included in a scrapbook for Cate.

Photograph the layout and create a blog post to publish on Wednesday, May 29, 2013.

Link to my Bloggy-baby Shower blog post on that day and join the party!

(I will provide more specific details as that date gets closer.)

or

Create a baby-blog post to publish on May 29, 2013 and link to mine.

Your post should include something mommy-baby related.

Ideas include: helpful tips/advice, a game you've played at a

baby shower, baby photos of yourself or family members...

basically anything random and baby-ish.

or

If you don't have a blog but still want to create a layout for

Cate's scrapbook, you are more than welcome to do that as well.

♥ ♥ ♥

Scrapbook layout specifics ~ Are you ready for a challenge?

In order to have some sort of cohesiveness throughout

Cate's baby album, please use the following guidelines:

♥ The base must be a white, 8"x 8" piece of cardstock. You can use textured or flat, you can embellish it like crazy, but please start with white.

♥ Please leave space on your layout for a 4"x 6" photo that Cate can add later on.

♥ Cate loves the color purple {They don't call her PurpleCrazyMum for nothin'!} so please use purple in your layout, and feel free to incorporate other colors as you see fit. I'm planning to use pink and purple on mine.

♥ If you plan to use a specific theme {i.e. bath time, Daddy time, a nursery rhyme} please let me know before you begin designing your page. I will keep a list of specific page themes so that we don't end up with duplicate subject matters.

♥ When your layout is complete, mail it to me. I will gather all of the pages in a scrapbook to send to Cate. If you plan to do a blog post and link to my blog {PaperTurtle} on the day of the shower {Wednesday, May 29}, photograph your layout before sending it my way. :o)

♥ Please RSVP for the bloggy-baby shower by leaving a comment on this post. Make sure that your comment provides a way for me to contact you {either by way of a link to your blog or an email address}.

I will remind you of this fun event over the course of the next five weeks, but until then, I will leave you to your creative thinking process!

I've tried to cover all the bases, but I'm sure there's something I've left out!

Please leave a comment and let me know if you have any questions,

and also let me know if you plan to "attend" Cate's Bloggy-baby shower.

Ooooh...I'm so excited for us to do this for Cate!

Hooray for baby girls!

{and blog-friend-moms!}

♥

PS: My email address is djturtle{at}cox{dot}net if you need to contact me.

PSS: Thanks, Cate, for having me as a guest blogger today!

100 days to Christmas | shadow box decorating with The Crafty Mummy

 

Hi! I'm Tonya from The Crafty Mummy. Thanks for having me over for your Christmas series, Cate! Today I'm going to share a little Christmas decorating at my place this year. This shadow box is only small but it is making me smile! Although we don't get snow here at Christmas, I spent one Christmas in Japan and my favourite thing was the snow. This project reminds me of that lovely year.

Shadow boxes can be a great craft for kids to try. This little one is only about 15cm square and came in a set of three with 2 larger ones from The Reject Shop. The back pops out so you can slide a picture between the glass and the backing. I used some really dark blue card for "sky" and white paper for the "snowy hill". With a little searching in my stash I found glittery flowers that were perfect for snowflakes. Sequins would be cute too.

Finally the button Christmas tree is one that I made last week. You can find a tutorial over at The Crafty Mummy with all the instructions for one of those: Button Christmas Tree Tutorial. Mine was a little unsteady so a little ball of Blutac fixed that.

100 days to Christmas | Christmas self care {guest post}

Christmas is supposed to be a time full of family, community, friends, cheer, good food and drink. Traditionally for many people it is also a season of stress, with good times often tainted by anxiety, frustration and even fighting with family members.

{source}

As you go about making lists and shopping, baking, crafting, and preparing for big events do not forget a critical item to add to your lists - self care. If you want to increase your holiday spirit rather than arrive at January 1st utterly spent and depleted take some time to put a holiday self care plan in place.

A misconception about self care is that it is all bubble baths and alone time. That is definitely one person's self care priorities but it may not be yours. Self care really means stopping, thinking about what YOU need and honouring that - without guilt or excessive explanations.

Some ways you can build self care in (the list could be endless as we are unique individuals):

Don't overbook yourself 

How much do you want to do? What activities and gatherings make you feel good, happy and full of the spirit of the season? Feel free to cut out things that bring you down, or will tip you over from happy to cranky. If you get 3 invites for the same Saturday choose one that you will truly enjoy and give it your full attention.

Take power naps if needed (or go to bed super early some nights)
Even if you normally get by with less sleep the holidays can be very draining with the go-go-go pace, entertaining and dealing with the shops! Top up your snooze tank when you have the chance. If you have a late night or two, take it easy for a bit and go to bed after a light dinner.

Exercise
It is so easy to let this one go as we are busy, possibly on holiday and out of our usual routine. Kids are at home from school as well. Find some way to keep moving - go for an early or late walk, exercise at home with a DVD, go for a swim... Just move some days rather than just focusing on gifts, foods and activities. It will help you on so many levels from mentally to physically to emotionally. If you have guests it might just be the answer to getting some space - excuse yourself and go for a walk or jog.

Plan healthy meals to counter extra indulgences
Part of the fun of the holidays is all those raised glasses of wine and champagne along with treats made by others, big meals and endless offers of dessert! Enjoy it. Just make sure you balance it with some healthy foods you keep on hand for simpler  meals and snacks plus a good dose of fruits and vegetables. Nothing is worse than getting run down or sick over the holidays. Think of this as pre-emptive self care and don't ignore your health.

Take vitamins
This can also act as a little insurance in the over indulgence stakes.

Take time to do things to fill up your tank
What restores you when you need a break? If you are an introvert and struggling with all the socializing make sure you clear some alone time daily if possible. If you like to write or journal find some time for reflection and creativity. If your in laws are staying with you and you don't get along set up some time with a friend to do your shoppe together or meet for a coffee.

Keep it simple
Cut yourself some slack and remember to focus on the spirit of the season. No one will hold it against you if you bake only 1 dessert for Christmas lunch or if you bring items from a bakery to a party instead of preparing things yourself. It is you that people want, not the perfect present, 5 varieties of baked goods or an immaculate house

Deb Dane blogs at Home LifeSimplified about parenting, household management, organising and changing your mindset. Her aim is to inspire people to get in touch with what is important to them and use those values/priorities as the main building blocks of their life – doing whatever is right for them. 

guest post | simple things in life are the best inspiration

Have you ever searched for inspiration?  Life opens up when you are able to find inspiration in everything you see and do. This can be incredibly important to living a fulfilling life. For people with chronic illness or disease, inspiration can be the thin thread that keeps you hanging on through the tough times. 

Every moment can be special and memorable. Walking in the woods, listening to a waterfall cascade down rocks, watching flowers bloom, enjoying time with children, travelling the world (or even your own city), anything and everything can be inspirational, if you allow it to be. 

For many people, it can sometimes be difficult to feel inspired. For me, I try to look at everything with fresh eyes and an open mind. At any given moment, I may feel compelled to illustrate a quote, write an article, take a photograph, or create a scrapbook page. The flower in the quote actually came from a photograph I took of a flower my ten year old is growing in our kitchen window.

I also find incredible inspiration from other bloggers and when I discovered Life Behind the Purple Door, I was delighted with so much inspiration provided seemingly without effort. Being able to do a guest post for such a wonderful blog is an inspiration in itself for me, thank you for the opportunity. 

One example of how Life Behind the Purple Door inspires me is with the Less Pinterest More Do Section. In particular, a scrap lift was recently posted here and I created a page (see below) inspired by it! 

 

The dandelion near a sidewalk, the smell of earth after a rain, the rushing of traffic, are all examples of simple common everyday things that most of us forget to even notice, much less be inspired by.  Please remember the best inspirations tend to come from the simplest things in our lives that we tend to overlook.

 

May you all find a little unexpected inspiration in your life today! 

Todays post was created by Emily over at My Inspired Life with Fibromyalgia Blog.  Emily is a SAHM of two living in Oregon who is trying to increase Fibromyalgia Awareness by sharing her experiences and inspirations in life on her blog. Her hobbies are finding inspiration, digital scrapbooking, writing, painting, and spending time with her family. You can find it her at Facebook, Twitter, and her Blog.

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Emily and I met during the Blogging Olympics, hosted by Caylie from Better Business Better Life, which I found by clicking on a link at Our Little Sins (which I also found by following a link from somewhere)