mumlife

5 smart tips on getting your kid ready for kindergarten without tears

06/01/2021 By Savanna Robinson Leave a Comment

Are you at that point of life where your kid is ready to begin kindergarten? Or first year of schooling? Whatever they call it where you live. It can be a daunting and harrowing time for both parent and child, so we try to do everything we can to make the transition as tear free as possible. I’m at this point again in my life this year. The eldest finished up her schooling journey a year ago, but now the youngest is set to begin kindergarten in 2021. So I’ve put together 5 smart tips on getting your kid ready for kindergarten without tears from my experiences the first time round with daughter #1, many years as a kindergarten teacher and this year’s journey with daughter #2.

5 smart tips on getting your kid ready for kindergarten without tears — Getting your kid ready for kindergarten

Tip 1- Preschooling

The number one tip to help in getting your kid ready for kindergarten (ie first year of schooling) is to make sure your child has some form of preschooling. Whether this be an actual preschool they attend, a preschool program at your daycare centre or at minimum going to a regular playgroup, it is a vital step to a successful transition to formal schooling. Your kid needs to have been away from your side (or your extended family) and worked on socialising with other adults and children.

During my experiences teaching kindergarten for many years it is the children who have never been away from their family for any time that have the hardest time adjusting to kindergarten. They are scared, may cry for weeks and don’t know how to interact with an adult and other children who will not just give in to their immediate demands. And as more demands are made on the curriculum requirements for these children beginning school each year it keeps getting harder for those with no preschooling opportunities.

Tip 2- Preparation

Start getting your child ready for kindergarten transition as early as you can. My 4 year old has been a little bit anxious about kindergarten since the beginning of last year when her little cousin who she’d spend time being cared for at her grandparents place started big school himself. So we had to work on reassuring her that kindergarten was still a year away for her and that she’d do many things that would help her not feel anxious or scared about it (some of which didn’t eventuate due to Covid restrictions, but still helped her feel more prepared and ready as she neared this milestone).

If in a preschooling program many of these preparations will be covered in that, but it doesn’t hurt to cover these at home too. Involve your kid in talks about how they will soon go to kindergarten as they are growing up. Touch on things they may do there at big school and that you will be getting ready for this exciting time. If they express any fears about what is to come, talk through that and work out a plan you can work on together to overcome those fears. Read stories or watch videos about starting school.

Participate in orientation programs the school provides when you are enrolled for the next year. In Australian schools these are usually in Term 4 of school. Pre-Covid orientations involved parent introductions to the school and services and usually 3 or 4 sessions for the children to visit and experience ‘big school’. 2020 made those orientations quite difficult for kids starting kindergarten this year. Every school around our state managed orientation in their own different way and adhering to social distancing requirements. Our little miss got a one hour visit where she watched a video and then made a Humpty Dumpty and did some tracing practice. She then came home with the library bag the school give each child starting and a booklet of information about starting school. Parents didn’t get to have their usual meeting, but were provided all information about the school via a link posted on the school’s social media page.

Tip 3- Practise

Now when I say practise I’m not just referring to the skills that your child will need to complete work in Kindergarten. Yes, your child should have experience with using pencils to draw, trace and colour, talking to other children and adults, looking at books and counting objects. But they need to also practise doing other tasks that are involved in a school day.

Things such as

Being able to dress themselves with everything ready for school.
Put on and take off items off like shoes, socks, jumpers, jackets, hats.
Open a lunch box or snack container.
Open packets of food – store bought, zip lock bag, gladwrap, etc.
Being able to sit on a child sized chair and pull it closer in to the table.
Being responsible for their own belongings.
Open zippers or clips on school bags.

Tip 4- Requirements

Every kindergarten class has items that your child will need for the year. Be prepared and arrange to have these in advance of the first day. Depending where your school is situated these could include uniforms, school bags, paint shirts, library bags, lunch box, drink bottle, devices, headphones, stationery, tissues, wipes, etc. Contact your school for what exact requirements they have as some can be very brand specific on what they request.

Tip 5- Involvement

Your child will feel more confident and comfortable with the idea of school if they are involved in the collection of their school requirements (see tip 4). Of course uniform shopping is often the easiest one for them to participate in as you need to check sizing and want it to fit now, but also last the school year. Don’t forget school shoes and practise wearing them so they don’t cause blisters on the first week of school!

Then you can ask for their input in items they will take with them every day. Buy a bag in their favourite colour. Test out which lunch boxes your child can open and likes. Involve them in as many of these small decisions as you can to help them feel ready for kindergarten. This is especially important for kids with anxieties.

Good luck

Hopefully these few tips help you manage your transition of getting your kid ready for kindergarten. If you would like some additional ideas for getting your kid ready for kindergarten and big school, see my download here of things teachers will be eternally grateful to you if you implement them. (COMING SOON)

For those looking for some printable activities for the practice with tracing activities see my friend Beck’s page.

To read more on being an organised mum click here.

Why it’s okay to have bored kids.

24/08/2019 By Savanna Robinson Leave a Comment

But I’m bored! Is that a phrase you have heard all too often these days? It seems we’ve become a society that cannot deal with bored kids. And we feel like we have to immediately placate them and fix the boredom with more and more activities. Usually with some sort of technological device in the mix.

Why it's okay to have bored kids- child looking out window covered in raindrops looking sad — Allow a little boredom to happen in their lives. It will be good for them.

Let me say one thing now. Stop it! Right now! You do not have to fix your kid’s boredom. This is not a problem! It is an opportunity!

Our human minds are not designed to be stimulated every moment of the day. They need time away from screens and the constant stimulation in our technologically crowded lives. We need to make sure our children have this down time from these things too.

Boredom sparks creativity

Letting there be bored kids in your life is going to help their creativity; now and later in life. If everything is handed to them, children don’t work out how to tackle challenges that crop up in life. And if they can’t handle the small things now or what to do in the backyard with limited resources, then how can we expect them to deal well with problems as adults.

Creative play is something we want to encourage in our children at an early age. It helps expand their minds and practice lots of skills they need, including using language in different forms. But they often don’t want to use their minds to invent new scenarios to play out if they’re just being fed a constant stream of YouTube videos. They sometimes need to have a bit of boredom as the stimulus to go and use those brains instead.

How to create an environment that supports bored kids?

Firstly, take the technology away. I won’t say it doesn’t have its uses at times, but for boredom to happen, and more creative experiences to occur, you are going to need to take it away from your child for a little bit. And yes, this may mean a few tantrums will happen.

Some of the best things to use to help support your bored kids expand their creative and thinking skills are objects with multiple uses. Children unused to doing some thinking for themselves are not going to cope well if you take the iPad off them and hand them something that has only one possible use (in their minds at least).

Instead try objects that can be a multitude of things. The old classic is the cardboard box. It can be a cubby, a bus, a rocketship or a shop. Other examples could be some paper and craft supplies that they have free reign over, or wooden blocks. Or a simple stick that can be a digging tool, a pen, a magic wand, and a paintbrush.

Once your child has gotten the hang of being able to creatively play with multiple use items, they will start to see the possibility in other items. My three year old is getting quite good at this now, and can make a phone from anything lying around the house and will have conversations with dolls about the right way to behave (based on what is expected at daycare). And given a set of dinosaur will happily retell The Three Billy Goats Gruff story. Other things like Busy Book activities by Heart Moments might also be used in multiple ways.

Hopefully you can now see the value in allowing yourself to see kids being bored as not a problem, but the opportunity to develop more creativity in their lives.

If you liked this post, you may enjoy more of my articles on parenting. Comment below what things your bored kids have enjoyed.

Cruising with toddlers -10 tips for amusing toddlers on a cruise

Make holiday life easier with these tips for cruising with a toddler.

78 reasons why my child is having a tantrum

10/07/2019 By Savanna Robinson Leave a Comment

We all know (or should know) that young children have tantrums. They just do. An immature mind and body that wants more than it can do, cope with or achieve….or that is allowed to do. Of course they are going to break down about it. Regularly. And loudly.

Now sometimes the reasons for the tantrums are understandable. But other times our logical adult minds are really just bewildered at the reason behind a tantrum. And this can be quite amusing when you look back on it (of course not at the time when your child is flailing around and screaming their lungs out in public!). And it’s helpful to know it is not just your child having a tantrum about the weirdest things.

So here are 78 reasons why my child is having a tantrum I have collated from our real life and online parenting groups.

Didn’t like that colour cup/bowl.
Wasn’t allowed a chocolate cupcake before bed.
Had to have her fingernails cut.
It’s bedtime.
The playdough stuck together.
The dog looked at her biscuit.
Didn’t like the car that pulled up next to us.
We turned right in the car, and she wanted to go left.
Had the iPad taken away.
The wifi wouldn’t work and play YouTube.
Mum killed a cockroach.
Her sister looked at her.
There’s no biscuits left (as she ate them all).
Had her hair washed.
Mummy went to get biscuits from the pantry instead of Nanny.
The dog looked at her.
Mummy said she had to have breakfast before snacks.
Mummy was going to buy the more economical 3 pack of Kinder Surprise instead of a single one.
Daddy didn’t listen and did the wrong thing.
The dog licked her.
Mummy couldn’t decipher that bingo socks meant flamingo socks.
Wasn’t allowed to have a bike on the trampoline.
Daddy undid her seat belt instead of mummy.
Sister opened the car door instead of mummy.
Mummy wouldn’t get Old McDonald’s for lunch.
Daddy used the wrong magic words.
Was asked to take her cloud dough out of the toy kitchen oven base.
Mummy took away the thing she was playing with, and then left to play with something else, but she really wasn’t finished with.
Didn’t get the sign out tablet at daycare
We stopped at a red light and he wanted to go.
Didn’t put a fork in the side he wanted.
Mummy was pumping milk out instead of putting it in.
Biscuit got smaller as she ate it.
Was told “You’re welcome”.
Was given the item she wanted.
Her hair got wet when stood under the shower.
Mummy wouldn’t let her help with using a tampon.
Wasn’t allowed to wipe Mummy’s bottom after toilet use.
The dog ate the food given to it.
Because frogs do not go *clap* la de da de da, la de da de da. They go ribbet. ribbet.
Wanted to wear shorts, not a skirt.
Wanted a big dress, not an ordinary dress.
Got an iceblock.
The sun set.
Mummy said “ready, set, go” when requested.
Daddy got home from work.
Peeled the banana wrong.
Got her the wrong banana from the Free for kids basket at Woolworths.
Asked for 2 Smarties. Got given 2 Smarties.
She wanted more medicine.
Didn’t want to have medicine at all.
Wanted the other Elsa undies.
Wouldn’t let her put a 4^th lot of toothpaste on brush.
She lost her bandaid
Had the toy she stole off another kid taken away from her.
Didn’t want to walk.
Wanted to take the stroller.
Wasn’t allowed to take jumper off.
Mummy put clothes on after a shower.
When she ate the last piece of chocolate.
Detangle spray got on her shoes.
Mummy or Daddy starts singing with her.
Clothes are too tight.
Shoes were too tight.
Ponytail was too tight.
Seat belt was too tight.
Daddy sat on her spot on the lounge.
Sister sat in her seat at the table and used her spoon.
Sister goes near her when items are too tight.
Wanted Anna hair, not Elsa hair.
Wanted to go to the shops when already there.
Wanted the garage opened. Got opened. Tantrum ensues.
The wrong video started playing.
Mummy cut the toast the wrong way.
Mummy made toast instead of a sandwich when toast was requested.
Wasn’t allowed to wear the ballerina dress.
No-one would take her to the park.
Screaming just because it was fun.

Do you have any reasons for tantrums you could add to the list. Let me know in the comments. Or come join the conversation in my Facebook Group.

Why toddlers drive us crazy (or at least a little bit nutty)

Why owls are cool!

16/08/2018 By Savanna Robinson Leave a Comment

My teenager thinks I am too obsessed with owls. She says I’m a little bit crazy about them. And that I influenced my youngest daughter to like them (but she prefers ducks and dinosaurs really…and of course ducks are really just a gateway bird to owl obsession). So why is it that I think owls are cool? Even just why ARE owls cool?

Firstly, there was a marked increase in cool owl patterns and items that came out while I was pregnant with my second daughter. I ended up getting so many things in owl themes; bedding, clothes, a wall decal for the nursery, a music toy for bed time. Everything I could find in an owl pattern I got. why owls are cool

Then there is the teacher aspect of owls. Owl are reputed as being wise, scholarly like Owl in Winnie the Pooh. This fits well with being an educator of children for nearly 20 years. why owls are cool

And of course we can’t forget the night owl. I’ve always been a stay up late, get up late person (just ask my mother). The perpetual night owl. why owls are cool

Cool facts about owls

There are lots of cool facts you can find about owls.

Owls have powerful talons (claws)…something my mum has pointed about my nails for years. That I inherited Nana’s strong nails. Which if I’m in the right moood might be prettily decorated. why owls are cool

Owls have large eyes – pointed out by my eye specialists over the years.

Owls are quiet in flight – just ask anyone who’s walked around a shopping centre with me…. I suddenly am on the other side of them, without them even knowing. why owls are cool

Owls are farsighted- and now for the first time I am, after being short sighted since birth, after cataract surgery I can see great for distance…but need reading glasses for close up.

Owls have been symbols of wisdom and magic in ancient Greece, Asia and America. Just think of Owl in Winnie the Pooh for wisdom, and the numerous owls in Harry Potter. why owls are cool

Owl memes

Sparkly Bright Eyes is such a cool name for an owl. As someone who wore glasses for her childhood, then contacts for another 20+ years I constantly felt like an owl peeping at things. So the transition to owl obsession wasn’t so far fetched. These are just a few of my favourite owl memes that I hope you might enjoy too.

why owls are cool

Good things come to those hoo wait- owl meme

I even have a Pinterest board about all things owls. Come and check it out here. why owls are cool

If you’d like to follow me more, to see what other owl stuff I come up with, come follow me on Facebook here.

Sometimes life as a mum can be fun, like when this post was inspired by my teen. But other times it can be tough. Read more here.

How to be an organised mum

06/07/2018 By Savanna Robinson Leave a Comment

When you first find out that you are going to be a mum you hope that will have your life together and be an organised mum like so many television shows have portrayed over the years. But not all of us ladies have those OCD tendencies to be super organised about every aspect of motherhood. So this post is for those who want to have a bit more structure in their mum life, but have struggled so far in life to get that perfection you’ve seen in so many others. These are tips on how to be an organised mum from a mum who hasn’t got it all together yet, but knows these things can help.

Use a calendar

how to be an organised mum calendar options

We all have things in our lives we need to remember whether we are a stay at home mum, have a career away from home or do something from home while juggling the kid stuff. This could be things from birthdays to medical appointments, date nights to when bills need to be paid.

There are so many choices with technology these days that you are not restricted to just pen and paper items. There are apps for calendars and planning – complete with reminder alarms that can be set to remind you of each event.

But first I would organise a calendar that is on display for the whole family to see. Whether you have an event involving the kid’s soccer training, your partner’s days off or when the electricity bill is due, they will all be visible to the whole household.

You can then keep your own personal events in a diary, planner or app of your choice that travels with you.

Write down all things that you need to remember for certain dates. This many include:

-school events
-play group
-medical appointments
– birthdays/anniversaries
-school holidays
-your holidays
-bills
-appointments

My favourite planner lately has been the Happy Planner.

Have a place things belong

When you are not organised it can be so easy to misplace important belongings. My husband is forever misplacing things he needs and then panicking if he can’t find them when he’s running late. So find a spot for items in your house and ALWAYS put them back in that spot.

Some common things that will need their own spot are and suggestions where to home them:

Keys- key rack or bowl

TV remotes- spot on coffee table

Dirty dishes- on sink or in dishwasher

Shoes – place in wardrobe or under bed

Towels in use- towel rack

Toys – toy box or book shelf

Shopping Lists

Shopping with children (especially toddlers) can be one of the most daunting experiences as a mother! But when you get to the shop, with child in the middle of the worse tantrum ever, and forget what you actually needed to buy, it can be super frustrating.

Get a notepad you can leave in the kitchen. I find a long one with magnets on the back that sticks to the fridge is perfect! Even if the bench gets inundated with dishes or other stuff, it can still be found.

Whenever you run out of an item from the fridge or pantry, write it down. If something is running low, write it down. Before going shopping, check what you might need or refer to a checklist.

This not only limits the ‘what else did I need’ moments, but also cuts down on the budget blowouts of impulse buying.

Don’t put things off

My last tip on how to be an organised mum is not to delay too many tasks. Yes, there might be a few things we put aside as we have to wait for our pay to come in, but it shouldn’t be everything!

If a note comes home from school, fill it then. (If you have to wait for your payday for that excursion fee, put a reminder in your calendar about it NOW).

You see something out of place, go put it away now. Don’t keep stepping over it to leave for the next five months.

Hopefully following these simple things can help you become more like that organised mum you’ve always dreamed of. And don’t panic if you can’t achieve them all! Baby steps can help us in our journey to become a more organised mum.

Being a mother is tough – working out this parenting gig (again)

Getting ready for a happy new year- time to be consistent!

31/12/2017 By Savanna Robinson Leave a Comment

It is nearing the end of 2017 and time to start thinking of what the next year will bring! A lot of people like to set themselves a new year’s resolution. The new year’s goal they wish to work on for the next year, and hopefully improve something in their life by being consistent with that. But what is a good new year’s resolution? What should you work on or hope to improve on? What should your new year’s resolution 2018 be?

[tweetshare tweet=”What should your new year’s resolution be?” username=”brighteyes77au”]

I’ve known a lot of people to set a new year’s resolution that is standard to so many others out there. “I will lose weight. I will eat healthier. I will exercise more. I will quit smoking/drinking. I will get out debt. I will travel more”. They start January off very inspired and determined to keep going for the entire year. But a lot of these goals are often spur of the moment wants, and they don’t have the mindset behind them to keep going when it gets tough. And yes, generally people can get lazy about these new goals that will make their life so much better (or so it seems in their minds).

My new year’s resolution

This year I’ve followed the teachings in the Socialite Suite and had a guiding word to follow for the year instead of a goal that I might give up in a few weeks because it was too hard. For 2017 my focus word was ‘brave’. I wanted to feel brave seeing I took a second year of maternity leave from teaching to spend more time with my toddler and teen. I wanted to be brave and continue with my direct sales business and see where I could get with it (and I needed to be brave to do some tasks to help with that). I wanted to be brave and try something new, like learning how to start my own blog. And I think I’ve bravely faced all those challenges and more this year!

[tweetshare tweet=”Be Brave!” username=”brighteyes77au”]

You then need to surround yourself with I reminders about your focus word. It could be photos, memes or images you’ve made. Maybe the word written on every page of your yearly planner/diary. But the more you remind yourself of it, the more consistent you will be in keeping with it, and following through on task that achieve it.

As having a focus word for my New Year’s resolution 2017 worked so well, I’ve decided to do it again for 2018. And it’s been a bit of a struggle to find the perfect word too! I want it to cover all the things I’d love to achieve in this coming year. Yes, like many women I want to lose some weight and be more active as that’s better for my Multiple Sclerosis. I also want to declutter my house (and life) which is so overflowing with things since my husband moved in a few years back and I brought my school stuff home when starting maternity leave. I want to regularly do work on my blog, as the last month or two have been crazy busy! And I want to show my teenage daughter how to not become overwhelmed with her senior high school studies.

2018 here we come!

[tweetshare tweet=”My focus word for 2018 is Consistency ” username=”brighteyes77au”]

The focus word I have settled on for 2018 is ‘consistency’. To be consistent with scheduling things for school, Jamberry and home into my planner (which I just picked up the other day from a friend’s place…I’m excited!). To establish routines to consistently do tasks around home and have everyone in the house contribute in these tasks. To follow up with customers in my Jamberry business in a timely manner and keep my Facebook pages and group running smoothly.

So I look forward to 2018, the year of consistency. Comment below with what your focus word will be for the new year! Let’s celebrate together what will focus on! And if you find this post a few months in, or at the end of the year, know it’s never too late to set your focus for the remainder of the year!