parenting

Kids Toothbrushing Challenge

By in Parenting 5 Comments Tags: , , ,

At any celebration time, Children end up eating more sweet treats! With Halloween just gone, there would be sweets and treats from trick or treating. At Bonfire Night there is the traditional toffee apples, or freshly cooked donuts! At Christmas, it’s uncommon to find a child who’s not going to be having some extra chocolate – whether a chocolate santa, chocolate coins or even from the chocolate advent calenders. We also give the kids lots of extra treats and deserts at Eid.

Knowing that these are the times we need to take even more extra special care of the children’s teeth – we were recently sent a Dental Hygiene box for the boys to take part in a kids toothbrushing challenge over Halloween.

kids toothbrushing

Mr Z and Mr T were sent children’s electric toothbrushes. This is great as I had been thinking of getting this to replace their usual manual toothbrushes and see if it makes a difference to how clean they can get their teeth every day when brushing. Mr Z loves his electric toothbrush. Mr T is still a little unsure but hopefully it will grow on him! I do feel it does a better job for them and gives me more confidence that their teeth will be as clean as possible. We were also sent a packet of children’s dental flossers. I had never seen these before and wasn’t aware that you can get special dental floss for children! This is great to get them into the best habits early on!

They were also sent a chart to tick off once they have brushed their teeth each morning and evening, this is a good idea to give the children a visual reminder.

Finally, the boys were sent some sugar free treats each! They tasted just as good as the usual chocolates but must be kinder on teeth!

Thanks to Oasis Dental Care for our Dental Hygiene Package!

All aboard the potty training bus!

By in Autism & Special Needs, Other Reviews 3 Comments Tags: , , ,

huggiespullupsHuggies are on a mission to help parents with potty training and have been going on tour this summer with the help of the Pull-Ups® Potty Training bus – an iconic American style, yellow school bus!

Potty Training Bus1I was planning to go along to one of their blogger events on board the bus, until I realised that I am out of town that weekend which is a shame. Instead I will just tell you all about it, so maybe some of you will get the chance to have a visit with the bus!

Huggies® Pull-Ups® potty training expert and psychologist Emma Kenny will be on board the bus and said:

The aim is to equip parents with as much information as possible and to help their child move confidently through the potty training process.

Parents are sometimes unsure how to tackle this stage in their child’s development and on which products to use so we will be addressing this at each and every event.

 

I have to admit, toilet training is not one of the parenting areas I find easiest. With my oldest (now 5) I was dreading it due to all the horror stories you do hear from other parents about wee all over the house, and children having to be rushed to the toilet in the supermarket with 2 seconds notice and all the rest of it! However it went surprisingly so much better than I expected, he didn’t give me a lot of trouble at all 🙂 I am still dreading it again with my younger ones though. As my 3 year old has Autism and developmental delays, I’m sure I will have a whole new range of issues to face this time around!

Potty Training Bus3The Huggies bus brings a fun and engaging element to the potty training journey. On board is a mini bathroom splash play area, a mock-up bedroom and before leaving everyone will have their first ever instant graduation photo! Experts are also on hand throughout each day to make the potty training journey smooth; offering advice, top tips and free samples.

To find a potty training event near you, have a look here.

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Motherhood and Dealing with the Unexpected – Lessons I learned in becoming a Parent

By in Autism & Special Needs, Parenting 11 Comments Tags: , ,

One of the many lessons I have learned in my 5 years as a parent is to expect the unexpected and that being a mum makes you stronger. You have no choice but to deal with all the challenges that you face, for your child’s sake. Sometimes you will find strength and energy reserves from a space inside you that you never even knew you had.

Motherhood and dealing with the unexpected. Lessons I learned in becoming a parent.
When I was expecting my first child, I never thought that 3 years down the line I would be there with 3 little boys, and it never crossed my mind that I would have a child with Autism.

When I became a mum for the first time with Mr Z, it suddenly hit me that I am the one responsible for this little person, and that as he grows up the first person he is always going to turn to and rely on and expect to fix his problems will be me, his mum. I will admit that as a young parent to realise this for the first time was such a strange feeling. It’s overwhelming and surreal at first. Whatever your age, it is a major adjustment to suddenly go from mainly looking out for yourself to having such a small helpless (and of course very cute!) little being relying on you for their every need.

I remember saying to some of my friends that I would leave about 4 or 5 years between children so that I would have my first one off to school and then have the next one, to give me plenty of time to spend one to one, and to be able to relax and make life easy for myself. They reminded me of this when I ended up having my next baby within 18 months! We may make our plans, but we never really know what life has in store. Expecting a second baby while my first was only around 8 months was quite a surprise to me, but it was lovely. I really enjoyed having the two of them so close together, and that is why my next one has the same age gap because it was so happy with that age gap dynamic that I thought I would repeat it!

After having my first child, I might have thought that I will know exactly what to expect, being a seasoned mum by that time. I soon found out that was not the case. At the times I would have expected my second  little one to be meeting his milestones, he wasn’t meeting them. So by the time he was one and a half and my third baby was born, he still was not able to stand and walk, and was not talking at all. We knew he was globally delayed but it took another year and a bit before he was formally diagnosed with Autism.

That time was quite challenging for me. At the time my husband should have been just finishing his paternity leave, he was unexpectedly hospitalised and I was on my own with a brand new newborn baby, a just turned 3 year old, and a one and half year old toddler with special needs. Just to add to the situation, at that time we were living in a mouldy damp flat with a leaking roof and a crazy landlady so we had to pack up and leave!

Life inevitably throws us curve balls, unexpected circumstances that remind us to expect the unexpected. [Motherhood and dealing with the unexpected. What I learned through becoming a parent]

The gift my children have given me is to know that whatever life throws at us, I will deal with it and find the strength to make the best of any situation and always do the best for them. I sometimes feel like being a mum gives you a sort of super power – to deal with the unexpected and find strength to cope with whatever life throws at you. In a small child’s eyes, Mum knows everything and Mum can do anything. So when you see that look in their eyes, you know that you have to try!

I’m not saying it is all a struggle. On the contrary, it’s a joy. There have been so many laughs and smiles and special moments along the way. The words your child says unexpectedly for the first time; the steps they take, when you almost thought they were never going to get there. The last minute spontaneous trips to new destinations and seeing the joy in your children’s faces at seeing something new and exciting. So many special moments that I never knew to expect back when I was expecting my first baby, and so many more still yet to be experienced!

Maybe the unexpected is not always all that bad after all.

Adapted from post originally guest published on Visits From the Stork
Image: Shutterstock (modified) & Shutterstock (modified)