Family Life Archives - Live Oxfordshire

More than just a holiday camp

November 13, 2018 by Milla Leave a Comment

Without invading his privacy too much I can say only that The Boy has not been having the easiest time of late and his confidence has taken a beating as a result. As a parent this has to be one of the saddest things to see happening to your child and The Man and I have been working our socks off to support and encourage our little boy.

Currently I’m 100% a stay at home parent. The Man has been working away during the week so I’ve been around to take up the slack and paying for a holiday course wasn’t really something I was considering until we were offered a day on The House of Fun half-term course in return for a couple of mentions on social media. I had a look into the course and saw that unlike many of the other courses I had seen advertised this one offered cookery and art alongside the endless sports options.

The riddle of the two chocolate bars…

December 6, 2016 by Milla Leave a Comment

Today’s post comes to you in the form of a riddle I just came up. It’s a tricky one now, so don’t spoil it for others by giving away the answer, but here’s a little clue – think what you would do in this situation…

And don’t forget to share once you’ve figured it out!

Friday family round up – our week in review Nov 18th 2016

November 18, 2016 by Milla Leave a Comment

So this week has been something of a landmark week in the Live Oxfordshire house. Initially we moved The Girl into her own little cot bed, which was a big enough change as she had been sleeping in our bed with us since we busted her out of the hospital at 6 days old. But then, just yesterday, we thought “in for a penny” and popped her little bed into her brother’s room. Thus she spent her first ever night in her new bedroom. Not a huge deal to some people, maybe, but she is my last baby and because we were separated in the early days I was possibly even more reluctant to move her out of my arms at night, but now the time has come and it was the right time: for me, for her, for the family. There is a sense of rightness that our two precious children (they’re asleep as I write this, which makes them eminently more precious than when they’re awake) should be sleeping in the same room, their slow breaths sweetly intermingled as they dream.

Ten gender neutral gift ideas for 1 year olds

October 17, 2016 by Milla Leave a Comment

Please don’t let the title of gender neutral gift ideas for 1 year olds put you off reading this. It doesn’t have to mean that you buy everything in yellow and rigorously avoid anything with even a hint of polarity to it. I just like to offer suggestions of toys and gifts that will do for either girls or boys, especially as, at only one, they’re still so fluid in their play and haven’t succumbed in any way to societal expectations of what’s appropriate. So if you have a grandchild, godchild, niece or nephew to buy for – or even if you’re struggling to think of something your own child will enjoy this Christmas or for their first birthday, perhaps this will help.

Camping with kids – our dry run!

October 12, 2016 by Milla Leave a Comment

So this weekend we tried out camping with kids for the first time ever. In days gone by it was something The Man and I did quite regularly. We used to volunteer with a youth organisation, so as well as personal camping trips to Wales and the Peak District, we would accompany Duke of Edinburgh expeditions to do spot checks, waypoints and basically make sure they knew how to pitch tents, cook porridge and not get up to any mischief. The most fun was taking the new recruits out on Initial Expedition Training as it was far less hardcore and they would have such a good time.

First day of school – T minus 1 day

September 4, 2016 by Milla 2 Comments

It’s about this time of year that the internet explodes with back to school stuff. Everything from advertising the latest shoes/pencil case/bag to “must have” lists from know-it-all mum bloggers (totally me next year!). I can’t join in with these, though, because this year it’s not ‘back to school’ for us, but ‘first day of school’.

He’s totally ready for the experience, as am I (especially after 6 weeks of summer holidays, believe me!), but there’s still a part of me wondering how on earth my little boy is old enough to be at school. I think the hardest thing to adjust to, however, is actually going to be the permanence and rigidity of the whole thing. I’ve been a Stay-At-Home/Work-At-Home -Mum since before he was born. For the whole of his life I have had complete flexibility over his timetable and can do what suits me, him and the family. Even at preschool I could whisk him away if we wanted or needed to and he spent the majority of his time with me.