Inspiring Imaginations with K’Nex

Disclosure – We were sent the featured product in exchange of this post; however, all opinions are my own.

Joshua has enjoyed construction toys for as long as I can remember. From the age of 18 months or so, he showed an interest in blocks and ever since then, he’s tried so many different construction and building sets out there.

Over lockdown, we delved into the backs of our cupboards and in the attic in search of anything ‘new’ to keep Joshua occupied. I managed to find one of my old K’Nex Rollercoaster sets – which takes around a whopping 12 hours to build! With plenty of time on our hands, we set out to build it. We built it slowly over several days and Joshua loved every part of it. K’Nex soon became a new favourite and I dug out my old K’Nex box too – it’s a big box full of bits. No instructions, just every part you can imagine! Joshua had so much fun creating whatever he could think of, that when K’Nex sent us a couple of sets to try, he was thrilled.

We received the K’Nex Rad Rides (12 in 1) set and the K’Nex K-Force Battle Bow set. Both sets came with brilliant, clear instructions showing each step of the build – perfect for your little ones to independently create.

K’Nex Rad Rides 12 in 1 Building Set

Joshua chose to build his K’Nex Rad Rides set first and decided to start with a car. With little help, Joshua managed to build the set himself. Considering he is 6 years old and that the set is aimed at 7–12-year-olds, he did very well.

In our K’Nex Rad Rides set, it came with the instruction booklet that takes you through the steps of building everything your little ones can imagine from a car, motorbike, to a boat car! The set comes with 206 pieces, giving enough to either follow one of the amazing creation ideas or for your child to build something of their own.

Once Joshua had completed his first build, he knew what he wanted to do next. Almost immediately he exclaimed, “I’m going to do the boat car next!” The very next day, he did just that.

K’Nex K-Force Battle Bow Building Set

Next up, was the K’Nex K-Force Battle Bow set which came with 165 pieces, 5 foam darts, some cut-out targets so your little ones can practice their aiming skills, and as ever some other exciting building ideas. With your K-Force Battle Bow set you can create some differently styled blasters as well as a stand for your target.

It has been an absolute joy watching him build and use his imagination with K’Nex, just like I did when I was his age. From the day our sets arrived, he was creating something new almost daily – he couldn’t stop thinking about all the different builds he could do. Seeing him inspired to get creative has been amazing. Building with K’Nex supports the developmental growth of fine motor skills, problem-solving skills, manual dexerity, and spatial awareness. K’Nex is an engaging and fun way to provide your little ones with an understanding of STEM subjects.

I just know that as he gets older, more and more K’Nex sets will be bought and added onto his wish list for sure.

Both of the sets are available from John Lewis.

Piccolo Just for You Personalised Subscription Box Review | AD

The weaning process can be a difficult time for parents. On both occasions, when the weaning age was coming up for both of my boys, I have been excited to get going. But I shortly got overwhelmed with knowing where to begin with baby weaning food.

When you start baby weaning or baby led weaning, there are a million and one things to think about. What weaning foods do you try your baby on first? What foods are safe for them to try? Do I need to avoid some ingredients? Baby-led? Purees? Wouldn’t it be great if you could pass over the stress to someone else entirely? That’s exactly what Piccolo Just-For-You Boxes are all about. We tried out their subscription boxes to see what their new tailored service is like.

What Is Inside a Piccolo Just-For-You Subscription Box?

The whole idea around Piccolo boxes is that they are tailored to your baby and their dietary requirements, therefore every box will vary according to the information that you provide. However, here is an idea of what may be included within a standard meal box and a cooking box, based on what I received.

I was sent a meal box and cooking box aimed at 10 month olds. We had a variety of different foods to try which included:

Pouches

Spring Vegetables & Chicken Casserole – 7+ months, Textured

Beef Bolognese – 7+ months, Textured

Three Vegetable Mac & Cheese – 7+ Months, Textured

Tomato & Mozzarella Spaghetti – Smooth

Cherry Yogurt with Wholegrains – Smooth

Raspberry Yogurt with Wholegrains – Smooth

Snacks

Teething Squares – Banana & Blueberry

Cooking

Butterfly Pasta

Beef Bolognese Stir-In Sauce – x3

Pumpkin & Cheese Stir-In Sauce – x3

Chicken Stock Cubes – 1 box

Vegetable Stock Cubes – 1 box

Sustainable Baby Food & Packaging

When I started weaning at 6 months with Oliver, I made an effort to avoid baby food pouches. While other baby food pouches are not recyclable, Piccolo have worked hard to create Europe’s first ever 100% recyclable pouch. Not only that but Piccolo also care about being sustainable with their ingredients. Piccolo source their ingredients all from independent family farms as well as reducing the company’s carbon related activities.

piccolo just for you subscription box

How Much Do Piccolo Subscription Boxes Cost?

Piccolo Just-For-You Subscription Boxes start from £35 for a formula box, £50 for a meal box, and £25 for a cooking box. Courier delivery is free of charge. I chose a 2-in-1 box and ordered a meal box and a cooking box, which costs £75 in total.

Where to Buy Piccolo Baby Food

Some of you may have seen Piccolo on the shelves of supermarkets already but there are more places where you can get hold of your little ones favourite tasty meals and snacks! You can pick up Piccolo baby food in supermarkets and through their direct online store. But their Just-For-You subscription boxes are a tailored service that is available through the Piccolo website only.

To order your first subscription box you will be asked some quick questions about your baby and their diet, so that the experts can tailor your baby food options. You will be asked for your baby’s age, any allergies, dietary restrictions, and what you want to achieve through weaning – i.e increasing intake of green veg.

You can then choose between ordering a meal box, cooking box, a formula box, or a combination. You also choose how often you would like to receive your subscription boxes. So, it is up to you whether you want your baby to eat a Piccolo meal once a day to supplement your home cooking or use it for multiple meals and snacks.

One of the great things about Piccolo Just-For-You boxes is that you are in control over how long you stay subscribed. With no minimum subscription length, you can cancel at any time, as long as your next box hasn’t been dispatched.

An expert at Piccolo will then use all of the information that you provided to carefully select age-appropriate meals and snacks for your baby. Your Just-For-You box will then arrive by courier.

Piccolo Just-For-You Subscription Box

Overall, I have thoroughly enjoyed creating meals with our Just-For-You box. One of the great things about Piccolo Just-For-You subscription boxes is that you are in complete control. You get to choose the types of foods you get sent and the frequency of deliveries. While you pay a premium for having your boxes hand-picked for you and delivered to your door, it will be a huge help for many families.

Piccolo provide great quality baby food that are free from refined sugar, salt, and palm oil and every box contains 35-40 meals or snacks that are just as tasty as you would have hoped! We had a mixture of foods perfect for baby led feeding as well as purees/spoon-fed foods. I personally had a taste of most of the pouches and meals. I can honestly say that I wasn’t disappointed! Unlike many other jar and pouch foods out there, Piccolo baby food tastes like what it is rather than bland mush.

If you are looking for hassle-free, tasty, and organic meals, then look no further!

12 Days of Christmas Activities & Free Printables

Every year, we spend the whole of December doing lots of Christmassy activities. We plan and fill the month with everything from Christmas markets, crafts, baking, and so much more. While this year will be a little different, I’m looking forward to continuing our traditions as much as possible. With everything that has happened this year, I want to make our December that little bit more special.

So, we are going to go ahead as normal (or as much as possible) and do lots of Christmas activities with the kids. While we mainly do Christmas activities on the weekends, I’m also planning some fun after-school things too that are very easy, with next to no prep!

I thought that I would share some of the things that we are doing this year, in the hopes that it will give you all a little inspiration. So, without further ado – here they are!

I shared on Instagram last week that I made some Christmas colouring sheets for Joshua. So many of my lovely followers said that they would love me to provide some links to them. All you need is a printer and you are good to go! I will link to some of the colouring sheets that I made below, which can also double as a placemat for Christmas Day! I will also include a printable checklist for the Christmas activities above.

I can’t wait to get started and I hope you have as much fun as we will!

12 Days of Christmas Activities Checklist

Christmas Colouring Sheet #1

Christmas Colouring Sheet #2

Christmas Colouring Sheet #3

Christmas Colouring Sheet #4

Christmas Colouring Sheet #5

Social Media Tips for Small Businesses

Social media can be a powerful marketing tool when it is being used effectively. As a bonus for small businesses, it is cost-effective too! Although, while social media doesn’t require a huge investment, it still requires plenty of planning.

All businesses that will use social media (if you’re not, then why not?), need a dedicated social media manager. It takes a dedicated team to create content and grow your platform – don’t expect to post status’ with little thought and sit back waiting for your target audience to find you and engage. To get the most out of social media, you need to plan, plan, plan!

To help run your business’ social media channels effectively, we will go through some tips on how to develop them. Additionally, we will discuss how to use Instagram and Twitter, individually.

ONE Don’t Hire Just Anyone – just because you are competent when it comes to running your personal social media accounts doesn’t mean that you are going to know how to run your business accounts. You will need someone who understands how to use data and insights to create effective campaigns.

TWO Be Active – it may be an obvious one, but social media isn’t somewhere to just post regularly and that’s it. As it says on the tin, to use social media you need to be, you got it… social. Your social media manager will be keeping up to date with the current trends and will ensure they allow time to engage with your audience.

It will also help to boost your page if you make sure to share some of your positive feedback from customers. If your lovely customers are tagging you in photographs or posts, then be sure to thank them by sharing it – your customers will feel valued that you took the time to read it and respond.

THREE Choose Your Top Channels – Naturally, you will want to be on as many social media channels as possible, but you will be exhausting yourself and taking on far too much at once. You want to be creating around two accounts that you will be able to keep updated regularly.

Why shouldn’t you sign your business up for several social media networks? Before you sign up for any, think about how much time you have available to dedicate to social media. If your customers look at social media accounts that aren’t as active as they need to be, they may assume that your business is dormant and won’t bother checking your other accounts.

Start with one of two accounts and focus on growing those – spend time developing them. Get comfortable with what content you want to share, your company voice, and what content your audience wants to see before attempting to take on another. Establish your audience through two networks and then grow from there.

FOUR Find your voice – while you are developing your social media presence, you should think carefully about which tone you would like for your business. Your company voice should be in line with how you are appearing online, as it will reflect how people see and interact with your business.

FIVE Post regularly – I have touched on this above, however, it is such an important point that I’m going to address it further. Whether you are scheduling your content or posting live, you need to be posting regularly.

I highly recommend looking into scheduling your social media posts as this will make all other tasks much easier to manage. You will be free to focus on other tasks at hand as well as ensuring that you have the time to engage with your audience.

You will not always be available to update your social media channels when appropriate, especially as you begin to add more channels to manage. Set some time aside to plan your content for the day and schedule to publish at regular intervals.

If you have signed up for a business account, you will be able to use your insights to effectively pin-point when is the best time to post, according to your audience’s engagement rates.

Although with scheduling you need to be sure that you are only posting when your audience is listening – there’s no point in posting at 11 pm if no-one is awake to interact (and you won’t be online to engage back). Similarly, you want to make sure that if you are planning content far in advance, then only schedule what is relevant – there’s no point publishing Valentine’s Day content in mid-September!

SIX Engage Locally – you may find that a big chunk of your audience is locally based, so why not connect with them? Search for other local businesses, influencers, bloggers, and journalists. But it is not enough to simply follow them – you need to be engaging!

It is great to support other businesses, so get sharing relevant content from other businesses and you will create yourself a little online community of people who support each other.

Twitter is particularly great for this with its list feature. You can create a list, so you can keep an eye on the local trends, see what they are tweeting, and engage with them easier.

Now, let’s take a look at both Instagram and Twitter, and how to use them effectively in your marketing strategies. First up, Instagram.

How to Use Instagram for Marketing

Setting Up Your Profile

The first thing people will see is your profile, so you need to be using that space as best as you can. Utilize your bio to sell yourself/your brand, do not waste it! Make sure that you include your email address so that people know how to reach you. It is much easier for people to copy your email from your profile than messaging you for it!

You should also include your website address or any relevant links. If you have under 10k followers, this is the only place you can put a clickable link – so use it.

Your Brand and Image

How do you want your business to look online? Think about how you want your grid to look. To stay consistent, plan all your content ahead of time. The further ahead you can plan, the better and put your images into ‘Preview’. Preview is an app that allows you to see how your grid will look. I highly recommend it; it is free and I use it all the time!

Your images should have a theme and be consistent. For instance, your theme could be the colours in the images or something that brings all your content together. For example, you could identify a few things that you will use on all your posts:

  • Emojis
  • Colour theme
  • Photography style
  • Use the same presets
  • Ask questions
  • Tell a story
  • Humour

Use Seasonal Content

Throughout the year, there are so many ‘special days’ to use to boost content.

  • International Days – World Wildlife Day, Autism Awareness Day, World Book Day, etc
  • Valentine’s Day
  • Easter
  • Halloween
  • Bonfire Night
  • Christmas

I personally use Days of the Year to keep track of any special days coming up.

Create content to fit in with whatever may be happening that day or season. Make sure to update your hashtags to be relevant during each season too!

Engagement

Engagement is King! But you need to be engaging with relevant people to see any traction. Types of people you should be engaging with and how:

  • Your followers
  • People you follow
  • Local residents
  • Local businesses
  • People who use the same hashtags as you
  • Watch stories and respond
  • Share small business’ posts
  • Share anything relevant to your company values
  • Respond to ALL (or as many as possible) comments – positive or negative

While engagement is key, you should not like or comment too much at once. Instagram will block you for a while. Spread out your engagement during the day.

Utilize Hashtags

Instagram allows every post to include 30 hashtags. While some people do not like to use this many, I personally think of it as free advertisement. Why would you not use all 30 hashtags? It allows your posts to get seen by more people.

But where should you put them? Some people put them at the end of their caption, but I personally think this looks a bit messy. I prefer my captions to be content-focused. I like to include hashtags in the first comment under my post, as it keeps them slightly hidden which looks much neater.

Now you know how to use hashtags, how do you know which ones to use? Do some research, look at your competitors and similar businesses to you. Look at what hashtags they are using and compile a list of your own. The key here though is to use hashtags that have not been saturated – try to use ones with under 10,000 posts. This means that your post will be much easier to find and will not disappear in seconds.

Before Posting Your Image

Before you hit publish on your image, make sure that you have tagged the location. This makes your image searchable and people in the area can see it. You should also tag in any relevant brands or accounts into the image. For example, if someone in the picture is wearing a particular brand of clothing. This is important as it means that their followers can see it too.

Other Tips

  • Run competitions to boost engagement and following
  • Get a business account to keep an eye on what time of the day your audience is interacting the most. Post around these times!
  • Post consistently
  • Be active on stories
  • Follow other people in your niche, local residents/businesses, competitors, etc
  • Consider having someone be the ‘face’ of your business online. To give a personal touch
  • Do not be afraid to inject some personality and have fun with it
  • Use stories for tutorials, events, etc

How to Use Twitter for Marketing

Personally, I think Twitter is one of the ‘places to be’ online. Especially for businesses. If you are thinking about setting up a business Twitter account, here are some tips to get the most out of it:

  1. Be active – post throughout the day to keep a consistent online presence
  2. Chat with people – engage with people using the same hashtags as you do, search relevant keywords, and comment on some posts, and have fun! Just get out there and talk/network
  3. Engage with your niche, local residents, local businesses, etc
  4. ALWAYS comment back!
  5. Host competitions
  6. Post seasonal content
  7. Use hashtags, but not too many! On Twitter, hashtags can look very untidy so I would suggest using around 2 or 3 at most
  8. Use keywords in your content, as posts are keyword searchable on Twitter. For example, if I searched “Suffolk soft play” it would show me everyone who posted with that phrase
  9. Share reminders – “Did you know we offer swimming lessons for children aged two-five? Click here to find out more.”
  10. Share any local news or events – create a sense of community and support others
  11. Post reminders that you have other social media channels. For example, “Did you know we have a Facebook page? Come and say hello!”
  12. If you are comfortable with it, share pictures of the staff. For example, if it is someone’s birthday, share a funny picture celebrating them. Share with your audience that your office has a great atmosphere!
  13. Update your pinned tweet regularly – it will be the first tweet that people will see, so keep it relevant
  14. Do not share things directly from other social media. Cross-post manually, otherwise, half of your post will be cut off and it looks messy

Well, that was a long one! Have some questions about social media and how to use it for your business? Drop me a message on Twitter, LinkedIn, or Instagram and I’ll be happy to have a chat.

Will Remote Working Be A Thing of the Future?

For millions of people, working from home has been the ‘new normal’ since March. During the pandemic, our lives have changed substantially, and even frequently – at one point, it felt like the rules and guidance were changing constantly!

After getting a taste of working from home, it appears that many office workers no longer see themselves working in that setting again. After all, that way of life doesn’t suit everyone and too right! We no longer want to spend most of our lives shut away in an office. We work hard so that we can have a life, but then we’re too busy working to enjoy it. Imagine a life where we have flexible working, able to work from home, and rather than fitting our lives around work, it is flipped.

This has the potential to be our new normal!

I’m all for improving the quality of life for families – no surprise here! Working from home offers the flexibility that will benefit so many people, and not just families either. We need to re-think how the system works, as to be frank, it doesn’t. We need a new work-life balance, that offers a healthier outlook to living.

But now that businesses are getting back up and running again, they are asking employees to return to the office. Do we really want to be back? If we’re able to work from home, I say workers should have the option to – even if it’s a couple of times a week. Now we know what we’re missing out on, I don’t think many want to change their life back to our ‘old normal’.

Don’t get me wrong, lockdown wasn’t all rainbows and positive outlooks. There were as many lows as you would expect, but after a while, the positive side shone through for me. I’m not going to lie; I have thoroughly enjoyed a huge part of lockdown and I don’t want some things to change back.

Working from home, with flexi-hours, can provide families with more quality time with their children, feeling better connected, and able to build stronger bonds. How many families are losing out on watching their children grow up?

Other Benefits to Remote Working

Of course, as a parent how it benefits families is my biggest focus, but remote working offers so much more. It will allow workers who wouldn’t otherwise be able to work, the chance to have a career they love. It can help people save money and the time they would spend commuting will be put to better use.

Flexi-working allows people to choose their working hours, as long as it’s possible to be moved around. For many workers, as long as the work is completed, the hours worked don’t have to be restricted to typical office hours. This would have a huge impact on your social life, children, and your overall quality of living.

We only have one life, so let’s live it!

[AD] How to Achieve a Clean and Tidy Home… and Keep it That Way

*This is a collaborative post

When you are busy trying to balance parenting with working it can be a challenge to keep the house looking clean and tidy. You may feel like you are fighting a losing battle just getting the kids to tidy their toys, without even attempting to tackle sorting out the rest of the house.

An untidy home can leave you feeling anxious and stressed out. When your house is messy or packed with clutter, the thought that you need to get it sorted out can leave you feeling under pressure but the idea of tackling the mess can be an overwhelming prospect. However, a clean and tidy home can really help to transform the way that you live. Without the burden of lots of mess to clean and tidy, you are more likely to keep housework at a manageable level. An organised home will also help you to be able to relax without the guilt of feeling that you should be tidying up. Ready to begin your journey towards an easy to maintain, tidy home? Here’s how to get started:

Start Small

If the idea of tidying and cleaning the entire house from top to bottom in one day is a little overwhelming then start small! Attempting too much, too soon, is likely to make you give up, whereas trying the task in small steps makes it easier for you to persevere. Make sure that you focus your attention on one area of the house at a time. Focusing on one area will enable you to do a thorough job, and will also allow you to see the results faster. Noticing that your efforts are making a difference will help you to stay motivated and continue.

Clear Away Clutter

Clutter is the enemy of an organised home. To keep your home clean and tidy in the long term, clutter is something that needs to be taken care of. The issue with clutter is that it builds up so gradually you may not even notice it to begin with. Clutter can quickly become a problem when you have kids, as they seem to have so much stuff! 

To take control of your clutter it is wise to get rid of it quickly rather than sorting it out and then leaving it languishing in the corner to deal with another day. Tackling the clutter issue and then removing the stuff from your home fast is the best way to get the stuff gone and to reclaim your new, tidy, living space. Using a same day rubbish removal service such as Same Day Rubbish Removal is an excellent way to get your rubbish gone quickly.

Find a Routine That Works for You
Once the house is clean and tidy, it is essential to find a routine that works with your schedule so that you can keep it looking great for the long term. Carrying out a few cleaning and tidying jobs each day is the best way to keep your home looking fantastic.

42 Blog Post Ideas For Parenting Blogs

Whether you have found this blog post because you’re struggling with writer’s block or simply looking for some more inspiration to fill your posting schedule, hopefully this post will be useful!

Here are some blog post ideas for parenting bloggers:

Well, I hope that you found this blog post helpful! Fingers crossed it will get you started with thinking up some new ideas. If you do write any of these, please share below as I would love to have a read of them. Similarly, if you have any more ideas to share, please do share them too!

A How-To Guide on Tailoring Your Content to Your Target Audience

Are you a content writer and struggling to engage your target audience? Part of being a copywriter or content creator is learning how to talk your audiences’ language. Working as a copywriter means that we are constantly creating and adjusting to different audiences’, so it can often get a bit muddy.

Today, we are going to talk about how you can effectively tailor your content to your target audience.

Defining Your Target Audience

You should begin by understanding who your target audience is. But before you can do this, you should ask yourself: who am I already reaching?

Work on analysing your existing audience, who are already engaging with your content, and start building your audience profiles. You should store details on their age, gender, location, and anything about them that will help you to understand who they are.

Once you have profiled your engaged audience, you can then expand it further with who you are trying to reach.

As you start building a picture of your audience and who you would like to target, it will go a long way in helping you craft your content. Your profile database will help you drive them towards your content and begin seeing improvements in your engagement.

Tip: for each piece you write, you need to consider its purpose, which platform you are publishing it on, and if it is targeting a specific group of people. For example, your business may target professionals who work from home but the piece that you are writing right now is focusing on a sub-section of your audience who has children.

Not only does tailoring your content mean to understand who your audience is, but you also need to be aware of when, where, and how they will be consuming your content. What mood are you hoping to catch them in? What are you wanting them to do – sign up to a newsletter, be informed, or make a purchase? Where are they reading – while commuting? Are they chilling out after a day of work? Relaxing on a weekend?

If you can answer those questions, then they will guide you in which tone you should be writing.

Lastly, you now need to understand your target audiences’ use of language by reading the content they enjoy and using analytic tools to take a closer look at their social media – the aim of this is to successfully identify keywords and phrases that they are using.

A Tip Before You Start Writing

Now that you have a clearly defined target audience to create content for, here is a pointer before you get to work.

Some writers find it helpful to have their audiences’ profiles displayed in front of where they work. Find a technique that works for you, but here are some ideas:

  • Create a board of keywords and the language that they use.
  • Make a playlist of the type of music they listen to.
  • Read and consume content that they read and share.

Hopefully, this will help inspire you and keep you on track if you find yourself dropping into your natural voice.

Final Thoughts

Before I leave you, here are some final pointers for you to remember.

Always strive to be relatable in your writing – you want your audience to know that you understand how they feel and see things from their perspective. To do this, you need to work at listening to them. If an audience feels related to, they are happier to continue consuming your content and will return.

Think about their challenges and frustrations, which will help you on your way to crafting content that suits their needs – and in turn, your business is not just relatable but empathetic to them.

Your writing needs to be providing your target audience with the right content – the content that they need. The idea here is to not take the lead in conversations, instead provide helpful content to prove to your audience that you are aware of their needs and can meet them.

If you are struggling to craft content for your business, message me on Twitter, LinkedIn, or kaidenlaverty@gmail.com

How We Adjusted to Life as a Family of Four

I’m going to be honest; I didn’t read much from parents who have gone from one to two children. I naively thought that it would all be a bit easier than it actually was. I found the first few weeks tough, but we got through it. Although, I don’t think there is much someone could have said to help anyway. Everyone’s families are different and how they cope with a growing family will inevitably be different too.

So, I thought that I would write a little about our experience of going from one to two children.

How Joshua met Oliver – After delivering Oliver, I had to stay in hospital overnight because he needed to get prescribed antibiotics for his kidney condition, be monitored every 4 hours for the first 24 hours, have a few tests and signed off by the consultant. Jamie picked Joshua up from school that day and surprised him with the news that his baby brother had been born – he was ecstatic!

As Joshua walked into the hospital room, I made sure to put all focus on Joshua and give him all the attention he needed to reassure him. It was a massive change – he just had 5 years of being an only child – and I wanted it to go smoothly. I asked Joshua if he wanted to hold Oliver, which he did, and he sat there with him for ages, smiling ear to ear at his new baby brother.

My Little Helper – Joshua very quickly wanted to help out the best he could, so I made sure to involve him in little things like passing me the baby wipes, putting nappies in the wash basket and fetching me muslin cloths. I think it was the little things that helped him get used to our new addition.

I focused on Oliver & Jamie did the rest – When we finally got home, after what felt like an eternity in hospital, I was overwhelmed by the responsibility of having two kids. It suddenly all hit me at once that I couldn’t cope. I remember getting home that first night and Joshua collapsing on the floor in the sitting room exclaiming, “It’s hard work, Dada” because of how flappy I was about getting home and getting Oliver fed.

We didn’t plan it this way, but Jamie took care of Joshua and the house as my brain just couldn’t – I didn’t have the mental space to focus on anything other than Oliver. I feel incredibly guilty about it now, but I honestly forgot about everyone else. I was in my own little bubble with Oliver and didn’t give anyone or anything else a second thought.

I don’t even think I showered for a few days! I didn’t really look after myself properly and when I finally had my first shower after giving birth, it felt awful being away from Oliver. If he made the slightest noise, I felt anxious and got out as quickly as possible.

But everything got easier very quickly. It wasn’t long before I was able to cope with the two kids by myself, housework… the lot! During those first few weeks, I remember thinking that my mental health was maybe going downhill again, like it did after I had Joshua, but thankfully it was just a blip.

We worked as a team… a shit team but a team. Jamie took control of cooking meals, keeping Joshua entertained and happy, made sure that I ate… he did it all so that I could sit on the sofa and look after Oliver, while I eased myself in to balancing everything else.

Closed Door Policy – For the first few days, we didn’t have many visitors at all, so that we could spend time as a new family of four and get settled into a routine. Some new parents may love having visitors and the extra help, but we personally preferred to shut ourselves away for a little while and enjoy our tiny newborn.

Attention-Seeking Behaviour – For the first month or so, Joshua was extremely attention seeking. When the health visitor, midwives or anyone else came by and put the slightest attention onto Oliver, Joshua would act up – even if he was just being weighed. He would be naughty, chuck things, hit people, shout, play loudly, dance around the room… anything he could do to put the focus back onto him – even if it was negative. Joshua was the absolute worst to deal with and spent a lot of time in ‘time out’ for those first few weeks. But after a tough period, he eventually calmed down and realised that everything was okay and that he was still getting everything he needed from us.

Back to Work and School – Oliver was born just before Christmas, so I didn’t have to worry about school runs. Once Joshua started again, Jamie was only home for a few more days, so he did the first few school runs and I did one with him before he went back to work.

How did you cope with going from one to two children? I would love to hear of anything that helped you through the adjustment period.

My Post-Lockdown Bucket List

Life in lockdown has been a journey, to say the least. At the very beginning I was scared of what it meant for us all and living through a global pandemic where no-one knows anything about when life could get back to normal made me anxious. But I was also weirdly looking forward to all being home together and even home-schooling!

These days, I barely remember what it’s like to be able to leave our home, not have to worry about simple things, popping around to visit people and going anywhere we want – just freedom in general, really.

It’s weird knowing that the world is still out there for us to explore once this is all over. And it will one day be over! I think it will be hard for us adapting back into life post-lockdown but once restrictions have all been lifted and it’s safe for us to get back to living, I have my bucket list of ideas that I would like to get doing.

My Post-Lockdown Bucket List

Visiting Family – first things first, I think visiting all our family will be on the top of our list, so they can get to see the kids again after such a long time away. It will also be nice to re-introduce them to Oliver and let them get to know him – let’s face it, he’s a completely different baby to the one we went into lockdown with!

Holiday – we have a holiday booked for the end of July, for the Summer holidays, which is very unlikely to be going ahead now. Even if the resort opens in time, I’m not sure that I would want to risk it anyway. I’m sad that we will be missing out on our first holiday as a family of four. Joshua has really been looking forward to going away for a while and has been asking, “how many days now” for such a long time, so I feel awful for him that after all he has been through that he doesn’t have a holiday to look forward to anymore. But whether or not we get to go on holiday this Summer, I’ve made it my mission to go away this year at some point – as long as it’s safe.

Joshua and Oliver’s Naming Ceremony – we were starting to plan the children’s naming ceremony before lockdown, we had arranged to go and look at a venue when this all happened and put our plans to a halt. Hopefully once we get settled back into normal life, we can get planning again.

House Party – one of our lockdown projects is to get the garden done in time for Summer, so we will be looking forward to having some nice BBQ’s out in the garden. We will be doing this whether we are in lockdown or not, but it will be nice if we are able to have some sun left after lockdown so we can invite some people around.

A Night Out – after being locked down with two kids, hectic work life and running a household with all of us living on top of each other, I think I deserve an evening out? I have no plans for where to go, but as long as it contains food and lots of alcohol, I’m in!

Freelance Life – I was previously earning my income from freelancing and blogging, before temporarily giving it up to secure our mortgage (they required either us to wait another year to get have more accounts or 3 months of payslips) and it’s now time to get back into it! It’s what I love doing and I don’t want to be doing anything else. When you love what you do, life is great.

Being Outdoors – we used to go on a lot of walks but it’s something we have stopped doing over the last year or so. Being in lockdown and being unable to drive the car, it’s made us rediscover our love of walking and exploring outdoors more. Our lives have been so hectic that the calm of just getting outdoors and going for a walk, even if it’s for an hour, has been lovely.

There’s nothing better than getting the kids in muddy boots and letting them run and jump in muddy puddles in the woods!

Lapland UK – I have always wanted to take Joshua to see Santa at Lapland but it’s something we never think to plan ahead for. Once we hit into November it’s something, I remember but it’s usually far to late for us to plan it. But hopefully it’s something we can do soon!

Holiday Abroad – I have only ever been on holiday out of the UK once and it was many years ago now, back when I was around 13 years old. The kids have never been outside of England and I would love to take them away for their first abroad holiday. Again, not sure of where we would go, but maybe Spain is a good first choice? We would like a simple resort holiday, where we can enjoy sitting on the beach, swimming and lounging around.

Do you have any plans for after lockdown?