Starting solids is yet another one of those highly debated and hotly contested areas in motherhood. I personally felt like there was so much information out there and so much advice given- it's really confusing to know what is the right fit for you and your baby! To puree or not puree? Organic homemade or store bought baby food? What about gut flora and fauna? (for the record I had no idea that was even a thing before becoming a parent) How much iron does he need? What if he doesn't like anything? SOO MANY QUESTIONS!!! Recently some of my friends have been asking me how I have such a confident eater and the thought occurred to me. He is really pretty awesome at eating now but how did we get here? What I realised is that it was mostly all lead by him. We just helped him along by offering him lots of choices and opportunities to experience food in a positive way. I thought I’d share a little bit about our journey into solids so far and a bit about what I’ve learned in...

1. Your hair falls out! I'm not sure if it happens to everyone but apparently the changes in your hormones can cause all kinds of weird stuff to go on and one of those things is that your hair falls out. I'm not just talking a little bit here. A LOT!! I have a lot of hair anyway but everyday i brush my hair  now and a rather alarming amount is in my hairbrush. It is also getting everywhere and on everything in my house and on my clothes *sigh*. I mean it's not like you had enough weird body stuff to deal with already... oh wait! You do!   2. You never really knew the concept of 'Tired' before. I'm an Early Childhood Teacher so I used to be pretty tired before becoming a Mum. I used to come home from work somedays and go to bed at like 8 o''clock because I worked shifts and somedays I was just really physically drained. Those tiny humans can really take it out of you! Then I became a Mum....Being a Mum is a new level of tired. You're so t...

Since becoming a Mum I have been through some trying times. In fact even for this qualified and experienced Early Childhood teacher I have had days where I threw my hands up and wanted to cry. Being a Mum is HARD! It's so hard, it is the hardest job I've ever had and I'm still learning everyday on the job! Lately I've been reading a lot online about Mum's who feel guilty for their parenting decisions for whatever reason. Maybe you forgot to boil some pumpkin for their lunch so had to give them baby rice again (shock horror) or perhaps you are beating yourself up about not letting them sleep longer because you want to meet a friend for coffee (and end up feeling like you're such a bad Mum!)  One of my Dream catcher creations a made for a beauitful friend of mine. Also a good way to unwind after a tough day. NEWSFLASH! No you're not! I have a lot of knowledge around educational psychology and philosophies after almost 9 years of teaching and I ...

I've been teaching in the Early childhood sector for almost 9 years now and in that time I've learnt a lot about educational philosophies. When I became a Mum myself I was pretty set on using a lot of the principles of the RIE philosophy because I know that the work of Magda Gerber has been studied and proven over the last 70 years. I personally love many of its principles because it was how I was raised (Even though my Mum didn't know about it). It is essentially placing love at the centre and viewing the baby and child as competent and capable. Sadly (like anything) there's a lot of hate out there about how the RIE philosophy is too strict or too old fashioned but I argue that those people have no idea what there talking about and here's why... I have seen the RIE philosophy work in practice in 5 different settings now (3 of which I've personally worked in). II dont think it's a strict rule book becuase it's about creating a culture of kindness fo...