Not At Problogger

It’s that time of year again, where my Twitter and Instagram feeds fill with the utter gold that is Problogger and I despair at the fact I’m not there. Again.

*insert crying here*

The pandemonium has already started. People packing, flying, beaching, and taking selfies in quirky elevators. I grieve for the friendships I could’ve forged and real life high-fives I could’ve made. I weep for the un-child-interrupted sleep I may’ve gotten and the cocktails I may’ve would’ve drank.

Then it hit me. I COULD go to Problogger 2013! In puppet form!

So many of my buddies are heading to the sunny Gold Coast, surely one of them could take me with them?

Yes, I’m looking at you…

I’ve even made you a printable Michelle for your conference socialising purposes. Just click the image below and download Mini RW, print her out, do some cutting/sticking, and Vwah-LAH! One very loyal conference buddy! Print lots of them out and have your own following of RW minions!

Take Raising Will to ProBlogger 2013

Tweet or Instagram your pictures with Mini RW using the hashtag #sayhellotoRW and the picture I judge to be the best will win a little crafty something from the House of Two Little Crickets.

So what are you waiting for? Get printing!

Check out the prompts for #RWcupaday during September. We’d love you to join in:

Raising Will’s Cup A Day – September

And if you’re looking for some inspiration, here is some of my favourite ‘cuppa-ography’ from June:

Cuppa Anyone?

We ended up with just shy of 240 cuppas for the month! Congratulations on taking time out for you, even if it was just for a little break. I loved seeing your days play out with a cuppa-in-hand and the insight into all your beautiful cups, pots and jugs. And FOOD! How could I forget the FOOD!

More Cuppa Action!

Get in on the action via Instagram, Facebook and Twitter by using the hashtag #RWcupaday and feel free to tag @raisingwill if you like. Hope to welcome you into the world of #RWcupaday this September xx

But seeing as I’m apparently “a master at meal plans and budgets” *more laughing* and thought of by at least one other person as someone that could give advice on being a SAHM *more laughing*, I’ve put together a list of 21 things a stay-at-home parent of young children might like to know. Here goes…

1. You will have more housework to do just from the fact that you and your kids are home all day. More tidying. More dishes. More washing. You may not do it, but it will be there. Unless you have a housekeeper, in which case – send them to my house.

2. No matter how awesome you are, ‘painting’ will always be a pain in the butt to set up for the three minutes that your toddler wants to paint for. So just do it anyway. Their joy is worth it.

3. Online shopping is your friend. As is chocolate, wine and COFFFFEEEE.

4. Buy. All. The. Snacks.

5. Making muffins with your two year old is an experience no parent should miss.

6. One sink of dishes will take ALL DAY to finish, by which time you’ll have another sink of dishes to do. If you can, buy a dishwasher.

Finally napping | Masking-tape train tracks | There’s a screamy baby on the other side of that door

7. Stickers are the best invention for that one/two/three/four hours of terror that is dinner time. Give your toddler a piece of paper and let them go nuts. Also good is a handful of pipe cleaners and a colander. Simple things.

8. Prepare as much of dinner as you can early on in the day. Slow cookers are fantastic.

9. Buy more snacks.

10. Attempt to set up a safe area outside, so when your kids are going mental you can just show them the door. Add chalk and winner winner chicken dinner.

11. Sleeping when the baby sleeps is an urban legend. Add any number of other children to your equation and you will laugh in the FACES of the people that make this suggestion.

Sleep when the baby sleeps…. NOT!

12. Have a stash of little toys hidden to take on outings with you. The ‘new factor’ may just buy you the three minutes you need to ask the shop assistant about that beautiful sequinned dress in the window where are all the freakin’ twin-seater trolleys!? Snacks also work in this fashion. Related: Buy more snacks.

13. Meal Plan. It will save you time and money. I use this one from Kikki.K. Also, write shopping lists – whether you shop online or in-store, with children gallivanting around you will ALWAYS forget something, especially without a list.

14. Secure all your bookshelves to the wall. Nothing will prepare you for the horror of your two year old on its top shelf.

Washing. Never. Ends. | Painting FTW | Beware the Nap Of Doom!!

15. Get your hands on children’s movies.

16. A steam mop makes me feel so much better about my floors. Do yourself a favour and get one if you have tiles. THE BEST at dissolving all manner of sticky.

17. Try to make your own muesli bars, give up and then buy more snacks.

18. Try and leave the house/kitchen in a state of tidy before you go to bed. You will feel much better about things when you wake up in the morning and can get to the wine coffee without having to move last night’s toast-for-dinner-mess out of the way.

19. Get in the habit of always putting a load of washing on before you go to bed at night, and hanging it out/putting in the dryer when you wake up.

20. Try your damnedest to get to bed at/before 10pm each night. Everything will seem better after a good nights rest.

21. Cuddle your children often. It will keep you from selling them to gypsies.

The Truth.

Now I KNOW this list won’t apply to everyone. And just in case you are one of THOSE people that feel like high-horsing it to the comment section, in the words of Adam Hills, ‘Don’t be a dick’. Us SAHPs need a laugh – and if we can’t laugh we have to drink/eat/run. And seeing as I don’t run, well, that just spells danger for my health. So, refrain from soap-boxing in this instance, puh-lease.

On the other-hand, if you’re after some other great bloggy advice for being at home with your cherubs, I confidently point you in the direction of Picklebums, The Organised Housewife, Mummy Musings and Mayhem, A Little Delightful and Patchwork Cactus. Some awesome resources for play (or if you just like to dream of buying all manner of crafty/toy/fun goodness) can be found at Educational Experience. For recipes to get the nutritious stuff into your babes, check out Annabel Karmel and Vegie Smugglers.

And if all else fails, you can sometimes get wine delivered with your groceries. Just sayin…..

Will is on his imaginary mobile phone having an imaginary conversation with the imaginary man that is selling him imaginary fuel for his imaginary tractor. Xavier toddles along like he wants to master this walking thing before the month is out. And I just try and give them the best environment for them to flourish and grow in.

Today is hard. But even when I find myself despairing at their ungrateful temper tantrums, they still grow.

There’s only limited time in life. I can’t afford to dwell on their button pushing. They’re so big already.

Growing up

Cuppa A Day takes over the world!!

So there’s only one thing for it…… KEEP GOING! I know my weekly challenge has two days left, and you can keep on with that one – but if you like, take on the new challenge of taking a break every day FOR A MONTH!

And when your other half rolls their eyes at you taking a pic of your cuppa (again?!), you definitely have the best excuse.

I present to you Raising Will’s JUNE Cuppa A Day Photo Challenge:

The RW Cuppa A Day challenge list for JUNE!

The technical stuff? There aren’t any rules really, but try and get into the Cuppa A Day spirit:  include a cuppa in each of your pics. It can be coffee, tea, hot chocolate, water, wine in a mug; we won’t judge. Just take a break and be ok with it. Lordy knows we need breaks….. and cuppas.

Share your photos on Instagram or Twitter with the hash-tag #RWcuppaaday, or on the Raising Will Facebook Page….. Bring on the cuppas and I look forward to tuning into your cuppaography each day!

Now excuse me while I go make a coffee…

Will you be joining in? What’s your cuppa of choice?

On another note – I love coffee. Every day. Multiple times a day. Nom.

Coffee – get. in. mah. belleh.

Enter my epiphany this morning. The easiest photo-a-day challenge ever. It only goes for a week (Hallelujah!) and it involves my only regular sanity-keeping device – a cuppa.

There aren’t many moments during the day where serenity can’t be found in a minute at the bottom of a mug/cup/fancy-schmancy glass latte glass/cardboard takeaway cup/shot glass/teapot.

And so I introduce Raising Will’s Cuppa A Day:

Join in with Raising Will’s “Cuppa A Day” Photo Challenge

So, starting Monday  27th May (tomorrow) –  if you’re just like me and finally want to complete a photo-a-day challenge without the inevitable sobbing at never being able to finish one, or you’re a cuppa addict of the tea/coffee/hot chocolate/champagne/hot lemony water variety, then get on board with #RWcuppaaday. Hashtag and post away and I’ll see you on the ‘gram, twitter or facey with your delicious moments of sanity…

And if you HAVE to make a cuppa especially to take a picture… Is that such a bad thing?

Are you a photo-a-day drop-out like me?

Will you be joining in #RWcuppaaday?

I’ve never been good at getting to sleep. As a child I remember lying in bed waiting for the relaxed cloud to fall on me. Parents would watch tv; Dad would do the dishes, have a shower, switch off lights; and I would lie. And lie. And lie. The crickets outside would chirrup like giant fire sirens buried in the grass. I’d pretend to yell at them.  The sky outside so dark, would shine in so bright onto my bed; for me the night was never really black enough. And then I would wake up; morning had appeared and I would be so disorientated. I slept? When did that happen? Fast forward 20 years, and my inside voice is still yelling at crickets.

I fail at sleep.

And then there’s the waking. A dog barks at a moth flapping against a bug-stained light. Eyes open. The security light turns on, awakened by an invisible intruder. Eyes open. The roof creaks as it cools against the night air. Eyes open. Mix children into this equation and my eyes feel open more than they are closed. Did someone just fall out of bed? Wait for the cries… nothing. Was that a rolled head hitting the side of a cot? Wait for the cries… nothing. Is hubby breathing funny? Wait for the exaggerated sniff and roll-over…. annnnnd we’re back to swearing at crickets.

So I guess all this makes me a night-owl. But as a parent, with a night-feeding baby and a toddler that wakes without fail before 7am every morning, I can’t handle being a night-owl any longer. I need to learn to sleep better. I’m taking a leaf out of the very same books giving me advice about helping baby Xavier to sleep.

Maybe I am over-tired, making my sleep restless. Maybe my sleep association is all out of whack and I need a night-time routine in order to switch off. Maybe I’m hungry or thirsty or have wind feel funny…?

I am going to learn the art of sleep, even if I am 25 years too late.

Are you a good sleeper? What are your tricks and/or tips for getting efficient and effective rest?

Today I’m guest posting over at Styling You and you can check out my journey over there…

A peek into Style Holiday Camp

Grab Nikki’s e-book and get started on
your own Style Journey!

Last Friday I was invited to take a look at the new range coming soon to Target’s Baby Collection. And being the shop-a-holic that I am, how could I refuse getting amongst the cuteness that is everything baby.

As a loyal Target shopper, I already knew about their reasonably priced quality and their development team’s commitment to safety. Their upcoming ranges are no exception to these rules and definitely worth getting excited over.

There’s been a shift over the last two years for Target’s baby product development team. They’ve been taking a more contemporary focus towards their nursery decor and manchester; moving away from the old pink and blue stereotype and towards fun brights and bold prints, but also paying attention to natural, earthy tones too. Taking their cues from top designers overseas, their consistent ability to meet their market is obvious whenever I head in-store. And this special bloggers preview didn’t disappoint.

So what did I get to check out first hand before it hits stores in February? What’s big next season I hear you ask?

Think clouds, triangles, little people furniture, greys, even a splash of neon and some dachshunds!

Coming to a Target store near you…

*insert applause here* Yes, I think they’ve got it right too….. yet again!

And taking a look into their current range of nursery decor, manchester and clothing, I was in love. Robots, elephants, colour and classics all in a simple, vintage style and PERFECT for my two little guys. I’ve put a few of my favourites below…

Are you loving any of the above? What would you like to see come to Target?

*Disclosure: I was gifted some items for my attendance at the #Targetlovesbloggers event although I was not obliged to write any posts about the event. I have not received any payment for my comments and all views are my own. 

My week on Instagram Jan 14-20 2013

1. Pineapple. | 2. Officially the worst household job of all time. | 3. Selfie showing off some new style courtesy of Styling You’s Unlock Your Style Holiday Camp. | 4. Sunset. | 5. Starting my morning with a hint of Yellow. | 6. Brownie and Ice cream – NOM! | 7. Two things. | 8. On our road trip to Melbourne – Will getting ready for a snooze. | 9. A very welcome new addition to my make-up drawer. | 10. About to head into the city for the #Targetlovesbloggers PR event* with the cutest accessory in tow. | 11. Gorgeous new mobile available at Target*. | 12. New homewares coming to Target* in February. | 13. Shadow. | 14. Will loving a visit to the adventure playground at Braeside Park. | 15. Tiger at the Melbourne Zoo. | 16. At the start of the three hour drive home – bye Melbourne!

*Disclosure: I was gifted some items for my attendance at the Target PR event – however was not required to follow this attendance up with promotion of any kind. I mention their products here because I loved them and enjoy shopping at Target.

Linking up with Tina Gray {dot} Me for “My week according to Instagram”