What is a Monster?

A Monster can be a myriad of things according to the dictionary, here is the list:

1.  terrifying and dangerous, wild or fictional creature.
2. A bizarre or whimsical creature.
3. An extremely cruel or antisocial person, especially a criminal.
4. A horribly deformed person.
5. (figuratively) A badly behaved child, a brat.
6. (informal) Something unusually large.
7. (informal) A prodigy; someone very talented in a specific domain.

© Your Dictionary, LoveToKnow, Corp, 1996-2018 retrieved 29/3/18 from http://www.yourdictionary.com/monster

Tapping songs for Kids available on Itunes

Just by definition Monsters do exist, in all kinds of forms, so why do we tell our children they don’t exist?

We watch them on TV & in Movies, we read about them in books & Monsters are usually used as a tool to frighten people into NOT doing something, especially when we are children.

I remember my parents using Monsters, as a fear tool “don’t go down there, there’s a monster down there”, do you remember your parents using this phrase or something similar?    Just because that old chestnut worked on us, doesn’t mean it works for this generation & who’s to say it was the right thing to do anyway? Doing things our parents did to us is not always in our children’s best interest, as we all know. Read More

I have been asked by many parents to explain Anxiety for children, in an way we (as parents, teachers & the entire community) can help children.  The statistics of Childhood Anxiety is frightening, according to Beyond Blue in every year there are on average:

• 112,000 children aged 4 – 17 being treated for depressive disorders (that’s 1 in every 35 kids)
• 560,000 children aged 4 – 17 being treated for mental disorders (that’s 1 in every 7 kids) 
• 278,000 children aged 4 – 17 being treated for anxiety (that’s 1 in every 14 kids)
• The number of deaths by suicide in young Australians is the highest it has been in 10 years 

I am sure you will agree that this has become a very serious community problem.

These are shocking statistics right, but in 25 years time who will be looking after you in your retirement?  These kids, that’s who! If these statistics are this bad now & we continue do nothing, then how bad is it going to get?   It’s a topic I bet you have never thought of.  This very depressed, anxious, tech driven generation will be the people running the world & caring for us in our old age.  I am not sure that this is the vision I had for my future, how about you? Worse still is that most of these cases are being treated with medication to “calm them down” or in other terms “Sedate them & make them more manageable”! In my opinion, this course of action is not helping, it’s just masking the real issues these kids are facing.  From working with kids in schools, daycare centres, libraries & being a mum of a 4 & 2 year old you could say I am on the “front line” in the fight against mental illness, so let’s break it down & see what is really the actual source of the problem.  Let’s treat the problem not just the symptoms before it’s too late. Read More

The toughest thing, I find for some parents is actually “playing” with their kids.

To help out, I am going to give you some weekly inspo that is cheap, educational & fun.

Pipe’s Away is a brilliant activity for children of any age (your inner child will even have fun).

Step 1 Work out where you can set up this game.

We have a fort out the back but you can pretty much rig this up on anything with zip ties.

Step 2 Go grab some pipes with the elbows in them & some zip ties (& 2 buckets if you don’t have any).  We purchased ours from Bunnings  Read More

Your family influence who you become, nurture your dreams, carve out a path for you to live your life, create your belief system and who you are.  Be very aware of this fact & make sure that you are a role model for your kids.

When it comes to your family, they can make you or break you!

This is not a light hearted post by any means.

It is my heart on my sleeve & a warning about prescription drugs.

My Father has had Arthritis over the past 15 years.

He is to the point that, he is depressed and does not function without opioid (morphine) based painkillers everyday. Read More

You know how we are all so busy, or are we?

I am going to be blogging about my month that was.

All in all I kicked a lot of goals in January:

• Made up my Word for the Year which is FREEDOM (Focus, Release, Explore, Elevate, Do it, Own it, Move Forward)
• Travelled overseas on my own.
• Spent 2 weeks in Thailand recovering from major surgery to reclaim my body after kids (after gaining & losing 30kg twice over the last 5 years)
• Visited Temples, markets, hospitals & saw Thailand in a completely different way.
• Had some time to myself & reflect on me & what I wanted for this year
• Met some Incredible Women that went to Thailand for Surgery.
• Started to play the Ukulele
• Wrote 2 new books inspired by my trip to Thailand
• Appeared in Lisa Yorks SuperMum Podcast
• Started to Meditate Daily & started my Mindful journey.
• Decided to go back to school (TAFE) & become a Teacher Aide

This is all inspired by the incredible 2-20 principle that I am using to help uncomplicate my life Thank You Sally Thibault!

This would normally take me all year to do what I was able to do in a month!

The 2-20 principle creates time for me to make time for myself & my family by giving me clarity.  It’s the best Self Care program you could do!

My biggest revelation in January was this: Read More