Go back to work they said, it’ll be fun they said

Last week I learnt a few lessons. And those lessons were about combining paid work with motherhood. I had the chance to earn some cold hard cash on a project that was facing tight deadlines. It would necessitate late nights and gritted teeth, but it would be a good ‘in’ with a new client and give me the chance to see if I’ve still got it.

True, I’ve done a bit of work here and there since having kids, but mostly I’ve been a stay-at-home mum. I was happy to take a career break while they were small, play tea parties on the floor, take them to toddler groups, sing Baa Baa Black Sheep in front of strangers, then get them to and from pre-school and infants as they got a bit bigger, attending all the assemblies and shows, and generally being hands-on and hassle-free. But now my days (well, 9am to 3pm!) are my own and the writer/editor/grammar Nazi inside of me is beginning to stir. And there was job on offer…

 

Barbie is up against the clock...literally.

But, the transition from SAHM to Working At Home Mum was not as easy as I thought. This was not an ideal job scenario granted – I needed to put in a full working day for a complete week – including some weekend work. My hours had to be split into working until the kids came home from school and then getting back into the office once they were in bed. Working until late, or indeed early the next day.

Get your game on

Suddenly I realised just how much I’d let my ‘home office’ slip. I used to run my own business, but somehow the office is also a junk room now, my printer needed replacing and I have enough glare on my screen to summon Batman. So before I could even earn some money I had to lay a whole load down on some new equipment and – horror – tidy up the place. I also had to quickly learn how to cheat my way around an outdated version of Word (I love you Internet forum nerds), hook up a second monitor and talk to strangers. I basically had to be (or at least appear to be) professional. That was a shock to the system I can tell you.

Ask for and accept help

My days were basically going like this: get up, get kids up, take kids to school, work, pick up kids, feed kids, put kids to bed, make packed lunches, tidy house to prevent flies from colonising kitchen, work. Occasionally I would treat myself to some toast – or a few hours of sleep – nothing crazy though – there were deadlines to meet. I did make the gym a couple of mornings too, which slotted into the client’s timeframe nicely – honest!!

 

Take it Mummy - 'cos Santa's sack ain't gonna fill itself...

 

Since my husband was away for the entire week and most of the weekend too, as well as playing crazed career mum I was also having a run as a single mum. I’m generally not very good at accepting help from friends or family, and did turn down a few offers. I suspect I felt like I should be able to cope. However, the weekend was tricky to manage, and would have been a bit unfair on the kids; there’s only so much ‘free-play’ or CBeebies you can expect two children to undertake together before it gets violent. Luckily my Mum was scheduled to babysit on Saturday night anyway, and she offered to come early and stay the next morning too. (Yes, not only did I have to stay sober at a friend’s party, I had to get up the next morning and work – the sacrifice!!!).

Don’t overdo it!

This is a lesson I learnt, but didn’t actually ‘pass’ the test on. Talking to other working mothers I have now discovered it is very hard to get working hours that suit your family life. There’s always a compromise it seems. While working like I did was pretty hard core for a first foray back into my career, it would hopefully be a one-off. I would aim to schedule future projects far better – and only put in a few hours a day – ideally when it was daylight. I’d be looking to increase that work, once the kids were older and more independent. Although saying ‘no’ can be hard in the freelance world, and it was a never in my nature before!

 

Oh Bed, when can we be together again?

Needless to say, by the end of the week I was exhausted, but glad I’d done it. I’ve realised a few things that should help me craft the ideal work/life balance that all working mums (and dads) are struggling to find. Maybe there’s a future for working me out there somewhere – as long as I’m not blinded by my screen before then…

Have you found the ideal job to combine with caring for your kids? Is it something you worry about? Perhaps you are wondering how you could go back to work and still run a home? Comments in the box below please.

 

Show me the carrot...!

On the whole my kids don’t need that much modification. In fact, their default settings are generally quite pleasing. A few tweaks here and there, and they’ll grow up to be shiny, happy people with lots to give back to their world. Well, that's what I tell myself anyway!

In the past, when I’ve wanted to them to stop doing something – or indeed – start doing another thing altogether (I’m so demanding!), I’ve resorted to high stakes bribery – usually a shiny new top perched on the top of the fridge until the desired outcome is reached. I’ve made makeshift charts that require a certain amount of ticks – and doled out sweeties as incentives. And this is how we’ve navigated such milestones as dumping dummies, accepting a new swimming teacher (‘but I love Angieeeeeeeeeeee’) and STOPPING SHOUTING ALL THE TIME (yeah, Mummy needs one of those charts, but the kids can’t afford the Marc by Marc Jacobs dress I’ve requested, so the shouting will continue until they get me that frock).

Shameless bribes for children

 

But, since part of the mummy job, is on-going support and encouragement (right?) there are always a few things we need to work on, a few behaviours I’d like to see more of. And as they’ve got older, there is less of getting rid of undesirable behaviour and more of reinforcing the positive. And this is where a decent reward chart comes in; specifically where a Radical Rewards chart comes in...

Radical Reward Charts are designed by artist Vita Bosque-Greene, and look more like posters than the type of incentive charts you might be used to seeing. Some of the designs will particularly appeal to boys and older children too. Themes include Creepy Crawlies and Gruesome Graveyard for example. This is not the place to come for Princessy pink or fussy fairies!

 

Chart their success!

 

 Experienced guide

The charts use a 20 step progress route that can be used again and again, and the child goes up the chart rather than receiving points or stickers in a straight line. At the top of the chart lies the reward of your choosing (in this house it was a toy £5 note, to be exchanged for a real one when the summit was reached). The company also sends out some simple guidelines to help you use the charts effectively and the founder, Amanda Noble-Simmons, a mother of four herself, offers online support to further guide you on your child’s behaviour and best use of the charts. The top tip I picked up was to have a half-way mark incentive, as to reach the top of the chart might take some time, and younger children can lose interest if the result seems unobtainable. 

 

Instead of pre-set behaviours, the chart is open-ended so that parents can tailor the process to reward any good deeds they wish to see more of. When you buy the charts you can also opt to have a photo of your child laminated by the company and sent to you along with your chart. My two loved the novelty of seeing the tiny mini-me versions of themselves climbing up the chart. Or if you prefer you can use a cheeky-looking carrot to climb up the chart on your behalf (he’s holding a stick – carrot and a stick – geddit?). There’s no need for the naughty step Amanda believes, when you concentrate on reinforcing the positive.

It's all about the veg - not the stick!

The verdict

I have to say my kids loved the charts. They took some time to choose a theme and would have liked some more girlie ones with pet animals on apparently but opted for the Wacky Wildlife style. We had sweets at the half way mark and a list of ways to climb the chart (including tidying their bedrooms, being ‘super’ kind or helpful and completing school-type work during the holidays in an attempt to bypass the summer brain-drain!) by the side. I also randomly moved them up for behaviours that weren’t listed (as suggested in the accompanying advice), for example when somebody at the swimming pool commented on how well they were behaving.

The girls really took to the novelty of having mini-versions of themselves ‘achieving’ and the eldest told me that the chart made her ‘determined to get to the top’! Once they had reached number 20 and got their hands on their money, they were keen to start the process all over again too!

From mummy’s point of view, the charts will last and can be modified to suit both my children and the different ages and stages they pass through. And it covers up a wall that needs painting with rather fetching art!

Do you use reward charts – and do they work for your offspring? Do you have another method of reinforcing positive behaviour you care to share? Comments in the box below please!

For the purpose of this review Radical Reward Charts gave me two Wacky Wildlife charts free of charge. Thank you!

Sparkly mouse ears on – we’re going to Disneyland!

Anyone who doesn’t love Disney hasn’t got a soul. Yes, it’s a huge corporate money mill but what’s not to love about a cheeky green fairy, two dogs that share meatballs and a baby elephant that can fly… And so, since it had been three years since our last visit, we decided to go back to Disneyland Paris.
 

We're here for the kids...honest!

There are of course, many options when it comes to a Disneyland Paris visit. You can stay on site in a Disney hotel, board a special Eurostar train – or just rock up at the gates when you happen to be in the neighbourhood. We chose the latter, mainly because we love the rest of Paris too and our children aren’t really old enough to fully enjoy the new Walt Disney Studios Park or use the more full-on rides. I should add that while my five and seven year olds like Disney princesses and fairies and cute dog and cat characters they do NOT like the films and will fall to pieces if words such as ‘Ursula’ or ‘Cruella’ are even mentioned…

Where we'd all like to live

It’s very easy to get to Disneyland Paris under your own steam. You just need to get an RER A (red) train towards Marne La Vallée (it runs from Charles de Gaulle Etoile, Auber, Chatelet Les Halles, Gare de Lyon and Nation stations). The Disney station is called Marne la Vallée — Chessy, so just check that your train stops there (overhead signs highlight the stations that train stops at, and once on the train you can double check on the screens inside too), and basically follow the brown signs you’ll see everywhere! The journey takes about forty five minutes and the trains run about every fifteen minutes. Don’t get on a train marked Boissy-St-Léger, that’s the wrong bit of the A line!

All aboard!

We hadn’t bought a ticket to enter Disneyland before we left the UK because three years ago we bought a ticket from the train station that covered both our journey there and entrance to the park. This is no longer available, and indeed there has been some media criticism that Brits are generally paying more than the locals to get in. If you do plan to go to Disneyland in the future, it’s probably worth registering with the site and seeing what special offers come up (bear in mind that the Park is an outdoor venue though so it will be cheaper when it's likely to be cold or wet!). And finally although it cost us around £200/£250 to get in to the Park for a day, the Park is open from 10am until 11pm, and we got there as it opened and left at 10pm. If you work out the cost per hour – and compare it to more low key places you often take your kids to and only stay a few hours – it actually isn’t that pricey.

It's a small (and magical) world

Once inside the Park the magic really does begin. There are five ‘lands’ to explore – with Fantasyland being most suitable for the younger guests and Discoveryland the place to go for Laser Blast kicks and the infamous Space Mountain ride. My youngest enjoyed the ‘It’s a small world’ and Dumbo rides, while her elder sister thought the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ one (in Adventureland) was best and loved ‘driving’ a car in ‘Autopia’ (in Discoveryland). There was an amazing selection of rides they could actually go on even at their age, and also a great pirate-themed play area complete with wobbly wooden bridges.

Whooooooosh!

When they needed a bit of a rest, we could hop on the train that encircles the entire park and have a look at what we fancied next. Generally queues were short and there was plenty of space to walk about (Fantasyland seemed the most crowded and I’m convinced that’s because of the pushchairs!). And needless to say my two soft-toy fetishists loved the shops full of high-end Disney merchandise and struggled to choose ONE TOY ONLY! But if blogging ever made me rich (unlikely), I’d go back and buy them one of everything and maybe a Dumbo for me…

Can I have one...pleeeeeeeeeease?

The only down side for us was that the parade was cancelled due to ‘inclement weather’, which we were very disappointed to find out as we had sat and waited 30 minutes for it to start. We were also a little confused as to which forecast the Disney staff were following, because the weather remained fine and sunny for the next three hours we spent in the park. I really felt, if there was a danger of rain or a thunderstorm and that made it unsafe for staff and visitors, they could have postponed it for half an hour and then made a decision. On our Previous visit we did also catch a few more ‘Princesses’ out and about, and I think that this was probably the last time my elder daughter will really think of them as princesses rather than just people dressed up. With the parade cancelled, I thought they might send some of the characters out on foot to meet and greet.

So much to do - and all day to do it!

All in all, we had a lovely day at Disneyland Paris. I’d really recommend it, if you think your child is old enough to last a full day and remember it properly. When it was time to leave we had one very sad little lady on our hands (younger sister was ready to go home by then). I promised her (and myself) we’d come back because if Disney can’t make it better – nothing can!

Don't cry - we'll be back

Are you tempted – or horrified – by the thought of an entire world dedicated to Walt Disney characters? Have you been to the Paris resort or another Disneyland as adult or a child – and are your memories magical? Let me know in the comment box below.

The first part of my Paris trip - with tips on how to get there and where to stay is here.

Paris in pieces – the basics

How did we get here?

 

To say I love the Eurostar is an understatement. I have many fond memories of great (and easy) mini-breaks to the continent pre-children and of business trips travelling first class, supping on bubbles and reading glossy mags (and that’s what they are now – just memories…!!). 

 

Keep up Mummy!

 

Perhaps it’s not surprising then that this is not the first time we have headed off to Paris 'en famille' using this dream machine. But, there are a few things you need to know before you book your tickets! First up, seats on Eurostar core routes like Paris (and Brussels and Lille) can only be bought four months before the departure date. And they sell out fast. Don’t wait for a week or two so you can book a return journey all at once. Get your trip out the day it is released to be sure you can choose the most suitable journey time, get the best price and reserve the seats around a table (essential if you are a family of four). And then – do exactly the same for your return! The tickets for the Disneyland Paris service go on sale six months in advance (I like to think that’s just like buying a ticket to heaven…).

Bedding down

We booked our apartment via Holiday Velvet; the service was impeccable and I would certainly use the company again. It has a whole host of apartments of different sizes in different arrondissements with clear descriptions of the location and facilities on its web site. Reading between the lines (which I don’t advocate since squinting causes wrinkles) the same apartment is also available via Perfectly Paris. 

Worth waking up for

 

The apartment suited our needs well – it has two bedrooms, plus a well-equipped kitchen and bathroom with both a shower and a bath (daughter one is a ‘showerphobe’) and a dining room and living room. This meant that there was plenty of space for the kids to play (and make a mess). It was also architecturally beautiful with gorgeously tall windows, high ceilings and intricate cornices. But while we had narrowed our search down by arrondissement we hadn’t given any thought to things such as – is it near a Metro? (luckily, our apartment was very near two stations, which was just as well when you have spent all day walking about Paris in a heat wave and your five-year-old has really had more than enough of walking thank you very much!) or what sort of sights were nearby (Montmartre since you ask…). Those sorts of things really make a difference to a holiday – we were lucky this time but next time I will double check (what I really mean is, I will delegate this job)!!!

Montmartre

Getting around

 

I feel bad saying this, but I think the Metro could be better than the London Underground. It just seems so much less crowded and there is quite a lot of (multi-lingual) staff around to help out. We survived by buying a 'carnet' of tickets rather than individual tickets which saves about 30 per cent. The carnet gives you 10 tickets that can be used by the whole family (as well as the same person just taking 10 trips!). Maps are up on the walls, but you can ask for one at the ticket office to help you work out your route. We got about ten, since my girls do like to collect things - and I'd rather it was maps than old sweet wrappers or yoghurt pots (no, seriously, this is my serious face). 

 

A ticket to ride

If you and your family are physically capable of knocking off a lot of top sights in a small space of time – and that is how you like to spend holidays – then the Paris Pass might be an option for you. We looked into it, and downloaded the free on-site guide to the city, but decided our kids couldn’t keep up the pace needed to make it worth the price (yeah, that’s right the kids couldn’t keep up, not that we wanted to laze around supping wine in the shade every lunchtime). However, once I had visited the site and downloaded the guide, I did go on to receive an offer of 10 per cent off a pass (so if it is for you, do try and hold out and see if you get the same offer…).

 

As chilled as the wine...

And finally a word of thanks to the people at Holiday Velvet, within our apartment was a fantastic street map, which helped us no end. It was a Michelin Paris Par Arrondissement and it is well worth buying if you are heading off to the city.

This is just the first write-up of our family trip to Paris; I still have the major sights, Disneyland, Paris for kids and shopping bits to file. Not sure which to do next though – so let me know which you would prefer in the comment box below…

My Disneyland Paris review can be found here.

Packing it all in!

Recently I’ve felt like I was hurtling through the last few weeks of term at warp speed. My family has navigated reports and reviews, parent meetings and ballet shows and thank yous and tears (the proud, happy type!!!). And we’re all exhausted! But it’s all about to come to a grinding halt and thankfully I can switch off that 7am alarm and we can walk around in our PJs until lunch (well except Daddy, his boss takes a dim view of that sort of behaviour in the office…). 

 

Time to re-think your holiday wardrobe...

 

And finally, we can look forward to the summer holidays – with exciting overseas trips planned, time scheduled in at the grandparents and a good old fashioned Cornish seaside holiday with boogie boards and rock pools to enjoy. But alongside my joyful anticipation of all the sight-seeing and sand between my toes, lurks a terrifying spectre. And one that I fear I must face alone. PACKING! Yes, that time when suddenly Mummy must anticipate every need her children will have and every request they will make in the space of a week, and accommodate all those by simply packing a suitcase.

Travelling in style
 

For many years, one of our family’s favourite holiday accessories was the Trunki. With our youngest contained in her pushchair, our elder daughter could pull along her belongings and still hop on for a ride when her little legs got tired. Unfortunately the Trunki will not be coming with us on our next trip because it cannot accommodate the much-loved bear-sized suitcase seat from Build-a-Bear. Both my girls will now be using their far less resilient wheelie suitcases, just so their favourite soft toy can come along for the trip. I’ll even be asking the security staff to stamp the ‘pawsport’ one owns… (cringe).

Have teddy, will travel.

 

Other great toys to take along on a trip, where suitcase space is precious but bored kids could turn travelling into a nightmare include good old fashioned card games like ‘Go Fish’ or word games like Bananagrams. Sticker and activity books are great too – and can be bought cheaply on the high street before you go. One of the best ideas I’ve seen lately is this lovely book of Eggnogg colour-in postcards that children can complete in holiday downtime. Paper doll books also work well for my girls – with the most beautiful coming from Belle & Boo (which also provides extra clothes downloadable free on its website). If you are really pressed for space, this teeny colouring set might also be a perfect fit! And finally, Pass The Bomb proved to be highly entertaining for girls and boys on a recent camping trip.

Belle & Boo Large Dress Up Belle

 

Lost?

Being a bit of a Penelope-Panic-Pants, I do worry about losing a child on our upcoming city break to Paris. My anxiety might be slightly heighted by the fact that last time we visited the Pompidou Centre, my eldest got into a lift while hubby and I were elbowed out of the way by a confused-looking gallery goer (rude!). Rather disturbingly the doors closed before we could get in and she was whisked away – all I could hear was an anguished ‘Mumeeeeeeeeeeee!!!’ drifting down the lift shaft. Thankfully the lift only went up and down between the two floors of this particular gallery and I was able to run down the nearby stairs at full pelt (pushing arty types out the way as I did so) and press the ‘door open’ button to find my poor child still inside the lift, sadly sat crouched down on the floor awaiting rescue. Not an experience I want to repeat!!

So along with my passport, I will be packing some ID bracelets for my girls. If you want something to cover every eventuality and a solution that will last, check out OneLife iD. The bracelets come in varying sizes and styles, and use QR codes or webpage links to connect the bracelet to all the details, contacts, documents and links recorded on a OneLife iD profile page. Several of the products allow you to engrave additional medical (like allergies) or contact information too. 

Never lose your child (again in my case...) with the OneLife iD products.

For a more temporary solution, you might want to stock up on some tattoos that allow you to write on a mobile number, you can get a whole range of colours or ones with pirates and ladybirds. Alternatively you could just use beads with numbers on and make your child a bracelet with the number to call if they get lost.

Kids of today

Oh technology, how it has developed since I was a child sitting, unstrapped in just the normal rear car seat of a Datsun as we navigated the ‘A’ road that led us out of Kent!! Those were the days of poor suspension and scratchy wool blankets that meant many a motion-sickened child would weakly enquire ‘are we there yet?’ Well parents today are lucky I tell you! Not only can you take along your tablet as you travel, you can fill it with apps that do everything from keeping up your phonics and number work over the holidays to serving as handy reminder for the signs and symptoms of meningitis. The Barefoot Books Atlas app recently picked up the top award from Junior Magazine for both its educational content and sheer interactive enjoyment – ideal for teaching as you travel this summer.

And if you can wait until the end of this month before assembling your dream team of holiday essentials, the new animated WOW PACKS will be released onto the market. These are eye-catching animated backpacks with a remote control that operates the eyes, nose and eyelashes. Available in the girlie pink Cutezee the Kitty style or the rather revolting green Snot the Zombie, you can be assured the resulting funny faces and sound effects created will keep your little ones amused on tedious journeys and longer-than-expected walks and waits. 

An interactive backpack buddy called 'Snot' - who wouldn't want one????

BUT – have I forgotten anything? What do you always take – and is there a travel item that has got you out of a kiddie-sized pickle? Let me know in the comment box below, there’s still (a little) room in my suitcase…

Oops I did it again!

 

 

There are certain things I have realized in life. One is, for example don’t pick four different types of alcoholic beverage (like PIMM’S, gin, white wine and beer let’s say) and consume them rapidly and consecutively in one night. Unfortunately I don’t always heed the lessons I have learnt, a point which I was able to ruminate on quite extensively last Sunday morning, and indeed, well into Sunday afternoon. (Thanks for the paracetamol Mum – and to hubs for entertaining the kids).

 

Go home Barbie, you're drunk.

 

 

But it got me to thinking that as parents we also make the same mistakes over and over – even though we know better. These are my top five poor parenting techniques, which although I know they achieve nothing, and sometimes even make matters worse, I still manage to do:

1 Shouting

If children actually behaved simply because you shouted at them, there would be no naughty children in the entire world. I think we all know that our children heard us the first time we asked them to ‘Stop doing that!’ And since it wasn’t their hearing that was at fault – simply repeating the request at a far louder volume is unlikely to improve matters. However, I still find myself shouting pointlessly at my offspring – I think I believe I am using it for emphasis (I really do mean to get off the sofa with that melty ice-cream) but actually I am using it as a way to blow off steam. I’m pretty sure the real solution is counting to ten. Quietly.

 

A megaphone is no help - they are ignoring you!

 

2. Transposing the authority

I hate hearing that ‘the man over there will tell you off’ from other parents when I’m out and about. Not only is it likely to give a child issues in meeting new people above and beyond the required ‘stranger danger’, it means that you’re not making it clear who is in charge (in case you are wondering it’s YOU!!). Children need to be told quite clearly that their parent makes the decisions, and that the children get to follow those decisions. And yet…I do find myself telling a certain little lady that if she doesn’t decide which summer dress to wear within the next five minutes, I will be taking her to school in her knickers and letting her teacher deal with the decision. What can I say? I’m not at my best in the morning…

3. Empty threats

Picture the scene – your child is happily involved in some highly creative imaginary game when you come along and ask her/him to stop everything and get ready for some real-world activity. Like now! Somehow for el kiddo, the imaginary world that they control is far more enjoyable that the one where you are in charge, banging on about the time, the rules, what’s allowed and what’s not. What is needed here is a few minutes warning, a calm explanation of how the next ten minutes are going to go and some parental persuasion. So there is absolutely no point in making an empty threat of punishment – along the lines of ‘if you don’t get dressed immediately – you won’t be able to go swimming’. Because both you and I know, that those swimming lessons cost cold hard cash – and you’re not sacrificing one unless your child is missing a limb or something.

4. Telling fibs

For some reason in our society we value honesty and want our children to grow up trustworthy. However, I am regularly telling my children tall tales about the tooth fairy and Santa Claus. I also tell them if they don’t brush their teeth properly they will all fall out and their peers will think they are witches and refuse to play with them at school. It’s at times like this I wonder where my eldest daughter got her over-developed sense of imagination from…I’m not proud of my lack of honesty, and am slightly worried how I’ll justify my embellishments when they discover that it’s me putting a pound under their pillow (and yes, leaving glittery fairy dust and notes written in teeny, tiny handwriting too). In the words of my teenage muse Scarlett O’Hara – ‘I’ll think about that tomorrow’.

 

'My life will be just like this romantic novel' (lies, all lies!)

5. And telling the truth

Let’s face it, some kids can be little shits. Not mine, or yours, of course (research* proves those people that read parenting blogs have perfect children…), but some people’s kids. And if a nasty piece of work upsets your child, you see red. And I might have, in the past, told my children truthful, yet not very nice, things about the perpetrator of such meanness. Just hypothetically speaking, if a child persistently told my child that she was much clever than her, I might just of, hypothetically, have suggested that my child replies something along the lines of ‘well if you are so clever why did you have to go and see the head teacher for fighting?’ I’m not proud of what I did (hypothetically) – but I’m pretty sure I’m going to hell for it.

*I just made that up.

 

So, knowing all this about myself – I have to ask – what kind of parent am I??? A pretty average one I’m hoping, since we all make mistakes once in a while. The important thing is that we acknowledge where we go wrong – and approach looking after our kids not with military precision and rebukes but with a sense of humour and enjoyment. It’s true that our kids learn more from watching how we behave than from listening to what we say, so be natural, be normal and be happy around your children – they’ll thank you for it in the end!

What parental confessions can I prize out of you? Are you a perfect parent – or can you admit the occasional slip up to me in the box below? Please do, otherwise I might think it’s just me…it’s not right?????

 

End of term tactics

Next September my eldest will start Junior School. It feels like a significant step – and one where I can take stock of her achievements and developments since that very first day in the ‘big’ school playground (when I was trying very hard not to cry!). She leaves behind her a teacher she’s had for both Years 1 and 2, a lady she has really bonded with.

 

 

It's the most wonderful time of the year - if you're a teacher (maybe?)

 

I hold her teacher in high regard too – summarising her approach to her charges (and yes, even the grown-ups who try to monopolise parents' evening!) as ‘firm but fair’. She suits my girl’s understanding of the world perfectly – rules are rules and those that break them should – and are – given short shrift. Mrs S isn’t afraid to tackle those few disrupting the class but never does so at the expense of the attentive majority. She seems to have an arsenal of interesting ways to help children overcome everything from shyness to incessant fidgeting. She could certainly give all those parenting gurus a run for their money!

 

So I’d like to buy her something to show that I appreciate her job is far from easy – and that my daughter really has blossomed under her care. I want something original but useful, something that simply says ‘thank you’! What I don’t want to do is get involved in some crazy ‘one-upmumship’, where parents feel they have to go large or go home. Or give the poor woman diabetes by handing over the 30^th box of chocs she’s received that day (that would freak me out if I was her as I’d eat every last one of them, even if I made myself sick…).

So, just in case you find yourself in a similar conundrum (admit it, you can’t read that word without hearing the Countdown tune) – I’ve had a little poke about the Internet to seek out alternatives to the bog-standard biscuits, chocolates and wine.  I should add, for the purposes of editorial transparency, I did not receive any of the items below free from friendly PR people (yeah, I know, must try harder next time…).

Drink up!

Scrabble mugs from Graham and Green

While it always feels a bit wrong to take alcohol into the classroom, I’m pretty sure teachers (must need to) drink a fair amount of coffee and tea to make it through the school day. So, scoring high on the practicality front, a decent mug must surely be a suitable gift? And there are plenty of sophisticated options. Try the Scrabble Mug from Graham and Green, or if your budget is a little lower the matching coasters. For slightly more ‘educational’ mugs try Pedlars, it offers drinking vessels decorated with the Greek alphabet, a weights and measures chart and the periodic table. Alternatively get a personalised mug (here and here) and spare your teacher the staff room sink mix ups! The Handpicked Collection also does a fetching Tap Water Bottle for just £4.95 if your teacher is immune to the lure of caffeine.

Tap water bottle from The Handpicked Collection

 

Desktop distractions

Is it just me, or is there nothing quite like new stationary to fill that gaping hole in your life? By definition teachers need a desk – so why not add a little cheer to their day with functional yet funny items like the ‘Stampler’ (half stamp half stapler – kids would love that!), some tasty Tetris style sticky notes and highlighter pens disguised as nail varnish. Suck UK do a stunning rainbow and cloud pencil tidy, a giant pencil sharpener pen pot and a hole punch that leaves behind hearts – bringing some extra joy to those Monday mornings and Friday afternoons. And the fun doesn’t stop there, pencils can look like drumsticks, pens can look like lipsticks and a tiny army of rubber soldiers can help you in the ‘war against error’! Or for a touch of luxury, why not buy teacher a velvet pencil case? Beautiful and practical.

Rainbow and cloud pencil tidy from SUCK UK

Dig a little deeper

Outside of school teachers are just like regular people (shock!!) – which means they have a variety of hobbies. It’s gifting gold when you uncover a piece of personal info about a teacher – be it that they are a keen gardener, own a dog or that they collect tiny mirrors. If you do find out what your child’s teacher gets up to at the weekend make it work for you! For some beautiful gardening gifts head over to NotOnTheHighStreet, where you can source everything from pleasing pots and delightful outdoorsy decorations to a monthly seed subscription. Maybe your teacher is also a dab hand in the kitchen? Then head over to Lakeland for everything from guitar-shaped spatulas and potholders masquerading as vinyl to beautiful bakeware. Or perhaps they spend their school holidays on the road? Then look no further than the Travelogue notebook from Firebox.

 

Monthly seed sub from Notonthehighstreet

And finally, don’t forget that what the teacher really needs is a thank you from the heart. Luckily, children often aren’t quite so uncomfortable with telling people how they feel, so as well as proffering a gift on the last day of term, my little lady will be writing a card to her teacher, to let her know how much she will be missed.

How do you feel about teacher gifts? Do you have any ideas you can share with us in the comment box below? Perhaps you are against the idea altogether – or are hoping someone will organise a whip-round? Let me know by adding a comment…