Dear Readers...
An outbreak of swine flu at my son's school brought his school holidays forward and sparked a week of ‘I’m not going to school if he’s not’ from Emily. Cristian is a ‘foodie’ and on Friday he went to the Food and Wine Show with a friend to see his ‘ hero’ Gordon Ramsey. Despair swept over me, what happened to Bob The Builder or Thomas The Tank Engine or even the Teletubbies? The concerns I had about Batman and Spiderman seemed insignificant when faced with my son adoring Gordon! As Cristian gets older I appreciate the school holidays more. I know he will be ‘under my wing’ for a limited time now and although we will always be close, our relationship is changing as he becomes a young man. I have to make the most of every moment, soon enough I will need to let go.
I was reassured that my nest is far from empty as Emily told me that night that her teacher asked her what Daddy does? 'I told her he sells clothes out of cars Mummy' she said followed by 'Well not exactly out of cars Mummy, out of his car boot!'. Trying desperately not to laugh I asked her what her teacher said. 'She said 'Oh I see'' (he’s a wholesaler of European menswear). |
Jane King
Mother to Emily 8, Cristian 14
Founder of Parenting Australia |
Meet Parenting Australia's newest team member!
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Parenting Australia welcomes Australia's own Super Nanny Johanna to the team!
Johanna Baker-Dowdell is mum to two boys – Noah and Ethan – and combines looking after them with her work as a blogger, journalist, writer and public relations consultant. |
| Joh has provided us with some great tips for keeping the kids occupied. Check through this newsletter to read them all! |
Come meet the Parenting Australia team!
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Parenting Australia invites you to come along to the
2009 Baby, Kids and Pregnancy Expo.
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| Meet our team and browse the many latest and greatest products and services available to parents and parents-to-be. Click here for more info! |
Parenting Australia competition
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Parenting Australia are giving 3 lucky subscribers the chance to win one of 3 Euky Bear Gift Packs! Perfect timing for those winter sniffles, parents everywhere recommend Euky Bear chest rub. Click here for more details. |
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Have an adventure! |
Bushwalk – there is nothing like a bushwalk through one of our fantastic national parks to get children interested in nature. Point out the different trees and flowers, try hunting for animals and insects, or climb a few trees, if you’re game.
Photography – take your camera out with the kids and let them take the photos themselves. Try close ups of ladybugs and flowers, or well-known landmarks like a lighthouse, rock platform or railway station. |
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If you are a parent and always put your child first, then we commend you but sometimes it’s important to make time to take care of yourself too.
With findachiro.com.au you will find a local Chiropractor that understands your concerns and is a parent too. We take the time to listen to you, give you practical advice and guidance on how to get on with your day, without pain.
We understand that being a parent changes your priorities and that’s why we are reaching out to you with our “special new patient offer” where you get to visit a local certified Family Chiropractor for only $49. That’s a $162 saving.
If you are getting back pain from picking up your children and holding them on one side, or your headache is making your day more stressful and preventing you from attending to your child’s needs, then please don’t delay. Use our convenient service to find a solution to your back pain, neck pain or headaches now.
It will be one less stress you have to deal with. Find a quality, family friendly, Chiropractor near you! |
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Fun at home |
If it’s raining or your budget is really tight, try these at-home activities to keep them amused for a few hours:
Cooking – homemade pizza, cupcakes and cookies are easy and fun for children to help cook, and you get to eat the results at the end! |
Art and craft – try finger painting, colouring in pictures printed from the Internet, creating block prints by cutting shapes from potato and stamping on to paper, clay models or build a mobile from papier mache figures or shapes cut from coloured cardboard. The more adventurous might like to try making a kite and then taking it out to fly at the park.
Outdoors – young children love bubbles and they are so easy to make with dishwashing liquid in water and wire bent into shapes. Building cubby houses from old boxes and sheets/blankets will entertain kids for hours and you can even invite their friends over for a tea party inside the cubby. Use chalk to draw a hopscotch pattern on your driveway or paving for a hopping trip down memory lane for you, and a retro game for them.
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Parenting Australia competition reminder
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| Parenting Australia subscribers can also recieve a fantastic exclusive discount to any of the Dr Phil shows in Australia - Get your tickets at just $49 - thats a saving of $40! Click here to get your discounted tickets! |
Violet Foundation - Meningococcal Awareness Dinner 2009
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Parenting Australia would like to encourage all our readers to attend the Violet Foundation's Meningococcal Awareness Dinner. It is a great oppurtunity for you to support a worthy cause, and you get to have a great night out in the city at the same time! Dinner, entertainment, dancing, raffles and auctions will all be included.
Interested subscribers can check their facebook event page here for more details, or you can go to the Violet Foundations website to contact them and learn more about the cause.
To find out more or reserve your seat, contact Colin Greenway - Ph - 02 9825 6521 M: 0418 960 823
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A drive away! |
Library – take the kids to your local library and stock up on books, CDs and DVDs for the duration of the holidays to expand their young minds.
Wildlife park/zoo/aquarium – go on a mini excursion and teach your children about Australia’s flora and fauna in a fun setting.
Other things to try - Ice skating, mini golf, art exhibition, museum or movies. |
Going on a long car trip?
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Break the monotony of a long car trip by playing games with your kids - we recommend 20 questions.
Someone picks and animal, plant or object, and the rest of you have 20 questions to find out what it is. Take turns in asking questions about their pick and whoever guesses it first gets to pick next time around.
Keeps the kids amused and makes the time fly! |
| Got any tips for our subscribers going on long car trips with kids? Click here and tell the rest of our online family! |
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Special editions of Parenting Australia’s eNews to look forward to
14th July
21st July
28th July
18th August
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Pregnancy
Education
Dental Health
Father's Day |
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The content of this article is not intended to replace professional medical advice. Any questions regarding a medical diagnosis or treatment should be directed to a medical practitioner.
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