Urgh! Technology Gremlins!

After 2 weeks of one other hardware being on life support, I am back online! Laptop has successfully been fitted with a pacemaker and mobile has been buried and replaced!

Can't wait share the handwritten scribbles from the last weeks, which I will do so as soon as my precious offspring are tucked into bed.


See you later!

If you had an extra 30 minutes a day of free time with your kids . . .

If you had an extra 30 minutes a day of free time with your kids (grandkids/ nieces/ nephews) . . . 

. . . how would you spend it?

Thanks Lauren for sharing your cloud gazers.                                                   Thanks Barbara for sharing your                                   grandchildren and this special moment.

Encouraging a competitive child to compete.

In today's cut throat world, competitiveness and having the "x" factor are pressures which, like the thief in the night, seep into the minds of our children, mutating and morphing the fragility of the developing personality. 

Where does a healthy competitive drive and achievement orientation end, at what point does the need and craving for excellence and acknowledgement become dysfunctional?

Read the full post here http://inspiredfamilies.blogspot.com/p/nurturing-little-people.html

Should we help?

When art & craft ideas "poof" into the right hemisphere of my grey matter, wondrous masterpieces fit for museums and galleries reel around and around, and then, thankfully, settle into practical and achievable little projects that I can convey to the kids. With the seed planted in their minds, I see the same process unfolding. My point is that the idea in my head is not the picture in their heads, and when we begin to create I need to respect their individuality of expression. And that means: holding back on the help!

Once we’re ready, steady, go, we chat about why we have chosen the materials that we have . . . . and they're off! Whizzing around the house or garden finding “better stuff!" Urrgh, all my careful preparation down the drain. 

Yip, the picture they have is different from mine.

The creativity flows and the fun begins, and often I want to jump in, take over and make it “perfect” but . . . 

important to me, is that the process of kids’ art, as I posted yesterday, should be about them believing that they can create something that they will be proud of. It’s about self-confidence and expression.  When we offer too much help, it sends the signal that we don’t believe that they can do it, and if “mum doesn’t believe I can do it, then I probably can’t do it.” And so, as the parent, I have failed the process by trying to control the product. It should be about them exploring what they can master and knowing that it’s great simply because  it’s theirs and because they had fun creating it all by themselves.  

As I see it, my role is to make practical suggestions, lend a pair of fingers when asked and do the tricky bits that may involve stabbing holes through card or super-gluing fingers to paper!

Something my 5 year old said to me not so long ago summed it up very succinctly, “God must have had so much fun when he made everything and he must have been very proud when he was finished.”

And, as I’ve seen in their eyes, when a child draws something like this . . .

 . . . they actually see this!

When we take-over and “help” them to draw this . . .

. . . well, that’s exactly what they see . . . and the magic of creation has been lost.

Toilet Talk

Pulling my hair out over the 1-ply/2-ply debate . . . 


. . . the Queen’s rear doesn't really get grubby does it? Or does it?


Read the deliberation here: 


http://inspiredfamilies.blogspot.com/p/funnies-feedback-from-visitors.html

Just do it . . . getting started!

The idea of sitting down to share art with your kids can be an intimidating one, for so many reasons (or excuses), like:

• I'm really not creative
• We don't have the "stuff" to create art
• I don't know where to start

In this post, I’m going to share my thoughts on just how creative one needs to be, or not to be.

I'm not an artist by any stretch of the imagination, but I do draw a stick figure better than my 7 yr old. So? In the eyes of a child, if you can do it better than they can and you know more than they do, then you're an expert (until they're teenagers of course). Ultimately, our role is to guide them through their creation, with lots of "ooh's", "aah's" and "wow's". 

The joy is in the sharing of the process, not necessarily the end product. I have, many times, "guided" kids through the process of their creation and arrived at a messy muddle of "what is that?" 

Guess what? We had fun anyway! What could be more exhilarating for a child-at-art, than seeing their "expert" looking really silly! The lessons we have learnt and conversations we have had over these "huh?" creations, have been as valuable (if not more so) than our masterpieces.

Through these opportunities, I have been able teach my children, from a very young age, how to behave when you don't achieve the outcome that you hoped for. I promise that when faced with one of our artistic "failures" I don't burst into tears, throw paintbrushes and stamp away in a huff. I try not to laugh hysterically, but I can't promise that I've never done that!

Instead? We try to figure out, looking at our creation with heads tilted at every possible angle, if there is something else that it resembles and could perhaps be. Talk about creative thinking and imagination! We also have wonderful conversations about what we did wrong, what part didn't work and what we could have done differently. It's amazing how animated the little "apprentices” become when they're suggesting improvements to their expert! Sometimes we decide to salvage what we can, and start over, attempting to recreate the original idea or make something else altogether.

And what about when we're not following a specific plan or don't have a specific end goal in mind? Well, that's when I watch their inner thoughts, dreams and interests come to life. The room becomes quieter as they slip into the depths of their creativity, and work on turning an idea into something tangible. My job is to mindlessly doodle, because obviously their creations need to be waaaay cooler than mine! Tip: never, under any circumstance, ask: "What is that?" Maybe try: "So what made you think of making that?" and see where it takes the conversation.

The over-riding theme of this post is simple: Kids art is not about "artistic produce". For me, it's always been about a process that offers an opportunity for creative thinking, problem solving and engaged conversation with my children. It’s also a gentle way of building self confidence and developing the skill of taking pride in their efforts.

All of course, disguised in a whole lot of fun!


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Welcome to me, welcome to you!

So, what qualifies me to write a blog about “Inspired Families”? Well, positively nothing! Nothing other than my enthusiasm for love, life and children! If anything at all, I aspire only to share my passion with moms (sometimes even dads), kids and ultimately . . . inspired families.

What does “Inspired Families” mean to me? In short: happy families. Parents who are valued by their children. Children who tangibly experience the value that they bring to their parents. Families that are present and engaged, expressive and connected. Families that have fun!

It’s  through conversations and sharing, laughing and venting that we remain enthused and encouraged  to absorb the accountability for nurturing an inspired family. 

Do I have a perfect family unit? 
Am I an even slightly perfect mother? 
Do I have all the answers? 
Definitively: No! 


But I take childish delight in exploring them, through trial, error and sharing.


I will soon introduce content to the various pages on this site, and look forward to contributions and interactions from all, creating a community of ideas and inspiration.