Why Camp Wilderness?

Well, a couple of weeks ago we arrived home from somewhere quite late – about 9.30pm. I sent Belle straight upstairs to get ready for bed. About fifteen minutes later I went up to give her a kiss goodnight and she was still standing in the middle of her bedroom, coat and shoes on, looking at Instagram.

It’s not cool really, is it? My work is online, but I do try to switch off regularly. It makes me sad that children nowadays have a stronger connection to the internet than to the natural world.

To try and combat this, and make Belle look up at the real world for more than about five seconds, we packed her off at the beginning of the summer holidays to Camp Wilderness. It was a little bit of a drive, made longer by Belle accidentally entering the postcode of their head office in High Wycombe into the sat nav, but it was totally worth it.

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Last weekend we went down to the River Dart Country Park for the day. One of the perks of having moved back to Somerset from Bristol is that you’re that bit closer to all of the nice bits of the south west, and so it only took us an hour to get there.

We had only ever been once before, camping for a weekend back in May for my nephew’s sixth birthday, and it rained pretty much the whole time. Belle was keen to go again in nicer weather, so that she could have another go on the high ropes and drag us out on a canoe.

Our first attempt at the high ropes was rather shameful. We bought tickets for all three of us, and we all made it as far as the start of the course, but it turns out that neither my fiancé nor I have the guts that Belle does, and we ended up watching her complete the course from solid ground. It was a little embarrassing, but much better, I felt, to chicken out right at the beginning than to have to be airlifted from a tree half way round.

I surprised myself if I’m honest. I’m not the most physical of people, it’s true, but I’d never really thought of myself as being scared of heights or afraid to try new things. When I got to the edge of the first rope net though, I was terrified. I got as far as putting out one foot, but I just couldn’t do it – I felt paralysed. Is it an age thing I wonder? I’m pretty sure I’d have done it at Belle’s age, so do we just get more afraid of adventure as we get older? View Post

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It’s on! It’s happening! The countdown to the summer holidays has begun!

What am I saying? Belle has been counting down for about the last two months. She has been crossing days off on an actual calendar, like they do in films.

I feel like I’m a bit down on the summer holidays sometimes, so I wanted to write something to show I’m not a complete misery. I did offer you a £50 Tesco voucher don’t forget, to add to the holiday fun times, so it can’t all be bad.

So, here are some things I’m looking forward to this summer holiday:

1. A trip around Ireland in a motorhome. Do you remember last summer, we took that Bailey motorhome around England, ticking off all the counties? Well, Bailey have very kindly offered to lend us a van again, and this time we are venturing into Europe. I’m a little nervous about the driving, but keep remembering what an amazing time we had last year. View Post

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This isn’t a sponsored post, it’s literally me walking to Tesco and buying you a voucher, I just wanted to make a small gesture to say ‘Guys! The summer holidays are nearly upon us! I FEEL YOUR PAIN!’

Truth be told, the summer holidays are a lot easier for me now than they were a few years ago – a 12 year old takes far less looking after than a toddler in practical terms. What does tend to happen though is that you fall into that trap of leaving them staring at an iPad for seven hours at a time, or let them stay in bed until midday every day, and really that’s not very wholesome is it?

Entertaining children is expensive though, which is why I thought it might be helpful to have a little something extra to go into the summer holiday kitty. Perhaps you could spend it all on treats for a picnic, or maybe some games for the garden? Crafts are popular with children, so I’ve heard, or maybe just buy a huge bottle of gin and drink the holidays away. View Post

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It’s almost that time again.

The Summer Holidays.

Dum dum dum!

That seemingly endless six weeks that comes with the daily struggle of balancing childcare, keeping your children entertained while you are looking after them and trying not to blow all of you summer holiday cash in the first week by taking them to the cinema every day when things get a bit too much.

The best strategy I have come up with, after 15 years of practice, is to really plan your time as a whole, rather than taking it day by day. The key is to have some chunks of time scheduled out with fun activities throughout the six weeks, so that you don’t feel too guilty if it’s the third day in a row that they’ve been watching TV under a blanket instead of doing some wholesome crafts. If you’re looking for some fun activities for kids during the summer holidays, I’ve got some great ideas that I’m roping Belle into:

Camp Wilderness

If your kids like going off to camps, that’s one whole week of the holidays ticked off already. Summer camps can be great for both parents and children. The kids get some independent time away from home, have fun, meet new friends and learn useful skills, while the adults don’t have to worry about childcare or having to miss work for a week. This year Belle is going to Camp Wilderness, which is run by The Bushcraft Company, who are experts in children’s outdoor education. More time to work for me, more learning how to make fires by rubbing two sticks together for Belle.

Camp Wilderness

Photo – Camp Wilderness

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The long summer school holidays are coming up and this can be a difficult time for both parents and children, especially if you’re a single parent family.

Now I’m newly single again, negotiating six weeks of childcare time is going to be even harder than usual. I try to keep other school holidays as work free as possible but doing next to no work for six weeks just isn’t realistic with one income. Luckily Belle is now old enough to pretty much entertain herself, but it still means six weeks of trying to prise the iPad out of her hands while she’s sat in front of the TV with half a loaf of brioche balanced precariously on the arm of the sofa.

As a single parent who works from home, knowing how much time you really can spend working over the summer is tricky. If you work too much, you lose out on quality time with your children and they will inevitably get bored and restless as soon as you aren’t giving them your undivided attention. Sending them away to a camp or an activity day while you work costs so much these days that sometimes it hardly seems worth it and I feel as though I may as well have written off working altogether and watched TV with Belle under her blanket.

On days where I have time to take Belle out, it’s a whole other summer holiday hurdle trying to work out where to go and what to do. If you have children of different ages it can be a nightmare trying to find something that appeals to the whole family that isn’t Burger King. Belle enjoys most days out we have but trying to think of original activities is not my strong point. You all know how I feel about organised crafts. Most childhood memories are created in the summer holidays, so having at least a few memorable days out each summer is really important.

If you’re not planning any holidays abroad or you just fancy a nice treat, Thorpe Park is a great place to take kids of all ages for a fun day out and some memories. Thorpe Park boasts rides suitable for everyone from the Saw ride and other super-fast rollercoasters, to the little train ride which Bee and Belle had the most fun on together when we went last summer. Plus of course there is the new Angry Birds Land, which is proving popular with kids of all ages…

Jonathan Ross at Thorpe Park

If you fancy going but you’re a bit strapped for cash this summer, never fear! I’m giving away 5 free entry passes worth £58 each, so £290 in total, for one lucky family to enjoy. All you have to do is enter using the Rafflecopter for your chance to win. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: We are Thorpe Park ambassadors. We have received Merlin annual passes in return for sharing our news and views but all opinions are my own.

Win competitions at ThePrizeFinder.com 

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I should probably come clean before you get too excited and say that this isn’t an instructional post – I don’t actually have the answers to staying motivated when you work from home. This post is more of an act of procrastination, some random musings while I gear myself up to do something that’s actually on my list. If anything I was sort of hoping that you might read this and then send me some ideas.

So.

*Awkward pause while I wait for the people who are bored already to make their excuses and scrap their chairs*

Today was back to school day. View Post

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They’re here! The summer holidays are here! Don’t panic, put down the gin, we can do this! Deep breaths.

It is 10am on the first day of the summer holidays in our house and Belle is sat in front of the TV eating toast and jam. I suspect this could be a sign of things to come as I spend large chunks of the holidays juggling work and child care.

Summer holidays

Any time you come to our house, there will be a 79% chance you will find Belle in this exact position. It is her favourite.

I am envisaging a lot of conversations that go something like this: View Post

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Before the summer holidays started, I sat down and had a little talk with Belle about the impending six weeks, and exactly how we were going to manage the whole work, fun, childcare balance. As much as I didn’t want to, I explained to her, I was going to have to do some work, and as useful for me as her week away with Gran was going to be, we needed to come up with something else too.

“Don’t make me go to Clifton College holiday club!” she wailed, a look of panic on her face.

“I won’t make you go there again,” I reassured her, “I promised didn’t I?”

She looked relieved.

“I don’t want to go to the holiday club at school either,” she pleaded, “they just make you decorate keyrings all day.”

“OK,” I said, rapidly running out of options. “How about sports?”

We were quiet for a moment, both thinking about the disaster of the two-day football camp the previous summer. Belle, as you may have worked out, is not a fan of the whole ‘wrap-around-care’ concept. For her, holidays and after school are for watching all the television she has been kept away from during school hours.

“Well then,” I said, laughing hysterically inside at the very idea that she would agree, “the only other option is a residential camp, where you go away for the whole week with lots of people you don’t know.”

“I’ll do that one,” she said, and turned back to MI High, the conversation apparently now over.

Well, that was a shock.

So, tomorrow, she’s off. Monday to Friday, sleeping in yurt dorms, wading through swamps, meeting red squirrels, and tagging crabs. She’s only going to be about an hour away, but I am so proud of her. She’s getting pretty excited about it, and this afternoon has been sorting out what she wants to take, and zealously labelling everything with her rather lovely personalised stickers, provided specially for the occasion by This is Nessie. This is Nessie do a whole range of gorgeous personalised stuff, so if you are a stationery geek like me, they are well worth a look.

"Personalised name labels"

Who do these belong to then?

In the morning, we’ll be up early, and by 9.30am I will be child free for five whole days, as Bee is away next week too, doing some very grown-up work experience.

Five whole days!

I’ve never actually been alone in the house for that long. What will I do? Who will I talk to? Looking at Belle’s programme, I’m quite jealous. I quite fancy a safari scavenger hunt. Bonfires, marshmallows, yes please.

Maybe I’ll book myself in…

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How, as a single parent, are you supposed to work, maintain your sanity AND look after children who have six-week long holidays?? SIX WEEKS! It’s just not natural.

This afternoon, after being a full-time mum since the end of July, I have spent a blissful five hours in the house on my own designing databases and writing marketing emails, while Bee and Belle have been out shopping with my mother. I am extremely grateful.

After just two weeks of being a ‘stay-at-home-in-the-holidays’ mum, I am already reaching the end of my tether. It’s like being on extended maternity leave all over again (what a stupid idea THAT was) – my neck and shoulders feel permanently tense, and my voice has become slightly high-pitched and hysterical. My patience is more frayed than my hall carpet, which is saying something, and my poor children are suffering I’m sure.

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I can’t believe it’s really nearly here. I’ve been looking forward to it with a mixture of relief, excitement and dread and now I only have one more day to go.

The summer holidays. (DUM DUM DUUUUM!)

What fun stuff has everyone got planned? Holidays? Outings? Adoption?

This summer is going to be different from most for me. It will be the first summer where I have been officially working for myself and it’s a fantastic relief not to have to worry about holiday clubs, childcare or missing out on any fun.

But that’s the problem in itself. No childcare. ‘Excellent!’ I thought to myself, ‘I will wind down to the holidays, keep work to a minimum and enjoy lots of Quality Time with the girls’. But now I’m starting to get a tad panicky. Winding down is all very well, but I do still actually have some work to do, and you know how these things happen – the minute you actively DON’T want to get offered anything, you can guarantee something will land in your lap.

So the no childcare thing suddenly seems just a little bit foolhardy. Don’t get me wrong, I love my children, they are fabulous, but six weeks of non-stop seven-year old may just tip me over the edge.

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