Ideas for When You Absolutely Have to Get Out of the House....

So, if you happened upon my previous article, you will have found me full of chirpy suggestions for making the most of a yucky day indoors.  Well as it turned out, having merrily expounded, on Friday evening, the virtues of entertaining pre-schoolers inside, just a few days later Sunday saw me stuck indoors on a rainy, cold day in the middle of moving house.  Just to keep things really interesting, Miss Nearly-5 had been up all night with a terrible cough, so was in absolutely rotten shape.

No problem, I thought, let’s start the day with pikelets.  Good start, much sifting, stirring and beating was enjoyed by all, along with the fruits of our labours.  The kitchen was not quite cleaned up when some sort of altercation occurred outside involving two pre-schoolers and some chopsticks (I had turned a blind eye to the escapees into the Antarctic conditions in the hope of getting on top of the kitchen mess) so I lured everyone inside with the promise of playdough making.  Fantastic, so two batches of playdough later (one pink, one yellow – shortly to be melded into a highly attractive yink/pillow) all is well at the kitchen table for some time.  Playdough morphs into play school which involves mat time complete with news (which must be presided over by the adult who has to pretend to be the teacher, of course) kai time (didn’t we just have breakfast?) more news, ballet lessons, an attempt at a board game involving some sort of 3-year old melt down, a desperate call for lunch - soooo when the man of the house walked through the door at just after 1 pm I announced that we absolutely had to get out of the house, poked the kids in front of a DVD and slunk off for a shower.  Hence the theme of this article...

Sometimes you just absolutely must view life beyond your own four walls, regardless of what the weather is doing.  Here are some ideas when another coffee date in an over-crowded café just doesn’t appeal to the mind or the wallet.

Rug up and go for a walk  Get all your winter gear on, get out there, get wet and wild and come home, throw everyone in the bath and snuggle up warm.  Whether it’s a trip to the park, a walk on the beach, Gray’s Bush or in the arboretum, sometimes everyone benefits from getting wet and muddy and wind-blown.  There’s something smugness-inducing about getting out there on a yucky day, and nothing better than getting warm afterwards.

Invite yourself to a friend’s for lunch  If you’re craving company, hit the supermarket or the bakery and then head around to a friend’s house for a bit of a BYO lunch.  It’s often easier and cheaper than the café variety, and you all benefit from some company other than your own.

Do the supermarket shopping  For me this is a bit like cooking.  To be enjoyed as a parent-child activity, the parent must not be under any time pressure – allow the shopping to be the only thing that you really need to get done and let the kids get involved in choosing things for the trolley and putting things away at home and lo and behold the morning is filled and the shopping is done.  To be fair though, this one can go either way – if it all turns to custard buy a packet of ice-blocks or lollipops and give them one each on the way to the checkout…

If you’re wondering what wholesome family activity we engaged in during our escape from the indoors that memorable Sunday, well we actually went shopping for a new duvet cover for Miss 3 who had finally decided to sleep in her own bed.  And that’s another story…

Banana Cake

•  115g       butter                                •  ½ cups   flour

•  ¾ cup     caster sugar                       •  1 tsp       baking powder

•  1             egg                                  •  1 tsp       baking soda

•  2             ripe bananas                     •  ¼ cup     milk

•  1 tsp       coffee essence

Getting ready: 

Soften the butter and take the egg out of the fridge.  Grease an 18cm square tin with butter, and line the base with baking paper.  Preheat the oven to 180˚C.  Peel the bananas and mash them well with a fork.

Mixing and baking:

Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, then beat in the egg, followed by the mashed bananas and the coffee essence.

Sift together the flour and baking powder, and dissolve the  baking soda in the milk.

Fold in the dry ingredients alternately with the milk and baking soda, and combine everything together.  Bake for about 45 min.

When the cake is cooked it will have shrunk slightly away from the sides of the tin and when you press the centre gently with your finger, it will spring back.

Remove from the oven and cool on a rack.   

Ice when cool and store airtight.

Re-use, Reduce, Recycle

At this time of year, with the dragon of rampant Christmas consumerism breathing its hot and heavy breath in our faces, it takes an iron will and a very firm plan to avoid succumbing to the excesses of the season.  I clearly remember my first Christmas of motherhood, which involved a child of not quite 6 months of age being absolutely over-whelmed with stuff - stuff from us, stuff from Santa, stuff from grandparents, aunties and uncles, great-grandparents, great-uncles, fairy-godparents and friends.....you get the picture - and, as the old but accurate cliche goes, being only really interested in the wrapping.

Every year since I have vowed that we would not go over the top - that we would just buy one thing for each child, a few stocking stuffers would be provided by Santa, and then family would complete the picture.  So how is that every year that somehow the underneath of that Christmas tree is chokka and I fully know I have only myself to blame for the vast majority of the paraphernalia that overwhelms my children on Christmas morning.


This is my fifth Christmas as a parent, so you would think I might have a few clues by now.  However, as I write this I am mentally reviewing the various things stashed in the top of my wardrobe throughout the year, adding to that the slightly OTT order that I placed via our kindergarten fundraiser, convincing myself that a worthwhile cause justified a few extra bits and pieces, and thinking that not much of that stuff is of the right size to fit inside a stocking, so therefore some more shopping on behalf of Santa will be required.  Ugh.


In the midst of all this I am also reflecting on the most long-lasting and fascinating toys to have entered our lives this year - maybe a close second to paper and pen - these particular toys arrived in the guise of a new vacuum cleaner and - you - guessed it - the rather large box encasing said vacuum cleaner.  In the blink of an eye this box became a car, and over the various weeks and now months of its existence this car has gradually been enhanced with various features (this weekend saw it sporting a large extension which apparently is a smoke stack, complete with smoke, turning it into a train).  It has been the favourite spot for reading, spelling practice, and the centre of all sorts of games.  It has had a boot added, which contains treasures of all descriptions.  Periodically it gets relegated to the garage as it (plus its smaller sibling-version) takes up a lot of room and we get a bit tired of tripping over it from time-to-time, but it always re-enters the house and is embraced with as much enthusiasm and it generated on Day 1.

So, what is to be done about the Christmas stash.  In the process of writing this I think I have come up with a plan - stick to the plan.  Sift through the stash to find the things that can be rammed into the stockings, pick one or two extra things for each child, and leave the rest in the cupboard for birthdays (our family's or others) and perhaps to be brought out at odd times when it seems like a new toy could be welcome, rather than on one crazy day when it will just be lost in the pile of wrapping paper.  Surely with Christmas now only a few weeks away I can manage to remember that plan?

Chocolate Truffles

A perfect Christmas treat - adults only!  Truffles can be made 3 days ahead, keep covered in refrigerator. Recipe unsuitable to freeze.
100g dark chocolate melted
1 ½ tablespoons dark rum
2 table spoons cream
30g butter melted
1 ¾ cups icing sugar
1 cup ground almonds 
¼ cup cocoa
Combine melted chocolate, rum, cream and butter in bowl. Stir in sifted icing sugar and almonds in 2 batches. Cover, refrigerate until firm. Shape rounded teaspoonfuls of mixture into balls, roll in cocoa, place in refrigerator until serving. Makes about 15.

The Power of Praise

I have always considered myself absolutely hopeless at art - as in a total non-starter.  Creative, I could be, as long as we could loosely define creativity to include cooking, gardening, sewing, but as far as drawing or painting, count me out.  


The peak of my artistic endeavours was a caterpillar created from egg-carton at Raetihi Primary School, of which I was extremely proud.  Unfortunately its existence was uncannily short-lived thanks to a couple of bullies, lurking around the corner of the classroom after school, who accosted me and stomped the poor creature into oblivion.  Luckily I have a partner who is quite talented in the artistic way, so it was pretty easy for me to avoid challenging myself by fobbing off my daughters’ requests for drawing to their more talented father.  

However, recently I got talking to a friend who told me that it has been proven that anyone can become good at anything with the will and enough practice.  This passing conversation, in conjunction with watching my daughters learn to draw, made me wonder if it really was kind of lame of me to put myself into a “non-able” box, when maybe I could actually learn this skill, in the same way that I have learnt to do other things in my four decades on this planet.  


So, I have been trying to actually learn to draw.  Not in a really academic kind of a way, but just in a “well let’s give this a whirl” kind of way.  When the girls are drawing, I sit down and draw too, and when they ask me to draw something, I have a go.  I have to say, that the very best part of this whole thing has been the positive feedback from my girls.  “That’s a really great fish Mum.”  “You’re really good at drawing princesses.”  “Can we pin my Mickey on the wall Mum.”  “Dad, look at my Spongie that Mum drew.”  Even the aforementioned Dad has contributed with positive comments regarding my efforts.  


Now if anyone outside of my four walls actually saw my efforts, they would no doubt conclude that there was an artistically-challenged seven-year old with a penchant for drawing Sponge Bob, Mickey Mouse, and renditions of the various fish from “Tiddler” on the loose, but I am quite proud of my little efforts, and get thrilled to my core by the kind comments from my family.  It’s really got me thinking about the power of praise, and how, if a 40 year old can learn something new with a little bit of positive feedback from those around her, how much can our children achieve with our support and encouragement. 


I know that we all do work hard to praise and encourage our nearest and dearest, but I think it’s easy to forget just how good that really feels.  Equally, how much do we teach our children by being prepared to give anything a go, and really showing them that we can do anything that we set our minds to?  Be brave with your efforts, and be generous with your praise - both will make you and yours great.