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.

Ideas for When You Just Can't Get Out of the House

By the time you read this the school holidays will be over and we will all be rolling back into the routine of school and pre-school activities.  For our family this is a particularly poignant time as our oldest starts school and our youngest kindergarten – how time has flown!  I’m so glad that we’ve been lucky enough to share so much time as a family during these precious pre-school years.  


So although it may be a little late to be really useful, I’ve been giving a lot of thought to how best to enjoy family time during these (sometimes unbearably long) winter days.  Let’s be honest, must as we love Gisborne just as it is, it’s this time of year that the grass can sometimes seem greener, the walls can close in a little, and we can find ourselves wondering if there might just be more on offer elsewhere.  But actually, I reckon there’s plenty of winter-time fun to be had Out East, so read on for my ideas for those days when you wake up with the rain hammering the roof and the wind howling through the windows and no idea of how to fill the space between breakfast and dinner time.



The mind may be willing, but the body just can’t make it out the door... sick kids, sick parents, not enough sleep, too much condensation on the insides of the windows... If you simply can’t be bothered getting organised to go out, embrace the day for what it is, and make the most of the home-body life.

Make playdough  There was a period where I refused to make playdough – a few bad experiences (too sticky, too dry, too stuck in the carpet), but I rediscovered the joys of playdough a few months ago, along with a seemingly fool-proof recipe (see opposite).  With a few implements available for rolling, cutting, chopping and serving, playdough can keep those little minds and hands busy for quite a while, and stored in an airtight container can by pulled out again and again... and again.  And actually, those squished into the carpet bits do dry out and vacuum up reasonably easily...


Get cooking  I have concluded that the secret for enjoying cooking with pre-schoolers is to allow plenty of time and have no need for the actual meal to be served any time soon.  I have had loads of fun recently making soup with my 3 year-old and stew with my nearly-5 for dinner the following night, and nearly gone nutty with offers of help when trying to cook dinner that actually needed to be ready sometime soon.  Chopping, stirring, grating, sifting, greasing pans, running Zhu-zhu pets over rising bread dough – these are all great ways to involve pre-schoolers in the kitchen.


Have a pyjama day  Just call it quits from the word go, and announce that the whole day will be spent in pyjamas.  Haul out the board games, the puzzles, the coffee and the books, and just enjoy being inside with nowhere better to be.  By 2 pm you will probably feel disgusting, so that’s the time for the DVD player and a long shower.


So next time you wake up with the rain pounding the windows and it just seems too hard to breach the threshold to the great outdoors, embrace the inside!  Watch this space next month for ideas for when you just have to get out of the house.







Playdough Recipe 


• 2 ½ cups of white flour
• ½ cup salt

• 2 tablespoons cream tartar
• 2 cups boiling water

• food colouring


Directions:  
Mix flour with salt and cream tartar in a large bowl.  Add boiling water, oil and food colouring.  Mix quickly then knead on a floured board until firm.  Add extra flour if sticky.  Store in an airtight container.


Tips from bitter experience:
Don’t be tempted to use cooking salt if you bought it by accident...  It is too coarse and just doesn’t work.
Add plenty of food colouring directly into the water – the colour needs to be strong or the playdough will be an insipid colour and adding extra colour to the dough results in a rather unattractive slightly ‘80s motley effect.
Add about ¾ of the water initially and then add the last little bit slowly until you get the right texture – I usually find that I don’t need the whole 2 cups and it’s easier than adding flour at the end to make it less sticky.