Laura Crichton

Visiting Dynamic Earth with Kids

Dynamic Earth has always been on my list of places to visit, but I had never quite gotten round to it. I was never quite sure how to navigate there by car and I wasn’t quite sure Katie was old enough. However, when a fellow Mum from school suggested a play date there over half term – it was obvious that the time was right!

Dynamic Earth is probably the most accurate educational experience I’ve visited  in some time. Years of Geography lessons started hurtling back towards me as the kids started playing with an exhibition designed to show how rock changes as it’s compressed. As the first voice-over began, I started to recall helping my University flatmate revise for her Geology exams – and in all honesty, I thought I had been a bit too tired to take any of it in!Read More »Visiting Dynamic Earth with Kids

Style: 3 Steps to hide Tired Eyes

Sleep deprivation has brought at least one new skill: disguise!  Over the last four years I ‘ve become pretty adept at finding tricks to hide tired eyes.

Last Spring, I was really struggling with the combination of a lack of sleep, pregnancy and working full-time. Yet one day when I walked into the staffroom, a colleague commented that I was looking much less tired. In fact, several people said I was looking ‘much more like myself.’ My great secret? Read More »Style: 3 Steps to hide Tired Eyes

The Philosophy series: The Epictetus edition

Today we continue with the Philosophy series – asking what wisdom the second century C.E. philosopher, Epictetus can impart to parents today. Perhaps it’s because I’ve been thinking a lot about returning to work but I think that he has provided a way to look at the world a little differently.

Epictetus based his work on the philosophy of early Stoics – think logic, physics, and ethics – but the teaching we can draw on today (the Discources and the Handbook) largely focus on ethics. The ultimate aim of a Stoic teacher was to help his students reach eudaemonia (happiness). Given that happiness is a good goal to hold both as a parent and individual, I don’t think it’s a bad pursuit.Read More »The Philosophy series: The Epictetus edition

Craigmillar Castle

Craigmillar castle is a favourite of ours for a number of reasons. In my mind it looks like a proper ‘castle’ type castle, complete with big walls and winding staircases. From the castle ramparts there are amazing views over the city and the surrounding area. All with the added bonus of being three miles south-east of the city centre – so within very easy travelling distance.

With the weather has been rotten recently, the benefit of Craigmillar castle being close to home means that it’s not a big deal if you only go for a short time. However, there are a number of rooms that are well covered – with proper windows and doors!Read More »Craigmillar Castle

Things to consider when scheduling children's activities

Parenting: Scheduling children’s activities

A question I often ponder is how much I should schedule Katie’s life -or indeed whether she is over scheduled! As I cajole her to get ready for one activity or another, I often wonder why I bother when she would rather stay home and watch CBeebies.

Last summer, as I embarked on maternity leave with Thomas, I realised aside from having a new brother, Katie’s biggest adjustment would be not having full time nursery care. As Mike and I work full-time, Katie had been in nursery five days a week, often from 8am until 5pm. Aside from having a whole heap of children to play with, this also meant that she was used to a lot of organised activity.

Super-Mum I am not. I knew that I wouldn’t be able to match the speed at which Katie had moved from activity to activity, nor did I have the ability to provide the same range. Aside from anything else – I don’t have soft play in my house!

But I also was faced with a big question. Is this much scheduled activity actually a good thing? It struck me that there’s some key things to consider:Read More »Parenting: Scheduling children’s activities

Style: Boy Leggings

If asked to describe a typical baby boy’s wardrobe I’m not sure leggings would feature that highly. Although adult males obviously wear similar styles in the form of tight fitting jeans or more obviously, running tights, when it comes to children’s wear they seem to firmly in the ‘girl’ camp.

I generally favour gender neutral clothing but I don’t think it would’ve occurred to me to dress a boy in leggings. Probably because I wouldn’t have considered them neutral but rather more feminine – that is until I received an awesome pair of Blade & Rose leggings from my friend Megan!

I really enjoy dressing Thomas and have a number of items in his wardrobe that I love but these are hands down my new favourite. Today I give you my top three reasons for dressing your baby – boy or girl – in Blade & Rose leggings:
Read More »Style: Boy Leggings

Food: Gâteau au yaourt

It’s been a while since The Great British Bake Off has brought weekly joy to my life and of course, baking inspiration. The arrival of January,  in which so many want to watch their weight, has brought my motivation to make cake to a low point. Gâteau au yaourt doesn’t count in my mind as it contains yoghurt which is obviously healthy!

The more astute among you would have noticed from last week’s ‘day in the life of’ post that I’m currently reading ‘French kids don’t throw food.’ Although I’ve read this before,  as I approach weaning with Thomas, I’m keen to remind myself of different cultures and the way they do things. This book, written by  Pamela Druckerman (an American) , is an account of living in Paris and the many differences she encountered in how people raise their children. It’s a good read and a nice reminder that there is not one ‘right’ way and that’s it’s good to keep an open mind.

In one chapter she noticed at a friend’s house that her small daughter was making cake by herself. Whilst the age wasn’t specified, I thought it would be nice to see how Ben and Katie would get on with her suggested recipe for – Gâteau au yaourt aka yoghurt cake.

Aside from being something of an experiment with the kids, I also wanted to make it dairy free so decided to sub in coconut milk yoghurt for full-fat dairy yoghurt. I have no idea if this was the cause of things not going quite to plan:Read More »Food: Gâteau au yaourt