Unicorn Theatre/Story Deli - Christmas Eve

Being used to celebrating Christmas on Christmas Eve in Sweden my entire life, decided to do something special today, in waiting for Christmas celebrations to start tomorrow in UK.

Treated a bunch of our friends and our LOs to a theatre visit at Unicorn theatre as a christmas gift. It was amazing and truly magical and I was so glad to be sharing something special with my dear friends and the LOs special little friends.

For those of you that have not heard of Unicorn theatre, it is a theatre dedicated to young people with over 600 performances a year, as well as events, workshops and other theatre activities.

The show we went to see was called "What a Wonderful World". It is about the creation of the world... beginning with a dream. It is a highly interactive performance where the children (aged 2-5 yrs) are invited to join in and be part of the performance.

Every child was given a creation bag, which contained a dream, a bird, a snowball etc. which were used as part of the show. The LOs took part in creating dreams and giving other people part of their dreams, they created an ocean, they made fire and they caught stars during the 40mins performance which also included storytelling, song and music.

It was a magical first theatre experience for the LOs (and big people too ! )... just a shame they probably won't remember it when they grow up.

Another top recommendation of the day is a pizza restaurant/cafe called Story Deli on 3 Dray Walk, The Old Truman Brewery, Bricklane, a short drive from the theatre.

I usually don't like eating pizzas due to the high wheat contents but the base of these ones were more like crispy flat-bread, topped with the most delicious toppings. Food fabulous, wine super but what makes this place very recommendable is the child-friendliness of the place !

As we arrived, with 3 excited and overtired toddlers in tow, the owner (I assume he was) of the restaurant pulled out boxes full of toys for the LOs to play with. I tried to keep the toys somewhat contained and even suggested that we should let them play in a corner somewhere, away form the main floor area but the said owner insisted they play where they were and told me to just let them do their thing and that it is a pleasure having children playing there. I did as I was told and sat back, enjoying my lunch. I wish there was more places like this, then eating out with the LOs wouldn't be so stressful !

Not the Christmas celebration I am used to but what a fabulous day it was and the good thing... I still have Christmas left to celebrate tomorrow !

Not swineflu

sore throat. exhaustion. high temperature. svineflu scare. turns out not to be svineflu but rather just a very bad case of ear-infection. headache. ear-ache. puss running out of my ears (gross, I know). painkillers. antibiotics. nausea. extreme exhaustion. tummy ache. screaming children. lots of work to do. no energy. no motivation. no time to rest. what a terrible week.
i want to run away... run (or rather fly) to somewhere sunny with a nice beach. palm trees. hawaii.
feeling drained. exhausted. unwell. 7.30pm. must sleep. good night. x

Ps. Wish I could hide in a card-board box like the LOs do when they have had enough, just to come out giggling again.

Has the Terrible Twos Arrived ?

Is there really such a thing as" Terrible Twos" or is it merely a myth that mums with terrible toddlers find great comfort in, knowing that they are not the only ones but in fact is normal to have screaming/kicking/tantruming toddlers ?!
I tended to think it was the latter. Surely not all soon to be 2s will become little terrors. Must have something to do with parenting skills. NO ?

This is what I read:

Reasons of this bad behaviour often stems from one of these reasons:

- failed attempt in being independent.
- lack of communications skills/tools.
or could be:
-boredom, as their inquisitive minds need constant stimulation
-attention seeking

How to survive and avoid the temper tantrums involved:

-stay calm. Calm parents generally have calmer children. If they see you loose your temper, they are more likely to develop the same behaviour.
-ignore. If it is attention they want through throwing a tantrum. Don't encourage this behaviour by rewarding them with it.
-have strict routines and rules/boundaries. They find comfort in what's familiar and also helps minimizing confusion as they are trying to figure out the world around them.
-teach them baby signs. Enables them to communicate clearly with you way before they are able to speak. (This one I added from experience, as it has really helped me and my LOs understand each other clearly from when they were about 9 months old. They can now tell me what they see/want/like through signs, hence no confusion/guessing/frustration.)
-and finally, think positive. It will pass...hopefully. In the meanwhile, enjoy plenty of good and fun times with your LOs, in order to even out the bad times.

Right, so this is the theory behind this dreaded period, which I am still hoping won't hit our family.

PS. I have to go and put the LOs back in their beds for their lunchtime nap for the 20th time (really, they have climbed out 20 times and still not giving up !!!) now. This only just started last week. Probably part of the terrible twos madness ?!

Did your child/you suffer from the terrible twos ? What did you do to make it go away ?
Is there a way to make it go away ? Maybe you have a way to make it not appear at all ?