What does Christmas mean to you?

We stopped at our favourite cafe in Exeter today, only to be surrounded by a line of charity-inspired Christmas trees. It wasn't long before my 2 year old got tangled up in the fairy lights and then started pulling at the baubles. With less than a month to go, I need to decide how I really feel about Christmas.

My family and are are Baha'is (www.bahai.org) and we believe that all of the major world religions come from the same Creator. We have our own special Holy Days. There is no problem with us celebrating the birth of Christ, or participating in the festivals of other religions such as Eid, or Divali. With some guidance, Baha'is are free to make their own decision as to how much to take part in the cultural and religious festivities of their area.

I tend to try and not make too much of a big deal of the traditions (and dare I say commercial) side of Christmas. We always give cards and happily display cards from friends. We do usually buy gifts for relatives who are not Baha'is, but so far we have not bought gifts for our own children. They get so much from other people that they haven't actually noticed, so at the moment it is only a point of principle! Last year we lived next door to a family who have a huge Christmas shop and they gave us a tree (which to be fair I absolutely loved :-).

So basically, I'm enjoying many of the fine elements of Christmas by just sponging off of others! Time to make a decision and figure out what Christmas means for our family. My husband and I agree that it is an important time of year for catching up with extended family. Most of us get at least a few days off work so it is a great time to get together. We want our children to understand the meaning of Christmas and how it links in with our beliefs, so we are also trying to do a little bit of education about God and His Messengers. My daughter is involved in the nativity play at school and is enjoying learning Christmas carols. We are planning to make little stockings for the children with tiny token gifts but not give 'proper' presents. We also want to make an effort to celebrate Baha'i Holy Days and ensure we are taking time off work to be together on those days.

What are your views on Christmas? How are you explaining the meaning of it to your children? I'd like to hear your thoughts...

Fresh air and exercise!

A family walk in Haldon Forest this morning led to a surprising 11am nap for our 2 1/2 year old! I think the fresh air combined with all of us having colds got the better of him.

Our 4 year old did a great job of cycling all the way around the trail without any complaints.

And my workout was pushing 2 heavy boys all around in the double buggy :-)

Is it worth tidying up?

We seem to endlessly acquire nice storage tubs, shelves, furniture etc to try and rationalise the toys but to no avail.

This is my scene at 7.30pm when 2 out of 3 children are in bed. I would love to organise the toys by theme but what I am likely to do is throw them all in a giant tub and then stick the kettle on.

I feel another trip to ikea coming on!

How do you deal with discipline?

In our house with 3 children aged between 1 and 4 years old, chaos rules. I have become accustomed to the sympathetic stares of the general public when I attempt to leave said house. Discipline is a daily concern for my husband and I.

At the moment we are trying loads of things and probably failing at most :-) We have a star chart for good behaviour which seems to be a strong motivator for our eldest child and has helped her with showing politeness to people. For our eldest 2 we count to 3 and then send either of them on a time out if they do something different to what they are told. We are usually striving to shout less and offer a calm voice, but the word 'noooo' does get used rather a lot!

As far as possible we try to use the language of virtues and name types of behaviour that we would like to see, ie 'please use kind words' or 'use your helpfulness to tidy up'.

I love to watch TV shows like Supernanny and The 3 Day Nanny. They are great for picking up parenting tips, but also make me feel a little bit smug that my family isn't doing too badly ;-)

Let me know your parenting tips!

What makes your little one smile?

I've just been having a look through my phone pictures for something cute to share. This is Harrison letting me know just how much he loves being in a ball pool! What makes your little one smile?

Back to life

Thanks to all of you who came and had a look at our wedding pictures! It is amazing to think that 10 years have passed since Mark and I tied the knot.

We had a really lovely and luxurious time staying at Abode in Exeter and enjoying some fine dining at Michael Caines' restaurant overlooking the cathedral. As a vegetarian non-drinker I'm always a bit awkward in restaurants, and I think we both felt a bit like we don't belong in posh places :-) We have become accustomed to getting stares from other diners as our children make loads of noise and throw food around, so it was nice to play grown-ups and have a meal out together.

I had 3 delicious courses of things so haute cuisine that I have no idea what they were, I got to wear high heels and lipstick, and I only spent the first hour worrying about the children (who were safely at home with their Nan).

Now we're back to the Monday routine of school and work. But, the anniversary was a lovely time to reflect on how lucky we are to have such a great family and how this is a life well worth coming back to.

10 Year Wedding Anniversary!

Tomorrow marks 10 years since we made our vows. We have only made it to 'tin' apparently - we have to wait longer for silver, gold and ruby! I feel a bit cheated... 10 years of marriage is quite an achievement, and our precious element (or is it a compound? I never was good at chemistry) is TIN?

So what does ten years of marriage mean to me? Well, looking back at the photos now I realise that my husband has become my best friend and life companion. We have grown as adults together and are now learning what it means to be parents. We run our business together (www.serenity-baby.co.uk) and are learning how to best combine our different skills. There have been highs and lows, crises and victories, but there has definitely been love and laughter.

We are blessed with 3 beautiful children and it is hard to remember a time before they were around. For our anniversary we are going to enjoy a meal out just by ourselves! What percentage of the time will be spend talking about the children?

I think that's about as mushy as I can muster! Here are some photos to enjoy instead :-)

How much TV do the children watch?

Like many parents I vowed that my children would watch no TV. Or, all right, just a little bit now and again. OK well just after school when they are tired. Or when I'm cooking dinner. And perhaps when they wake up early in the morning. Also on rainy days. And when I'm doing housework / getting work done / checking my emails...

Hopefully you are all much better at managing this than I am! At the moment I'm trying to regulate TV to short bursts at certain times of the day. I don't usually let them have any TV if there are guests in the house and I try to provide activities for weekends and rainy days to keep them occupied. My daughter who is 4 gets some TV in the morning when she wakes up, and around half an hour when she gets back from school.

I usually get them to watch shows which I have pre-recorded to try and prevent them watching adverts. The amount of products pushed at them at such a tender age is scary. I remember when my daughter was 2 years old I asked her not to touch the toilet as it was full of germs. "And limescale" was her reply!! So I learned my lesson about keeping them away from adverts!

Please do let me know your tips, your successes and failures...

First day at pre-school

My middle child (Sutherland) started at Whimple Pre-School today! He has been going to another pre-school and has in the past been to nursery so it is not totally new for him. But, this is his first morning going to the pre-school he will hopefully attend for the next 2 years meeting all of the children he will go to school with.

Here he is all dressed up ready to go in the pre-school jumper and t-shirt. I stayed with him for the first couple of hours whilst he did free play followed by book time and then snack time. I left whilst he was enjoying a tasty snack and preparing to go outside to play in the garden.

I love pre-school because it is more structured than the nurseries that we have been to. The children make friends with those who will be their classmates and they have a sense of identity in belonging to the village community. I hope he enjoys it and I'll be off to collect him soon!

Crealy Theme Park

We have gotten winter passes for Crealy theme park in Devon and so are here for our third day in a row!
The children have had a brilliant time on rides, rollercoasters and indoor play centres. Us parents are relaxed because the children are happy, so all in all great value for money.

Back to school tomorrow so need to get uniforms sorted, bags packed and children to bed early.