parenting | Mum In The Madhouse

2026 Colouring Calendar!

Subscribe and receive our 2026 Kids Colouring Calendar for Free
Get the 13 Page Calendar by subscribing below.

Subscribe Now

parenting

Keeping children entertained on car journeys

2 Comments / mini mads / By

I also am a great planner and in the boot of the car I have travel packs for journeys. If you have ever been unlucky enough to have a flat tire or a breakdown with children in the car, you will understand just how much of a lifesaver having something they can do in the car is.

With this in mind I have we have activity packs in the boot of the car. I have folders with everything they could need for a specific activity. So if there is puzzle books, then I will make sure there is a couple of pens of different colours and also a highlighter for the wordsearches and a small dictionary for crosswords.

I tend to save all the crayons and pencils you get in restaurants and also all the little sticker packs and gift packs you get with children’s magazines. The pound shop is also a perfect place to get things for this too.

Other things you could include in the packs are:

Keeping children entertained on car journeys Read More »

How to Encourage Kids with Low Self-Esteem: Boosting Confidence and Resilience

Featured and Guest / By

With a ‘Team Challenge’ obstacle course, orienteering, raft-building, bushcraft – even circus skills – kids have the opportunity to take Moss’s advice to heart by learning “how to safely take risks for themselves in a safe and secure environment.” The Kingswood website says kids “learn to work as a team, demonstrating support, tolerance and encouragement for others; time away from home encourages confidence and independence; key life skills development includes decision making, leadership, initiative and problem solving.”

Or you could look into Forest Schools, based on a Scandinavian concept that puts an emphasis on “child-led learning, based on small, achievable tasks.” The Green Learning Forest School in Cornwall states that its positive outdoor experiences “raise levels of self-esteem…develop skills in co-operation and listening, empathy and enthusiasm for learning.”

It’s difficult to see your child struggling with low self-esteem. If they’re not ready to clamber up the branches, maybe just finding a nice tree swing is a start.

How to Encourage Kids with Low Self-Esteem: Boosting Confidence and Resilience Read More »

What age is the right age to go to your first live concert?

Featured and Guest / By

MadDad and I are avid music fans. Both of us love live music and have been to countless concerts and festivals. All of these have been BC (before children) and we have been thinking about when is the best time to take a child to their first live concert. I am not talking about talking a baby or toddler to a festival, but going and sitting though a live music concert.

Both the boys have seen The Wiggles live, but I am not sure that compares to a live concert. For a start the volume is a lot lower, designed to protect children’s vulnerable ears when a show is specifically designed for them and also the concert venue is filled with other children, so you know that attendees will not mind other children possibly screaming or crying.

The boys were 5 and 6 when we took them to their first proper concert we took the boys to was Glee Live at the O2. However, we were lucky enough to be able to watch the show from a private box with food and refreshments, so they boys did not need to stay in their seats. This was a brilliant introduction to live music, as we had the CD’s so they knew all of the songs and happily sung and danced along. Concerts also tend to happen after the boys bedtime and Glee was no exception, but being in a private box they had room to fall asleep and we could carry them.

Considerations to make

How long is the concert? Can your child sit though that length of time
Remember to factoring the travel time either side of the concert. My friend Cass at Frugal Family went to an Olly Murs concert this week and they didn’t get out of the car park till 10ish and Master Frugal actually fell asleep during the concert.
Does the artist have a matinee. One Direction often so, as there target market is tweens and teens.
Is the band Child friendly – remember lyrics are not censored when live! Use your common sense.I know that Rihanna would not be appropriate for the boys, not only language wise, but mannerism and dress wise, Although you can click here for Rihanna tickets, as I know that she is great live!
Talk values. Explain that you love the music, but do wish that the band wouldn’t swear and that often the flamboyance is put on for the stage. Your child needs to be mature enough to understand the difference.
When you do go

Make sure you agree a meet up point in case you lose each other
Protect your child’s ears. You can not reverse hearing damage
Talk about what they can expect to see at a concert and how busy it will be.
Be prepared for obscenities and have a response ready for if your child questions the use of swear words.
Have fun and relax.

What age is the right age to go to your first live concert? Read More »

Imperfect Parenting in an Imperfect World

12 Comments / parenting / By

I used to think I was a crap mum. I used to feel that my family would be better off without me. I do not say these things for people to counter with “no you aren’t” or “no you weren’t”. The fact is that I really did feel this way and I truly thought that MadDad and the boys would be better off without me. I suffered with Post Natal Depression, I bullied myself, catastrophised everything and was filled with terrible anxiety. I couldn’t separate rational and irrational thoughts. I received fantastic treatment including cognitive behavioral therapy over five years ago now and it changed the person that I was and helped make me the mum and person I am now .

I was reading Kate’s post earlier in the week about how scared parenting made her feel and it brought all those feelings back to me, but rather than let them take over me, I remembered that I am parenting in an imperfect world and my imperfect parenting skills are just preparing y boys for the road which they will travel. This is one of the biggest things that CBT gave me, it helped be put things into perspective and process them. I am not a perfect mum, but I am the best mum the boys could hope for, I am their mum and I love them with all my heart and every fibre of my being.

I have two quotes that help me navigate the waters of perfection, for as soon as I realised that I didn’t need to be the perfect mother, that it was OK to give shop bought food and not beat myself up about formula feeding and ensured that if I was happy so would the boys be, things started to come together for us all.

“There is no one way to be the perfect Mother, but there are millions of ways to be a good one!” – Jill Churchill

“Being Happy doesn’t mean everything’s perfect, It means that you have decided to look beyond the imperfections” – Gerard Way

So on those days when I am screaming like a fishwife at my boys or wondering how to find the words to tell them about challenges that life may through at them, I hope that I can remember that it is OK to be an imperfect parent in an imperfect world and give myself a break, for this parenting lark is the hardest, unceasing, but most rewarding job I have ever done or will ever do.

Imperfect Parenting in an Imperfect World Read More »

Raising Olympians #RaisinganOlympian

7 Comments / mini mads / By

But then it came to me. Both my boys are very academic and sporty and excel in these areas. However, Maxi is a pretty sensitive young man and although he is more than happy to get up and speak in front of an audience, he finds dressing up and expressing himself challenging. This year he was asked if he would like to be part of a drama group and even though it was way out of his comfort zone, he accepted and did an hour after school every week leading up to a show this week.

Both MadDad and My sister in law took the time off to come and see the show we me. We didn’t know a lot about it as Maxi had kept us in the dark, all we know was it was Joseph and His Technicolor Dream-coat and that he had a solo in it. What can I say, my boy astounded me and left his Daddy speechless. He was amazing., He stepped out of his comfort zone and put his whole heart in to his performance. He smiled through the play. He sang with gusto and his solo brought a tear to my eye. But the best thing about it was that he enjoyed the whole experiance.

Raising Olympians #RaisinganOlympian Read More »

Family Film Night – A romantic interlude

1 Comment / parenting / By

But more than that, it reminded me why I married MadDad and just how much I enjoy his company and how much I relish time on my own with him. We have resolved to make more time for each other on an evening and also to try and arrange a couple of days or nights out just for us. For the last seven years our life has revolved around the boys and the time has come to reclaim a bit of couple time. We are not talking about a regular date night, just taking the time to chat and turn off all outside interruptions.

How do you make time for yourself and your partner?

Family Film Night – A romantic interlude Read More »

Boys and guns

17 Comments / parenting / By

I have two boys aged seven and very nearly six and I remember when they were very small having a conversation with MadDad about the fact that I wasn’t going to allow toy guns in to my home. I was determined that they would grow up in an environment that didn’t promote fighting, death, anger or shooting. For the first two years of Maxi’s life, he didn’t even know what a gun was, let alone how to use them, but we got to a point where anything and every thing became a weapon. He would use sticks as arrows and swords, duplo was fashioned in to guns and imaginative play revolved around cops and robbers.
As time went on the boys toys included Playmobil knights, castles and dragons, LEGO police and Toy Story little green army men and I realised that I was trying to swim upstream against my refusal to have these thigs in our home. The final straw being when the boys were given Nerf guns and I realised that we all had a ball with them.

Boys and guns Read More »

It is not babysitting

14 Comments / parenting / By

Today my husband is looking after our children whilst I am at Blog Camp UK. I just want to confirm that he is not babysitting the boys.

When he is out at work during the week, I do not babysit our children, so why do people insist that when he is taking sole responsibility of Mini and Maxi they insist on calling it babysitting.

So just to make it clear. He is PARENTING.

It is not babysitting Read More »