Reasons You Should Take a Family Sabbatical

When was the last time you took a break from work and your everyday routine? If it's been a while, you might consider taking a family sabbatical. Sabbaticals can be a great way to rejuvenate yourself both mentally and physically, and they can also bring your family closer together. Here are five reasons why you should take a family sabbatical:

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15 Tips for Running a Care Home for the Elderly

Get tips on managing a care home for the elderly.

It's Family Time: Playing, Painting, & Baking

Much of adult life revolves around stress, work, bills, and small moments of joy. Parents, especially, must juggle a mountain of emotions simultaneously working and handling the tumultuous experiences of parenthood. 

Parents are superheroes, but even you need help coming up with new activities to keep the family engaged and busy. 

Today, family bonding is even more difficult. Kids are remote learning, parents attend meetings on electronic devices, and keeping track of it all might feel like a nightmare. 

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How To Make Your Kitchen More Family-Friendly

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The kitchen isn’t just a place to prepare meals. Although we certainly cook in our kitchen, the space has many other purposes, making it the heart of family homes. Children love spending time in the kitchen, especially when cooking with mum and dad. However, many kitchen areas aren’t designed for little people. When renovating your home, therefore, it makes sense to switch this space up. With that in mind, here are six ways to make your kitchen more family-friendly. 

Is It Time To Upsize Your Home?

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Thinking of moving to a bigger home? Upsizing can be necessary in some cases, but it can come with challenges. Here are a few questions to ask yourself first to work out whether upsizing is the right decision.

Why Does Family Life Come With So Much Baggage?!

Ok, so we want to start by making sure that you don’t get the title of this article confused. Starting your own family is one of the best things that you can do in the world, you just have to go through a lot of things to try and make the whole ecosystem of family life work properly. Because we’re sure you can all admit that once you start your own family, your life really does get flipped, and everything you used to be able to do, you can barely do anymore. But that doesn’t mean that your life is over for good. Although family life comes with a lot of responsibility, and a lot of baggage as it were, it will be the best thing that you’ve ever done. You’ll never be able to create memories like you can with your own family, and to watch your little ones grow up is one of the best feelings in the world. But, we do want to try and minimise some of the baggage that comes with family life for you, and we think you can do so by following the tips below.

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Tips To Keep your Family Online While On The Move

In this modern age technology is taking over, which is actually a fantastic thing, but with this comes the issue of staying online. Even with all the WIFI around and 4G mobile phone connections we can still find ourselves in a situation where we have no signal and no WIFI, whether it is because you have gone on holiday to a remote location or you just don’t get internet in your area.

Most children these days have all sorts to access the internet, such as smartphones, tablets and even smart watches. Although it pains some parents to say it, children are quietest when they are on some sort of technology, so keeping your child online can be critical in keeping them happy and entertained in certain situations.

Of course, sometimes kids run out of data, which means that you can end up in somewhat of a sticky situation with bored, unhappy little ones!

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Christmas/Festive Family Bucket List

Christmas Day 2017 after spending hours in A&E

This time last year I was heavily pregnant and eagerly awaiting the arrival of our baby boy. So although we did a few things to celebrate Christmas, it was very low key. In fact our Christmas day was spent seeing midwives, doctors and sitting in A&E. So this year I'm excited for the upcoming festive season, especially as our oldest boy Tommy will be 3 this December, he is really starting to take things in and show interest in the magic of Christmas.

Our Family Over The Years

Keith and I first met back in 2011, we started dating 2.5 years later and were married in 2014 when I was just about to turn 37 and Keith was 32.

Each December we try to get a family photo. Not all the photos are the most professional, but we've captured our family each year.

Taking Care Of Your Older Relatives: How You Can Do It

Sometimes in our lives we need to take care of others beside ourselves, and often this can be a really difficult thing to overcome. In many cases these are relatives that once took care of us, and the role reversals can be hard for both parties to overcome and be comfortable with. However, we don’t choose to have to do it and it sometimes is the best scenario for all involved. So I wanted to share with you some of the best ways to do it.

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Home: Why Spend More When You Can Do This!

It always seems to be spend, spend, spend, when it comes to the home. The more we spend, the less we seem to get out of it! Right from the first moment that you decide to buy a home, things get expensive. But here’s some news for you, it isn’t going to stop unless you do something about it! We’re always so hell bent on spending for our home, that it’s time to start thinking about how we can save money, even on the most expensive of purchases. If you’re stuck for ideas that actually work, like a lot of people are, then here are some of our best that we think will really benefit you. Have a read on to find out more.

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7 Stunning Tips for Creating Grown Up Space in a Crowded Family Home!

When you have a family your life becomes much more chaotic and stressful. As the kids grow you find you have less and less space at home, and this can be an issue. You don’t want to deal with living on top of one another all the time, as this can lead to more stress and problems. Also, as parents, you spend so much time tending to the kids that you often forget to make time for yourself.

It’s important for parents to have space to unwind and relax, and just enjoy a bit of their own time away from the kids. However, as the home becomes more and more busy (and stressful), this might become more difficult to do. So it might mean getting creative and coming up with ways of creating more grown-up space in the crowded home. Here are some excellent ideas for how to get your adulting fix right now!

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Butlins Just For Tots: Our Family Holiday

When I was getting close to the end of my pregnancy with our 2nd baby I said we should plan a break away when our baby is a few months old. I thought it would be nice to have something to look forward to, because lets face it having a new born isn't easy. And this time we'd have a toddler and a new born to deal with and I knew I could probably do with a break. We considered our options and in the end Butlins in Skegness seemed like the best option.

Family Day Out: Yorkshire Sculpture Park

With all this lovely warm weather we've been having we took the opportunity to get out for the day. A bit of fresh air and walk in beautiful surroundings would do us all the world of good. We headed off the the Yorkshire Sculpture Park which is near to Wakefield, West Yorkshire. There's so much to see, it's impossible to see it all in one day and there's something for everyone. From interesting sculptures to see to miles of pleasant walks in the countryside.

We didn't manage miles of walking, but we had 2 toddlers and a baby in tow. But we still enjoyed our walk and looking at the sculptures we passed. And the boys loved the big open space. They are too young still to really show much interest in what the park had to offer, but I can image in the future they would get more out of a visit there other than just running around.

Here are a few photos of our visit. See below for video of our trip.

Surviving The Sandwich: Tips If You're Caring For Young And Old

Not quite that kind of sandwich…

If you are aged between 35 and 55, then you’re part of what is sometimes dubbed the “sandwich generation”. This is a generation of people who find themselves caring for two generations; their parents, and their own children— and juggling both sets of responsibilities can be notoriously difficult.

Family Focus: Caring For Your Nearest And Dearest As They Age

Looking after those that we love is a significant part of life for many of us, and it is something that is particularly important to get right for our parents and in-laws as they age. However, making the right choice for them and your family unit as a whole can be indescribably tough and wrought with emotional difficulties. With this in mind, check out the information collected below that will help you better understand the situation and the options that are available to you and your family.

Concerns about ageing loved ones

One of the primary motivators for asking questions about an ageing loved one's care is the concerns that their nearest and dearest have for them in their present life. Of these, medical issues are a huge part, and they will be discussed below. However, they are not the only worries that a family member can voice about their ageing parents. In fact, concerns over reduced mobility and the ability to take good care of themselves are often something that suggests the need for a conversation on elder care.

Also, family members are quite often worried about the potential side effects of their elderly parent living without any care and supervision. These side effects may include missing essential medications, or not eating a nutritious enough diet to remain healthy.

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3 Questions To Ask Before Taking In An Elderly Relative

When your parents start to get older, the tables are turned and now it’s your town to look after them. You should let them live independently for as long as possible but there comes a time when there is no way around it and living alone becomes dangerous for them. When you get to this point, you’ve got a big decision to make; should you take them into your home or not? Some people think that it’s best because they don’t like the idea of a care home but it’s not always the most practical thing to do. It’s one of the hardest decisions you’ll ever have to make, but hopefully, this will make it a little easier.

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Time For A Change? What Areas Will Have The Most Impact On Your Lifestyle

December is upon us and we can all start to think about some of the changes we would like to make in our lives moving forward. Perhaps this year has been tough, or maybe it was good to you, however you see it, it is always good to go into the new year with some sort of focus about what you want to achieve. This could be work related, to do with the family, or as basic as knowing when you are next taking a break. However you see it, we all like the idea making some changes. It got me thinking about changing your life, can it be done by making changes to your circumstances. I believe it can, and I wanted to share with you some of the ways you can make an impact on your lifestyle in 2018.

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Family Day Out - Farmer Copley's

A few weeks ago we planned to have a family day out, and found an event on at Farmer Copleys that looked fun. We visited the farm last year to see the pumpkins and had a lovely day out then. But unfortunately Tommy had been poorly so we didn't head out as early as planned. We still headed to the farm, but didn't bother going into the event because it was late in the afternoon. But the farm has a lovely shop and a few animals to look at. There was also a tractor that Tommy absolutely loved. It was the first time he'd really smiled in days after being so poorly.

Here are some photos from our trip out.

Key Questions To Ask Before Building A Loft Conversion

When you’ve got a young family, having the kids share a room isn’t a problem. As they start to get a bit older, they may not want to do that anymore. By the time they’re teenagers, it becomes more and more ideal to be able to give them their own space. For a lot of families, that means moving into a bigger house. But when your family has grown up together in that house, you may not like the idea of leaving it behind, so, what can you do? A simple solution is to convert your loft into another bedroom. It’s perfect for teenagers when they want to hide away at the top of the house and not be bothered, and it’ll give you the space that you need. If you think that a loft conversion might be for you, don’t do anything without answering these questions first.

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