How I discovered some new passions

I haven’t written for a while because since giving birth to my second child I have been having a few sleepless nights, lots of responsibilities and little time for anything. I don’t like to use time as an excuse so maybe I should re-word it and say that I had time but there were other priorities for me. Even organising my house better was more important than reading and writing for a while. Cleaning doesn’t seem as productive and developing as writing or reading but hey… sometimes we need to be flexible and change our priorities for a while because there is often a lot more on our plates than just taking care of our hobbies.

I’ve always tried to ensure that my passions don’t get pushed aside and that my life won’t be taken over by mundane activities, such as cooking, shopping, cleaning and work; but I guess sometimes we can control our lives a bit more than other times as it is more complex than we may want, especially if we live with people that depend on us in some way.

Anyway, the responsibilities I have had haven’t only been the boring or hard ones after all. With the birth of my second child I had to devote a large proportion of my days to taking care of children: changing nappies and breastfeeding the little one and finding & making up some games and activities I could do with my 4-year-old daughter so I could still spend some quality time with her, and hopefully make her less jealous of the new mini-boss in da house! 😉 It actually turned out better than I thought it would – more fun, more interesting. Even though I’m in my 30s I’ve been learning a lot while doing some science experiments and different activities with my child.

Did you know, for example, that adding some hot water to skittles can create a beautiful rainbow?

And that mixing bicarbonate of soda and vinegar will create a little volcano that your child will love? And that adding a bit of vanilla extract will get rid of all the vinegar smell in your house when you are doing this experiment?

Did you know that foam sheets such as those soaked in water for a bit can stick to your window for up to 48 hours? I cut a lot of small pieces in various shapes for my daughter so she could create people, robots, flowers and anything else that her imagination came up with!

Adding food colouring to pasta, rice or shaving foam can be a lot of fun too, especially for a pre-schooler who is still discovering new textures and shapes and exploring the variety the world offers.

I bought some books with screen-free activities and our days have become more colourful and enjoyable than ever before! 😉 The book I like the most is 150+ Screen-Free Activities for Kids: The Very Best and Easiest Playtime Activities from FunAtHomeWithKids.com!

What’s more, I’ve created an Instagram account where I share some of these activities. I have family living in different countries – mainly in Poland and Brazil but also some in the USA, and it feels great when they can see what my daughter and I have been up to sometimes! 😉

If you would like to get some ideas for children’s activities have a look at my new Instagram page and follow us there: https://www.instagram.com/nathikc/ and don’t forget to let me know what you think about the activities!