Aunties Rock

Princess and the Grapie have many aunties and uncles and quite a few cousins, but one auntie has no children (yet) and live a couple of hours away, so we don't see her that often even though she is my sister and we are close.

But this weekend she visited. And as lovely as it was to see my sister  was even more lovely was the time princess and the grapie spent  with her (and he break that gave me!)

Their auntie has played jumping on the bed, bought them a bubble blowing bug, played dolls houses, sung songs, played skittles, bathed them and put princess to bed after lots of stories, and even took princess to the toilet 4 times in one meal while we were eating out (she made it soooo much fun!)

And while this was happening i have managed to sit down, drink a hot cup of tea (the whole cup too!), go to the bathroom on my own (simple pleasures) and had a whole afternoon with no one fighting over my attention!

So, to aunties everywhere, thank you! You may go home feeling exhausted after your nieces have made you play every game under the sun, but you have given a well deserving mummy a well earned little break!

Sensory play - Our first attempt

I have been seeing loads of ideas for sensory play all over pintrest, but we have never tried it.  So, I thought it was about time we gave it a go, as it sounds right up princesses street!

It was a sunny day so i set up the play session outside. I raided the kitchen for something to use and decided on some porridge, i wizzed up half in the blender for a smoother texture. I also gave  a pot of water and some spoons and pots to start her off.

I wasn't sure how princess would react or whether she would even know what to do, especially as she had been a bit grouchy that afternoon but she got stuck in straight away as soon as she saw it. She asked me first if she could put the oat powder into the water and i told her she could play with it however she wanted. She started mixing it all up and came to ask for more water a few times.

Princess then asked me for some more things to put in her 'soup' that the was making, so I gave her some spice jars to play with from the cupboard, which she happily sprinkled into her mix. I also suggested she could pick some herbs from the garden and showed her which ones she could pick. This also added some lovely smells to her mixture. 

Princess then started to make her own little recipes, giving them all names like mint stew, buttercup soup (once she had started picking the daisies and buttercups!) The last thing she did was to pile all her ingredients up to make a tower.

After this there wasn't really much else she could do as all she had was a big sticky pile but her mood had dramatically improved and she had occupied herself for over an hour and had a lovely time. Next time I think i will try a themed sensory bin with some small world elements to it so she can have a good play as well as getting messy