I’m sure you’ve seen the ads for Hello Fresh? If you haven’t, it’s a meal-kit service that delivers recipes and fresh ingredients straight to your door. Just like My Food Bag and Woop.  Had it not been for a friend asking me to try a free week of HelloFresh, I probably wouldn’t have bothered trying it.  Why? Well, the main reason probably being I’m stuck in a rut. Lockdown has killed any passion I had for cooking and since then, I’ve just been cooking the same old stuff. We are a family of four. I’ve got two boys, ages 7 and 8. I usually stick to easy recipes I know the kids will eat ..read more

It’s been a while since I posted a blog. I really wanted to, but during the lockdown, my brain was just too full off stuff. Just as it was for many of you – my little monkeys completely sucked me dry! Now the kids are back to school, and I’ve got over the shock of it all. I’m appreciating the uninterrupted time I can spend working, exercising and catching up with friends. I’m also so grateful to be in New Zealand right now. I’m not sure when I will see my parents, or my brother and his family again (they are in the UK), but I know that they are safe. For us, the lockdown has come to an end. I ..read more

I bet you thought that you’d have some free time when the kids started school – didn’t you? Think again! The simple fact is, the soul-destroying mum jobs don’t suddenly disappear when your kids start school, but there is one big difference – now you’re doing paid work too. My boys are now nearly 7 and 8 years-old. They spend 30 hours a week at school, which apparently means I have 30 hours of ‘free time’ each week. Bahahahaha. It hasn’t taken me long to fill this ‘free time’. In the morning, after school drop off, I try and fit in half an hour of ‘soul-destroying mum jobs’ before wo ..read more

Bam! This weekend it feels like summer has arrived in Wellington and it’s Black Friday weekend. With only 3 weeks to go until Christmas, it’s a great chance to snap up some great deals in stores and online. I’m definitely what you call an impulse buyer! So, this weekend I have decided to stay away from the shops, set a budget and spend a couple of hours shopping from the comfort of home. It’s also a great excuse to have some ‘me time’! What are your go-to shopping sites? What are your go-to sites when you are doing your online shopping? Wish? NZ Sale? I like to shop quickly and I do ..read more

We’ve recently introduced pocket money. My boys are 6 and 7 years old. This is Pocket Money – Part 2. I’ll be covering: how we introduced pocket money, how much pocket money to give, and how it works for us. How we introduced pocket money Some people give their kids pocket money with no strings attached and some save it for good marks at school. We decided we would introduce it by attaching it to household chores.  My kids have been used to getting up each morning and looking at a list on the fridge. When they started school it reminded them what they needed to do each morning e ..read more

I have two boys. They are 6 and 7 years old. This month we decided to introduce pocket money to both of our kids. Here’s why: I blame the tooth fairy Since the tooth fairy has been trading teeth for gold coins, my 7-year-old has become more and more interested in the value of money. When he lost his first tooth we went to the two dollar shop with his gold coin and he soon realised that not everything in the shop is two dollars! He was gutted when the things he really wanted were $6, or.. crikey a whopping $10! After skulking around the shop looking at things, he finally chose a fluoresc ..read more

Our local primary school in Wellington, NZ has just had its biggest annual fundraiser – the school fair. On the day I ran the face-painting and my boys had a fantastic time on the day playing old school games and eating plenty of candy-floss. They each had $10 to spend and came home with a pair of roller blades each and plenty of lollies. Despite the change in weather (that’s Wellington for you!), it was a great community event and the fair raised $36,000 for the school. It takes every kind of mum (and dad) to make a great school fair, but whether you’re a PTA mum or a ‘hell no’ mum you ar ..read more