Category Archives: toddlers

56+ magic phrases to end food battles with picky eaters - and the science behind the magic words! | Sacraparental.com

Gentle Parenting Tips: 56+ Magic Phrases to End Food Battles with Picky Eaters, and the Science Behind Trusting Kids to Eat What they Need

There is a special kind of heartbreak a parent feels when the meal they have cooked is described as ‘yucky,’ or refused altogether. If you are struggling with the stress, sadness and discouragement of battling with picky eaters (of whatever age!), this post is here to reassure you and help you and your family relax and […]

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13 fabulous children's TV shows that pass The Maisy Test for sexism, and give kids a diverse range of characters to relate to and learn from. See the full list at Sacraparental.com

13 Fabulous Kids’ TV Shows that Pass the Maisy Test and Have Other Great Features, Too

We’re still swimming in sexism Here’s a quick exercise for you: grab a pen and paper, or open a document on a device. Briefly note down the ten or so kids’ television shows that you see or hear most of when you are around kids. You could include kids’ movies as well if you like. What shows […]

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12 Reasons to welcome kids in church + tips for how to actually do it! | Sacraparental.com

12 Reasons to Welcome Kids in Church + Tips for Actually Doing It

Sure, kids don’t belong everywhere. They’re not a symphony orchestra’s target audience (except when they are). The tense whispers of snooker commentators suggest that toddlers wouldn’t be welcome at tournament finals. But babies and children are legally entitled to be all sorts of places that aren’t always built with them in mind, including, say, courthouses […]

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Advent with Kids: Get Yourselves a Christmas@Home Family Activity Booklet

This is excellent, peeps! The wise and hard-working women at New Zealand Baptist Children and Family Ministries have produced a fantastic Advent resource for families to use through December at home. It’s called Christmas @ Home and I warmly recommend it.   It isn’t a do-one-every-day kind of Advent journey. Rather, it’s a vibrant collection of ideas to […]

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What we’re doing this Advent: 6 households share their plans and traditions

Wow. I asked around to see what people are planning for Advent this year, and look what I got! Lego! Candles! Chocolate coins in shoes! I have spent the evening wrangling a non-sleeping baby (very smiley and cheeky, playing with toys on the bed beside me and blowing raspberries non-stop for half an hour) and […]

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The Maisy Test [Quick Guide]: 4 Questions to Expose Sexism in Kids’ TV Shows and Movies

Wow! What a lovely response to my post on sexism in kids’ TV shows and movies (the whole post is here and it’ll make your blood boil!) Thomas suggested on Twitter that I make a quick reference guide in a separate post. And Tricia suggested on Facebook that she’d love a poster for her kids […]

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Hard Days with Little Kids: 11 Things I’m Trying to Remember

We’re in a tricky patch, just now, at our house. The kind most parents of little kids will recognise: this is a solidarity post with all of y’all. Our three-year-old delight, SBJ, is in the middle of a pretty intense, fragile time of life, and he’s (therefore) not the only one. For the first time, I feel like […]

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My Feminist Parenting Humiliation

Oh, the shame! I love the days when my 2.5 year old son gets mistaken for a girl (Yus! No arbitrary gendered fashion advice for us, thanks!), when he plays with a tea-set, or when he says his favourite colour is pink (just the once, and I’ve seen no actual evidence of this, but it’s […]

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Easter with Kids: 32 Ideas for Celebrating Together

We’re now in Holy Week, where Lent morphs into Easter. In my house we’ll continue lighting our Lenten candles and saying the sentences about Jesus that go with them, but there are plenty of other special things coming along this week that can take their own place in household spirituality. So here’s a bunch of […]

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