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By The MotherMind Doctor dopamine hit of addiction I remember my mother being fearful of me having ‘an alcohol problem’ when I was at university. On my graduation day, she witnessed me start with champagne at brunch and continue drinking through the day and then being able to go out at night to drink more. This certainly fits a criteria for tolerance, which is one of the 11 required for a diagnosis. But we need to consider the whole picture before we jump to conclusions.

By EK Wills Most people think you need to be creative to put together a themed birthday party. There is a lot of stress around putting on an expensive, exciting party and yet often kids are happy to go to the park with their friends. A party can be as simple as grabbing some balls, heading to the park and collecting some round accessories such as plates. Here are some tips for your child’s ball party. 1. Ready made ball pit This can be a great option, especially if the weathe

By EK Wills Its birthday season again, so you can create the best science party ever, in your own backyard filled with erupting volcanoes and more experiments than you can pack into a party period. The Laboratory Set the scene with lab coats (we used disposable protective gowns, disposable protective eye wear and gloves. It’s usually one size fits all but that’s half the fun!). Safety posters and the periodic table can help set the scene. Set up your lab bench for the experim

By EK Wills I don't practice a particular religion but I have a strong sense of family, which I tend to feed especially in holiday periods: Easter is no exception. As our nuclear family grows, we’ve developed a few ways to join with our various extended families, including other communities such as friends, schools and colleagues. Below is a list of child friendly activities we enjoy at Easter time. Perhaps you have done one or some of these or can add them to your activities

By EK Wills Every child has a favourite colour, and that generates a fun party theme that is both creative and fun for everyone involved in the making. Dress to Impress To really carry off the concept, try to incorporate the chosen colour in as many things as possible. 1. Ask everyone to come in clothes of that colour - parents too! 2. Have all the decorations in that colour – balloons and streamers are easy. 3. Make a simple sign with paper plates – paint each one with a let

By EK Wills Step 1: Where to build your party and who with? A lego party is better when it’s larger than life so consider whether you can buddy up with another child’s birthday to share the load. And hiring a local venue means more space for games (especially if you live in the city) and no mess at home as a bonus. Plus you can pool your lego resources for decorations. Step 2: What materials do you need? To boost your collection of lego, second hand items can be purchased onl

by EK Wills If you make the decision to have an HP party, then you know you are in for a DIY project unless you want to spend a fortune on merchandise. The following checklist shows what you will need and there is further information and downloadable files on the Pinterest Harry Potter Party board. 1. Invitations This is how you set the scene for delving into the wizarding world so it needs to create an impression, right down to the handmade envelope with an H wax seal. Hot g

By EK Wills There are many ways to celebrate with high tea: visit a fancy hotel, hire a caterer or create your own, even just cupcakes in the park. We’ve had a few of these variations and have a few tips on them. Hotel High Tea For tweens, a hotel high tea is very exciting and glamorous. You can get the kids’ menu option for under 12’s at a hotel, which makes it a reasonable cost option as well. There are the logistics of working out numbers since you will have to get the gro

by EK Wills A hearty party for little kids involves pirates. Every birthday party book has pirate ideas but we took it a step further and created a pirate ship in our backyard. All it took was some recycling materials, paint and creativity. Ship Ahoy! We collected lots of cardboard boxes and a couple of tubes, set aside plastic containers as well as plates and gathered up milk crates. Our tree house was the crow’s nest (purposely built), and we designed the ship around the tr

by EK Wills Happy Birthday (Happee Birthdae Harry Potter)cones in cups Who doesn’t like cake? Apparently, one of our children, because not everyone has the same tastes. This provided the opportunity to look at other options for celebrating with candles that does not involve cake. I came up with fruit versions, ice cream substitutes and even a box with goodies inside as just a few cake alternatives. These can also cater to kids that have dietary requirements such as gluten fre

by EK Wills One of the first birthday parties I really went to town on was very craft intensive and a collaborative effort with my almost 4 year old daughter, Coco. We made paper flowers together, baked jam tarts in heart shapes, searched op shops for tea sets and carry baskets: all as part of the party preparation. It was a wonderful opportunity to be creative and spend time together. It actually started with an Alice in Wonderland dress up outfit that my mother-in-law had m

By EK Wills What child doesn't love a good boogie? What a perfect opportunity to generate a party around this activity. It is DIY, only requiring some space in one room like a rumpus or family room and some imagination. Setting the Club Scene You can re-create your own childhood with a retro theme or modernize as you like. We chose a studio 54 style and printed album covers from disco hits from the 70’s. The sign was made from sparkling card to read ‘Club Coco’, the birthday

by EK Wills When your kids go to high school, they’re too old for the birthday parties you find in party books - hide and seek doesn’t cut it anymore because they want something more expensive or glamorous or what their friends have. Our daughter’s birthday is in March when there were 3 other birthday parties and everyone was jostling for party dates. The pizza and movie option had been done and the easy pool party had also been done. It was looking like we had only expensi

by EK Wills Is your Christmas celebrated as a traditional one or do you like to mix it up with some creative changes? These budget and eco friendly options make the festive season fun for the whole family. Make your own tree creation –three different options DIY and decorations – three variations Home made advent calendars – four easy steps to follow Non-Traditional Trees In our house, we have had a variety of Christmas Trees for different years to keep them involved in

by EK Wills My youngest sister recently had her first child for which she naturally had a Baby Shower before the big day. She had carefully set up a registry for everyone to purchase items for the much-anticipated bundle of joy, ensuring that the items were colour coordinated and fit for purpose. The trouble was that not many people actually took much notice of it, which of course upset her. Turns out that people buy things that they think are cute or, as I did, handed on val