Expensive Toys vs Household Objects

Money makes the world go round.

It's a shame, but we all rely on money to survive. Almost everything has a price tag, and so most of us have to juggle our finances every month to make sure we've got food on the table, petrol in the car and suitable clothes on our backs.

Throw children into that mix and suddenly your bills sky rocket.

Rock n Roll Queen

Nappies, milk, cleaning products, medicines and a constant necessity to replace their ridiculously quickly outgrown clothes, all form part of a parent's monthly outgoings. On top of all that, you get the urge to treat your kid as well, to shower them with new toys, books and games. We don't need to do that, strictly speaking, but we want to.

What us parents fail to recognise, however, is that the kids don't need that either. They are perfectly happy playing with their current stockpile of toys, and new ones just make their day so much busier (they must ask themselves "How am I supposed to play with all those toys in one day?").

What I've noticed just recently, is that they often don't even need toys to be happy.

For years I've heard the old saying that all children need is an empty box to have fun, or that they prefer the paper the present you lovingly bought them was wrapped in to the present itself. I always took that with a pinch of salt, as my adult eyes see toys as far more entertaining (see Oh, To Be A Kid Again... to see what I mean), but it really is true.

Lydia has recently surprised me by happily occupying her time with household objects, that I personally find quite boring. For example, I moved her bean bag into the kitchen the other day while I was cooking (so she wouldn't get upset at me not being in the same room as her), and gave her some of her books to read. Lydia sat down with the books for a minute or two, then got up to start going through the cupboards. "Oh no," I thought, "That didn't last long", and fully expected her to get bored and start whinging at any moment.



Kettles are fun, Daddy!

Instead, Lydia found an old, plastic kettle in the cupboard, took it out and sat down on her bean bag. She sat there clutching the kettle for at least 20 minutes, occasionally getting up to try and wind the cable back in a bit.

Bathtime has traditionally been a bit of a handful for us as well, as Lydia has always wanted to stand up and move around the whole time, throwing plastic ducks and boats wherever she wants. This all stopped last week when she sat quietly in the middle of the bath holding onto a bottle of baby shampoo and a washcloth.

She sat calmly like that for the whole duration of her bath, and then repeated the trick for each bathtime since. The ducks haven't moved from their basket for a while now!

For me that just goes to show that kids don't need lots of toys to entertain themselves. They are perfectly happy playing with household objects, whether it's through finding some kind of intrigue in an old kettle or comfort in a soggy washcloth.

And this is excellent news for our budget as well, as it will help us keep our spending down.

I think for Christmas I might give her an old washing up bottle, an empty toilet roll and a shoe box (minus the shoes). Ho ho ho!

Three Is The Magic Number

The 3rd October this year marked the 3rd anniversary of my move to Switzerland. Three whole years of life outside of England, adapting to new surroundings, learning a new language, and starting again from scratch.

I think it's fair to say, I've had a pretty eventful three years here, as you could see for yourself by reading through some of my articles from 2009-2011. I feel I've done a lot of growing up in a relatively short space of time, largely because I could no longer rely on the backing of my family if things got tough, as they were over 900km away.

Granted, I was fortunate to have the support of my wife's family, who always did their best to help me fit in here. Still, trying to build a new life for yourself in another country is no easy feat, and takes a lot of courage and a never-say-die attitude.

Without sounding to much like I'm blowing my own trumpet, I think this boy done good.

Although I won't be celebrating the end of my third year in Switzerland in any formal, party-esque way, I thought it would be worth continuing my tradition of writing a few points about what I've learnt since moving here, following up on 2010's "12 Months Later" and 2011's "Another Year Goes Past".

So, here is a little highlight of the last twelve months of my life on the continent.


Toddlers are much more fun than babies

Before you start typing a complaint, I'm not having a go at babies here. It's just that they simply aren't as much fun to have around as toddlers. The reason? Interaction. Basically, a baby is not the most interesting thing to play with. Up to the age of maybe 6 months old, they really just seem to cry and whinge a lot (at least that's my personal experience with Lydia). Younger than 6 months, you are never really sure if they enjoy life or if they even like you. They seem to smile and look at you with a little sparkle in their eye, only to then scream or whinge as they flap their arms and legs in frustration.

Lydia is now 17 months old, walking around like she owns the place, telling us what to do. Well, she is only in the fairly early stages of speech development, but she has a way of getting her directions across (such as wagging her finger at you saying "No, no, no!" if you do something she doesn't approve of). This is an age where we, as parents, can really appreciate our little ones, as they become really interactive.

Once they are walking and a bit more grown up, the kids can do more things for themselves and that serves to boost their confidence, turning them into little adventurers. We've also witnessed Lydia storming off into her room and slamming the door after being told "no", so you can see the kid's character coming through too.

Personally, I'm enjoying Toddler Lydia much more than Baby Lydia. Perhaps other babies are the most wonderful things in the world to their parents, but for us it was a very difficult stage. Lydia didn't seem happy being a baby either, as we often got the impression that she was frustrated by not being able to do something she wanted to do (be it walking, talking, picking something up, etc.). So, both parents and toddler are much happier these days!


1st Birthday Parties are more hassle than they are worth

The Birthday girl
(before she got
really grumpy)

Earlier this year we wanted to throw a big celebratory get-together for both sides of our families for Lydia's 1st birthday (see "Lydia's 1st Birthday"). Although it was nice to get everyone together for the first time since our wedding in 2009, it was a pretty stressful day.

First the birthday girl decided to have an extra long after-lunch nap on the big day itself, meaning we turned up over half an hour late to her own party. I know that might be seen as fashionably late in some circles, but I don't think that applies to babies.

As well as being late, Lydia also wasn't impressed by the sight of the family gathered in one place for her. On entering the forest cabin rented specifically for her party, Lydia cried as everyone smiled at the sight of her. Perhaps it would be a bit overwhelming for a little 'un to see so many people at one time, but it will still a bit annoying. She also cried when we brought her birthday cake to her with everyone singing "Happy Birthday to You", and when we tried to get her to open some presents as well. In short, she didn't really enjoy her day.

That meant we didn't really enjoy it either. It was nice to chat to everyone, but given that Lydia didn't like it, the whole experience just seemed like a bit of a waste of time and money. If we have another child one day, I certainly don't see us repeating this a second time.


I probably should have got out more in England
In the last three years I've been to so many different places in Switzerland, ranging from towns and cities (such as Geneva, Zurich, Bern, Basel, Lucerne, Sion, etc.) to mountain tops and beauty spots (including Santis, Lac Noir, Les Paccots, Rochers-de-Naye, Glacier d'Aletsche, and so many more). In the preceeding 27 years of my life in England, I had been to hardly any of the UK's big towns and cities, and - outside of Cornwall - had never really seen the beauty that the UK has to offer.

When I think about this now I realise that I should have done more. I should have gone out at weekends and had a look at what my country has to offer. It's kind of strange to think that I have been to so many places and seen so many things in Switzerland but I barely went outside Hertfordshire in England.

As Lydia grows up I think it's important for her to learn about her English heritage, so I will have to put a lot of effort into exploring my old country. So far she has been to Cornwall this year (see "Holiday in Cornwall"), so at least she has seen a bit of England!


I've achieved 40% of my life goals
Back when I was at university studying for my degree, I felt somewhat lost and unsure what to do with my life. I had no idea what job I wanted to do and in general I felt like I was lacking in direction. So, I set myself 5 life goals:

1. Go to Australia
2. Go to Antarctica
3. Learn to play Guitar
4. Learn another language
5. Own a Mazda MX-5

Me at Seal Bay, Kangaroo Island
in Australia

OK, so some of these goals were more ambitious than others, but they were things I always wanted to do or have. After finishing my degree, I spent 8 months travelling around Australia, so that checked #1 off my list straight away. Whilst in Australia I met the woman who later became my wife, a Swiss national and French speaker. Slowly, but surely, I've been picking up the French language ever since. Now I can confidently speak French, and although I still don't consider myself fluent, I manage to get by in another language so can check #4 off the list as well.

So that's already 2 out of the 5 life goals I set myself over 10 years ago finished. When I was at university I bought myself an electric guitar that I tried to teach myself, but through a lack of commitment and preferring to go to the pub instead, I never really got very far. In 2009 I ended up selling the barely-used Strat to help raise funds for our wedding and move to Switzerland, so that dream looked dead in the water.

However, for my 30th birthday this year my wife gave me an accoustic guitar, to try and help me finally achieve goal #3. It's a second-hand guitar that was missing a string, but the thought was still there. I have not yet got round to getting it repaired, but plan to do this next year. I will then get some lessons so I actually have someone pushing me to learn to play, something that was lacking from my previous attempt. If I can learn the guitar in the next couple of years, I'll be well placed to finish the full list before I get too old.

A trip to Antarctica is possible but a bit expensive (think it would cost around 10'000 CHF for 1 person), so that'll take some saving up. I might not be able to chalk this one off the list until I'm retired, unless I happen to win the lottery between now and then. The Mazda MX-5 will definitely have to wait until I'm older though, as a 2-seater car isn't very practical for a family of 3...

Well that's pretty much all I can think of for now. Check back in 12 months time for the next episode in this yearly tradition!

 

 

Technical Difficulties

Hi folks,

It seems that my old blog articles from 2009 and 2010 have - for some inexplicable reason - lost the photos that I had so lovingly selected to use to break up the monotony of reading a screen full of text.

I have no idea what caused this problem, although I lay the blame squarely on Blogger. Seems odd that photos shown in articles published since the beginning of 2011 are unaffected, but I guess that's what you get with modern technology.

Please bear with me while I attempt to dig out the original photos and restore them to their rightful place in my old articles.

All the best,

Paul

Meet Globear

This is Globear. He is a teddy bear that glows. OK, so it isn't the most inventive name I've given to Lydia's fluffy companions, ranking up there with the likes of Mr. Cow (a cow), Pingu (a penguin), Giant Penguin (a rather large pengion) and Violet (a dolly dressed in purple clothes), but it's a name that seems to suit him well. 

In all honesty, his name is a misnomer as he is really a mouse (verified by his distinct mousey tail), but this was unfortunately overlooked in the quick-fire naming process.

Globear lives with us. He is Lydia's teddy bear, and accompanies her pretty much everywhere. He is a simple bear, relatively low maintenance and never causes trouble (partly due to his machine-washability).

He is also, in my eyes, a hero.
 

Globear joining a game of
Pin the Tail on the Donkey
at my 30th birthday party



Globear is Lydia's favourite bear (even though he is a mouse). Wherever she goes, he goes with her. At night times he is the one thing she cannot sleep without. We have tried replacing him with Yellobear (a actual bear that also glows but is yellow), but Lydia can tell the difference. She needs her Globear.

Wherever Lydia goes, Globear has to go with her. He's been to England and France as well as numerous locations in Switzerland.

Once, we accidentally left Globear at Chris' sister's house, and Lydia refused to sleep without him. She screamed and cried in her bed, knowing that her little friend wasn't with her. I had to make a late night dash to get him back from Chris' sister, just so Lydia would go to sleep.

Ever since this episode, and seemingly unbeknownst to Lydia, we have kept a team of Globears. There are 4 in total, collectively known as the "Gloteam": 1 in her bed (that should never leave the house); 1 travel Globear; 1 Globear at the creche; and 1 at Chris' parents' house. The Gloteam are in place to make sure Lydia can be comforted whenever she needs it.

Globear helps Lydia to sleep on a plane (l) and at home (r)

If the entire Gloteam was ever to disappear, we would have a very disgruntled little girl on our hands. Fortunately replacements are not too expensive, provided they have the right colour in stock. That's how we ended up with Yellobear - the shop didn't have any pink ones left.

Up to now, Globear has been our go-to bear for emergencies, ranging from soothing boo-boos to helping a grumpy, tired monkey fall asleep. Globear has given us so much and asked so little in return (except the occasional wash to get rid of sticky things). He is unquestionably one of the world's greatest unsung heroes.

Thank you Globear. Thank you for everything.

Circus KNIE and Rolle playground

This weekend we took Lydia to have a look at the Circus KNIE, which was in Nyon for a couple of days before heading on to Yverdon, Bulle and Bienne before spending a couple of weeks in Lausanne. Fortunately the weather was good, so we were able to spend time outside.

Finding the circus was really easy; it wasn't signposted from the motorway or as you enter Nyon, but we headed for the centre and suddenly the circus appeared on our right. We found a space in a nearby car park and walked over.

It cost 6 CHF per adult to get into the circus grounds. That's the price for entry only - the circus show is an additional 20 CHF. We didn't bother paying for the show as we know that Lydia doesn't sit still for long and so it would be a waste of money as we would no doubt have to leave early or suffer the looks of disgust from the rest of the audience at our failure to stop our baby from crying. If only we could find the off switch... (see Travelling with Babies)


Pony ride #1

The circus had a good variety of animals, which was the main reason we went there. Lydia seems to have started taking an interest in animals, so we thought it would be nice for her to spend some time looking at various different species.

We started with a pony ride (partly because Lydia saw the ponies as soon as we walked in!). She had already been on a pony ride during the Bimbadaboum festival in Geneva a few weeks ago (see Bimbadaboum!), and sge seemed to really enjoy it this time round as well, giggling with delight at the bouncing motion and happily waving at the watching crowd (they were actually other parents watching their own kids ride the ponies, but Lydia didn't care).

Lunch at the Lac Noir

Sometimes it isn't easy thinking of things to do at the weekends. For a childless couple, it isn't so difficult. A typical weekend might involve a bit of shopping, lunch in a restaurant somewhere, maybe a stroll in the town, possibly a romantic meal together and an evening out at the cinema and/or bar hopping and night clubs.

For parents, it's not as simple as that. Whenever you consider going somewhere or doing something, you have to think of the kids first. "Is there a playground there?", "what can they eat?", "is it expensive?" and "will she like it?" are just some of the questions you have to ask yourself. You have to put yourself in the kid's place as well - museums and shops are boring for kids, so those are out. Restaurants can be tricky as well, as kids aren't great at sitting in one place for a reasonable period of time.

It's even worse when it rains. Unless you dress your kid up in waterproofs, most outside activities are out of the question. On those days, you have to pray for a break in the rain that lasts long enough to go outside for a while, and let the kid burn off some of their seemingly boundless energy.

Lac Noir, Fribourg

Fortunately, this weekend the weather was nice. The sun was shining and the forecast predicted around 20°C, so not too shabby. We decided to head over to the Lac Noir in the Swiss Canton of Fribourg, as we hadn't been there before and it would make a nice change of scenery from our usual trips to towns along the edge of Lac Léman.

The drive to get there was fairly long, although it may only have seemed long because Lydia got a bit whingy. We bought a CD of French children's songs, as well as French spoken versions of Pinocchio and the Little Mermaid. These were played on a loop during the drive, and for the most part kept Lydia entertained. From a personal point of view, I found the stories to be a bit repetitive at the third time of listening.

Scary Dolly

Lydia has quite a lot of toys (far too many if you ask me), and also a lot of fluffy bears and other assorted stuffed animals. She doesn't have a very long attention span at the moment, so she will generally play with a toy for a brief few minutes before moving on to the next one.

Each toy will be played with for a while, and then either be left on a table or the sofa, or simply be thrown away by Lydia (she has quite an arm on her, potential baseball player in the making).

The exception to this rule, however, is her dolly Dorothé. This doll used to belong to Chris when she was a little girl. It is a basic plastic doll that closes her eyes when laid on her back. She has an unusual haircut, with her strands of dark hair cut short all over, making her look like a kind of brunette version of Yazz (brownie points to those who remember that one!).

Lydia does not like Dorothé.

In fact, it might be fair to say she hates her, and is terrified of her.

I wanna be like you (ooh-ooh)

Did that make you think about Disney's The Jungle Book, with King Louie singing his orangutan heart out?

This article isn't about the animated classic though. Instead, it's about how kids want to copy those around them, particularly their parents. They learn through imitating others, so it's only natural that they want to do what we do.

Recently, for example, Lydia wanted to read a book that she found in a cupboard. The book in question was actually a paper-back recipe book, so not really something she would find interesting. Nevertheless, we read it together. I noticed that every time Lydia went to turn the page, she would lick her finger. Neither I nor my wife do this, so I can only presume she picks this up from her grandparents during a recent stay at their house. Quite a surprise to see she had learnt that as it isn't something you really teach a kid to do.

Grocery shopping

Another recent example was when I took her to the supermarket the other day to buy groceries. I picked up a basket and went inside with Lydia only for her to start complaining about something.

I asked her what was wrong and she pointed at the big pile of shopping baskets. It turns out that she wanted her own basket to carry, having seen us and other adults do this many times in the past, and not wanting to miss out on the fun.

I thought this was really cute, although I had to help her choose what to put in her basket (she immediately went for the chocolate aisle!).

I know everyone tells me that kids grow up too fast, and that's a saying that I believe rings true. My daughter is only 16 months old but wants to do things she sees adults doing. It's no wonder young girls want to wear makeup, as they no doubt want to copy their mothers.

Wonder how long it will be before Lydia wants to watch football and drink beer like her Dad?

Messy Eater

Here, in one simple photo, is the answer to the question, "Why should you not turn your back on a young child eating a bowl of cereal?":

Oh no!

I love the look of innocence on her face, as if to say, "No Daddy, I have no idea who spilt that milk."

Lesson learned; don't turn your back, or - better still - glue the bowl to the table.

Bimbadaboum!

Bimbadaboum - The 100% Family Festival

Earlier this year, whilst searching for activities to do with Lydia, Chris came across something called the "Bimbadaboum Festival". This is basically an event put on specifically for young children, with shows and activities to keep them interested. So, Chris booked us some tickets for the festival on Saturday 18th August. Under-2s get in free, so we only had to pay for 2 tickets (costing 66.- CHF).

I hadn't really read much into the event prior to going there, just the basic information shown on their website (www.bimbadaboum.ch), so didn't have any huge expectations. I knew that this was the 5th year of the festival and that there would be children's entertainers and some stuff for the kids to do, like little workshops for various crafts. In the end, I was pleasantly surprised by what we found there.