Five Rainy Day Activities For You & Your Baby | Just Add Ginger

I don't know if this is just me but can be so difficult sometimes to come up with things to do with your baby. At the age Eric is, he needs constant stimulation. He's on the go all the time and flits from toy to toy like a little butterfly amongst the flowers. His attention span isn't quite there to sit for too long and participate in structured play so if you are stuck for ideas and find yourself restricted to the living room on a rainy day you slowly start to go insane. 

Having learnt from experience that days in aren't an option unless absolutely necessary, I've put together a list of five rainy day activities for you and your baby. Some can be set up in the house to add a little variety if the weather is just too bad to venture out in, and others take place in other locatis, giving you both the chance to get out the house and have some human contact.

Messy Play - This is something I don't do enough with Eric but something that I think he would really enjoy. And there are so many different activities that come under this umbrella. Finger painting and hand / foot prints, mark making in Angel Delight or baked beans, walking through jelly and creating homemade play dough are all things I can't wait to try with him. If you have a paddling pool or large tray these are the perfect things to use for messy play as it designates an area for the mess and ensures things don't get (too) out of control. Keep a bucket of water water and a towel to one side so that you can rinse baby off or - if things get really messy - pop them in the bath. This will extend the play experience and provide you with extra quality time with your little one too.

The Library - Eric loves books. Not only stories, but looking at them too. He will often just sit there and investigate him books, peering at the illustrations, lifting flaps and turning page after page. At 13 months old he is starting to have his favourites but I like to broaden his horizons by taking him to our local library. We will look through books there, I'll read to him, and then we'll pick some to take home. It's the perfect rainy day activity because it gives you the chance to get out the house and spend some quality (scree free) time with your baby. Lots of libraries also run free story and rhyme sessions for tots too. We haven't been to any yet but they are definitely on the radar for when we are hit by a string of rainy days.

Visit The Garden Centre - I'm at that age now where dreaming about how I want our garden to look  like has overtaken the hours I used to spent online eyeing up my next pair of shoes. So taking a trip to peruse at plants and pretty flowers is my idea of a dream outing. But these visits aren't just for me. Garden centre's are a free and easy way to give your baby a full-on sensory experience. They are surrounded by new sights, colours and smells (some centres even have fish they can look at too). My favourites to visit with Eric in Liverpool are Lady Green and Sefton Meadows

Children's Centre Sessions - If you anticipate the weather to be bad but you still want to get out the house with your little one then looking up the classes at your local children's centre is always a good place to start I take Eric to stay and play, tumble time and more structured play sessions at our local one on a regular basis, come rain or shine and we both love it. And because we have been out the house in a new environment, Eric always wants a nap afterwards. Different children's centres offer different things but classes are free and they offer the chance for both you and baby to socialise.

Cinebabes @ The Plaza, Crosby - Liverpool-based parents - If you are sick and tired of missing out on all the new film releases because you just can't find a babysitter then this concept solves all your problems. On a Friday morning, The Plaza Cinema in Crosby host a special movie showing for mums, dads, carers and grandparents and their tiny tots. I know there are a few chain cinemas who do this too but The Plaza is a volunteer-run community cinema that is a lot more intimate and welcoming. Prices is insanely good too (it's £3 per ticket) and you don't have to worry if your baby starts crying, crawling about or if you need to breastfeed. If you can get to Crosby and are free on a Friday it is well worth a visit.

If you have any other rainy day activity ideas, let me know in the comments below!

My First Mother's Day | Just Add Ginger

Mother's Day last year was the day before I was due to pop. I was sitting out in garden, feeling massively pregnant and incredibly fed up. I was so disappointed to be missing out on having reason to celebrate so when it came to Mother's Day this year I knew I wanted it to be extra special.

The day started out with a little bit of a lie in and the cards and presents in bed. For his first Mother's Day Eric really excelled himself and bought me a ring light. He was too excited for me to open it so I'd actually already opened it a few days prior but I had a lovely little extra surprise gift to open that he had made with the childminder.

Next up was breakfast - we all had a little dance party along to Dolly Parton, Beyonce and Harry Styles while Ryan made me pancakes with really crispy bacon and blackberry jam (sounds weird but trust me it'll change your life) and a "proper" coffee with extra frothy milk. Ryan and I had a ball boogying round the kitchen but Eric was already getting tired by that point so sat in his high chair looking at us in bewilderment. However he rallied himself enough to enjoy a small serving of pancakes and jam before heading upstairs for a nap. Jumping on this opportunity to sneak in some writing I switched on PLL and immersed myself in blog post writing for a good hour or so which felt bloody amazing. It was so nice not feeling guilty for foregoing housework, ignoring everyone and just throwing myself into something I love. Time is never something I have much of and to be honest having it was the best gift.

Once Eric woke up from his nap we bundled into the car and headed to Acorn Venture Urban Farm in Kirkby. It was our first family trip out to a farm (E has been before but not with us) and I was really excited to see what he made of all the animals. I was also hoping to get some decent photographs of the two of us together. I'm normally the one behind the camera so have missed out on so many good photo opportunities and I really wanted to have a couple of snaps of us while he is still a baby.

Even though the sky was pretty grey and ominous the weather stayed quite clear for us whilst we were at the farm. It was quite difficult to tell whether Eric was happy or confused by all the animals but we went round and made all the noises and pointed everything out. He has several books that feature farm animals so I tried to reference these as we went round all the pens. We did have to get Eric out the pushchair several times - now that he is walking being cooped up for too long just gets him too frustrated - but I think having him on my hip gave him a better view of all the animals anyway.

The farm wasn't huge so we did a few laps to make sure Eric had seen all the animals and we used up all of the feed we'd bought. We stayed for a couple of hours, nipping into the cafe towards the end of our visit to get Eric something to eat and shelter from the raindrops that had started to fall from the sky. We then headed back to the house so that he could have some time to play and toddle about before we went out again. Once we did get home we rang MG for a catch up but Eric was definitely ready for another nap so Ryan took him straight upstairs afterwards for some shut eye.

While the baby settled I slowly sipped on another hot coffee (now such a luxury) and got in a little more laptop time. However Eric being Eric he spent about twenty minutes rolling round his cot trying to get comfortable and eventually drifted off five minutes before we were due to head out of the door. Not wanting to wake him too soon we decided to let him sleep for ten or so minutes and set off later to the meal Ryan had booked us.

Just after 4pm we got back into the car and headed to Yukti for a meal with Ryan's parents. The restaurant were running a special offer to mark Mothering Sunday so I got to enjoy a cheeky little glass of fizz with my meal. Eric munched on poppadums and some of the pre-starters we got and it was just really lovely spending time together and indulging in some really good food. Yukti are always so welcoming and very unexpectdly gave us some complementary side dishes and an extra dessert, all of which were so greatly appreciated.

I was having such a lovely day that I honestly didn't want it to come to an end and by the time we got home and put Eric to bed I started to feel really sad. Ryan and I spent some time having a snuggle on the sofa and having a bit of a catch up. He works so much during the week that even though we see each other we don't really spend very much time together so the moments we do get where it is just the two of us with no distrations doesn't really happen that much. Normally he comes home and I talk at him trying to catch him up with everything that happened that day. Having actual conversations are a rare occurance and it was brilliant to talk about other things rather poo, nappies and nap time. 

I don't really know what to expect for my first Mother's Day but I had a fantastic one. I don't think it really would have mattered what we did. Just being together was enough and actually having time in the day that was wholly mine. Even when I do have a spare hour or two I find it so difficult to loosen the reins and remove my mummy hat but by letting Ryan take the lead we managed to have a fun family day and I got so much done and I loved it. 

What did you do for Mothering Sunday?