19
Dec
2010
Getting even more traditional – could yum cha be the key?
possibly my favourite tradition. I know, I'm shallow like that.
I saw this great post the other day on a website. It was all about the traditions this mother is starting with her family. Some of them were a bit ummm full on (compulsory family hikes are not really going to cut it in our family) but some of them got me thinking about what we’re doing in our house. I’ve covered some of these in earlier posts but for those of you who don’t immediately memorise and take notes (what is WRONG with you people? Don’t you know this stuff is gold?), here are some ideas we are planning on taking up in our little family. (OK, not so little our family as we currently stand at four and are soon to be five but DON’T REMIND ME, I HAVE THE FEAR.)
- Sunday family roasts – as per last week’s post, I am loving this new tradition. Granted, following the first week’s massive success, we can only go backwards from there (witness tonight’s event where daughter refused to eat anything but individual peas. One at a time. Very slowly. Until you wanted to throw each and every pea at the wall), but I am still loving it. Perhaps in warmer times it will become Sunday barbeque night. I love any excuse to break out the tomato sauce.
12
Dec
2010
New family tradition and a shameful confession
I have a shameful confession to make. Although I am boastful and annoyingly proud of my children’s eating regime, we *whispers* never eat as a family. I KNOW. HORRIFYING. I bang on and on about their table manners, I make them eat copious amounts of vegies, I supervise their eating at their little table, I am smug about their love of plain yoghurt.
But it’s not at the big table. It’s not with me and the Captain eating beside them (well, except for obvious shameful stealing of anything that looks good and doesn’t involve broccoli).
It suddenly struck me when we were discussing Christmas lunch – this will be the first year that son will be allowed to sit at the table with us all rather than banished to naptime in his cot – we never ever eat together as a family. Well, except for yum cha/dim sum, where getting food in as fast as you can, drinking juith with a bendy straw and spilling food at the table, is all positively encouraged. Not something I think aunt and uncle will appreciate at carefully laid Christmas feast table.
31
Aug
2010
Herding cats. Or how to throw a kid’s party – part 2
So – part one was about the basics – planning the party. But every kid knows that planning the party is secondary. The venue can be ace, the games fun, the fire thrower awesome, but if you don’t get the main event right then all else may as well be thrown out with the pass the parcel.
Yes, I am of course referring to The Cake. Big, small, cupcake, multi-layered behemoth, store-bought, ice-cream, homemade – The Cake is the big kahuna of the party day. You have to have one.
If you’re Australian it is likely that you spent some time in your childhood pouring over the Cake Bible – second only to choosing your showbags from the newspaper lift-out (if you’re not from Australia, you just had to be there I’m sorry, but believe me, the day that lift-out came out was the BEST DAY OF THE YEAR) was the choosing of the cake from the Australian Women’s Weekly Kid’s Birthday Cakes Book. And if you don’t believe me, then see someone far more amusing than me…
Anyway – here are other top tips about cake preparation:
17
Aug
2010
Herding cats. Or how to throw a kid’s party – part 1
Not appropriate for a three year old. And frankly, a little bit disturbing at any age?
I have been planning my son’s 3rd birthday party basically since his 2nd birthday. I know – what a nerd. But that won’t be news to anyone who knows me – I do love a drink good shindig. And as I have the most amazing memories of parties thrown by my mum, I guess I’m just trying to make sure my children have the same sort of memories. Of course, emulating my mother’s parties is a slippery slope. It’s only a hop step and a jump from similar parties to bridge games four times a week and antique shopping. Before we know it I’ll be posting about ten ways to improve your family tree (sorry Mum – I really am dying to see the results of the three thousand years of research you’ve done.)
Where was I? Oh yes – parties. Seriously, how can you not like kid’s parties? The mess, the screams, the tears – there’s something for everyone. Personally, I’m in it for the cake and the champagne. And the fairy bread – which I have discovered today is an Australian thing. Who knew? And if you are unaware of the JOYS of fairy bread – see here. In the meantime, here are my top tips:
5
Jul
2010
The post about what to give when you’re not giving flowers
For the love of god, NO.
There are only so many flowers a person needs. Honestly. And this goes for sick people, as well as new mothers. Firstly, who has fourteen vases in the right shape and colour for fourteen different bunches? Secondly, who has fourteen mantelpieces to put them on? And thirdly, umm, who needs that many flowers? But who has the time to think of clever and thoughtful yet awesome value presents for people these days? What with full on jobs or full on children or full on both, you need some help. And they don’t call me Helpful Harriet for nothing. Actually, no one calls me Helpful Harriet but I am hoping if I use it enough, it will catch on. So here are some suggestions. Some of them might also be useful for someone who is coping with an illness, a bereavement, a break-up or a general rough time. You are welcome.
The gift of time
25
May
2010
Contrary to apparent perception, I do feed my child
photo credit: benjamin_mercadier
Since before he could even eat solids, every time I take out my, now 11 months old, child in public, someone in his general vicinity is constantly trying to put food in his mouth. Sometimes they spontaneously form into teams of four or five, reaching out and collecting whatever completely inappropriate food may be in a 100 metre radius, passing it fire-fighting water line style along a chain to the baby while the head of the team and several others yell out suggestions and try to feed them all in succession to the perplexed child. “Give him some of the guacamole”, yells one. “No it has chilli in it” yells a rare voice of reason, “what about the chocolate cake, he’ll love that”, “no give him a sip of the coca cola, see if he likes it”, “oh I know, I have some red icy poles – it will help with the teething gums”, “give him a chip”, “no, he’ll choke, try this taramasalata dip”, “Do you think he’ll eat the prawn with some mayonnaise, the caviar, the pickled artichoke?”
12
Apr
2010
Parenting Skills – the top five. Which include shopping.
I have not taken children to a concert yet. But I imagine I would be quite good at it.
I am not good at games. I don’t like making crowns. Or playing trains. Or pretending to eat belly-button chocolate (don’t ask, it’s a family thing). I imagine I will be rubbish at watching children’s sporting matches, as I have a tendency to drift off when balls start flying around in front of me. I also dislike taking my children out to lunch, playing in the park and speaking baby talk to newborns. However, I do have some parenting skills of which I am proud. Some may say weirdly proud — I would just say proud.
1. I am an EXCELLENT story reader. I give it everything I have got — whether it’s pathos, humour, kindness or poignancy (not a commonly required emotion in board books, but you never know) — I can carry it off. I have been known to receive a small round of applause at the end of Dig Dig Digging and if you thought you couldn’t eke out a tear from a 2 year old at a rendition of The Very Hungry Caterpillar, then you were wrong.
2
Mar
2010
And the award for best yum cha/dim sum restaurants in a family friendly environment goes to…
I spend a lot of my time thinking about food. I’d like to pretend otherwise – but I’d be fooling no-one. And when it comes to food, my number one interest, nay, OBSESSION, is yum cha. A.K.A dim sum to those outside of Australia. Ah yum cha. The yum of dim. The ‘cha. I dream about you. How I love your flakey pastry puffiness. How I savour the sweetness of your porcine pieces. How I worship at the altar of your gelatinous dumpling marvelousness. You get the picture.
Sometime ago I promised to write a post about the best yum cha to go to with children. The answer is most of them. Seriously. I can’t think of a better place to take children out to eat. Tiny, young, older – is there another place you can think of (bar the hideosity of children-themed restaurants) that they don’t care when food is spread all over the table? Where the noises of screams are drowned out by angry Chinese voices? Where the food is brought by your table in small portions so if it is spat out you can just start again? Where the whole meal can be ordered, delivered and eaten in 45 minutes if necessary? My children had both been to dim sum before they were two weeks old. Yum cha. In the words of the almighty Nike, just DO IT.
15
Nov
2009
Kid-friendly restaurants in London
Ever since I read Jac’s post on the Baby Deli 
in Madrid, I have been thinking about similar locations in London. Now I don’t mean to rub it in Jac, but we are a bit spoilt for choice here in the capital. There are lots of restaurants that are child friendly. That is, places where you can take your kids and they help you out with high chairs, kid’s menus, early eating, etc. There are also nicer places that are great with kids – both of which I have listed below. However I am fundamentally a selfish person who does not like having their meal interrupted by sticky fingers, babies crying and people crawling around my feet. The exception would be yum cha/dim sum which is MADE for children – mess and noise is positively welcomed, chopsticks were designed to be thrown, there are inevitably fish in a tank to look at, and the whole thing is over in an hour.
But some clever people have cottoned on to the fact that I am not the only parent in the world who likes a nice meal, but doesn’t always want to pay for a babysitter. Thus, the brilliant child-minding restaurant has been born. See below for some details. And if you’ve got any in your hometown, let me know and I’ll continue the research into other cities….
12
Oct
2009
Child-friendly but still posh pub
The Olde Bell in Hurley is a bl**dy brilliant pub just outside of London. We visited a few weeks ago with some very groovy friends who generally know the cool food places (hanging off their coat tails as I am neither groovy nor cool) and it turned out to be a great location for us and the small people. The food was fantastic. And they have a MASSIVE garden out the back. 
The kids slept in prams during lunch (it’s on the slightly posh side so it’s not really a place for marauding toddlers inside – no chicken nuggets on the menu, put it that way.) However, the staff were amazingly welcoming and one lovely lady even babysat the prams while we all had a drink in the bar. (She didn’t look like a child-stealer). However, the garden was the highlight and the kids ran around for hours after lunch. It was raining (quelle surprise for London) but the kids didn’t mind and this suited us perfectly. Would be gorgeous as a spot for an adults-only lunch (or weekend, it has accommodation and there seemed to be a few more b’nb s down the tiny road), but as a summer destination, this would also be amazing – has its own bar and heaps of tables outside and children can run amok whilst parents eat the restaurant lunch or more casual BBQ lunch and get slowly sozzled in beautiful surroundings. With one person remaining the designated driver/responsible parent. Obviously. I wish there was a list of every child friendly pubs in every city. See here for their website.
