Both my husband and I have a great love of camping. There is nothing better than being in the outdoors and spending time with your family and friends in beautiful natural setting. Recently we went camping in Winter with the kids. Yes Winter! It can be done. You just need to do a bit of planning and have a little bit of courage (he he he).
So here are some quick tips for camping with kids:
1) Buy a tent (of course). It should have enough room to move. You are not going to survive camping with the children in a small dome tent. It won't work. You will be tearing your hair out in a matter of minutes. You need a decent sized family tent which sleeps the required number of people who need to sleep there. Tents with rooms are good. For example, we have a family of four. We have a tent that has two rooms. We use one room for sleeping four people and one room for living (eating, sitting etc). Shop around. Make sure your tent is a good price and is suitable for the weather conditions in which you will be in.
2) If you have never camped before or can't stand to go without a shower or toilet, camp at a caravan park. No I did not say get a cabin. Stay in your tent. Caravan parks are great because you get the best of both worlds. A camping experience, but with the comforts of a shower, toilet and kitchen facilities usually. Plus, many caravan parks have great facilities such as playgrounds, jumping castles, swimming pools and other activities for the kids. They may also have powered sites so you can take a kettle, toaster or even small heater. Staying on a camping site is so much cheaper when compared to a cabin. A great value holiday I say. Remember, if you are going to camp in a State Forest in Victoria (Australia), you will usually need a camping permit available from the Ranger. In busy times, you may also need to book a camp site.
3) Have a winter weight sleeping bag suitable for the temperatures you are going to sleep in. Speak to your local camping store about your options for children and what sleeping bag will suit the conditions you are staying in. Warning here: Do not buy a cheap sleeping bag as it may not be suitable for the outdoors and negative temperatures. Also, you still need to think about safe sleeping with your infant when camping to prevent the risk of SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome). For more information on safe sleeping on the link: www.sidsandkids.org/safe-sleeping
3) Pack warm clothes in winter. Waterproof jacket, beanie, gloves and scarf.
4) Take lighting for each room of your tent, plus a couple of torches and spare batteries. Sometimes the kids get a little scared at first, but they eventually get used to limited lighting.
5) The food you will take will depend on the facilities that are available. Ask the caravan park that you are staying at about what facilities are available. Otherwise you might need to take your own gas and gas burner to cook. Plus water for cooking, drinking and washing (if no taps are available). Snacks and drinks for the kids are a must, as they tend to want more food and drink if they are active.
6) Kids need activities to do. Otherwise again, you will be tearing your hair out. Take a football, soccer ball, cricket bat or a Frisbee to have activities to play outside when the weather is fine. I have seen many kids take their bikes and scooters to caravan parks, again giving them something to do. Board, card games and books go well. A portable DVD player if you have a powered site is great for the whole family. You may also like to take the kids fishing if there is a spot nearby or swimming if the facilities are available.
7) Remember, this is quality family time. It was really nice last time we went camping, as we had time to reconnect and enjoy each-others company. How often do we get to do that in this day and age?
Have fun camping, Margie B
A creative outlet. A blog of all things. Business, Kids, Travel, Health, Beauty, Cooking, Positive Thinking...You name it, I may write about it. Enjoy!
Monday, August 5, 2013
Sunday, August 4, 2013
Quick Tips - How to be more successful when working from home
Do you work from home or would you like to work from home? Both
myself and my husband have been involved in home based business for a
number of years. Here are some quick tips help you to be more successful when working from home:
1) Turn up to work! It is so tempting to stay curled up in bed. Come on, you know you want to right. So firstly, you need to be disciplined to get up, have breakfast, get dressed and be ready for work. Make sure you are in your office by your nominated start time. Best thing is, there is no traffic hey! Except for maybe a toddler or child in the hallway if you have kids!
2) Have a dedicated work space for your business. An office is best. That way you can close the door on your business when it is time to leave work. Also, it helps you get more organised so that you know where all of your resources and materials are. Now, I am not perfect here. My office is the whole house lol. My hubby doesn’t like this. I need to get more organised and not have a mountain on my desk (and every other surface he he). I admit, I have a weakness!
3) Make time for family. A home business can eat way at your time with your family if you let it. Try not to let work interfere with ‘home life’. Learn to turn off work when spending time with your family. Be there in the moment with the ones you love.
4) Set goals and be accountable to yourself. As you don’t have a boss, you need to set yourself goals, kind of like your boss would do for you. You need to be productive, so always have daily, weekly and monthly goals set.
5) Did you know you can be the worst boss to yourself and never give yourself a holiday or a day off? Learn to take a day off every now an then. And make sure you take holidays. You will not be able to work if you burn out!
6) Eat healthy. Lots of fresh fruit and vegetables. Water is good for you. Don’t skip a meal. Nourish yourself and you will be more healthy and feel more energetic for your business. Exercise – another weakness here! Go for a walk. Do some exercise that you love, not loathe.
I hope you enjoyed some of these tips that I have learnt from experience and observations of others in business. Enjoy working from home. There is nothing better than being your own boss!
MargieB ☺
1) Turn up to work! It is so tempting to stay curled up in bed. Come on, you know you want to right. So firstly, you need to be disciplined to get up, have breakfast, get dressed and be ready for work. Make sure you are in your office by your nominated start time. Best thing is, there is no traffic hey! Except for maybe a toddler or child in the hallway if you have kids!
2) Have a dedicated work space for your business. An office is best. That way you can close the door on your business when it is time to leave work. Also, it helps you get more organised so that you know where all of your resources and materials are. Now, I am not perfect here. My office is the whole house lol. My hubby doesn’t like this. I need to get more organised and not have a mountain on my desk (and every other surface he he). I admit, I have a weakness!
3) Make time for family. A home business can eat way at your time with your family if you let it. Try not to let work interfere with ‘home life’. Learn to turn off work when spending time with your family. Be there in the moment with the ones you love.
4) Set goals and be accountable to yourself. As you don’t have a boss, you need to set yourself goals, kind of like your boss would do for you. You need to be productive, so always have daily, weekly and monthly goals set.
5) Did you know you can be the worst boss to yourself and never give yourself a holiday or a day off? Learn to take a day off every now an then. And make sure you take holidays. You will not be able to work if you burn out!
6) Eat healthy. Lots of fresh fruit and vegetables. Water is good for you. Don’t skip a meal. Nourish yourself and you will be more healthy and feel more energetic for your business. Exercise – another weakness here! Go for a walk. Do some exercise that you love, not loathe.
I hope you enjoyed some of these tips that I have learnt from experience and observations of others in business. Enjoy working from home. There is nothing better than being your own boss!
MargieB ☺
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