Sometimes it’s hard to keep little people entertained. I’ve found (and so have other mums) that if we do an activity in the morning my kids are less painful at the end of the day. The problem is, going to the shops can be an easy way to burn up time and create extra stimulation for their little brains. We don’t often buy things, but I have been thinking a lot about the lessons this is teaching my dear ones. Am I teaching them that shopping equals happiness? When I do buy little things (they don’t need), am I teaching them that to value the many toys they already own? So, we do stickers and colouring, water play and dolls-house, Lego and pretend to be horses (ugh, the horses), and… we bake.

Amy’s at that wonderful age where she wants to help me.

This morning I woke up with baking on the brain, but my rules were simple: If I don’t have it, we can’t make it. I didn’t want to spend any money and make a trip to the shops. If I needed a piping bag, well too bad. If I didn’t having baking powder, I’d have to find a substitute.

Turning to the very yummy and creative Sweetest Menu, Amy picked out some cupcakes she wanted to make. I had to do some serious substitutions and managed to distract her with the idea of strawberry infused icing instead.

My favour part of the whole exercise was packing up a few little cakes to take to our neighbours.

As I struggle with the consumerism machine I’m continually fighting an internal battle. I want to buy my family treats and toys ‘just because’, but there are kids in the world who don’t have clean water. So here is a strategy I will put into place for the month of September:

1. If we go to the shops and I’m tempted to buy that unnecessary gift for my immediate family, I will exercise more self-control and transfer the amount of said item into another account when I get home. At the end of the month, I will use that money to make a donation to an international relief agency.
2. I will be more conscious of what I’m teaching my little ones. We can have fun in so many different ways and most of them don’t involve money. Although I rarely spend ‘just because’ money on myself, I need to make sure I’m not setting that example or expectation for my kids.

Love Jess xxoo