Cartoon time!

 

601998_10151584315184048_1278976154_nI find some parents can be a bit snobby when it comes to letting their kids watch TV but providing its in moderation then I think cartoons can be great at enriching their imaginations and to give them an opportunity to sit and relax.

Recently my wife discovered a great little site that has lots of free cartoons that you can stream straight to your iPhone or other smart phone which means that you always have something to distract them when out and about.

Big J’s favourite is Transformers Rescue Bots.

http://www.watchcartoononline.com/cartoon-list

 

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Bedtime Stories

As the kids are now in bed I thought I would take this opportunity to do a quick post about my favourite bedtime stories.  From an early age I’ve tried to introduce the kids to as many different books as possible, helped enormously by the wife’s huge collection of kids books.

I have to admit I’m quite picky about the books I read them as I hate books with really dark pages and black text as in the low light of the bedroom they are a real pain to read.  With that in mind here are some of our favourites that you might wish to try.

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(1) The Tiger who Came to Tea

This is arguably one of my favourites, very clear text, simple story and beautiful child like illustrations.  My son who is 3 has loved reading this for the last 2 years.

He know’s this book so well he can tell me the story nearly word for word which always impresses me.

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(2) Mr McGee Goes to Sea

Mr McGee is from the Australian writer Pamela Allen and its a beautiful little story with very clean pages and a nice rhythm to to the narrative.

The illustrations are quite simple and have a certain retro charm which adds to the character of the book.

(3) The Rascally Cake

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This book I only read because Big J kept pestering me to and whilst I was initially put off by the clarity of the text the excellent prose more than makes up for it.

This is a great book for boys as it has all the gruesome stuff that they love as well as great illustrations and a good sense of humour.

Of course it does not matter what book you read to kids as its the act of reading that is most important and nothing settles them for bed better than listening to your voice soothe them to sleep.

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10 things I love about my children

It would be wrong to write a blog about being a Dad without taking a little time to introduce my children to hopefully explain why I am so proud to be their 20130911-012551.jpgdad.

Big J is a cheeky little boy who apparently looks exactly like me and is growing into a very confident little man.  Little J is a perfect girl who’s smile can melt hearts.

They are great kids but here are the 10 things I love about them the most.

  1.  They love their beds. Most nights they are tucked up fast asleep by 7:30pm which means peace and quiet.
  2.  They love each other.  Whilst they do fight and push you can tell that they love being with each other.
  3.  They love retro cartoons.  From Postman Pat to Scooby Doo they love old school cartoons.
  4.  They laugh at my jokes. I think they are the only people who think I’m funny.
  5. They are resilient and adaptive. No matter who has them or where they are they get on with it with very few tears.
  6.  They have great smiles.  you can tell they are really happy kids.
  7.  They love their mum.  I know I am their second most favourite person in the world but I don’t hold it against them as their mum is pretty amazing.
  8.  They can fart on cue.  Well just big J at the moment but little J is not far behind.
  9. They are easy please – they don’t need expensive toys just some imagination and some attention.
  10. They love me back– which is the only reward I need for being their dad

Middle Aged Dad