Park Play Cafe; a gem in the heart of the community

Being a second time parent is a funny thing. In those first few months, where the first time around you would have been venturing to groups to find your feet and make friends, you are now juggling the constant needs of a newborn and the demands of a, in my case, 'threenager'. Most baby groups are out of the question too, as older siblings are just a little too old to attend. Needless to say those months passed and my good intentions to get to all the local groups with Amelia were outgrown.

Then, one Saturday afternoon while I was having a peaceful 5 minutes online, I saw an ad for a new local venture, Leigh Park 'Play Cafe'. Grand Opening Monday 8th July. 'Why not give it a whirl?' I thought. Not necessarily labelled as a group, simply a place to drop in when at a loose end. Elias is at nursery on Monday mornings and, aside from my work, Amelia and I are usually at a loose end. So we went for it. I packed up our things and we headed off for a little play time.

When we arrived for the 10am opening, we weren't the first there. Mothers and babies lined up with pretty pushchairs in anticipation of what might be on offer. Soon, the doors were opened and the smiling faces of many a staff member welcomed us inside.

The environment was bustling. Childrens' favourite tunes played and people chatted amongst themselves over a warm cup of tea while children flitted between the many, many, many toys on offer. Everything from a carefully laid out 'baby area' equipped with play mats a-plenty, to a soft ball-pit to role play stations and even an art table and mini-library. Little eyes glimmered with the endless options. Amelia made a very fast B-line for a shopping till station and spent a good 20 minutes browsing the area and enjoying every part of it before moving on to do some drawing.

You can tell that every inch of this place has been designed with the local community at heart; a friendly atmosphere, staff from the local area, affordable prices, handmade drinks and snacks. It is just what Leigh Park needs.

We ventured outside for a short while and found some outdoor-toys to enjoy in the sunshine, Amelia took to a lovely little ride along and on our travels we found a third little space to be enjoyed; a sensory room with activities like cheerio and pasta threading and a texture table. On speaking to one of the staff I was also told that the outdoor area was recently granted some funding to allow for extra child-safety measures and the like - great news! It will be exciting to see this lovely space grow.

We had a brilliant time at the grand opening of the Play Park Cafe and, with it being open daily, we are sure to be coming back, it will be particularly invaluable in the colder months. Although I enjoyed some time to take Amelia out on her own, it is nice to know that this space welcomes older sibling too, so I am able to bring both children along sometimes! If you happen to be in the area I would definitely recommend a visit - even if just for a cup of tea which you are actually able to drink while its hot - a rare treat for a parent of young children!

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup Recipe

Well the weather in the UK just isn't letting up is it?! So much for Summer time. This miserable weather makes me long for Autumn - its my favourite season. So, Elias and I made some soup earlier this week. And whats better than a bowl of warm, homemade soup ... when it comes with a side of fresh, crusty bread of course.
Butternut squash is my favourite seasonal soup and it always tastes so much better when its made at home. So today, I'm sharing my recipe for comforting and warming Roasted Butternut squash soup. This recipe will serve 2.

Get together;

• 1lb peeled, deseeded butternut squash, cut into cubes (I buy mine pre-prepared from Aldi)
• 1 medium carrot - peeled and chopped
• 1 red pepper - deseeded and cut into strips
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tsp ground ginger
• 1 pint vegetable stock
• Salt and pepper to season

1. Start by pre-heating your oven to 200C (180 fan ovens)
2. Put your prepared vegetables into a roasting tin and drizzle them with half of the oil and season with some salt and pepper. Toss everything together to make sure it is evenly coated - be sure that your vegetables are on a single layer in your roasting tin so that everything cooks evenly and thoroughly.
3. Roast your vegetables in the oven for 30-35 minutes or until they are just about brown.
4.Put a large saucepan onto the hob over a medium heat, add the rest of your oil and allow it to warm through. Pour in your stock and bring to the boil, then, stir in your roasted vegetables, the ground ginger and season with a little more salt and pepper to taste.
5. Remove your saucepan from the heat and whiz everything together using a hand blender until the mix is smooth looking. I use my Blend-Active as I dont own a hand blender.
6. Once you are ready to eat, pop the soup back onto the hob to heat right through, then serve. I like to serve my soup with a few slices of freshly baked bread - the packet mixes from Aldi are also lovely!

These beautiful soup bowls are from Laura Ashley and they really look the part, don't they?!

Our decision to Home school

Or home educate. However you describe it, its the path we have chosen.

Elias turned 4 this April and, as with most children at this age, would be due to start school in September. But he wont be.
I'm not really sure what even made me consider home schooling him; we have no family members that do it, no friends - not even friends-of-friends that do. I just felt something that told me that he wasn't meant for traditional schooling.
He's too wild. Like many boys, I know. But I just didn't think he was the right fit for being confined to one space, 6 hours a day. I imagined him running through wooded areas, exploring his surroundings with his own eyes, ears and hands, rather than through the pages of a book. I saw us learning together as a family out in this wild world, not splitting off and becoming disconnected from one another. So I looked into home schooling, and liked what I found.

Dan wasn't on board at first. But he saw how much I put into learning about it, listened to the saddening facts I gave him about traditional schooling and the pressures it puts on children - even young ones, and he saw how much Elias was enjoying meeting new friends in the home schooling community and he eventually came around to the idea.

I still don't have a set plan for our journey, and that's okay. There are many routes you can take with home schooling; Montessori, Charlotte Mason, unschooling, world schooling - the list is so vast and, even though I don't know exactly where, our method is in there somewhere. But, for now, I'm happy for Elias (and Amelia) to learn through play and exploration.

As soon as the mention of home schooling spread around our friends and family, we were hit with a barrage of questions and opinions; 'what if he falls behind', 'he would love school', 'it'll give you a break', and then the biggest misconception of all 'how will he learn to socialise?' ... I say that as if I know what I'm talking about, but I already do! Elias has not formally started home schooling yet, but we have already buried ourselves in a fantastic local community. We've attended meet-ups, days out and joined more Facebook groups than you can shake a stick at (that's such a weird saying, isnt it?!). So, I have no doubt that Elias will have just as many (if not more!) friends as he would have done in school, and the bonus is that they are a variety of ages with a mix of interests and ways of doing things. I know that this will give him a better perception of the 'real' world and will encourage him to listen and learn about other families ways of life.

I often have worries and doubts. Of course I do, I'm a parent, and this is a big decision. Nothing is permanent I know, but this is a very 'out-of-the-box' way to go in our family so it hasn't been without its share of panics and 'should we be doing this?' moments. But, deep down, I am confident in our decision and I know we are incredibly lucky to even be able to consider it. I work from home and Dan earns a good wage enabling me to be at home everyday with our children. I am so grateful and immensely excited to share their childhood with them, every ounce of it. To experience more 'firsts' with them will be a privilege, and not one I intend to squander.

I also want to make it very clear that, although this was ultimately mine and Dan's choice, we did let Elias have his say in the matter too. A child his age doesn't really understand the concept of school, but I sat down with him on a number of occasions to try to present the ideas of both school and home school in a non-bias way and each time he told me he would like to 'explore school with mummy and Amelia'. Fine by me!

So, where do we go from here?

As mentioned, we don't have anything set in stone. I have joined many groups and collected a few resources but we are in no hurry to have the children sat down doing worksheets and filling in paperwork.
Elias will be continuing on at nursery for the foreseeable future ; we are un-decided whether to let him stay until new year 2020, or his 5th birthday. He has friends there and enjoys his time there.
He only attends 2 mornings and 1 afternoon (11 hours) a week so we are able to do some light schooling alongside it, and I can continue to work for some time.
We have talked about some topics we might like to learn about from the Autumn; mostly nature studies but I'm sure other things will spark interest too, and so much is learned through play and every day activities that I have no doubt we will do more than our quota for his age without even realising it!

This post isn't to say that I think school is the devil, of course. I believe each child thrives better in different surroundings, suited to their personalities! I just think homeschooling is suited better to our children. I will be sharing our home school adventures and progress on the blog regularly so please come back and join us!