Kia ora koutou, I am thinking of those who have been affected by the ongoing weather events, and I hope you are all doing okay. My thoughts and prayers are with you all. If you need caregiver support during this time, please contact your agency. If you do not have an...
Kia ora koutou, Crikey, with only weeks to go until the last day of school, who has had time to organise Christmas? This year in our house we are transferring the focus from gifts to experiences. And it is not as easy as it sounds let me tell you. While we are...
Tēnā Koutou Katoa, Greetings to you all. With the silly season fast approaching the pressure to live up to what the “Joneses” are doing is going to be felt even more this year, given the economic status of our beautiful country. I have three little people living with...
Kia ora everyone, Gosh just when you think you have time to catch your breath the school holidays sneak up on you and smack you right between the eyes! The spring school holidays are a chance to get the kids in the garden with me and enjoy the wonders of mixing dirt,...
Tena koutou katoa, I just wanted to acknowledge some of the amazing people I’ve had the privilige of connecting with over the last couple of months. Grandparents Raising Grandchildren are such beautiful souls. I feel very honoured to have shared space with you...
Tena koutou katoa, My first full-time school holidays balancing work with Nana’s duties done and dusted and I learned some very valuable lessons! Number 1; Do not enter into negotiations with potentially anti-authority humans aged between 2 and 11yrs old! Let’s just...
Happy dry July everyone! With school holidays just around the corner our whānau are looking at some nana-friendly activities to do over the holidays. I have five primary school-aged tamariki and one who is itching to escape the creativity and freedom of Kindy. After...
Kia ora koutou katoa, June 2022 is a month of significance for maori this year as it is the month we acknowledge Matariki, and, we get to share this as a public holiday with all of Aotearoa. How cool is that! I have been doing my share of research around Matariki...
Kia ora koutou katoa, Term 2 begins and with it the hope that children settle, and we enjoy a little bit of peace and quiet. The month of May is when we celebrate our mums in all their fabulous forms. As foster mums it can be a bittersweet time where schools and...
Kia ora koutou April is gearing up to be a busy month for us as school finishes for the term and the pressure of Easter is upon us. Some of us won’t acknowledge Easter for our own reasons and that’s fine. Some of us will celebrate with Christian practice and some of...
Kia ora koutou katoa, Woohoo, March is my favourite month of the year as it’s my birthday month. What makes it extra special is my beautiful little granddaughter who shares my birthday, so there is another reason to celebrate. This month we would normally celebrate...
Kia ora e te whānau, With the start of the school year finally here you could be forgiven for feeling like we spent the last two years on one very long school holiday! Our lives look very different today than two years ago, that’s for sure. I spent a good part of the...
Meri Kirihimete (Merry Christmas!) As we edge closer to Christmas and look back at what the year has bought us and what this holiday season will involve, I’d like to commend you all on your resilience. You have pushed through some of the most challenging times and...
Kia ora koutou katoa, Christmas is next month!? I feel like my mother when I say, “Where has the time gone?”. Lockdowns have certainly tested our resilience if not our patience. As we speed towards Christmas, there is apprehension before making plans with loved ones...
Kia ora koutou katoa,I hope this month sees the beginning of the end of lockdowns for us, don’t you? This lockdown has been particularly hard on some parents and now with the start of the school holidays, you could be forgiven for feeling “over” having your kids home....
Kia ora Koutou, Ehara tāku toa I te toa takitahi, Engari he toa takitini. My strength is not as an individual, but as a collective.This last month has certainly proved to be a test of our resilience and determination. Our role, once again, has been to attempt to make...
Kia ora Koutou, This month, in 1987, the Māori Language Act came into force making Te Reo Māori an official language of New Zealand. In 1985, the Waitangi Tribunal heard the Te Reo Māori claim. This asserted that Te Reo was a taonga (treasure), that the Government was...
Kia ora Koutou, With the school holidays around the corner, I’m sure there will be a lot of caregivers looking for winter school holiday activities. Now is the time to get searching for activities out there. I’ve had a little look around and found a few things that...
Kia ora Koutou katoa, I don’t know if it is just me, or the weather, or no daylight savings, but there just doesn’t seem to be enough hours in the day now. Sometimes I catch myself walking into a room and for the life of me I can’t remember what I was going in there...
Kia ora koutou, May is upon us and for many of us, it would feel like this year is moving so fast. This time last year we were well into our National lock-down and getting so good at Zooming. If someone had told me that one day, I wouldn't know what Zooming is and I...