{Let Them Be Little} #6 'Little Adventures at Home'

Before I became a Mama, I tried to picture what sort I of Mummy I would be. I suppose most people think back to their own experiences with the own mum- I know I certainly did. I have wonderful memories of being about 2 or 3 when we used to live near Oxford, and spending lots of quality time with my lovely mum and my older brother. We spent hours in the garden, she got us our own guinea pigs to look after and feed and she spent lots of time doing lovely activities with us. Some of the activities which have stayed in my memory most clearly are the arty ones. I can vividly remember doing water painting against the outside walls of the house with big paint brushes, drawing funny people with stick hands and feet with chalk on the patio and doing lots of painting and drawing on a little wooden easel.

These memories are still so etched in my mind- we had a lovely childhood and I love to use these ideas my mum had with Little One, especially now he is nearly 2 and getting more interested in creative activities. But in all honesty, despite my desire to provide these fun activities for Little One, it's not something I do much. In fact, I sometimes have days when I feel incredibly guilty. I feel bad that Little One and I haven't had the most exciting of days or that we haven't gone out anywhere. I have times where I worry I have resorted to the iPad and Peppa Pig one too many times in the day or that we haven't really sat down and played together much or done anything creative.

Again, with a little wise guidance and advice from my mum, I am learning that actually, a toddler can find fun in the smallest of things; things which might not seem terribly exciting to an adult but to a toddler they are probably quite exciting! Things like emptying plastic pots and jugs from the cupboard, rolling tins across the kitchen floor while mummy is putting the shopping away, helping with the gardening, watering the flowers in the garden or finding worms in the soil. Sure, we might not go out to new places as much as we used to, we might not spend £30 a week at soft play like we used to, but we are embracing life in our little house and our little garden, and to Little One, it's his own little adventure land.

Of course, there are days when we decide to head out to a playgroup and there's nothing we love more than going to the park with friends, but we are also getting better at finding lots of lovely fun things to do at home, just like we did with my mum. Afterall, it's not just the big days out which i have remembered from my childhood, it's also those little moments at home, feeding the guinea pigs, hiding under the willow tree and painting on the patio.

Here's a few photos of us loving life, having adventures and making lots of lovely memories together at our little house in the countryside.