Hux the Toddler: A Week In The Life (and WIN LEGOLAND tickets!)

Toddlers have basically never had it better. They’re constantly being entertained, healing given cool toys to play with, cost getting taken to brilliant places. I reckon I could live a pretty happy life as a toddler (Mum? Is that OK?).

As I posted about a while ago, for sale SMA® Nutrition recently commissioned work of 1,000 mums to discover how toddlers today live their lives. Some findings particularly interesting to me included the fact over a quarter of mothers eat out with their toddlers once a week, with 78% believing toddlers are given a more varied diet nowadays than 20 years ago.

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Food is such a big part of our family life and I love introducing Hux to new things; it’s very important to me that my family eats a balanced and varied diet which is why I love working with SMA® Nutrition, a company that has over 90 years of experience in advancing baby nutrition. Their toddler milk is formulated for children just like Hux who are over 1 year, as part of their healthy balanced diet. The milk includes essential Vitamin D and Calcium to support growth and development of bones and Iron to contribute to normal cognitive development.

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SMA Nutrition asked me to track a week in Hux’s life to see how we compare.

Our weeks are usually quite frantic between work, nursery, school and pre-school. Hux goes to nursery for three school days a week and then pre-school two mornings a week. Wednesday is a nursery day because they have music classes, and as I mentioned, Hux loves a good tambourine!

Because I work our time together is all the more precious, and on the week I tracked our activities we were slightly hampered by the arrival of chicken pox, but we still managed to have a wonderful time together.

Firstly, we went to the cinema – Mr H’s premier trip to see a film on a big screen. I was worried about his attention span, as like me it is slightly lacking, but he sat quietly through the whole thing like an absolute champ. Score one for Hux! We saw the Peppa Pig movie and all really enjoyed it. Myself included…

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Our next trip out was to a restaurant. I love taking my kids out for dinner and see it as an important way to show them how we should behave in public. We’ve been dining out together since they were newborns and the whole dressing up – ordering – eating politely – having pudding is something we all enjoy; it’s a treat for me and a treat for them. This time we visited Café Rouge and though I couldn’t get him to try the snails he officially fell in love with Garlic Bread.

Next up, a drizzly day and feeling high from our cinema trip I decided to order an iTunes film for home. We’ve never managed to finish a whole movie without one or all of my children being bored so this would be a challenge – we’ve literally seen the first 45 minutes of Frozen about 600 times. But we bought Paddington and got almost to the end of it – amazing! We’ve watched it again since and it really is a lovely film for pre-school and school-aged children.

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You know that I wasn’t going to reach the end of ‘Hux’s week of fun’ without cooking him up something special. This week we tried two new dishes, ham and eggs with avocado and tomato and chicken noodles with green beans. Hux chomped through both of them like an absolute champion.

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Another drizzly day, another indoors activity: finger painting! I’m probably being miserable saying this but, good grief, why is it that the messiest activities for kids are also the most fun? Hux (and Elfie) had a ball creating their masterpieces. I had palpitations ;)

Our week came to a swift close thanks to the torture that is Chicken Pox. I spent a long time grumbling about it but hey, we needed to get it out of the way at some point and now was as good a time as any. Poor Hux really suffered with his itching but it meant we could enjoy lots of quiet time together – we discovered Fireman Sam (a new favourite), read books, made cakes and had cuddles. I secretly very much enjoyed those extra cuddles, thanks pox!

What are your favourite activities to do with your toddlers?

To celebrate our toddlers SMA® Nutrition have given me a wonderful prize to pass on to one lucky MTT reader – a family pass to Legoland Windsor! For a chance to win, all you have to do is comment on this post telling me your favourite activity to do with your family and fill out the rafflecopter widget below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Terms and Conditions: Competition closes at 12.00am (midnight) GMT on Tuesday 18th August. Entries received after this time and date will not count. UK residents only. Entrants must be 18 +. Winner will be selected at random after the closing date and will be notified within 3 days of competition end. Only entrants received via the Rafflecopter widget will be considered valid. SMA/Red are responsible for delivery of the prize, which is two adult and two child tickets to LEGOLAND Windsor.

Thank you to SMA for supporting MTT!

 

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65 Comments

  1. helen carew wrote:

    just mucking about! not structured activity. just romping around the house

    Posted 8.11.15 Reply
  2. esther wrote:

    Play doh! I secretly love playing with it too and get to be super mum when I can make all the requested animals for them. The oldest enjoys playing with the tools (rollers and cutters etc) and the littlest loves feeling the textures and mixing the colours up. Its a “messy” play that’s not too messy (we have lino floors and the door to the living room with the sofas stay shut) a win for everyone! x

    Posted 8.11.15 Reply
  3. Jules wrote:

    We enjoy taking L on a walk then having lunch somewhere be it a picnic or a meal out. L loves her food!

    Posted 8.11.15 Reply
  4. Sophie Ward wrote:

    days I have at home with my 3 year old and 10 month old our favourite thing to do is always build a fort. Get all the sheets and move the sofa closer to the dining table and get all the cushions and we sit in there eating and reading. Eleanor will usually take a nap in there too! This summer we have been making them outside with the garden furniture and having picnics in the shade. It’s been a good summer :)

    Posted 8.11.15 Reply
  5. Kelly glen wrote:

    Baking is always a fun thing to do.

    Posted 8.12.15 Reply
  6. Sharon Hopkinson wrote:

    We love going for a walk in the deep, dark woods, looking for gruffalos.

    Posted 8.12.15 Reply
  7. Veepee wrote:

    Deffo woodland walking, fresh air and nature is underrated!

    Posted 8.12.15 Reply
  8. Jo m welsh wrote:

    I love going on family days out to the seaside and spending time together

    Posted 8.12.15 Reply
  9. Helena Curran wrote:

    We love a trip to the zoo! And having cuddles on the sofa, watching Octonauts….

    Posted 8.12.15 Reply
  10. Naomi wrote:

    We love craft in this house. There is something really cathartic about colouring together. Glitter usually follows. I don’t think I have yet managed to go to work without scraping glitter off my face, arms or legs -even when we’ve not used it. My daughter breathes glitter!

    Posted 8.12.15 Reply
  11. Laura Harris wrote:

    Days out and picnics. We get to spend time together, catch up on news and lark about.

    Posted 8.12.15 Reply
  12. Gemma wrote:

    Ooo what a lovely post!
    We love a good movie snuggle session or rooting about for treasure in the garden, much to my dear husband’s chargrin!

    Posted 8.12.15 Reply
  13. Allan wrote:

    Going to the beach or nice long walks in the country.

    Posted 8.12.15 Reply
  14. tracyannnewton@yahoo.co.uk wrote:

    We love going to the beach. My little one will play in the sand for hours at a time. He even asks to go for a paddle in winter. I pop his wellies on so that he can enjoy himself

    Posted 8.12.15 Reply
  15. sumaiya wrote:

    We love anything which involves outdoor fun from making sandcastles at our local park, feeding ducks or to go on a bug hunt in the country. Its a great way to spend time together, be active and learn about the world they live in too. Everyone’s happy!

    Posted 8.12.15 Reply
  16. israr baig wrote:

    Play catch outside

    Posted 8.12.15 Reply
  17. Brad Start wrote:

    Playing in the pool

    Posted 8.12.15 Reply
  18. Fromfuntomum wrote:

    Travelling. We all love it, including Baby Roo who has flown 8 times already and who is not even 8 months old! Xx

    Posted 8.12.15 Reply
  19. Debbie Grinstead wrote:

    My granddaughter loves painting and drawing

    Posted 8.13.15 Reply
  20. Elizabeth Briggs wrote:

    I love crafting and scrapbooking with my children and also making mini treasure hunts using cut out pictures for them to find items x

    Posted 8.13.15 Reply
  21. Lucy robinson wrote:

    I love taking the kiddies to the library then coming home and snuggling on the sofa looking at them.

    Posted 8.13.15 Reply
  22. Sarah Robinson wrote:

    We love arts and crafts, junk modelling, drawing and at the moment we have been decorating stones and shells.

    Posted 8.13.15 Reply
  23. M Dean wrote:

    Going to Windsor

    Posted 8.13.15 Reply
  24. To the beach or park/playground x

    Posted 8.13.15 Reply
  25. Jen Craig wrote:

    We love going to the kids pool at the gym and playing in the garden with our chickens.

    Posted 8.13.15 Reply
  26. Jolene yule wrote:

    We have to do geocaching all together. My youngest like the treasure hunting and for my eldest it’s a competition to decode the riddles and clues to locate them and teaches both him and I how to read coordinates on a compass

    Posted 8.14.15 Reply
  27. Lorraine Bird wrote:

    I love taking them swimming at the local pool.

    Posted 8.14.15 Reply
  28. Sarah S wrote:

    BBQs & games in the garden!

    Posted 8.14.15 Reply
  29. Leanne moore wrote:

    We enjoy swimming as a family

    Posted 8.14.15 Reply
  30. Kim neville wrote:

    We love visiting different parks, farms and theme parks. My son misses Big Thunder Mountain roller coaster ever since we went to Disneyland Paris and keeps asking to go :-)

    Posted 8.15.15 Reply
  31. Tori wrote:

    We love chilling out in the garden, playing on the slide and swing :)

    Posted 8.15.15 Reply
  32. wendy reynolds wrote:

    Definitely the seaside. Whatever the season, you can always skim a stone, dig a hole and play chicken with the waves. There’s also neatly always an opportunity for a treat nearby!

    Posted 8.15.15 Reply
  33. Helen E wrote:

    Definitely a beach day…picnic, kite flying, sandcastle making. Topped off with an ice cream!

    Posted 8.15.15 Reply
  34. Digging for treasure in the garden with chocolate coins and tea stained map!

    Posted 8.16.15 Reply
  35. Liz wrote:

    Both my boys absolutely love music so we sing lots of songs with actions, stick the music on and dance like crazy for a front room family disco or get out the guitar, drums, bells and recorder and make up our own music. It’s always so much fun & has them giggling away.

    Posted 8.16.15 Reply
  36. Lana Race wrote:

    We love baking as a family at the weekend, creating yummy and healthy snack as well as treats !!

    Posted 8.16.15 Reply
  37. Lynne O'Connor wrote:

    Crab hunting in rockpools

    Posted 8.16.15 Reply
  38. Kate wrote:

    We love a trip to the seaside. Somehow the weather is always that bit nicer there and a day in the fresh sea air is a recipe for a great nights sleep, everyone’s a winner!

    Posted 8.16.15 Reply
  39. Alison lucas wrote:

    Cooking

    Posted 8.16.15 Reply
  40. Patricia Fraser wrote:

    A lovely family day out at the beach, building sandcastles, playing games, in & out of the water & of course a picnic x

    Posted 8.16.15 Reply
  41. Gemma m williams wrote:

    We love going on made up treasure hunt to the beach or local parks so lucky to live with so many beautiful places near us

    Posted 8.16.15 Reply
  42. Kimberley Howes wrote:

    Bike rides

    Posted 8.16.15 Reply
  43. Caroline Doyle wrote:

    I love to paint and draw and bake with my Granddaughter. x

    Posted 8.16.15 Reply
  44. Petra wrote:

    Going out saw are both outdoor people.

    Posted 8.17.15 Reply
    • Petra wrote:

      Going out as we are both outdoor people.

      Posted 8.17.15 Reply
  45. Michaela B wrote:

    We love going to the country park, doing crafts or just simply cuddling up and watching Disney films :)

    Posted 8.17.15 Reply
  46. Richard Green wrote:

    We love going for a bike ride

    Posted 8.17.15 Reply
  47. Rachel King wrote:

    We love family walks in the countryside and picnics!

    Posted 8.17.15 Reply
  48. Kate Leather wrote:

    We love going to the zoo, but any quality time doing anything as long as I’m with my family.

    Posted 8.17.15 Reply
  49. Vickie Jackson wrote:

    There are so many things we love doing…
    Going on nature walks, playing hockey outside, sticking/glueing and crafting, general messing about…

    I love everything where I get to spend time with my children and help their curiosity grow :D

    Posted 8.17.15 Reply
  50. joannerko@live.co.uk wrote:

    Just hanging out and being with them when I’m not working
    Cooking,walks,park,DVD
    List is endless

    Posted 8.17.15 Reply
  51. Laura Pritchard wrote:

    We love going geocaching as a family, great fun, an adventure & plenty of fresh air!

    Posted 8.17.15 Reply
  52. Natalie Gaff wrote:

    Spending time with them

    Posted 8.17.15 Reply
  53. Alison Clark wrote:

    When im not working I love having my niece over and we try and have a crafty time and depending on the weather some park time – im taking her to see the Lion king in a couple of weeks and although it won’t be something we can do on a weekly basis im hoping shes going to love it.

    Posted 8.17.15 Reply
  54. Tania Atfield wrote:

    Trips to the seaside for swims and picnics

    Posted 8.17.15 Reply
  55. Sandra Bald wrote:

    We really enjoy swimming as a family

    Posted 8.17.15 Reply
  56. kelly Newlands wrote:

    We both work full time so weekends are sacred to us, we try to do as much as we can with the children, it mainly consists of the park though as they just have so much fun there, it’s free and it’s enjoyable for everyone (I have an 11 year old and a 2 year old!)

    Posted 8.17.15 Reply
  57. jess_hutton@aol.co.uk wrote:

    Go for walks with the dogs, watch them swim and play then have a picnic xx

    Posted 8.17.15 Reply
  58. Jocelynne Harrison wrote:

    Simple things as long as we are together. We go to the beach all year round and always get an ice cream, even in the winter

    Posted 8.17.15 Reply
  59. Laura winkless wrote:

    Our absolute fave is a long autumnal walk in the woods wearing our wellies so we can squelch in marvellous mud and splash in puddles, then home for hot chocolate and cream in front of a Disney movie :)

    Posted 8.17.15 Reply
  60. Kelly Ellen Hirst wrote:

    I love picnics with all the family

    Posted 8.17.15 Reply
  61. Holli G wrote:

    My daughter loves the outdoors, she loves being able to get out into the garden and play on her slide and in her little car. There is a woods near us that has Peter Rabbit’s house and other characters homes and we love going there for the extra freedom to run and explore!

    Posted 8.17.15 Reply
  62. natalie crossan wrote:

    We love baking cakes and making pancakes together :)

    Posted 8.17.15 Reply
  63. Leanne Bell wrote:

    I love to hit the beach with my family. We’ve just got home from a lovely stay in Devon and we couldn’t get my eldest Daughter out of the sea :-) x

    Posted 8.17.15 Reply
  64. Wes McIntosh wrote:

    Visits to Great Yarmouth as there’s plenty to do and close by too

    Posted 8.17.15 Reply