Family Life

All families differ. Some are small, some extended, some blended.

For young children it can be very difficult to conceptualise where they fit in and how we are all connected. And as an adult, it's probably not that often that you think about your family history anyway, let alone chat to your children about it.

You might be lucky enough to have had a keen amateur genealogist somewhere in the family who lovingly compiled a family history and had it published into a book. Although I’d wager it spends most of its time sitting in the bookshelf gathering dust.

I wrote about an activity that is great fun to do and at the same time, helps young children understand who and what constitutes their family. Take a look here.

At Caro & Co we celebrate family in whatever form it might take.

Tick, tock goes the clock.  Children and time....

Tick, tock goes the clock. Children and time….

“The only reason for time is so that everything doesn’t happen at once.” ~Albert Einstein My daughter has become quite the clock-watcher of late as she has been learning about “time” at school.  She is particularly fascinated by clocks with roman numerals and was spellbound when I managed to produce an old Mickey Mouse alarm...
Simple pleasures...

Simple pleasures…

“Life can be rich without riches.  And it can be full without a cupboard overflowing with toys or a drawer stuffed with computer games.” Next week marks 10 years since I became a mother.  Whilst I was overjoyed at having a healthy baby boy, (followed closely by a beautiful little girl just 16 months later),...
Gardening and plants ... through a child's eyes

Gardening and plants … through a child’s eyes

Gardening and plants have long been a passion of mine.  I’ve spoken before about how my obsession began and my desire to instill a love of the natural world in my children.  I spend much time explaining to them that plants are integral to our emotional, spiritual and physical health. And whilst I’m not a...
1000 things to do with green tomatoes before you die...

1000 things to do with green tomatoes before you die…

GREEN TOMATO RELISH FOR DUMMIES With a glut of green tomatoes at our farm and the first frost threatening to turn them all to slush, we recently harvested the last of our heirloom tomatoes.  As is the way when you have a productive veggie patch and no real skill on managing your harvests, we got...
Mother's Day. 10 gifts isn't too much to ask for is it?

Mother’s Day. 10 gifts isn’t too much to ask for is it?

“ Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart walk around outside of your body.” ~Elizabeth Stone~ ” I became a mother almost 10 ago. I could talk a lot here about how fundamentally life-changing that moment was or how much I have enjoyed the...
Plants you can play with #4 - the magic of grasses

Plants you can play with #4 – the magic of grasses

I love grasses.  There are over 600 genera and some 10,000 species of grass around the world.  It’s my view that they are amongst the most important family of plants on the planet.  They have a multitude of uses and functions ranging from purely ornamental to agricultural. They form our staple food grains and cereal...
Sowing the seeds of future passions...

Sowing the seeds of future passions…

“The love of gardening is a seed that once sown never dies.” - Gertrude Jekyll When I was growing up, I spent a lot of time with my Grandfather.  He was a professional gardener and would quite often take me to his place of work, which I adored. I would help him pull out weeds and...
Nature as Teacher - building resilience and memories

Nature as Teacher – building resilience and memories

During the summer holidays my son (9) spent a week with his Grandmama at a Victorian beach where I spent much of my childhood. He had, in his words, “the most sick and excellent time.” He had Grandma pretty much to himself which meant he could eat whatever he wanted, go to bed late and...