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Cakelicious
by smileybella (Family Matters) They only end up eating the icing anyway… My daughter Ella is turning eight tomorrow and she wants a birthday cake with bunnies on. This has sent me into a little bit of a cake quandary. Rabbits? I mean – how? Especially in Beijing when the selection of birthday cake paraphernalia ... Read more » |
We’re All Going on a Summer Holiday: Day Twenty-Seven
by smileybella (Family Matters) McDonalds fries taste the same – everywhere Ah, McDonalds. Great when you’re in a pinch and need to sate the enormous appetite kids have for school-holiday fun. And McDonalds is SO fun – especially the queues. Boy oh boy, do the Chinese love cheeseburgers. This franchise is making a whopping great ... Read more » |
Chinese Street Gyms
by smileybella (Family Matters) This ain’t no Ozone Fitness club Do you know the Chinese gym equipment dotted in pockets along the streets, all over Beijing? My kids love these things. Elliptical trainers, stationery bikes, stair-masters, lat-pulls, they’re all there. It’s just that they’re made for grannies and everyday ren ... Read more » |
Disney Lives!
by smileybella (Family Matters) Princess power proves popular in Peking On Sunday, we went to see Disney Live! – three princess fairytales including Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella and Snow White (personal favourite). I mean, come on. How could we resist? I was probably the person in our group who was the most-enchanted during this ... Read more » |
This Blasted Beijing Heat
by smileybella (Family Matters) Cat in the Hat - what can we do? Stuck inside while the sky is blue. I love Beijing in autumn and winter. They are my favourite times of year. In autumn, there is a thick, palpable change in the thinning air. The leaves are turning and tumbling to the ground ... Read more » |
Exploring Beijing’s Ancient Sites
by smileybella (Family Matters) Revisiting the past, kiddie-style There’s a place in Beijing called The Forbidden City. It’s a big, flat, gray succession of red-roofed halls stuffed with dusty chairs, dull stone turtles, imposing red doors and the odd big copper pot. Ho hum. There’s also a place in Beijing called ... Read more » |
The Bicycle Queen
by smileybella (Family Matters) Another milestone conquered in a young girl’s life. It’s not your imagination that has the power to limit you. It’s your self-belief. Tania McCartney Read more »
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We’re All Going on a Summer Holiday: Day Twenty
by smileybella (Family Matters) I’m cracking up. Physically. Last week was smooooth. This week, so far, not so. I mean, it’s not terrible but it also ‘aint easy. And, awful to say but it’s true – it’s my son Riley’s fault. Why do boys have to need the outdoors and ... Read more » |
On yer bike!
by smileybella (Family Matters) A long overdue seven-year-old ditches the training wheels It’s seems hard to believe that my seven-year-old daughter can’t ride a bicycle without training wheels. When I was seven, I was racing my bike down the Big Hill near our house and jumping over ramps with eleven-year-old boys. And ... Read more »
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The Harried BJ Housewife
by smileybella (Family Matters) Even with an ayi, the housework in my house is never-ending Okay, this is going to sound like a ranting whinge. And I suppose it is. Maybe you can relate to it, maybe you can’t. We shall see. Everyone, whether they are a full-time-housewife, stay-at-home-mum, self-employed-dream-job-slave, part-time-worker, full-time-worker, full-time-shopper ... Read more »
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The Chef Triumphant
by smileybella (Family Matters) How a small kid trounced the kitchen in a fine culinary debut Hallelujah! By Jove, she did it. My seven-year-old daughter can cook. (Someone is looking after me up there; I’m one happy Chez Ella patron!) Before I tell you how scrumptious our meal was last night, I have ... Read more »
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The Reluctant Chef
by smileybella (Family Matters) Teaching kids how to cook I like to cook. Very much. But not every night. And I’m really more of a baker, in truth (I lurve to bake). While I do like to cook, nightly dinners kind of undo me after about… a week. Inconvenient considering I have around ... Read more »
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Hurry up and grow up!
by smileybella (Family Matters) Kids seem to be little for soooo long… My son Riley is five and a half years old but he still wakes before 6am. I can hear the groans of empathy through the internet airwaves, thank you, moms. Sometimes, just sometimes, he makes it to 7am and I think maybe ... Read more »
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It's Showtime
by pjsheeps (Family Matters) Entertainment hotspots for kids in Beijing The Olympic Games are nigh and Beijing will be imminently flocked with tourists keen for the spectacle of world-class sport. Fortunately, when it comes to entertainment for tourist-y rugrats, Beijing is certainly able to deliver. If you are visiting Beijing, have visitors in town, or are just stuck here for ... Read more » |
Raising Vegetarian Kids
by smileybella (Family Matters) But Mom – I don’t like eating animals… What would you do if a seven-year-old announced they didn’t want to eat animals any more? Let me set the scene. I don’t eat red meat. I haven’t for over twenty years. It’s not an ethical thing (though ... Read more »
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We’re All Going on a Summer Holiday: Day Ten
by smileybella (Family Matters) So far, so good… We’ve come to a standstill this morning. The house is quiet after a whirlwind first 9 days of the Summer Holiday 9-Week Debacle. All I can say is, I have a new found respect for Americans. Rumour has it their kids have 12 weeks off ... Read more » |
Acts of Kindness
by smileybella (Family Matters) How three toy-laden shoppers were rescued on the second ring road Hindsight is a wonderful thing. Looking back at our rescue, it was all so easy and so stress-free, but of course, it wasn’t at the time. Picture this. You have just spent a few thousand kuai at Hongqiao ... Read more » |
The Kids Fashion Snob
by smileybella (Family Matters) What is it with Beijing’s fashion choices for kids? Oh, the bedazzlement. How overcome I was when I first saw the kids clothing available in China. The sequins, the lace, the ruffles and frills. The neon, the mesh, the English language slogans in chronic need of a sober proofreader ... Read more » |
Beijing Planetarium Super Rides
by smileybella (Family Matters) Day Three of Summer Holidays takes us into outer space… There must be something about the number eight. We three mums piled eight kids into a bus to visit Beijing Planetarium today (10RMB entry) – on a mission to outer space. It’s one of those places I’ve always wanted ... Read more » |
Kung Fu Panda Kicks Asps
by smileybella (Family Matters) And monkeys, tigers, cranes and praying mantisesesses… Today I took eight children to see Kung Fu Panda. I figure eight is a lucky number. Actually, they were stunningly well-behaved kids, aged between 5 and can’t-tell-their-age-because-they-are-teens-going-on-22 (the sophistication is scary!). But despite my well-behaved posse, the experience was nonetheless surreal ... Read more »
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We’re All Going on a Summer Holiday: Day One
by smileybella (Family Matters) The Dreaded School-less Olympic Period Commences I’ve just made home-made playdough. Blue, pink and green. I know, I know. Desperation levels already. And it’s only Day One of nine very loooong weeks of summer holidays. We were going to check out the water scene at one of Beijing ... Read more »
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Yabber Yabber Yabber
by smileybella (Family Matters) How a young boy began to speak When we first came to Beijing, our two-year-old son Riley didn’t talk much. His comprehension also seemed shady, so we hired a wonderful Western speech therapist, who gave us a full assessment on his capabilities. Via this assessment, she told us that ... Read more » |
A Toddler’s Survival Guide to Beijing
by smileybella (Family Matters) Tips for the newly arrived under-twos It’s moving day and your family must leave for China by 10am. Sleep in for the first time in your life. Be grumpy and incoherent to any request or instruction. Be completely noncompliant during passport photo examination at customs, then charm the pants ... Read more »
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Water water everywhere…?
by smileybella (Family Matters) Learning to value every precious drop The gasping summer heat has got me thinking about irrigation. My home country, Australia, is thirsty. Its edges are crusting up and curling. People are shuffling from the crackling dry Outback to the marginally wetter shorelines, gasping for H20. Residents have to report water ... Read more »
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White Shoes
by smileybella (Family Matters) The un-ending, mind-bending battle with BJ’s dirt My five-year-old son has a white shoe obsession. Nike, Adidas, Puma, Lacoste, Converse. All good, so long as they’re white. Blue will not do. Nor will grey. Brown? Forget it. And red? Ha ha hee hee ha ha ho! Now, normally ... Read more »
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