sunburn on the neck

As parents, we all know that you should protect yourself and your children from sunburn using a recommended SPF30+ sunburn cream.  You should also cover up whilst in the sun, and stay out of the sun during the middle or hottest part of the day.  For most of us (particularly in Australia), we know how damaging the sun is, and know to slip, slop, slap.  Slip on a shirt, Slop on the suncream, Slap on a hat.  With all this prevention and care, sometimes little bits of sun get through all your protection and – ouch!  You have a sore little body to deal with!

If you or your children have been accidentally sunburned, then this is the best remedy there is!  Use brewed tea, maybe still in the pot from left over from a recent cup of tea, and it best if it has been sitting in the pot for a couple of hours.  You can use it at room temperature or put it in the fridge, but it needs to be COLD, not hot!  (Don’t put hot tea on your child, or any sunburn as you will do more damage).

Tea!

Pour a little bit of the cool tea into a bowl and use a cotton ball to gently wipe or dab it onto the effected area.  The wonderful coolness relieves the burning skin immediately and something about the tannin in the tea helps to relieve the pain of the burn.

T-bags are great for this because you don’t need to use a cotton bud, but you will need a cup of tea so that you have enough liquid to wipe on.  You can put the tea on as many times a day as you need, but you will find that you only need to do it 3 times a day until the sunburn has faded.  (Cold T-bags put in the fridge are also great for tired eyes!  Just put them over your eyes when you take them out of the fridge, lay down and relax!  Fantastic!)

Be aware that because the tea is brown coloured, it may stain your child’s clothes so keep this in mind when using this remedy. You will find that the tea will dry on the skin and is quite comfortable so you should not have too much trouble putting it on your child.  This is a great remedy for children as it relieves the nasty burning feeling and helps them to feel more comfortable straight away.

The water content helps to hydrate the skin so you won’t need to put creams and lotions on either.  Not a good thing to do whilst the skin is still hot from the burning sunburn.  Don’t use any creams with an oil content on sunburned skin because it acts like oil in a hot fry pan and prolongs the burning.

slip slop slap

PLEASE NOTE:  This method is NOT recommended for burns or serious sunburn, these should be treated by a Doctor as soon as possible.

RESOURCES

http://raisingchildren.net.au/articles/sunburn.html

In The Bush At The Beach

See the In the Bush at the Beach Lifestyle Newsletter for October 2011 here!

Child Raising Tips is one of the blog sites and online stores of

In the Bush at the Beach Lifestyle portal.

Check out the gorgeous zippered silk clutches, just perfect to carry a couple of disposal nappies in style!

We tried every treatment on the market!  Every time my daughter would come home from school, we went through the same process;

1. Wash all the clothes she was wearing;
2. Strip ALL the beds in the house and wash all the sheets;
3. Everyone’s pyjama’s had to be washed and everything vacuumed;
4. Then the applying the hair treatment to everyone in the family – errrr!

Many of the pharmacy products were highly chemical based and after constant use, became ineffective.  Worse than that, many of the products would sting delicate young heads already sore and bleeding from weeks of scratching.  Meaning lots of crying during the process.

Meanwhile, my eldest daughter, Alli who was studying Beauty Therapy in Queensland and became fed up with the same problem, with her own daughter constantly getting nits at school.  Everytime we would go from one state to the other to visit each other, one child would end up giving nits to the other and the process would start again.  We were so good at the nit action that we all worked together washing and vacuuming without even organising each other.

Alli's Nit Stuff

So after trying every treatment we could find and being at the end of the road, Alli decided that a whole new approach was needed and mixed up a blend of essential oils for us to try.  Well, first time we used this mixture it worked!  The nits were gone!  Of course over  a period with children at school they come back again, and again we would mix up the stuff according to Alli’s formula and each time it would work.

Many of Alli’s friends also asked her to mix up some “Nit Stuff” and it always worked.  So early in 2010, Alli decided to make her nit stuff into a product and now we sell “Alli’s Nit Stuff” and Alli’s Nit Shampoo’s and Conditioners online at our In the Bush at the Beach online store.  The Nit Stuff is an initial Super Treatment made from a unique combination of natural ingredients, including 100% pure essential oils.  Alli has specifically blended and perfected the formula over the years to make sure it is a workable yet gentle solution to long-term nit problems.

So this is what worked for us to get rid of them;

CLEAN EVERYTHING

1. Clean and wash everything from pyjama’s to all sheets;
2. Vacuüm everything including the bed mattresses – on all beds for all the family;
3. Make sure you clean children’s school hats as this is a great breeding ground for nits;
4. Wash all towels and once you have used a towel for the treatment and shampoo, put it straight into the washing machine;
5. Use a small amount (maybe half to one capful) of Eucalyptus Oil in your washing machine with the linen and clothes;
6. Throughly wash out the bath if you have treated children in there and remember that nits can crawl and can survive the water so there may be live ones about in the bathroom you need to deal with;
7. Check with a natrapath or doctor to see if your child needs added vitamins during this process – long-term nit infestations can make children feel sick and lethargic so they might need a boost for best results;

TREATING AND WASHING THE HAIR

1. You will need to do everyone’s hair – one after another so make sure you have enough treatment to go around;
2. If you are using a natural product like Alli’s Nit Stuff, then put the treatment straight onto dry hair, no need to wash it first;
3. When you have throughly covered the hair, comb through with a nit comb;
4. Wrap the hair in plastic film tightly and leave on for as long as you can – I found for bad infestations to leave it on for about 4 hours, but 30 minutes ifs fine.  I would wrap another small towel or warm hat on the child if it was a cold day so that they didn’t feel too cold while they were waiting;
5. Before you wash it out – comb again using the nit comb;
6. Wash out the treatment with a Nit Shampoo and Condition
7. Nit comb again to be sure
8. Dry the hair

You will still need to use the nit comb every morning for up to 2 weeks to get rid of any dead nits but you will find that this process works well and has the benefit of being gentle on your child’s hair leaving it really smooth and silky so that it is easier to comb through.  Nothing worse than knots!!

OTHER THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT NITS AND LICE

Head Lice will crawl

Nits are the eggs of head lice and when they hatch they turn into lice that crawl around and make you scratch your head.  You should try to get all the live lice out of the hair and as many of the nit eggs as possible as it is the little brown to white nit eggs that can hatch even after you have treated the hair!

Anyone can get lice and it they tend to like blonde/brown clean hair so it is just a fallacy to think that only dirty children get lice – everyone can get them.

They can crawl so don’t just think that they can be passed from two heads touching – oh no!  They can crawl from your shirt collar all the way down your arm and then onto someone else’s clothing so you need to act fast to get rid of them.

Alli's Nit Shampoo & Conditioner

We used a follow-up Nit Shampoo and Conditioner, like Alli’s Stuff and my grand-daughter has managed to stay nit free surrounded by nit effected children at her school by replacing a daily shampoo with Alli’s Nit Shampoo and Conditioner.  This has the same nit formula except in a SLS and Paraben free shampoo base and is safe enough to use everyday.

Buy Alli’s Stuff Nit Super Treatment and Shampoo’s online

MORE REFERENCES

Head Lice Facts

Better Health Channel – Head Lice Treatment

Flying with babies

I travel a lot and so fly often, and notice how many babies still cry when the plane is on the descent to land, most likely due to the pressure building up in their little ears.  I have travelled with all my children right from when they were tiny babies, my youngest daughter flew with us from Sydney to New Zealand when she was only 3 weeks old and we were fortunate to have a bulkhead seat with a cot.  Travelling on flights with children can be difficult and stressful, but from my experience you can make it a little easier. So here are my tips;

WHEN YOU BOOK YOUR FLIGHT

Try to get a bulkhead seat as these have the most floor space in front of you.  Choose a seat as close the centre of the plane as you can as this is the softest ride and if you can be near to the toilets.  The area around the toilets at the front, back and middle of the usually has more space and can be a good place for you to stand when you are settling your baby.  It is also where you will find flight staff to help you if you need it or just to be able to talk to other passengers to help you relax.

BEFORE YOU LEAVE HOME – Packing the onboard bag;

• Make sure you have everything that you need for the flight packed in a bag that you can easily carry whilst holding the baby.  If there are two of you this is easier, but pretend that it is just you and pack as if it is just one of you in case you get separated into different seats or you need to move quickly;
• I always packed a couple of nappies (they should have these on the flight but don’t presume), put in a spare spit up rag or cloth nappy as well as bibs.  We have had to deal with a major pooh session one time while the plane was coming into land and we couldn’t get up! errr, so a plastic bag is also useful;
• Always carry some water – if security is still a problem and you can’t take a bottle on, then carry something that you can put water into when you get onboard;
• If your child is under two, take a bottle with some water or juice, even if you are breastfeeding.  On long flights if you get sick or lose your milk someone else might need to feed your baby and this will help reduce your stress;
• Pack spare clothes for the baby and a spare blouse or T Shirt for yourself (just in case!);
• Put in some lollies, fruit or food for yourself and your child.  I have been on a number of flights where the inflight meals were not delievered due to bad weather and the last thing you want is a hungrey child when the seat belt sign won’t go off;
• Add something that will help you to relax, like a small comfortable pillow and baby rug.  I had a great shawl which is just a long rectangle but it is wide and I can use it to wrap around me if could or put it over me as a blanket in the plane.

AT THE AIRPORT

airport checkin queue

We always took our own stroller and quite often we would also take the baby car seat if we were driving a car at the other end.  I made a sturdy canvas bag for the car seat with a draw string top and a shoulder strap and handle – it just goes in the luggage and the straps make it easy to grab it off the luggage roundabout with only one hand when you get to the other end.  You can use this for any thing that you want to take – porta cot, childs bicycle or anything that won’t fit in a normal bag.

My husband would wear a Kapoochi (baby sling) which was sturdy and light but left his arms free to do other things.  He would wear this so that our daughter was on the front, facing outwards when she got a little bigger and snuggled inward when a baby.  He would have it on ready before we got out of the cab at the airport.  We could then put the baby straight into the sling or straight into the stroller right from the cab ready to go an checkin.  In those days, you needed to go to the counter unlike now where you can checkin online and drop your bags.

Be safe rather than sorry

When the children got bigger and especially if I was travelling alone, I would tie them to me so that I could have my hands free when I needed.  I used to get some pretty terrible looks from people sometimes but it was better than losing my child in a crowded airport when my hands are full of luggage and I needed to concerntrate.  This is a great method if you have another small child as it is otherwise very difficult and you need to do what works for you.  I didn’t use the harness at other times, but it was great for this purpose and would fold up easily in my bag when I wasn’t using it.

Go to the Check in and put as much through the luggage as possible.  Sometimes you can get a stroller from there that you can use right up until you get to your gate.  This is a great help as it means you can put yours through the luggage and it is one less thing to worry about.  Put your child straight into the stroller provided by the airline while you are at the Check in area and this will make it easier to concentrate.   We used an umbrella style stroller for trips as you can pick it up with one hand and it is a snap to fold up quickly.

When travelling together getting through security with a child isn’t too hard, but when you are alone it can be very stressful.  When I was alone, I would put all my bits (including laptop) into one of those plastic containers, then at the last-minute stick it on the conveyor belt to go through the scanner.  When I thought it was going through OK, I would then push my child through the security gate ahead of me – then I would follow.  This way you can quickly walk straight through and get your child’s hand on the way before dealing with your belongings.  I have seen many a parent go through first only to then be delayed by a security person whilst trying to get back through the scanner to collect their child!  Too stressful!

Don't let them get lost in this!

Don’t ever leave your child standing anywhere in an airport by themselves.  When you go to the toilet take your small child (even as old as 10 I would suggest) into the cubicle with you.  If you are a female travelling alone with a male child, take them in if there is no parent toilet – don’t worry about what people think of you.  You might think that the domestic airport in your city will be OK – but don’t make this a habit for international airports.  I have seen 4 year olds waiting outside mum’s cubicle, getting sick of it and following someone outside while their mum is still locked in doing their business!  Also stressful.  If you are by yourself and you have a stroller and bags and maybe another child with you, go to the Parents Room.  If there is no Parents Room, take the stroller in with you and jam it in the door of your cubicle with the baby still in it.  Have your other child and yourself in the cubicle.  Sounds like a lack of privacy, but really it works and at least you know where everyone is.  I used to hang a bag or coat over the door and it works fine.  There were very few parents room’s in airports even fifteen years ago, and thirty years ago it just wasn’t heard of.

Ask someone to help you.  If you just can’t cope with all the bags and kids, then ask someone to help you to open a door or carry your lunch to your table from the counter. You don’t have to do everything yourself, most people are more than happy to help.  I would not advise you to let someone else hold your child or any of your bags or belongings.

AT THE GATE

Get ready to get on early.  Get your baby out of the stroller as you will need to leave it at the gate, put your baby into your sling, or make sure your little one attaced to you with the harness again.  There are lots of great connecting methods now – we used to have stretchy coil cords that had a velcro band for the parents wrist and the same type of band for the childs wrist.

Wait at the front of the line and when they call the early boarding for parents with children – get on!  You will need that extra time and space before the other passenger get on to get yourself organised.

ON BOARD

all cosy in the cot

Get everything that you might need while the plane is taking off out of your bag now.  Bottle, spit rag, pillow or toy – but get it out before you take off in case the Captain delays’ the “seatbelt off sign” for some reason.  Being a parent you will probably already have little snacks ready.

If you need to go to the toilet on a long flight and you are travelling with a small baby by yourself, you will be able to take them with you even if that means balancing them on the change table with one hand whilst you go to the toilet.  Once I was on a long flight without any children and I held a little baby for a mother travelling alone just so she could have a rest and go to the tiolet.  You will be able to tell if you can trust someone enough to hold your baby.  This method is particularly useful if your baby is upset and you are tired.  It will give you a little time to yourself and the baby will most likely settle for someone who is not as connected to them as you are.

ON THE DESCENT

A good child sling will help

This is the most important part.  If you are breastfeeding put the baby on the breast as soon as you feel the plane descending.  This will most likely be a while before the Captain announces that you are coming in to land but you will know when it starts.  For long descents, like landing into major cities just stagger the feed so that your baby is still feeding as the plane touches down.  The drinking action will stop them from having that terrible ear pressure pain.  If you are bottle feeding, do the same thing.  If you have small children, give them a sandwich or something that they need to chew and swallow.  It is the swallowing action that stops the pressure, not the chewing.

When you get on the ground, get ready to get off.  Be prepared so that you can get out ahead of the crowd as much as possible.  The other alternative is to wait until most people have already departed, it is up to you which method you use.  We were so organised that we would usually manage to get off with the first few.  Get the sling on and ready to put your baby into.  If you have a small child, get them ready to get off.  I think it is a good idea to do this in a practical way and do it the same each time you travel so that they get the message just by your actions that you are getting ready to get off and this means that they need to be prepared to move when you do.  This saves you time.  For me, the routine was to pack everything away, toys included, brush their hair, straighten their clothes or take off soiled (bibs) clothes and put on new ones.  Sometimes you can do other things to prepare before the “seat belt sign” comes on again and you can still move around the cabin.  Maybe you could have changed their nappy or taken them to the toilet.  Give them a drink and then settle them for disembarkation.

As soon as the seat belt sign is off, strap baby into the sling, prepare your toddler, stand up and get anything out of the overhead lockers, pile everything over your shoulders and hands and be ready standing in the aisle to get off the plane.  I always put toddlers in front of me not behind me when walking down the aisle out of the plane to the doors.  It might be slower, but reduces the likelihood of your child being trodden on, or worse stuck behind someone who hasn’t seen them and stands up to get their baggage out, leaving you on one side and your child on the other!  I have seen this happen as well!

OFF THE PLANE

Congratulations!!!!  Now to just get your luggage and you are on your way.  Remember that you are in charge and you have the skills and the know how to deal withI anything.  Just stay calm and don’t worry about what other people think, laugh and enjoy yourself and have a great trip with your children

See the video here:

I find that the use of the word “spoilt” very interesting when combined with the word “child”.  Even worse is the expression “spoilt rotten“.  If we are talking about food that is “spoilt” it generally means that the food is no longer edible or useful.  So why use the same word to describe children? Are these children no longer good?  No longer useful as children, no longer able lovable?  Sometimes you might say it almost in jest, meaning it to be playful and lighthearted – but sometimes the finer points of the meaning are not easily understood by young children.  Here are a couple of dictionary meanings of the word “spoilt”

“spoilt past participle, past tense of spoil (Verb)

When people so often say that a child is spoilt they generally mean that the child has been over indulged, they think that the child may have too many opportunities,or that they may have too many toys or the child just gets too much attention.  Personally, I don’t think that children can ever be “spoilt” by too much love and attention if they have clear boundaries and the love from caring parents.

We often use terms and phrases in our general conversation that have deeper meanings without even thinking about what we are really saying.  I have always loved words and the sound of some words so I have always listened and observed how people speak and use words.  Another saying that I find interesting is when you ask someone (in Australia) how they are and they reply “not too bad”.  Interesting, I usually then reply “then, does that mean that you think that you are bad – but today, you are just not too bad?”.  What they really mean is that they are not feeling the best today, but the use of the word “bad” is one that can seep into your subconscious.

Here is another reference to someone who we think is “spoilt”  with Holly Valance herself is using the “accepted” use of the word “spoilt” to describe herself in her relationship with her boyfriend Nick Candy.

Holly Valance and Nick Candy

Holly Valance ‘spoilt rotten’ by billionaire http://news.ninemsn.com.au/entertainment/7952157/holly-valance-spoilt-rotten-by-billionaire-boyfriend.

I wouldn’t call it spoilt to have a wonderful life with a man who loves her and can provide for her?  Surely this doesn’t mean that she is less than she can be r that she is behaving badly or that she is diminishing the life of others.

So I would ask you to think about the words that you use when talking to your child or when describing your child to other people.  The words that you speak as a parent are powerful when your child hears you say them, so make every one of them count for what you do now may effect them later.

A harmless saying?  I think that words are powerful.  If you tell your child that they are bad then that is most likely what they will think until something changes in their life to change that view of themselves.  Chances are, that they will always remember you saying that they were bad even if they no longer believe it themselves.  We have a lot on our shoulders as parents, I know, but what you say now will affect them later.  Whilst the saying “take a chill pill” is commonly used, if used enough why wouldn’t it give a child the impression that things can be fixed with a pill?  Potentially you can move to a “sleep pill”, or a “happy pill” or a “anti depressive pill” and so on.  I could be accused of being too rigid, and have certainly be told to “chill” myself once or twice in my life - its only a saying after all you might say, but words are powerful.  Think about some of the phrases that someone said to you as a child – did they have an impact on you?  

The real issue for me is not the use of the word “pill” but its connotation and to me it is two-fold. 

1. The potentially damaging connotation that a pill will help you to chill is bad enough as it can set up a dependency on something external to yourself as a quick fix;
2. The connotation that something outside of your child and yourself as a parent is needed to fix the problem, which I think is the most harmful.

For me, this is simple event is an example of when and where personal discipline can be taught to the child – and can be experienced by the parent.  It is an opportunity to instil in them the consequences of those choices and it is an opportunity for the parent to stand firm and follow through.  I know it is not always easy to placate a tired hyped up child, but with some gentle but firm words and actions I believe you can make a better outcome than any threat of a “chill pill” will give you.  A 2-year-old doesn’t know too much of what a pill is likely to do, let alone the reference to a “chill pill” unless some other concrete action is taken prior to the event in order to embed the required learning.  What I mean is; what happens when the parent says “we need to take a Chill Pill”?  Do you also put them in their bed for some quiet time?  Or do you sit them on a mat in the lounge room with some toys whilst you continue to go about your housework?  If so, then the real actions that you have taken are what  have made the difference in that instance.  The words will just get filed away by the child for use at a later date.

As a young parent, the best advice that I got from older parents was to never threaten anything that you would not carry through.  So maybe, “time out” would be a better phrase when you need your child to calm down.  If you are out and you can put your child in a stroller, then move to the quietest spot you can find and cover the stroller a little so to minimise the light of the outside.  Give the child their favourite toy or book and go through your pre bed or calming routine the same as you would when at home.  Tell them it is OK and speak in a soothing sing-song fashion. 

For older children, you need have to be firm.  Ensure that they either sit or stand out-of-the-way of the action as much as possible.  You might have a routine where they count to one hundred or they close their eyes and think of a story until they settle themselves.  What ever it is that you do, do it the same way and what you are doing is teaching your child self discipline and you will give them the ultimate knowledge that they are in control of themselves.  That they are disciplined enough to quiet themselves without needing anything external.  This is a really useful skill for all of us to learn and comes in handy as an adult in stressful situations.

Of course there will be times when no matter what you do – it just doesn’t work.  Don’t worry – this is your opportunity for learning as a parent.  Take a deep breath, look at the beauty that is your child, yourself and your family - shrug your shoulders, give them a kiss and get on with having a good time.

I always put a hat on them – sun hat for the summer and beanie for the winter – I learnt that children lose most of their warmth through their head so when it is cold it is best to have a beanie on.  I am so often dismayed to see young mum’s and dad’s with their little ones out in the cold without a hat.  I often see tiny little babies in a parents arms or in a backpack (or baby sling) with their little arms and heads exposed to the cold.  I believe that as humans we are all able to cope with anything that god has created – so that means the weather.  Sometimes you just have to prepare for it more than at other times, but I figured if people in really cold climates could manage to take their children out then so could I.

So we would walk.  With my son we would walk up to my daughter’s school which was maybe one and a half kilometres from our house.  On the way back we would all go to the park and have a little snack that I would have brought with me.  In Orange, we would go to the big park and feed the ducks.  This was one of my now, eldest daughter’s favourite things to do and many years later when my son was about sixteen we went back to the same park and he remembered the duck visits with fondness, only this time I had another daughter to introduce to the ducks!

If it was really cold, I would put a hot water bottle into the pram or sleeping bag to warm it up first.  Before leaving the hot water bottle would come back out so that there was no danger of it burning my child but the sleeping bag would be nice and warm for them to snuggle into.  Sometimes it was just too cold to go to the park on the way back from school so we would go to a warm coffee shop for a hot chocolate treat.  There was a great “mothers room” (would now be a parents room) at the bottom of the shopping centre in Orange where you could feed your baby and have a cup of tea and biscuits.  This was a great place and as I breastfeed my babies we would go there often and all sit in the little cubicle and have our cup of tea and biscuits.  Our cubicle became a secret place as only the three of us would go there during the day when my husband was at work - it was always warm, quiet and comfortable even if it was only tiny.  There was always an older experienced mother on hand to help you if you couldn’t manage  and they would help with a gentle word or a practical idea to calm both the baby and the mother.  It is probably long gone now to make way for some money-making business or to give more car parking space, but I am sure missed by many young mums and dads.

We had moved back to Sydney when I had my youngest daughter and by this time  I was a career person on my third relationship, a little older and hardly expecting to have another child!  However, another baby was meant to be.  So once again we started with a new area to walk around and explore, but by this time the two older children were at school, they were both older and didn’t come on these excursions with us too often.  I would walk from Crows Nest to North Sydney, probably a good two kilometres each way.  We would go to the shopping centre and have a coffee and cake before walking back again, just the two of us.  It was great!  I was never worried about breastfeeding in public – it is normal after all, so I would just sit in a quiet place in the coffee shop and feed my babies when required. 

I am a pretty organised person and I always like being prepared so I have always taken something with me as a “just in case”.  On our walks and when going anywhere with children – I always take a small bottle of water, some fruit and maybe some nuts – “just in case” someone gets thirsty or hungry.  About two years ago, my then eight year old granddaughter came to stay with us in Sydney.  I had just purchased a very smart set of refillable water bottles.  Each 250 ml bottle came with its own design and a special rack to put them into for chilling in the refrigerator.  So, the first time we were going out I picked up one of the bottles out of the fridge and put it in my bag ready to take.  Seeing this, my granddaughter asked if she could have a bottle to put into her little bag.  She picked out one that she liked and there it continued to be packed every time we went out alongside her lipstick and hairbrush!  After that, she would use the same bottle when she came to our house, calling it “her bottle”.  She now has the bottle herself so she is also ready for those “just in case” moments when she is thirsty.

Walking with your babies and children is so good for all of you – take dad along too!  My children were pretty healthy when they were little and didn’t get the usual sniffles and colds that many children get.  Of course they did get sick, but I think that they were much more robust as a result of getting outside and experiencing all kinds of weather.  So get out there, walking is such an adventure for children and so good for you!

Children flying at night

When I was little I believed that (all) children could fly.  This was well before I had heard of Peter Pan – I don’t know why but I just believed that children could fly.  This idea was as natural to me as walking when I was little.  I thought that all children would fly at night when the adults were asleep and it was a sort of secret thing that only I knew about.  I could fly so  it was just a natural assumption on my part that all other children could fly in the same way as me, but I never spoke to any other children about it apart from my little brother and sister.  Thinking back now I don’t ever remember seeing other flying children during my night travels, but so convinced that flying children was a fact that even when I had my own children I assured them that they too had this incredible ability to fly at night when everyone else was sleeping.

When I was a young child and up until I was 12 years old, we lived in the country so most of our neighbours houses were not close to ours and this meant that the night sky’s were very black, only being lit by the moon and the stars.  My bedroom was really nice, at the rear of the house it  had a raked ceiling and on one side of the room, which was the back wall of the house and there were high windows along the ceiling that spanned the entire length of the room.  You couldn’t reach the windows, but every night as I lay in my bed I could see the night sky and I would notice  how clearly the star’s would shine and twinkle through the windows.  They would call me to go flying.  Just like Peter Pan I guess, except sometimes instead of flying by myself, I would take my little brother and sister with me and we would go on a magic flying carpet just like the Arabian movies,  and we would travel far and wide way above in the sky while everyone else was sleeping in their beds at home.

From my bed I would look up and out at the stars and the black sky and soon I would feel myself lift from the bedclothes.  Then I would  just fly out of those high windows and off to adventure.  Even now as an adult with three children, one grandchild and another on the way I still firmly believe that I used to fly at night, and I still believe that all children have the ability to fly at night, but some don’t know about this ability.  Just like in Peter Pan, to ”know” how to fly you must believe you can.  I think that for children to really believe they must have parents that encourage their child to explore what seem just imaginary ideas.  Who really knows what power we actually have?  How do we really know if something is real or imaged?  Might our children be looking at something that is actually real in another time and space - like imagining something that will be in the future?  I also believe that we have just forgotten how to fly.  When I grew into an adult and started to read my own children stories, I discovered that my little sister’s name, “Wendy” came from the book of Peter Pan and I have always thought of her as magical – just to say the name, “Wendy” makes me think of those days flying at night with my brother and sister.

Peter Pan & Wendy

I also think that within us we also have the ability to teleport ourselves from one place to another, much more advanced than flying.  We just don’t know how to do it yet, but I think that we have the ability, we just don’t know it.  Sometimes I wonder if I accidentally fell down a hill, would I remember how to fly just as I did as a child?  Would it all come back to me and then I would just swoop back up into the sky flying?

Some may attribute my childhood belief in flying  to a wish to escape my childhood.  There may be some truth in that idea, but I don’t think so.  I just think that I just believed in special things and that no one was able to deter me in my belief’s.  I was also very lucky to have had a Nan and Grandfather who encouraged me to think outside of the norm.  When we were little, my brother used to believe that his best friend was a talking snake who wore a hat and carried a walking cane.  My parents used to worry that he was playing with a real snake since we lived on a farm and snakes were common.  Either way, he still came flying with me most nights when we were children - sadly I think he has forgotten this simple pleasure and now gets on with the business of being an adult like most of us.

So if your child tells you that they can fly at night then listen to them and marvel at their incredible ability.  Don’t just tell them that they are silly.  Of course you must be sure that they are not going to jump off a building or something high and hurt themselves, so it is best to talk about it first.  I think that the main thing is to embrace the “feeling” that they are expressing – it is fantastic to “feel” that you can fly.  So listen and maybe you might just remember how to fly again yourself….

….Is is it just their imagination or do children actually tap into a reality of the power that is within all of us to “know” these special things?  Maybe we just teach them to grow up and be realistic, and then they just forget those wonderful things that they “knew” when they were children flying at night. 

DISCLAIMER:  I AM NOT AND PLEASE DO NOT ENCOURAGE CHILDREN TO JUMP OFF BUILDINGS IN THE BELIEF THAT THEY CAN FLY THIS IS A TRUE STORY FROM MY CHILDHOOD USED HERE TO DEMONSTRATE THE POWER OF A CHILD’S IMAGINATION.