Trunki PaddlePak (Review)

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The Boy has now reached the age where he'll carry around his belongings in a backpack, and he'll do this happily if said backpack is a cute, green, frog-themed one; green being his favourite colour.

During the Summer, his absolute favourite bag was the Trunki Paddlepak that he'd been sent to review, and it went everywhere with us, from days out to the beach, to swimming, to the nature reserve and even to Nana's house (two minutes away from our own house). To keep him going during these busy activities, Trunki were very kind and filled his Ribbit Paddlepak full of Ella's Kitchen goodies, and the raisin and spelt cookies were just the snack to replenish his reserves after swimming.

Trunki Paddlepak

The Trunki Paddlepak is a great, novelty bag which comes in a variety of different aquatic animal designs from a orca whale to a lobster! The clever roll top design with a clasp ensures that the contents stay secure and it's easy for children to open and close. It's a water-resistant bag which is ideal for swimming as it doesn't let the dry clothes inside it get wet on the changing room floor, and neither does it let the sopping wet towel and bathers drip all over the car! There are reflective and high-visibility straps and a dry zip pocket for those things which need to be kept from getting drenched. The straps are adjustable and it's very comfortable for The Boy to wear. It has a 7.5l capacity which means not very much to me, however it holds his arm bands, bathers, a bath towel and his toiletries, definitely big enough for a five year old's goodies!

Priced at £19.99 it's a great bag which is well made and lasts incredibly well. The waterproof aspect is excellent and it's fun and comfortable to use. Top marks from us!

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We were sent this product for the purpose of this review, my opinion is honest and unbiased.

Diving In! (Country Kids)

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As parents one of our jobs is to prevent our children from being afraid of the things we were; to prevent irrational fears.

I always enjoy going to the swimming pool, and I do like swimming, but I have a real fear of water in my face and I can't contemplate swimming underwater or even with the correct head position for front crawl. The minute water splashes up in my face, the fear kicks in that I'm not going to be able to breathe. And just as with every irrational fear, there is something that started it off. For me it was swimming with my dad when I was around eight years old, he left me on the side of the fairly shallowish water while he went and tried out the diving board and plunge pool (he's not the most responsible of people), but unfortunately the pool's wave machine was turned on during that five minutes and I lost my footing and went under. I remember every second vividly and I was petrified that I wouldn't be able to get up again. Obviously I did, but it was one of the scariest moments of my life and accounts for my claustrophobia and fear of putting my face in the water.

I don't want to pass this onto The Boy, and I try really hard to bite my tongue and assess the situation first before rushing forward to him. However sometimes I am aware that a little slips out, and there might be an occasional "let me wipe your face".

So going to a birthday party of a friend whose water confidence is first rate filled me both with terror and hope for The Boy's own confidence.

Diving In 1

You can see the difference between the two boys: one has been swimming once since last September due to chronic glue ear in both ears (and even then that was probably only his tenth trip, at a generous guess), and the other boy has been swimming since he was a tiny baby. One has a few drops of water in his face and is rubbing the water out of his eyes, one has water pouring down his face. I'm not criticising my boy, it's just a stark contrast in the ability levels of both boys of the same age.

The Boy happily stayed in the pool for around thirty minutes before getting out to play on the bouncy castle, or with swing ball (playing a leftie is the easiest way of playing this!), and soon wanted to get changed back into his clothes.

Then after dinner, and once all the other party guests had left, both boys returned to play in the garden. Burton quickly stripped down to his pants and went into the pool, The Boy took a further ten minutes before he followed suit.

And this is what happened…

Diving In 2

And then, after another hour or so, we end up with this:

Diving In 3

And then the final shred of evidence that he is becoming the swimmer I'd like him to be?

Diving In 4

We'll be going swimming this week!

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coombe mill

Learning for Life

Days 153-159 of Project 365

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153-159 of 365

153. Peek-a-boo! (This is my favourite photo of the week. We went to Abbotsbury Swannery on the way home from holiday and The Boy was fascinated by the cygnets, some of which had hatched the day before. I could have included a photo of a cute and fluffy cygnet, instead it's this one of The Boy climbing in a tunnel of trees which I adore.)

154. Alien (I set up an invitation to play for him with playdough, feathers, googly eyes, pipe cleaners, matchsticks and lolly sticks and he created this fab alien.)

155. Spiderman! (We dropped my niece's present over for her birthday and The Boy was desperate to play in their 170 foot garden which has this fabulous spider's web climbing net.)

156. Mr. Bloom (Today we planted our seeds for the Britmums challenge: Kids Grow Wild with MoneySupermarket. The Boy hasn't quite got the concept of watering in moderation.)

157. Waterbaby? (I wish he was a waterbaby; his constant ear infections from November to March every year mean that he rarely goes swimming apart from in the Summer. This past Winter he had glue ear in both ears, with 5% reduction in hearing in his right ear and slightly more in his left. We were told by the doctor not to allow water into his ears and so he hasn't been since last September. Today we decided to give it a go, bought him some new armbands and a noodle-thing, and he absolutely loved it. He even managed to use both to try out backstroke legs, and was so confident in the water he went down the infants slide backwards. Think we'll be going weekly from now on.)

158. Fortress (After work, we decided to pop to Barry Island for some sandcastle building and I ended up building The Boy a small defense wall with a pit to sit in. I think we may have put the defenses on the wrong side though looking at the stormy skies behind?)

159. Squint (We popped over to Nana and Grandad's this afternoon, in between shopping and The Boy has great fun with his cousin and the playdough. Not exciting, just every day life!.)

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TheBoyandMe's 365 Linky
akiltandacamera.com

Personalised 'Peppa Pig' Goes Swimming (Review)

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It's probably not going to come as a surprise to anyone reading this blog, but The Boy is rather a big fan of Peppa Pig. There is something about the porcine family which completely captivates him and he adores 'reading' the massive selection of books that we have.

Recently I was invited to review one of the fabulous personalised Peppa Pig books available from Penwizard.co.uk, specifically the 'Peppa and ____ Go Swimming' book. The whole ordering process is incredibly simple to do and allows for personalisation of the child's hair, eye and skin colouring, along with hair style and the addition of glasses.

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Review: Trunki PaddlePak

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A few months ago we decided that we didn't take The Boy swimming enough. He's coming up to three years old and is still developing his water confidence. He pretends to swim in the bath, he's more confident with water splashing about his face and head but he's still a little unsure in the water clinging to me in the pool. We made a decision there and then to take him more often, and he goes once a month now (looking to increase that now with the warmer weather).

When Trunki asked me if we'd like to review their new fun backpack for little swimmers, we were more than happy to oblige! The Boy's lovely azure blue PaddlePak was sent to us in perfect time for our trip away over the Easter weekend. The place we went to stay in, has one of the best waterworlds around for fun and laughter, so we packed his new PaddlePak with his fluffy towel, Konfidence jacket and HappyNappy swim pants, popped it on his back and off we went.

Made of waterproof fabric and featuring a roll top tight seal, the PaddlePak is the perfect size for pre-schoolers and infants to hold their swimming stuff. Obviously older children won't have something as bulky as a Konfidence jacket to fit in, giving them plenty of space for other items. The funky backpack has a reflective fish detail all over the back and in the cute fin there is a zip pocket to hold small valuables. It was incredibly comfy for The Boy to wear, especially as the straps and back are padded for comfort.

The PaddlePak gets a definite thumbs up from us; lightweight, waterproof, fun and funky, it's sure to get loads more trips to the swimming pool.

The Trunki PaddlePak is available (in bright pink or blue) directly for £19.95

I was sent the PaddlePak for the purpose of this review. I had previously bought the SplashAbout HappyNappy and Konfidence Jacket. My opinion is honest and unbiased.

Waterbaby?

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I love this time of year; it's the start of the Bank Holidays and this year in particular we've been spoilt with two four-day weekends in a row. The weather has been particularly amazing for April (which is why it's grey and overcast now on the first day of May) and we've been able to take advantage of the great outdoors at almost any opportunity.

Today, however was a tad grey and overcast so we decided for an indoor activity. Having recently been sent a Happy Nappy to review (more about that in another post) we decided to take The Boy swimming. I am ashamed to admit that he has only been once in his little lifetime due to various neurosis of mine, ranging from 'I need him to have had his main jabs before I take him into germ-infested water', to 'it's Winter and I don't want him to catch a cold' and eventually 'I don't want to go when children from school might be there and see me in my swimming costume'. Pathetic isn't it?

As it so happens, I think I may have created a little rod for my own back here (which is good because it's knackered since having had The Boy and could use a little support!).

We took The Boy along to the pool fairly confident; he loved it last time and he loves the bath. He seemed a little unsure when we toddled into the shallow end (and I mean shallow, it's a long slope which starts at the edge of the pool and after about 30-40 feet is only 2 foot deep) but generally quite happy. We went a little deeper so that the water was up to his ribs and he was still fairly happy. After a good splash and kick around, we took him a bit deeper. He clung to me so tightly it was like someone was trying to rip him from us.

Uh-oh!

You see, I lack confidence in the water even though I love it. I can't stand putting my face under the water, I don't like going out of my depth without being about two arms length from the edge and if someone splashes me then the irrational fear creeps in and I panic. My mother is petrified of the water and was determined that all four of us would not be. My father adores the water and used to go scuba-diving regularly when I was a nipper. So you think I'd follow him? Only I don't. And it stems from going swimming with him to Swansea swimming pool when I was about 9 years old. He left me in the shallow end while he went and had a quick go in the plunge pool under the diving board, and they turned the wave machine on. I got swept under and had difficulty regaining my footing. Ever since then I've freaked out.

I have always wanted The Boy to be confident in the water, hubby loves it and adores swimming under the water; testing himself if he can get from one end of the pool to the other in one breath (he can't quite). I want The Boy to love the water like that. Don't get me wrong, he did enjoy himself; he splashed and kicked, giggled and squealed with pleasure, but I just expected him to be fearless like he was last time. Maybe I pushed him too far today? All I know is that next time, we'll take it slowly and stay in the very shallow end for longer.

Oh and next time will be a lot sooner, we've decided to take him a couple of times a month from now on.

He was so tired, he fell asleep eating his lunch with a mouthful half eaten!

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