An ordinary parent who struggled to connect with her kids

Hi, I’m Janice. For 20 years, I was a stay-at-home parent but now I make a healthy income creating funny books and printables.

I’m really passionate about getting kids off screens. I believe that what every kid wants, most of all, is to spend time with their family and friends. What’s more, family members who spend time with their kids, reap the rewards as the kids get older.

As a parent of 2 boys, I found that special memories are most likely to be made when you spend time with your kids as a family.

However, I was up against gaming and tv and the people that make that kind of entertainment have big budgets to spend. They can create stuff that sucked my kids in and absorbed them completely.

There’s a time and a place for screens and I know that cranky, tired kids love to watch a movie whilst I cook them some dinner. But life’s about a balance and I knew if I didn’t come up with something good, then I’d never stand a chance against the entertainment industry.

I started creating games for my boys and enjoyed the challenge of getting them off screens and doing something more mindful. The ones they loved the most were the treasure hunts around the house and the backyard. They were just simple clues to find the ultimate treasure which was often a small bar of chocolate or a little bouncy ball.

Because they loved the treasure hunts so much, I got creative and started to make the clues more complex with mazes and ciphers. I themed the hunts around their favorite things – dinosaurs and pirates. Then they told their friends and the other parents started asking where I got the treasure hunts and if they could have them too.

When my kids went to school, I found I was always the one organizing things for ALL the kids to do. From playdates to village celebrations, I was there making it fun for the kids. I wanted to ensure that no kid was left out so I devised inexpensive events.

I discovered that the teachers had ideas for fun educational trips. However, they were not able to put these into practice unless every family paid their way. Not all of them were in the position to do this. I felt so sad that the kids were being denied these trips so I held fundraising events so that they could all go.

Now my kids are young adults, and the things they remember about growing up include all the things we did together at home: cooking, crafting, reading together and, yes, the treasure hunts. They remember the fun times away from home. Not just the vacations but playing with a fishing net in the water, climbing a tree, picnics in the park and collecting stones on the beach. Yes, a favorite movie is in there too – that’s part of growing up. Those are the memories of childhood that they cherish. The times we did things together.

I want to help you connect with your kids, build moments to treasure and help you achieve more quality time in your family life.

♥ That’s why I started this blog ♥

I want to give to other families so that they can connect and bond together. I don’t want the kids to miss out or be left out.

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