The Scrapbook

We are humans before we are parents. Just because we have access to knowledge, doesn’t mean we have the capability and capacity to implement it and execute it all of the time. Let's start normalising imperfection.

All you want is for your child to start school with confidence so you’re not left wondering how you can be there FOR them when you can’t be there WITH them. That's why we’re sharing these 7 things you can start now to help your child start school as a courageous schoolkid.

To avoid ‘The Cascade of Chaos’ we don’t just need eyes in the back of our heads to see who’s scaling the pantry shelves for the chippies, we also need eyes fixed on the horizon to see what’s coming that could possibly become a problem.

Watch Suzy Cato read Baby on the Way on her show, Suzy's Book Corner.

Listen to 'Goodbye Comet' being read for Kinderling Kids' Radio story of the week by author, Hannah Davison.

Watch Suzy Cato read Ready for School on her show, Suzy's Book Corner.

Watch Fergie – Sarah, Duchess of York read Baby on the Way on her show, Storytime with Fergie and Friends.

Watch Suzy Cato read That's Not the Plan on her show, Suzy's Book Corner.

Watch Fergie – Sarah, Duchess of York read Ready for School on her show, Storytime with Fergie and Friends.

Watch Suzy Cato read Goodbye Comet on her show, Suzy's Book Corner.

Read about how to turn parenting lemons into lemonade and build resilient kids by repairing the ruptures parents create. Written by Hannah Davison as a guest post for PakMag Parenting magazine.

Watch Fergie – Sarah, Duchess of York read That's Not the Plan on her show, Storytime with Fergie and Friends.

Watch Suzy Cato read The Hospital Trip on her show, Suzy's Book Corner.

Read a review of 'Goodbye Comet' on Bob's Books Blog. "The illustrations are on the nail. Bright eyed innocent children, a cheeky cockatoo and parents who are there but not intrusive."

Read about how the My Big Moments range are the 'Personalised kids books helping parents handle the hard stuff' in a guest post by Hannah Davison for Kids on the Coast.

Read review by Casey Patch of Little Lifelong Learners on how My Big Moments books can help kids and their parents transitioning through big life moments and first experiences. 

Read a review by Sarah Tarca from The Wayward of the My Big Moments children's book range. "As a parent it can be scary to have the conversation too… you don’t want to upset them more, or, frankly to screw it up. But what I personally like about these books is that it’s also like a handbook for the parents, helping to communicate the information in a considered way.

Read reviewer Briar Lawry's experience reliving the magic of being the hero personalised into her own My Big Moments story book. She explores how effective they can be in a review in The Sapling. 

Read about the power of personalisation on Kids' Book Review in a guest post by Hannah Davison. "The science behind personalisation in children’s books has proven it to fire up neural pathways in a child’s brain, enabling them to better recall information encountered through personalised content."

Read the full review of the My Big Moments book range by Rebekah Lyell from NZ Booklovers. 

Read about why My Big Moments won an AMP Dare to Dream national scholarship for picture books designed to help parents guide children through difficult experiences in an article on Stuff by Alex Loo.

Watch co-founders Flicka Williams and Hannah Davison interviewed on The Daily Edition for Channel 7 talk about launching My Big Moments and what inspired them to make books to help kids get through real-life challenges and milestones.

Read '10 Tips for Handling School Drop-off Anxiety' by Hannah Davison in Tots to Teens magazine.

Read '10 Tips for Handling School Drop-off Anxiety' by Hannah Davison in Tots to Teens magazine.

Watch the My Big Moments cameo in Hello! when Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, reveals "I'm a granny" after the birth of her grandson.

Read a Q&A with co-founders, Flicka Williams and Hannah Davison on Your Zen Mama about why they started My Big Moments, what creativity and parenting looks like for them, and how they handle stress and challenges in their own lives.

Read about 5 ways to role-model resilience to kids when you're in the midst of coping with challenges yourself in a blog written by author, Hannah Davison for Kiddipedia.

Read about how books can teach kids about 'The Value of Vulnerability' on the Children's Books Daily website in a blog written by My Big Moments author, Hannah Davison.

Read about author, Hannah Davison's, experience living through the Kaikōura earthquake and how it inspired the My Big Moments book series to help kids through their own difficulties on the Kidspot blog.

Read the article in Woman Magazine about co-founder and author, Hannah Davison, talking about how the traumatic experience of the Kaikōura earthquake and the events that happened afterwards inspired the My Big Moments books series to help children through challenges and events in their own lives.

Watch co-founders Flicka Williams and Hannah Davison interviewed on Seven Sharp with Rachel Parkin to talk about why they created books that are the handbooks all parents need to tackle real-life challenges with children.

Listen to co-founder and designer, Flicka Williams, talk about how to juggle parenting and building a business with Josh Rimmington on the Parenting Plus Business podcast.

Listen to co-founder and designer, Flicka Williams, talk about the ups and downs of building a custom-made business as she talks to Suz Chadwich on The Brand Builders Lab Podcast.

Listen to author, Hannah Davison, interviewed on the Feed, Play, Love podcast with Shevonne Hunt as they discuss how to support kids struggling to cope post lockdown.

Listen to author, Hannah Davison, talk about how to turn parenting lemons into lemonade on the PakMag Parents' Podcast with Bree James. Hear about what to do when you make a parenting mistake and how to turn these moments into experiences that repair the rupture and reinforce an authentic bond with your children.

Listen to author, Hannah Davison, talk about how to help kids identify and communicate their feelings when they're going through big moments with Karen O'Connor on the Things That Make You Go ... Mmm podcast.

Listen to author, Hannah Davison, talk about how to help kids understand death and guiding them through grief and loss on the Feed, Play, Love podcast with Shevonne Hunt.

Listen to author, Hannah Davison, talk about what resilience really is, why you need to put your own wellbeing first and how to support kids through hard times on The Wellness Collective podcast with Nat Kringoudis and Cecelia Ramsdale.

Listen to author, Hannah Davison, talk about guiding kids through big moments in life as she shares her story from earthquakes to divorce with Shevonne Hunt on the Feed, Play, Love podcast.

Listen to author, Hannah Davison, on Radio New Zealand talking about how to prepare kids to become a big sibling when a new baby's on the way with Philippa Tolley.

Listen to author, Hannah Davison, and Neuroscience Educator, Nathan Wallis, talk about the importance of resilience for kids and how the My Big Moments book series came into existence on the ABC Babytalk podcast with Penny Johnstone.

Listen to author, Hannah Davison, talk about living through the Kaikōura earthquake and how it inspired the My Big Moments book series to help kids through their own difficulties

Listen to author, Hannah Davison, on Radio New Zealand talking about getting ready for school with Kathryn Ryan.

Here are 8 tips to help an elder child cope with sharing your love when a new baby comes along.

Here are 7 things you need to know to transition an elder child into being a great big brother or big sister.

Doing that hard, emotional labour is a role we play that can often not only be overlooked, but sometimes entirely unrecognised. But, the demand on our emotional, mental and physical resources is very real. There’s a reason we sometimes feel exhausted with nothing left to give. 

Wondering how to brace yourselves for a third baby? Check out this blog post from MBM co-founder @flickawilliams – ‘Third Time’s a Charm — How to Prepare for Baby Number Three’. Flicka gives her upfront and honest realisations and ideas for preparing for a third baby joining the family.

At new entrant level, there’s no expectation of academic ability, but there are signs you can look for as an indication of your child's readiness to start school, as well as things you can do to help them prepare to become a confident schoolkid. Three experts give their practical tips.

It’s a total mystery for me how one morning I can run a tight ship and the next morning, it’s a pirate ship. The timings are the same, the conditions vary only a little ... why is it a total scramble one morning and not on others? 

It seems like there may never be a sense of ‘getting back to normal’, but there are things we can do to create a sense of predictability, consistency and continuity for our kids, even in an unpredictable world that seems to be changing all the time. 

How do you know if your child is really ready to start school? Here are 5 questions you can think about to help figure out if your child can handle the practical and social demands of joining the school environment. 

If you're thinking about your child starting school, getting back to school after lockdown, moving schools, or just handling separation anxiety, making a 'Smile Stone' can be a helpful and easy thing you can do that empowers kids with a sense of control over the situation they’re in.

Kids ask the curliest questions, and almost always without warning. 'Is Santa real?' is one of those doozies! But, we're here to help.

Making a mistake is simply that – a mis-take – an indication we need to make a course correction. Seeing mistakes as failures can grind us to a halt, but seeing them as course corrections keep us looking, and moving forward.

When we can hold space for our boys to express their tears, we show them that their experience of their emotions is valid – they are seen, heard and accepted just as they are.

Boys run out of their ‘feel-good’ neurochemical, dopamine, much faster than girls. This means they need to build their levels back up to feel good again – to be able to concentrate and sit still. To build it back up, their bodies need to move.

It’s so powerful to understand your child better; what they need from you as a parent, what competencies they’ll need your help to develop, and how to really connect and communicate with them.

When our little boys turn up in the world as a newborn, the neurological delay that took place during the first trimester as their gender developed, means their brain is slightly behind that of a newborn girl baby.

Resiliency is a big, broad term that can be thrown around with frivolous abandon these days. The word seems like a generous garnish of parmesan sprinkled on the pasta of wellbeing! But, while it can be hard to grasp exactly what it means and how it looks in real life, we’d like to be a little more specific. 

Let’s be honest, sometimes it’s not all aspirational quotes and gratitude when you’re a parent. Sometimes we totally blow it, lose our cool, lose our sh#t, lose our minds. It happens, we’re human. We’re all just perfectly flawed.

Don't jump in too soon. While it’s tempting to jump in and resolve conflict between our kids, with a little bit of time and dialogue we can create an opportunity that teaches them tools for naming their feelings, problem-solving and resolving their differences in the future ...

I still remember my parents exclaiming in frustration, “We’ve brought you here to enjoy yourself!” No doubt I would have been mid-whinge about the travel, the activity, the snacks, or any number of things that weren’t meeting my expectations ...

'How did you come up with the idea'? Well, it all started in Spring 2016 with a looong lunch. I (Hannah – that’s me, your Chief Apostrophe Wrangler) was in Sydney for a writing course, so Flicka and I locked in time to sip a little cool rosé, over the warm sands of Bondi ...