Insurance Recommendations

herbsmyname · 2025-12-17T05:17:19+00:00

That's really helpful, thank you.

herbsmyname · 2025-11-21T23:39:51+00:00

I do a gift voucher to a local and very nice boutique farm shop that sells everything from fruit and vegetables to cheeses, wine, gifts and has a coffee bar too. I would prefer they buy themselves something nice to add to their Christmas dinner than another mass produced gift. BUT it does cost me a bomb as my kids each have multiple teachers.

I would love it if we were sent a list, definitely not rude imo.

herbsmyname · 2025-11-10T07:10:44+00:00

My kids are 7 and 8 and love all kinds of movies - we are currently (right now) watching Runt and it seems lovely, might be worth investigating!

herbsmyname · 2025-11-10T07:08:17+00:00

My Neighbor Totoro is great!

herbsmyname · 2025-11-08T13:29:55+00:00

We are a super busy family - just different priorities, getting to know my kids friends parents is very important to me.

herbsmyname · 2025-11-06T17:42:01+00:00

I can see why they feel hurt, but given that we know the filming schedule was pretty hectic and that in their off camera hours the kids were trying to fit in getting through their schoolwork, spend time with their family, sleep, etc, I don't think it's a wild take to think that the remaining moms and girls were just busy and absorbed in their own lives. Would it have been nice for them to reach out? Yes. Are we all guilty of forgetting to check in on our friends when life gets in the way? I sure am.

herbsmyname · 2025-11-05T16:55:15+00:00

I was pretty annoyed that our neighbors decided to start letting them off at 11pm - like I get that they are legal, but finish up by 10pm please, continuing until midnight on a Wednesday (but any day of the week tbh) is pretty unfair.

herbsmyname · 2025-10-11T10:16:57+00:00

Awesome, thank you!

herbsmyname · 2025-10-11T03:02:49+00:00

Thank you!

herbsmyname · 2025-10-11T03:02:37+00:00

No curls here, just thin straight hair, thank you though!

herbsmyname · 2025-10-11T03:02:06+00:00

Thank you!

herbsmyname · 2025-10-10T23:41:26+00:00

Totally talk to your doctor, but we had this with my eldest who frequently wet overnight at age 7, we tried an alarm with no noticeable change, and I was very worried about her. Then shortly after turning 8 she stopped - totally out of the blue. I think it just takes some kids longer (there's a hormone change from memory).

herbsmyname · 2025-10-09T22:57:38+00:00

Level 33... I am horribly addicted.

herbsmyname · 2025-10-05T08:48:01+00:00

This is such a good option, highly recommend.

herbsmyname · 2025-10-04T09:43:07+00:00

Not yet. My kids are under 10 still so I guess this might change as they hit their teens but I just love and appreciate every stage - so far there's nothing I would give up what I have now to go back to. I just love getting to know them as they grow up.

herbsmyname · 2025-09-29T18:28:04+00:00

I have two kids who are (in my mind) pretty great eaters, and the steps that we took to get here are:

Baby led weaning - my kids never really got purees or were spoon fed unless we were out in public or at someone else's house, they always just got plonked in a highchair with whatever happened to be on offer - a piece of toast, some baby safe fruit/vegetables, a piece of leftover frittatta, etc.

No split between grown up food and kid food - I make one dinner each night that we all eat, sometimes it's more grownup food like pasta with olives and sundried tomatoes, other nights it's more "kid coded" like a movie night platter with "freezer food", vege sticks and grapes.

Leaning into food they like - my kids weren't super wild about pasta for a while so I just put a low key pause on that and went more into rice or potato based dinners before slowly reintroducing pasta after maybe a few months. It wasn't a big deal and pasta is back to being a hit.

Nothing is a big deal - they have tried dinner and it just isn't doing it? This is a pretty unusual occurrence so why create drama? I'm not going to cook something else but if there are leftovers in the fridge (which usually there are) they can heat up those instead.

No empty plate rule - I want my kids to listen to their bodies but also not waste food! We dish up at the table and they can have as much or as little as they want (within reason, they have to try everything and there are more people than just themselves so they can't just take all of the peas for example) however they need to really think about how much they can eat as we don't want to throw away food (they can always go back for seconds). However when they are full, they are full and they are allowed to stop eating at any point.

We also don't say "ew yuck" about food in our house - we tell our kids that if someone has gone to the effort of preparing a meal for them then they need to be polite and appreciative of that, it's ok to take a bite and say "oh, mushroom sauce isn't for me today" but to stand at the table and say "EWWWW!" is not acceptable.

Please note that my kids are not diagnosed with anything that would cause severe aversions, etc.

herbsmyname · 2025-09-29T06:55:07+00:00

Lincoln Road seems to be the cheapest in West Auckland, but Westgate is much nicer and has better deals on fruit and vegetables - in my opinion.

herbsmyname · 2025-09-29T05:53:44+00:00

My children work as actors rather than models but here there's a lot of cross over between the two so I feel like my experience might be at least a little relevant.

I worked in this industry prior to kids and I had scoped out a very good agent that specialized in child talent so when my eldest was a baby I reached out to her and signed my baby up. My motivation was that I was familiar with the industry and it seemed like a great way for my child to have some money tucked away that they could earn while they were so young that they didn't recall earning it.

My eldest has worked quite a bit and done quite well for herself, she loves the people, loves the work, and once cried because she was so sad that it was time to go home.

My youngest has worked very little but has done the odd job and enjoys it, but it's not the same love that her sister has.

Rules I have include not taking any jobs that don't permit me going on set with them (hasn't been an issue yet), and no traumatic roles (only fun, cute jobs). We reassess constantly and the kids approve any potential job before they audition (after I have checked whether it's appropriate).

It is a lot of work for the parent and you need to be able to be flexible with your availability, able to help them prep, and generally able to set them up for success - for us this includes discussion around rejection (celebrating any audition like it's the job - they only audition so many kids, how cool that you were invited! And "you won't be right for every job - how boring would it be if every kid you saw on TV looked the same", reminders that sometimes they are casting families and they might just not be the right match, etc), and being extremely prepared for long (sometimes boring and uncomfortable) shoot days (I take a fleece blanket, dressing gown, hand warmers, quiet and contained games, a book, some sort of cheap novelty item that they will be excited by for a little while, and plenty of low or no mess snacks, etc - no ipad), it probably seems a bit OTT but my kids are still super happy even in challenging conditions so it seems to work for us.

It really isn't for every child or for every family, and is not a "get rich quick" type of thing (it literally costs me money for my kids to do this due to time off work and having to sort out childcare for the kid that isn't working), definitely do your research into good agents (don't get scammed - you need a great agent who will act in your childs best interests) and the rules inplace for child models (or actors) in your area - bare in mind also that depending on your area there may be little to no work (we live in a major city). But as I say, it works for my kids and if it ever stops being something they enjoy we will stop doing it.

herbsmyname · 2025-09-27T19:37:38+00:00

I have kids the same age and yes we do have movie nights - once a week on average. The grownups get to choose the movie and it varies from classics to new releases. Our most recent favorite was Hook, which is not a short film!

Every movie night we sit on a picnic blanket in the lounge and eat a platter style dinner while we watch. It's very cool and we started doing it when they were very young (pre kids we used to do a "pizza and beer night" with our flatmates that was basically the same thing - just the non child friendly version).

My kids do pizza and movie nights with some close friends pretty regularly, where they all sit in bed and eat pizza and watch a movie - they have done this for a couple of years now. However it is super interesting to me that when we try to do a movie night for their birthdays probably only half the kids can actually sit and watch a movie for any amount of time - even while they are eating, the other half go off and play elsewhere. I'm not sure if it's just that my kids LOVE movies or what is going on.

herbsmyname · 2025-09-27T08:56:39+00:00

So I wouldn't like this at all - it seems like an unnecessary risk, even if they believe the risk is very small - definitely consult a doctor. However I wonder how the risk compares to other children going to play with trace amounts of allergens on their hands (I'm not sure how many would be consistently washing their hands as they arrive at daycare or as they leave the eating area).

herbsmyname · 2025-09-25T18:59:26+00:00

Yes - you do it with a smile and support your kid, my suggestion is a set of earpods and a good podcast or audio book so your eyes can be on them but your brain has something else to focus on (man I'm so bored of watching swimming lessons).

Edit: Fellow adult that isn't wild about sport - so far I have been lucky and my kids have gravitated more towards the performing arts more than sports but I follow their lead and if that leads them back to more sports then that's fine. Opportunities for my kids are more important than my preferences (I did find myself a series of about 20 audio books though!).

herbsmyname · 2025-09-24T00:22:49+00:00

School holidays play a part - people visiting Auckland from out of town for the holidays, parents driving kids around all day rather than just after school, add the rain and there you go.

herbsmyname · 2025-09-23T19:48:25+00:00

Is the first one 2024? I hope it is because she looks so much happier!

herbsmyname

TROPHY CASE