health Archives - Everything's Famtastic

April 23, 2020June 26, 2021

Simple Sewing Tutorial: How to Make a Fabric Face Mask

***This post was updated on 10.06.2020***

There’s no avoiding it these days. Coronavirus.

It’s in the news. It’s all over social media. It’s all anybody seems to be talking about. Perhaps you have been home-schooling the kids and juggling to work from home yourself. And when you do go outside, there are a couple of things that grab your attention.

One: the social distancing thing. You notice that people are trying their best to give every other person around them extra space. That shopping queue looks so verrrry long, but actually it’s just the space between each human.

Two: the face covering thing. Here and there and in ever increasing numbers, you see people wearing face masks. Some wear a simple scarf or bandanna, wrapped around their face and nose. Some wear what looks like professional, fancy blue, medical one. While others cover their face with a mask that would almost make Darth Vader jealous.

Whatever it is that you have noticed around you and in the media, it’s new, it’s strange, and perhaps even a little disconcerting.

For the first few weeks of Coronavirus spreading here in Germany, I held off from sewing a face mask. Would I need it? Would I have to wear it? Would it even help?

But I noticed more and more popping up on people’s faces everywhere I went. And the World Health Organisation altered their original recommendations about wearing face masks. And then there was talk in the media of making face masks compulsory as people gradually return to “real life” after lockdown.

***Updated*** From 27th April, 2020 face masks DID become compulsory on public transport across Germany. As businesses have begun opening up again, in many states it is also compulsory in shops, restaurants, hairdressers, health providers, post offices etc.

Decision? Time to make myself and my family face masks!!!

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I have had SO many people ask me how I made them, I can’t NOT share this sewing project with you. I will walk you though step by step with plenty of easy-to-follow photos so you can sew a fantastic, fabric, face mask yourself.

You’ll also learn some simple tips and tricks to help get you through sewing a face mask (or 2… or 5… or 10…).

March 19, 2020June 26, 2021

17 Sensational Ideas to Keep Kids Busy When School is Closed (and TV is Not One of Them!)

Wow, how quickly the world changes. One minute your kids are at school and you’re rocking your everyday life. The next- kablam!- you’ve got your kids at home with you all day because the schools and kindergartens and child care centres are closed.

Well, at least that’s how it is for me, here in Germany. How about where you’re living?

In our town it started last week already when the local high schools closed. Then it was ALL schools and kindergartens. And then it was all children’s extra-curricular activities, you know, like sport, music lessons, youth groups and so on. And then all forms of possible entertainment outside of the home, like public libraries, museums, cinemas, zoos and pools. Everyone is being reminded to stay at home as much as possible and not mingle with others. That now rules out organising playdates for the kiddos. The latest news today is that playgrounds are closed too.

Sure, the schools are doing their best to keep up with the changing times and send over some homework for the kids to work through. But it’s not the same (for them or for you) as being out of the house learning for hours and hours every day.

I know a lot of people have been falling back on TV and DVDs to entertain their children at this challenging time. It is certainly a simple and easy way to keep them occupied for a while. Unless they all argue about what to watch and whose turn it is to select the program … 😉

There will be no judgement or finger pointing here. To each his own, as they say. But our kids usually only watch TV on weekends and if we can avoid it, we’d love that they didn’t sit glued to the sofa for hours every day.

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So what’s a Mama with a houseful of kids to do?!? I’ve prepared a list for you of non-TV fun activities to keep your children entertained and happy while school (and pretty much everything else!) is closed for a few weeks. I’ve got your back! 👍

March 5, 2020June 26, 2021

Why Sewing is Good for You (Yes, Even for Beginners!)

Welcome back to Everything’s Famtastic! I don’t know whether you saw my post last week? You know, the one where I interviewed a great bunch of sewing bloggers, about how they got started sewing? Well, that turned out to be Part One of my interview with them all. You can read that post here and learn about what made these women, first learn to sew.

People new to the sewing world (sewing newbies, as I affectionately say) often ask themselves questions like “What should I sew as a beginner?” or “How do I get started sewing?” and “Why is sewing a good hobby?” or “Why is sewing good for me?”.

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This post- my Part Two of interviewing these ladies- is full of plentiful ideas to answer exactly those questions! (Be prepared to have your creative curiosity awakened!! 😉)

January 16, 2020June 26, 2021

Coping with a Sick Child at Home: A Mother’s Tale

Today I am sharing some private details of my “Mum Life” with 3 kids. To be clearer: My life. This week. With 3 children. One of whom was sick. Oh, and Hubby was on the road for work for a couple of days.

Let’s just let go of our inhibitions and get crystal clear here what I have been up to: This week I had my- gloved! Hey! I still have some dignity 😉- hands in some gigantic puddles of vomit.

There. I said it.

Are you still with me? Or are you running for the bathroom already?!?

Why did I have my hands in the re-runs of someone else’s lunch? Because I’m a mum. And that’s what we do. Not because it’s fun. But because there is a child who needs you and there’s a job to be done and you just do it.

So between the tears and vomit and frustration and breaking heart and a scared little face, is there anything positive to be found in looking after your sick child?

Well, yes and no. One of those “Is the glass half empty or half full” paradoxical type of situations, you know? It depends how you look at it…

August 11, 2019June 26, 2021

5 Ways to Help Cope With Grief

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A big hello to my fantastic Famtastic fans! Wherever you are in the world, I hope that you have had a good week. We are well and truly back to everyday life after our brilliant adventures in Croatia. Our holiday was certainly memorable and like I said last week, all 5 of us remained sane along the way. (Read here for my tips on packing for a long road trip with kids!!) It’s nice to just be around home again after such a long road trip.

Nevertheless, this week I have found myself in a real funk. And no, I don’t mean funk and jive and groovy ‘60s music. I mean, I’m in a lousy mood. And I am not here to bring you all down with me. But I gotta speak what’s on my mind. Saddened, flat, down and grieving.

In the last weeks, within our wider circle of family and friends there have been not 1, not 2, but 3 members pass away. Three! Old, young, sick, healthy, foreseeable, shocking. Whatever. All of the above. And each one has been so intensely sad in their own way. In the same time period there has been some major setbacks for a number of other family and friends with life-threatening health conditions. In addition, several of these people live back in Australia, so it’s impossible for me to attend funerals or speak with loved ones face-to-face. All of which makes it even harder for this grieving expat to work through her feelings.

Really, it’s all just a bit too much. ☹ How does one even begin to deal with so much grief?

July 7, 2019June 26, 2021

The Half-Year Growth Check-Up

Hey everybody! There is an electricity in the air around here. Can you feel it too? No, we don’t live underneath one of those really tall, high-voltage transmission towers 😉. I’m talking about the summer school holidays countdown! Have the school hols already kicked off where you are? We have 5 school days left and counting…

Did you see the long list full of FAMtastic ideas for the summer holidays I posted last week? Have you tried any of them yet? Or have you made your own “To Do List” for holiday fun?

I need to sit down with our 3 kiddos and make up our own personalised “bucket list” for these school holidays. Because I can tell you now, as much as I am looking forward to having lots of fun times with the kids, we will NOT be ticking off ALL of the 61 suggestions from last week’s list! We have however, already started experimenting with making ice cream 😉 based on a Donna Hay recipe. Oh my, how my children are currently infatuated with our @donna.hay cookbook…

Coconut, raspberry, choc chip ice cream. Delish!

I don’t know whether you remember, but at the start of the year I wrote about setting goals for GROWTH for myself for this year. Not drunken New Year’s resolutions, but real goals that I plan to achieve by year’s end. And given that the year is already half done with, I thought it was about time I gave myself a review. If you set yourself some goals for this year too, I hope that you are straight up rocking them! Me? Hmm…

June 2, 2019June 26, 2021

Fab Fathers, Giggling Girls & Irksome Illness

Willkommen again to the weekly entertainment and information session that is Everything’s Famtastic.

I thought that this week I would give a shout out to all the German Papas out there. A couple of weeks back, I wrote about Mother’s Day, with a big, warm virtual hug for all you Mamas.

But now it is the men’s turn. Or at least those who live in Germany (Sorry to you Australian, American, Canadian, English… dads). Father’s Day was celebrated in Germany this past week. On a Thursday, no less. And Father’s Day- or Men’s Day as the non-parent males would claim- is an entirely different thing to most other countries’ way of celebrating fathers. So, Alles Gute zum Vatertag to all those fathers out there doing their best for their kids! I hope that your children thank you and appreciate all you do! To Hubby: we love you very much and thank you for all you do for us!! xx

Allow me to fill you in though, about our week of things (including Father’s day) going not quite to plan. Aha! Also the perfect opportunity for us mamas to show just how tolerant, unshakeable and adaptable we can be. Maintain a positive attitude and all that, right?!?

May 20, 2019June 26, 2021

Anniversary of a Transplant

Hello World! Everything’s Famtastic is here! I hope that all is well in your part of the world, wherever that may be.

Looking in the calendar this past week I really just noticed how quickly this year is flying by. I think that’s a grown-up thing, right? As a kid it feels like you wait sooo looong for everything but as an adult *poof* and another year is over.

And then I realised something else. A couple of days away marks the one year anniversary since I had my cornea transplant. And that is even more unbelievable than how quickly the flowers have been blooming this spring!. A whole year since I received the ultimate gift: a cornea from an anonymous donor. ONE YEAR!

I talked about the subject of organ and tissue donation a while back here. I wondered whether any of you out there who might be needing a transplant of some sort just needed to hear that someone else has gone through such surgery and come out stronger on the other side.

Given that my own anniversary of being a recipient is coming up, I thought it might be interesting to share with you a bit more about my personal experience (skipping the more graphic details, I promise 😉).

April 28, 2019June 26, 2021

What to do When You’re Sick (and Why It’s So Important)

Hello everybody! Good to have you here! Many countries around the world celebrated Easter last weekend and most children have been home from school for a week or 2. Did you have a nice Easter? If you have children, have you all been busy enjoying the school holidays? Got any chocolate left? 😉

Our holidays have been pretty good. I wrote last week about (amongst other things) the almost non-stop entertainment our daughters were enjoying. What, between cooking classes and church groups and parties and sleepovers, I hardly saw them at all in the week leading up to Easter!

Our Easter weekend itself was lovely. Plenty of gloriously warm sun and blue skies, making the outdoor Easter egg hunt an urgent affair. Take too long to look for your eggs and you would have ended up with a basket of hot chocolate! We went a-visiting (to my mother-in-law) for a couple of days and then back home received our own visitors (from my Australian family) for a couple of days. A perfect weekend all round, if I do say so myself!

Remember how I had been fantasising about enjoying some good quality dark chocolate (which I did indeed receive 😉) and a glass of chilled sauvignon blanc? Yes? Just one stumbling block though…

April 14, 2019June 26, 2021

When the Mama is Sick

Hi Folks! I had been intending on writing a lovely post this week about the fun of school holidays. The problem is, that I am not having fun. I am sick. Fever, exhaustion, aches and all.

Hope you have had a great weekend wherever you are. See you next week! (Sorry)