News
Getting ready for Back To School!
With August almost gone, the back-to-school season is here.
As parents, we are all gearing up for the whirlwind of new routines, fresh school supplies, and the excitement that comes with a new school year. As thrilling as this time can be—new backpacks, shoes, clothes, teachers, friends, and activities—it can also be overwhelming for our little ones, especially if they’re about to start preschool.
The first day of preschool is a significant milestone, not just for your child, but for you as well! It’s often an emotional rollercoaster for moms, dads, and toddlers alike. Your child might be feeling anxious, which is perfectly natural—they have no prior experience to guide them through this big, new adventure.
To help ease some of that separation anxiety, here are a few tips to make your child’s first day of preschool less stressful and more seamless:
- Prepare Them by Explaining What to Expect
Help your child understand what preschool is like. Describe the teacher, explain that they will have classmates who are their age, circle time, and the games they’ll play. Share how they’ll be learning exciting new things, like writing their name, and recognizing letters and shapes. By giving them a sense of what’s to come, you help reduce their fears. You can keep it simple—while shopping, point out a toy and say, "I wonder what kind of toys your preschool will have. I bet there will be lots of puzzles and fun playthings." Just be careful not to overpromise. If their expectations don’t match reality, it could make school more daunting.
- Visit the School Ahead of Time
If possible, take your child to visit their school a few weeks before their first day. Let them see their classroom and, if possible, meet their teacher. The more familiar they are with their surroundings, the less anxious they’ll feel. If visiting isn’t possible, even driving by the school and pointing it out can help. You could say something like, “In a few weeks, that will be your new school.”
- Stay Positive
Your child will pick up on your emotions, so keep the conversation around school positive. Avoid repeatedly asking if they’re nervous or scared, as this could increase their anxiety. Instead, offer reassurance, letting them know you’re just a phone call away if needed.
- Read Books About School
Books are a great way to give your child a visual understanding of what to expect. Head to your local library and check out titles that describe what happens at school. Some great choices include The kissing Hand, The Night Before Preschool, What to Expect When You are Going to Preschool.
- Role Play School
Use your child’s imagination to your advantage. Role-playing a day at school with their favorite stuffed animals can help them adjust to the idea of leaving you for a while. You can act out a scene where one stuffed animal is dropped off at school and reassured that their parent will come back.
Tips for Drop-Off:
Even with all the preparation, your preschooler may still feel anxious during drop-off. One way to ease their nerves is by creating a goodbye ritual. This routine provides comfort and gives them a sense of control over their day. Whether it’s a special goodbye saying or a secret handshake, let them be creative. Once you’ve said your goodbyes, try not to linger—your child might become more anxious if they sense you’re hesitant to leave.
Remember, be patient with your preschooler. This is a big moment for them, and the transition can take time. Some kids may cry every day at first. Stay consistent, keep a morning routine, offer words of affirmation, and they will eventually settle into their new routine.
Travel Tips when flying with Children
July, 2024
Vacation season is upon us. Although my years of dragging car seats and strollers through the airport are long gone, the stressful memories remain!
Living in the UK we did many international flights – most European were around 4 hours and long haul 9 plus - a long time for any little one to be seated in a confined space! It has given me the experience after more than a decade or so of traveling with my kids to offer up a few tricks of the trade I learned along the way.
Get to the airport early!
I cannot stress this enough: Get to the airport with plenty of time to kill!! I have found that the best way to avoid stress is preparation. You do not want to rush through security with toddlers - believe me. If you are anxious and stressed your kids will be anxious and stressed too. You want your airport visit to be leisurely not chaotic! Leave well in advance to allow for traffic and here I write from experience of one still remembered very stressful traffic jam which nearly led to a missed flight!
Make the airport an adventure.
Treat the airport as if it is an exciting outing and all part of the holiday. Infuse fun into everything: the moving sidewalks, the planes landing and taking off, the security check point with it’s neat conveyer belt and x-ray machine. Show your little one a map of your plane route. Describe the places and landmarks that you will be flying over. Explain to them, that the carry on or backpack they have is an “Explorers pack.” Add some cheap binoculars or a little magnifying glass to it and let them be an airport anthropologist.
Wear them out prior to boarding.
This goes hand and hand with the above sentiment. Express to your child that they are not only at the airport, they are on an expedition. Avoid screens at the airport. Save that for the flight. Instead, walk the terminal. Don’t push your kid in a stroller let them explore. They will be spending the next several hours sitting so let them get all their energy out in the airport. Use the moving sidewalks to do laps. Your kid will love it! A great airport activity prior to boarding is going on a scavenger hunt. You will find a print-out below or make your own list of things for your child to find: a flight attendant in uniform, a pilot, a red suitcase, a plane landing, a plane taking off, a person wearing yellow, and so on. Make it an adventure from the start. Mostly you want them to burn as much energy as they can so that by the time you get on the plane, your child is ready to relax.
Make your travel easy.
While it is not always possible or financially reasonable—if you can swing it, try to book a direct flight. You want to eliminate the stress of deplaning with kids and all your parenting gear to trudge through the airport in search of another gate. I also recommend investing in that extra seat for your kid even if they do qualify as a lap rider. Getting that extra seat is worth it. It is recommended for safety to have them in a car seat, according to the Federal Aviation Administration, and the extra space for them to move around makes all the difference in the world.
Make the flight Special:
Pack fun activities like sticker books, interactive workbooks, crayons, and coloring books. Have some special surprises ready for your child and hand them out every hour or so. It could be something as simple as a dollar store gift or a special craft created from items you already had at home. You can even wrap these little gifts so they feel extra special. Prior to boarding you could let them pick their own special snack in one of the terminal gift ships. While your kid might not be allowed more than an hour of screen time on a normal day, I have always felt, for my own sanity, that it is okay to make exceptions on long flights. Same goes for snacks - Do they want barbeque chips at 9am at the airport? No problem; you are on vacation!
Don’t Stress
Do not stress about bothering other passengers while on the plane. Kids are kids. People are far more patient than we think they are and most of them have been in your place. The majority of other travelers feel nothing but empathy towards parents on flights. Your kid will probably throw a mid-flight temper tantrum or spill their juice box, or cry during landing. It is okay. We have all been there. Those behaviors will bother you more than anyone else around you. Don’t stress and enjoy your vacation! You deserve it!!
Need some cute travel attire? Shop our vacation ready looks:
Come with us behind the scenes for photo shoot planning!
Ettie+h new collection for SS24
It all starts months in advance – destinations have to be thought about and decided on……. where do we want to go? What ‘look’ do we want for the catalogues? What colors, prints and designs are in the collection and what sort of place or area will these sit well in? Will the area work with babies and young children? Whats the weather going to be like? Will there be enough little models in the nearby vicinity? How easy will it be to get all the team there and will there be somewhere big enough for us all to stay?
The research begins….
Once we have found what we hope will be a fabulous destination with wall to wall sunny weather then the plans are put into action! We have booked places where we are told ‘’it never rains’’ or ‘’its always sunny here’, and of course rain, storms, cold winds and sea fog have all arrived so we have learnt by experience that nothing is guaranteed!
The next big question is will the samples arrive in time? Good communication with our lovely factory is always key and even then occasionally sample production can go right to the wire. We have in the past had to start a photo shoot with a few samples only to have more arrive each day as went along!
Usually a week or so ahead of the shoot samples arrive and its like unboxing Christmas! This is often the first time we have seen the full and finished collection so its always a joy to unbox, love, ooooh and ahhhhh over all the gorgeousness that’s unpacked!
We are a worldwide team so once everything is in place those who are doing the shoot travel to the destination a day or two ahead of the shoot date and work begins!
Samples are unpacked and its then steam, steam, steam and more steaming! Every single piece needs to be looking its very best!
There is also a huge amount of work to do to pull outfits together, group outfits, coordinate outfits and make sure every piece is included. Its also at this stage where we try to match models with a stack of outfits but sometimes on the day this has to swap around if the child is bigger or smaller than we anticipated or the outfit just doesn’t work on them.
We also have to send scouts out to find the perfect place for the photos. A place where we can set up with all the samples, has a stunning vista, be convenient and safe for parents and carers with their little ones and have nearby facilities - not always easy to tick all the boxes!
Alongside all of this work and ahead of the shoot we also have a dedicated team member who a couple of weeks beforehand will have done a shout-out with local mums for age-appropriate models. This can be a challenge as samples only come in 2 or 3 sizes and as we all know children of the same age are not all the same size!
We tend to split the days into 3 fun sessions and often get people helping us out for the full day as well as those coming for just one or two sessions a day. The shoot usually happens over a week and we even have some crazy families who travel hours to come and join us – we love them all and are so happy they return to have more fun with us! The color coded spreadsheet needed to organise models and sessions is a joy to behold!!
Follow us on social media and keep an eye open for when we call out for models to see if you are close by to one of our upcoming shoots! Its always a whole lot of fun and shenanigans!
@ettieandh
We take 1000’s and 1000’s of photos along with 100’s of videos and these all need editing in preparation for building catalogues and websites – a HUGE task for our marketing team!
Once the shoot is wrapped up this work begins – usually with a tight timescale to get copy off to the printers! Take a look at the finished lookbook...
In May 2023 our photo shoot took place at the gorgeous Parks Court House in the Cotswolds in the UK. A beautiful medieval house with stunning gardens!
Mark, Michele, Daisy and Cameron were there to pull the SS24 collection together. Hard work but fun! The gentle color pallet of the collection with flowers and gardening prints looked fabulous against the backdrop of sandy Cotswold stone and blooming flower beds.
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Like all best-laid plans a few samples didn’t arrive in time so we did a small mop-up shoot in California on a beach which turned out to be the perfect place for our whales, boats and palm tree island prints – it was like we planned it that way!!
Our prints are all designed by our own artist and are bespoke to us. You won’t find them on any other line of clothing!
Whats new……In past collections we have used two tone prints but this collection is the first to see us use multi tone prints which we are loving! Adding in that extra depth to the prints has made all the difference and these multi colored prints are looking like they will be topping the best selling pieces for this season. Its always a risk introducing something new but this has definitely paid off!
We have also introduced a couple of new styles….. the Lizzy dress with her cute shoestring straps, gathered waist and tiered frill and the Amelia romper in fresh green delicate textured fabric.
Back is our best selling Nessa Bubble – classic shape and oh so compfy fit along with our Wella overalls that are a staple in any wardrobe!
And then as soon as one season is wrapped up its onto the next.....heres a sneak peak of the start of the design process for AW24!
For your nearest stockist just reach out and we can send you the details.