
The National Galleries of Scotland came to our rescue today. So what if it’s raining when you can take part in free arts and crafts and a whole heap of educational activities, in epic surroundings. Despite a fun packed day with a 3 and a 5-year-old, I’m actually feeling pretty relaxed now and hopefully they are zonked enough to go to bed at a reasonable time. If we had been at home all day, it would have been a totally different story.


The kids were fully in their happy zone. Arts, crafting and creating. No arguing over toys or which TV show to watch, just soaking up a lovely new atmosphere and getting lost Van Gogh style.
I managed to do a little bit of drawing and reading myself. I stumbled across a book in the resource room (aka kids creative heaven) about the importance of taking time to get creative alone. From a mental health point of view, these simple things are so important to teach our little people at this stage. Kids need time to get lost in play and creating. I love watching them sitting painting or building in their happy place, it’s so relaxing. Today, Bonnie and Charlie were simply enjoying creating stuff and they were lost in the moment. Mindfulness at its best.
I even made time for a bit of gushy mindfulness myself. Check out my recent article here about gushy mindfulness for people who love to be busy. Today it was –
Sitting calmly (off my phone and away from my emails) watching them get creative, with not a care in the world.
and
Wiping their little hands (with baby wipes that were on the table – the team really have thought of everything) and reflecting on how much they have grown. That was a proper tear jerker kind of moment. Green chalk being wiped off soft, warm little fingers.
Our little people were engaged and entertained all afternoon – perhaps the fantastic surroundings put them in a kind of arty trance and yes myself in a gushy mindfulness trance. I’ll take that though as I am aware I need to do this more. I need to take more time out to stop and appreciate what I have. Because it can be easy to get caught up in the exciting ‘to do’ lists (or the mundane) and miss moments.
National Galleries – 1 Rain – 0
We still got to enjoy the view of the lovely grounds, whilst cosy inside.






