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You are here: Home / MOTHERHOOD / Our sound of happy

Our sound of happy

August 17, 2016 by Molly Leave a Comment

Happy mum and baby

Hello! I’m back in the UK and currently sitting amidst a pile of holiday washing and unpacking while looking out onto my slightly wild garden. I can’t wait to edit all the footage I took in France (despite my earlier thoughts of not vlogging or photographing much of the holiday the inner blogger in me won out and I ended up really enjoying catching snippets of our holiday on film). Before I get to the holiday stuff though, today I want to talk about happiness – specifically, our sounds of happy.

We have a tradition in our house. Every Friday after school during term time we have a “living room disco”. This is like a normal disco, only in the living room and without the disco lights. We’ve done it since forever.

As Baby Girl is now a 22 month old toddling toddler she’s just as much into the disco dancing as her older sister. The two girls dance around the living room throwing shapes and making each other laugh with their crazy moves. This isn’t a recent thing though – even before Baby Girl could walk she loved the tunes. Music – any type of music – makes her happy.

happy baby

If I had to pinpoint the top five sounds that make my littlest one happy, they would be:

  1. The word “Boobie” (she’s definitely still led by her love of milk)
  2. Shakira’s Waka Waka song
  3. Fart noises (she likes to proclaim “poopie! Poopie!” every after one
  4. Lullabies at bedtime (Twinkle Twinkle Little Star is her favourite)
  5. The sound of the horses in the field opposite our house (she loves animals)

cheeky baby

So these would be the sounds that would make my C&G Baby Club Sounds of Happy shortlist. The brand’s Sounds of Happy campaign is a great way to tap into some useful ideas for ways to cheer up a slightly grumpy baby and to kick-start those infectious baby giggles. (You never know, maybe your baby – like mine – will also have huge love for Shakira’s Waka Waka song!)

There’s something hugely rewarding about seeing your baby laugh isn’t there? I can still remember that first baby smile from both of my girls and, later, the development of a gummy smile into a belly-busting roar of a laugh. It’s funny and heart-melting, even at 3am.

I never get tired of finding ways to make my tot lose it with laughter and, as she gets older, she’s proving to be just as adept at finding ways to make us all crack up too. Often it’s a silly face (she does a brilliant Kenneth Williams impression!) or a funny dance move. Again, music is normally the catalyst for such behaviour. As much as her dad rolls his eyes at Shakira, even he can’t begrudge her the song for the millionth time in a row because the way her face lights up when it comes on is so priceless.

funny toddler

Tell me, what would your sounds of happy be? Is there a particular song your baby loves or a noise which is guaranteed to raise a big gummy grin?

 

 

 

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Disclosure: This is a commissioned post. For more information about how I work with brands check out my Work With Me page.

Filed Under: Babies, MOTHERHOOD Tagged With: babies, happiness, motherhood, Parenting

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Hello and welcome! I'm Molly Forbes - podcaster, presenter and blogger with a passion for positivity, confidence and body image chat. Regularly writing and vlogging about empowering female issues from a motherhood angle, I also cover lifestyle and fashion topics for like-minded mums who want to rediscover themselves after having children. Thanks for stopping by! Read More…

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If you feel bad about your body you’re less like If you feel bad about your body you’re less likely to do nice things for it, including moving in a way that feels good and eating in a way that feels good. (FYI health is about more than just exercise and nutrition, but let’s get deeper into the exercise thing for a second...)
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Research shows kids who have low body image are less likely to get involved with sports and more likely to skip PE. 
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Want kids to move more? Stop teaching them that one type of body is better than another - because if their body doesn’t look like your version of a healthy / beautiful / successful body not only will they be more likely to feel shame over their body, they’ll be less likely to engage with the very behaviours you want them to do more of (or be more likely to engage with them in an UNhealthy way - compulsive exercise is dangerous).
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Instead:
💕Try talking about the intrinsic benefits of exercise over the extrinsic ones (ie. how it makes you FEEL instead of how it makes you LOOK).
✨Create opportunities for movement where ALL children feel welcome. 
💕Show children diverse representation so they can see sporting heroes with a range of body types and know that movement is for EVERYbody. 
✨Take a zero tolerance approach to appearance based bullying, body shaming and comments that perpetuate weight stigma (including even the hint that fat = bad). 
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(If you’re a teacher or youth leader interested in knowing more about this topic, a #BodyHappyKids workshop will help - follow the link in my bio 🥰❤️)
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[Image description: A multicoloured slide with an overlaid screenshot of tweet by Molly which reads ‘If your intention is to “get kids healthy” then you need to be aware of how weight bias, weight stigma and poor body image are active barriers to health. The end.]
Sharing this outfit pic with you because it’s a Sharing this outfit pic with you because it’s a crying shame only the piles of laundry got to see it, quite frankly. Finally, a pair of pre-loved jeans bought online that are true to size, consistent with the rest of the brand’s sizing and actually fit! 🎉 
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PS heads up - I’ll be doing a Q&A about body image and kids in my Stories on Friday. The Q sticker is up in my Stories now if you’d like to submit a Q! 💕 #BodyHappyKids
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[Image description: Molly is standing in front of the mirror looking very pleased with the fact her new jeans bought from Depop fit her. She is wearing pink patterned jeans with cherubs on them, a pink check jumper and pink trainers. There are piles of laundry on the bed behind her.]
Another photo of us on a walk, because it’s been Another photo of us on a walk, because it’s been our main form of entertainment this year. Anyone else? 
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I honestly now get excited about putting my boots on and being outdoors, even in the rain. I’m going to start hugging trees next and going on wild camping weekends that involve doing a poo behind a tree and making my own fire. Joke.... maybe. 
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Just another reminder that all movement is valid, exercise doesn’t need to have to be about burning calories or even tracking steps in order for it to be “worth it”. Hope everyone’s had a great weekend ❤️
#BodyHappyMum #JoyfulMovement
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Image description: Molly and her two daughters stand on a bridge in the countryside. They are all wearing hiking boots and outdoor clothes and smiling.
My body is good and excellent and my body only bel My body is good and excellent and my body only belongs to me ✨ (Words by Effie May, age 6 💕) #BodyHappyMum
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Image description: A close up of Molly’s bare skin as she hugs herself. It’s dark and part of her body is illuminated by light. She has her eyes closed and is smiling.
“Mummy I wrote a letter to myself,” she said. “Mummy I wrote a letter to myself,” she said. And my heart swelled. Maybe I’m doing an OK job after all 🤞❤️💕 #BodyHappyKids 
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I could leave this caption here but I need to make something clear: if you think it’s great that my daughter - a thin, white, nondisabled, cisgender kid - feels good in her body but you’re not here for the self-love of any kid who doesn’t look like her.... then you’ve missed the point.
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ALL bodies are good bodies, and without this important piece of the puzzle ALL children will be at risk of doubting their body. And what happens when they doubt their body? Well... hating our body doesn’t make us treat it with love, and the same is true of kids. 
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Great, now we’ve cleared that up, can we take a moment to appreciate the incredible phonetic spelling on show here?! 
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Image description: Effie, age 6, stands against a white wardrobe holding up a letter she has written to herself. It is spelled phonetically and reads “My body is good and excellent and my body only belongs to me.”
I used to struggle to buy stuff for myself if I ha I used to struggle to buy stuff for myself if I had any spare cash - not just treats, but basics like pants and tights that fit properly. I’d tell myself I didn’t need it, didn’t deserve it, couldn’t justify the expense. There’s still that little voice (the habit of putting everyone else’s needs first and my own last dies hard it seems) but I’m leaning into exploring why it still sometimes rears its head, instead of always listening to it. 
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I’m trying to buy as much as I can from pre-loved places or small businesses these days, which is why I’m very happy to share with you some of my latest finds: a star dress from Depop (£5), earrings from @kelzojewellery by @ourtransitionallife (£12) and the comfiest tights I’ve ever owned in Raspberry Pie by @snagtights (£6.99) 💕💕💕
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Have you found any great small brands lately? Shout them out in the comments so we can all support in the run up to Christmas. ⬇️⚡️
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Image description: Molly is smiling and sticking out her tongue to the camera. Her hair is freshly dyed a light shade of pink. She’s wearing a pink t’shirt underneath a black and white star patterned slip dress, with bright pink tights and black and pink earrings decorated with a boob design.
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