Parent to Parent

Parent to Parent Interview

Jenny Eaves is the owner of Monkey and Mouse, a family lifestyle and travel blog based in Dunblane. Jenny has two children aged eight and six, who love having family adventures - with a particular love of beaches and castles!

Monkey and Mouse began life as a children’s craft blog five years ago but has now developed into a small business for Jenny as a family lifestyle and travel blogger and influencer. As Jenny home educates her two children (and did prior to Lockdown!), it’s great that she can fit work around family life.

Here at Families Central Scotland, we absolutely love your blog, Monkey and Mouse! So many inspiring ideas and useful reviews for families in Scotland. How did you get into it? What’s the best part of the job?

Before kids I had another blog on which I used to share my forays into the crafting world. But I soon stopped updating it when I had my first child as I was too tired to craft never mind blog! I missed

writing and posting photos on my blog, so once my second child was a year old, I decided it was time to get back to blogging and start a parenting blog instead. Since then it has just grown from strength to strength, with lots of reviews of local (and not so local) attractions and advice posts as well as parenting and home education updates. The best part of the job has to be all the fabulous opportunities I have been given through blogging.

Tell us about your home educating…

We decided to start home educating when our eldest was only a toddler: it just seemed natural after being child led in the early years. We soon found plenty of home educating families in the area and could regularly attend different home education groups and meet up with other home educators during the week. Home education is not school at home as many would believe - instead it’s educating your children through daily life. We personally choose not to follow a curriculum (in the UK you can choose to follow ANY curriculum or none) and the children choose what to learn and when. They don’t see learning as a chore, just a fun part of life. Socialisation is never an issue either as the kids meet with plenty of other children and adults of all ages through the numerous classes and groups we go to.

How was Lockdown for your family?

Lockdown has been difficult; we have all been rather sad at one point or another missing family and friends. The kids are used to seeing their friends almost every day, so this has been especially difficult for them, particularly my sociable six year old. We have also had to cancel several trips that I had been planning for a while. Two big trips abroad were cancelled which was upsetting after all my work planning each detail and the itinerary. However, we are also lucky as we’ve all been safe at home and haven’t been ill. My husband was home for 12 weeks on full pay, which is incredibly lucky compared to others’ circumstances. So, despite how hard it’s been I still count us lucky for being together and having a roof over our heads at this time.

Why do you like living where you do? How child friendly is it?

Dunblane is great wee town! We have plenty of public transport links to get around the area, as well as being beside the A9. It’s a great place for families with several good parks, a cycle track that can take you all the way across to Doune and heaps of different groups and classes for children. When the kids were small we rarely left the town for groups, there is just so much to do right here!

You’ve been on quite a few (!), but can you narrow down the best family day out in Scotland?

That’s hard to do, Scotland has so many fantastic places to visit! Locally we particularly enjoy Stirling Castle as there’s always so much to see and do together. If we’re going a bit further afield then it has to be the National Museum of Scotland and Dynamic Earth in Edinburghboth are great with the kids. Keep an eye out in autumn as Dynamic Earth often offers a free annual pass when you visit once in October.

Favourite things to do with the children in the summer?

Inchmahome Priory is always a gorgeous place to visit in the summer. You catch a little boat

across the water to the island and can spend the day climbing trees, paddling in the water and exploring the ruins. Perfect for a beautiful summer day!

Best day out on a budget?

Take the kids on a hill walk with a picnic lunch. For younger kids Dumyat is a great hill walk as you’re already half way up the hill when you start, but they still get that excitement when they get to the top of the hill! When they’re capable of walking further then Ben A’an is a good hill to start.

Best place to be when it’s pouring with rain?

In the winter when the kids are often a bit wilder, as we aren’t out as often as normal, then it has to be soft play. We mostly head over to Alloa Kidz World Soft play so they can let all their energy out for a couple of hours, whilst I can sit down and relax for a bit! In the summer we often like to visit the Dunblane Museum. It’s a small museum, but it’s actually quite enjoyable for the kids (my two love a good museum!) with various items to find throughout the building and lots of interesting displays about the history of the town. It’s free to visit, but please donate whatever you can as that’s how they fund the museum.

Favourite craft activity:

I’m not sure if it counts as a craft, but my kids love science experiments. So we are often crafting volcanoes out of paper mâché or playdough and adding bicarb of soda and vinegar to make them erupt!

Favourite shop:

We are trying to create less waste and are visiting Dunblane’s zero waste shop, Weigh Ahead, once a week for supplies. The kids enjoy helping choose and weigh tubs of pasta, cereal and other items. They also sell local honey from Stirlingshire, which I really hope stops my hayfever this year!

Favourite park:

The kids’ favourite is always King’s Park; the slide area lends itself to a lot of fun for imaginary play!

Favourite children’s club:

I’m not sure I can choose just one class, there are so many great ones! The class that both children enjoy has got to be Coach My Sport run by Tony Phillips, they are always doing different sports and learning new skills. My eldest is not naturally sporty, but he has developed so much since starting Coach My Sport!

Favourite child-friendly restaurant or café:

The Buttercup Café in Doune is always a good one with kids. They are always helpful and considerate of the children. Plus they have a fantastic selection of cakes!

Favourite night out without kids:

Ha! I wish, not sure when our last night out without kids was…

Best planet saving tip:

Switch to period pants, seriously ladies, they are brilliant! Very comfortable and more importantly think about how many sanitary towels and tampons that you aren’t sending to landfill!

No parent should be without:

Snacks, no parent should ever go out the house without snacks…

Parenting pet hates:

Judgy parents. You never know what another person is going through, so be nice and don’t judge!

Top family holiday spot:

I love visiting different places around the world. But in Scotland we particularly love to head to the West coast to visit the islands at least a few times a year. The beaches are divine with white sands and turquoise water. We have even seen many dolphins, whales and porpoises whilst visiting the isles.

Most loved children’s book:

Oh, difficult question! When the children were younger I loved to read Julia Donaldson books to them. But now my 8 year old loves Harry Potter and the youngest is into the (never ending!) Rainbow Fairy Series.

Best children’s DVD, programme or app:

The kids like a wide range of different apps and TV programmes, but one of the best kids’ TV programmes is The Magic School Bus. I remember having some of the books when I was wee and was delighted to find it on Netflix. The kids learn a lot about such a wide range of topics, plus they find it hilarious!

Most played with toys:

Lego for my eldest, he would spend all day building with it sometimes. My youngest loves his soft toys, but spends most of his time playing imaginary games or singing and dancing around the house!

Biggest waste of money:

Quite a lot of the toys the kids were given! They much prefer to play with random objects like torches imagination.

Most successful recipe/food:

I quite enjoy baking and have known the Victoria Sandwich recipe off by heart since I was in my early teens! I do quite like decorating the kids’ birthday cakes, especially when I see their faces light up when they see them.

Something about you that most people don’t know:

Before kids I trained as an ecologist and spent most of my time outdoors and cardboard boxes using their

looking for signs of protected species. Which is really looking for animal poo whilst wading through bogs!! Ha ha!

Best advice you’ve ever been given:

‘You can do anything you put your mind to.’ Not sure if that came from my parents but I’ve always believed I could do whatever I chose to, I just needed to work hard to get there.

monkeyandmouse@hotmail.co.uk • monkeyandmouse.co.uk @MonkeyandMousey