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Parent Parent Lisa Fleming lives in Colinton with her one year old son, Cameron and husband Euan. Favourite shop: There are far too many too choose from! I think at the moment it has to be Little World in Morningside, it has so many quirky and brightly coloured outfits for little boys which can sometimes be hard to find.
Favourite park: Spylaw Park in Colinton - it is just down the road from where we live and always nice to
walk around, or play on the swings.
Favourite children’s club/class:
Monkey Music without a doubt! In all seriousness I had heard so many of my friends’ children talk about ‘monkey’ over the years and I took Cameron when he was only 3 months. He loved the music and props so much and let’s just say the rest is history! www.monkeymusic.co.uk. My husband also takes Cameron to a Dads only group called Dads Rock on a Saturday morning and I cannot praise it enough! Cameron and his daddy love it!
Favourite day out:
On a warm day it has to be Edinburgh Zoo, I don’t think the novelty of the zoo wears off even as an adult and the facilities for children are getting better all the time. If the weather isn’t great we love a family swim, followed by a pub lunch or maybe some soft play out at Ratho.
Favourite child friendly restaurant:
Dante’s in Colinton Village. The staff are so welcoming and nothing is ever a problem even during a busy service. It is family friendly but still feels like a ‘grown up’ place at the same time and the food is delicious.
Proudest eco-friendly moment: Starting to recycle when Cameron
was born. We had always been really bad at recycling as I worked long hours and never really remembered to put the boxes out but now we do make an effort to recycle as much as we can. With a young child you can’t fit everything into the wheelie bin anyway so the system makes sense.
No parent should be without: A Jumparoo. I remember when we
had our son all of our friends told us about the Jumparoo but we were quite skeptical as they are pretty expensive but I can safely say it has been jumped in to great amusement for hours on end! On a practical level our Maxi-Cosi Axis car seat has been a great help to prevent back strain as it swivels to face you whilst you pop your wee one into it.
Parenting pet hates:
Competitive parents! I have been really lucky to have met 10 fantastic mums through my ante natal classes who have become great friends and a support network who never brag about what their babies are doing. Babies all develop at different times and it’s not a competition! Some parents take it a little too far.
Parenting high points (what makes it all worthwhile): A simple toothy smile melts my heart and makes even the toughest days all worthwhile.
Funniest comment (from child):
We’ve still to have the first word although the sounds he can make crack us up on a daily basis. My favourite has to be being woken up by raspberries being blown down the baby monitor - it beats an alarm clock.
Favourite family holiday spot:
We had our first family holiday in January to Centre Parcs and it was the perfect break. Cameron was only 5 months at the time - every part of the village was so well equipped with bottle warmers, microwaves etc making it a very relaxing and stress free break.
Best children’s book:
Calm Down Boris. Cameron loves puppets and Boris is a bright orange monster who pops out of the book. It’s definitely a family favourite.
Best children DVD:
Monsters Inc.. Cameron loves the bright colours of monsters and Mummy and Daddy don’t mind watching this one either. You can’t go wrong with Pixar I don’t think.
Most played with toys: Freddie Firefly (Lamaze) has been chewed
within in an inch of his life and has to go everywhere with us. Our mobile phones also seem to be a favourite ‘toy’ just now as does anything that can be shaken or banged to make a noise.
Biggest waste of money:
Our Baby Bjorn sling - we never really used it and Cameron grew out of it very quickly. There are so many great second hand markets now I think if I could do it all again I would definitely look at second hand sales first.
Why you like living where you do:
Edinburgh is so full of character and, even after living here all of my life I am still constantly finding out about new places to eat, take Cameron, shop and visit. Moving to Colinton 18 months ago has been the best move we have made - it’s such a beautiful and friendly little village which feels quite remote at times but you can still be in the centre of town within 15 minutes if you need to be.
As parents in Edinburgh you have so much fantastic local knowledge – if you would like to share your favourite bits of being a parent and living in our fantastic city then please email: editor@familiesedinburgh.co.uk
9 FAMILIES EDINBURGH ISSUE 79