1. not living in a tornado zone. Over 100 people were killed in Joplin, MO last night by a tornado that "sat" on the town.
2. potentially having a public school option for R. by the time she gets to kindergarten.
3. bring a cardigan to work today. My skirt split up to my bum - my baby bump is starting to fight back.
Monday, May 23, 2011
Friday, May 20, 2011
gratitude journal 7
1. baking a successful sponge cake after reading the recipe carefully and buying scales and the correct sized tins.
2. walking around the block with my toddler and dog.
3. chatting about birth plans with my husband and debating the question is child birth more painful than crucifixion.
2. walking around the block with my toddler and dog.
3. chatting about birth plans with my husband and debating the question is child birth more painful than crucifixion.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
super cling
R and i went to a small playgroup this morning. There were five or six other children there. She left my lap for maybe five minutes of the two hours we were there. She cried when another child came near her, whined when another child touched the toy she was playing with and moaned when another child interacted with me. She sat on a blanket during snack time, but needed me immediately behind her. All of the other children were happy to interact together and move away from their parents. I have a super shy, clingy little girl. Is it shyness or insecurity? Is it me? I know that she plays with other children while she is in nursery. Maybe it is a combination of both. Both B and I were shy children, and even now social events intimidate me. When I am home, I always play closely with her. Also, maybe I just need to accept her timid temperament. But I want her to be secure enough with herself and her situation to venture off on her own.
After getting home from playgroup feeling embarrassed and a little saddened by R's behaviour, I opened my email to see my weekly "your child this week" email. The main article was about "what to do when my toddler won't leave my side at the playground". It seems I am not alone in dealing with the super cling. The advice is to not overwhelm the child with too many people (I don;t thing five or six other kids is too overwhelming), to praise any act of independence ("wow, you just went down the slide all by yourself, what a big girl" and to feign exhaustion (pretend I'm too tired to play and she should play on her own). All of these seem totally appropriate and worth giving a whirl.
Obviously, R. is an observer, not a jump in without thinking child. I value and respect that quality. But as a mother, I want to to get the most out of everything and I'm saddened, and a little embarrassed, when she moans and clings when another child comes into her personal space. My first thought after leaving playgroup today was to not return. This, I now realize, is ridiculous. It is a safe and secure environment and we need to keep going, for R and for me. All parents want their children to need them, I just want my child to need me a little less.
After getting home from playgroup feeling embarrassed and a little saddened by R's behaviour, I opened my email to see my weekly "your child this week" email. The main article was about "what to do when my toddler won't leave my side at the playground". It seems I am not alone in dealing with the super cling. The advice is to not overwhelm the child with too many people (I don;t thing five or six other kids is too overwhelming), to praise any act of independence ("wow, you just went down the slide all by yourself, what a big girl" and to feign exhaustion (pretend I'm too tired to play and she should play on her own). All of these seem totally appropriate and worth giving a whirl.
Obviously, R. is an observer, not a jump in without thinking child. I value and respect that quality. But as a mother, I want to to get the most out of everything and I'm saddened, and a little embarrassed, when she moans and clings when another child comes into her personal space. My first thought after leaving playgroup today was to not return. This, I now realize, is ridiculous. It is a safe and secure environment and we need to keep going, for R and for me. All parents want their children to need them, I just want my child to need me a little less.
Saturday, May 14, 2011
gratitude journal 6
1. vertical bouncing rain
2. baking and eating the third rhubarb crumble (with cream) in two weeks
3. hugging my husband on the playground as R. plays on the slide
I read an article yesterday about the steady decline of home cooking, but the steady increase in spending on kitchen gadgets. The author described her grandmother, a lady who provided a homemade desert for every lunch and dinner of her married life. This inspired me, could I follow in this ladies footsteps? I lifted Delia's hefty "How to Cook" down from the cupboard and turned to the "Cake and Biscuits for Beginners" chapter. My baking appetite was aroused even further with this, "A cake is a symbol of love and friendship - if someone actually goes to the trouble of baking a cake specially for family and friends, they can't fail to feel spoiled and cared for." (Delia Smith, Book of Cakes (1977) Before I embark on my baking journal I need to improve my apparatus, according to Delia. Apparently perfect cakes are not going to happen by lazily attempting to convert metric weights into imperial weights using our blue plastic cups and going with the one-size-fits-all cake tin I have in my cupboard. To Amazon I go to buy an accurate scale and correctly sized tin, then I will be making "A Classic Sponge Cake (with mixed fruit filling).
2. baking and eating the third rhubarb crumble (with cream) in two weeks
3. hugging my husband on the playground as R. plays on the slide
I read an article yesterday about the steady decline of home cooking, but the steady increase in spending on kitchen gadgets. The author described her grandmother, a lady who provided a homemade desert for every lunch and dinner of her married life. This inspired me, could I follow in this ladies footsteps? I lifted Delia's hefty "How to Cook" down from the cupboard and turned to the "Cake and Biscuits for Beginners" chapter. My baking appetite was aroused even further with this, "A cake is a symbol of love and friendship - if someone actually goes to the trouble of baking a cake specially for family and friends, they can't fail to feel spoiled and cared for." (Delia Smith, Book of Cakes (1977) Before I embark on my baking journal I need to improve my apparatus, according to Delia. Apparently perfect cakes are not going to happen by lazily attempting to convert metric weights into imperial weights using our blue plastic cups and going with the one-size-fits-all cake tin I have in my cupboard. To Amazon I go to buy an accurate scale and correctly sized tin, then I will be making "A Classic Sponge Cake (with mixed fruit filling).
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
gratitude journal 5
1. smelling the lilac bush as I was up the front steps
2. having a strangely shaped cervix and not abnormal, possibly cancerous, cervical cells.
3. a family who are honestly concerned about me
2. having a strangely shaped cervix and not abnormal, possibly cancerous, cervical cells.
3. a family who are honestly concerned about me
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
gratitude journal 4
1. Rose was unhurt in car accident.
2. Baby was unhurt in car accident.
3. I was unhurt in car accident.
2. Baby was unhurt in car accident.
3. I was unhurt in car accident.
Monday, May 09, 2011
Recess
http://www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/05/09/exercise.for.kids/index.html
Imagine all employers banning coffee breaks, chats with colleagues and occasional off task surfing. Imagine employees being mandated to stay seated at their desks for over six hours completing high pressured tasks with minimal talking. Imagine the only daily break being a thirty minute lunch of sub-quality food and assigned seating. Imagine going home with a further three to five hours of work due for the next day. This imagined scenario is a return to England before the Factory Act of 1844.
This is not an imagined situation or a look back in time; this is the reality of an increasing number of school children in this country. How have the priorities of education become so fundamentally wrong? How can we honestly think a child with 30 minutes of semi-free time is going to concentrate, let alone interact, analyze and synthesize the lessons of the day? Why do we expect that child to behave? How can we expect that child to learn? The brain needs breaks. How can we deprive our children of this?
Imagine all employers banning coffee breaks, chats with colleagues and occasional off task surfing. Imagine employees being mandated to stay seated at their desks for over six hours completing high pressured tasks with minimal talking. Imagine the only daily break being a thirty minute lunch of sub-quality food and assigned seating. Imagine going home with a further three to five hours of work due for the next day. This imagined scenario is a return to England before the Factory Act of 1844.
This is not an imagined situation or a look back in time; this is the reality of an increasing number of school children in this country. How have the priorities of education become so fundamentally wrong? How can we honestly think a child with 30 minutes of semi-free time is going to concentrate, let alone interact, analyze and synthesize the lessons of the day? Why do we expect that child to behave? How can we expect that child to learn? The brain needs breaks. How can we deprive our children of this?
Recess
http://www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/05/09/exercise.for.kids/index.html
Imagine all employers banning coffee breaks, chats with colleagues and occasional off task surfing. Imagine employees being mandated to stay seated at their desks for over six hours completing high pressured tasks with minimal talking. Imagine the only daily break being a thirty minute lunch of sub-quality food and assigned seating. Imagine going home with a further three to five hours of work due for the next day. This imagined scenario is a return to England before the Factory Act of 1844.
This is not an imagined situation or a look back in time; this is the reality of an increasing number of school children in this country. How have the priorities of education become so fundamentally wrong? How can we honestly think a child with 30 minutes of semi-free time is going to concentrate, let alone interact, analyze and synthesize the lessons of the day? Why do we expect that child to behave? How can we expect that child to learn? The brain needs breaks. How can we deprive our children of this?
Imagine all employers banning coffee breaks, chats with colleagues and occasional off task surfing. Imagine employees being mandated to stay seated at their desks for over six hours completing high pressured tasks with minimal talking. Imagine the only daily break being a thirty minute lunch of sub-quality food and assigned seating. Imagine going home with a further three to five hours of work due for the next day. This imagined scenario is a return to England before the Factory Act of 1844.
This is not an imagined situation or a look back in time; this is the reality of an increasing number of school children in this country. How have the priorities of education become so fundamentally wrong? How can we honestly think a child with 30 minutes of semi-free time is going to concentrate, let alone interact, analyze and synthesize the lessons of the day? Why do we expect that child to behave? How can we expect that child to learn? The brain needs breaks. How can we deprive our children of this?
Gratitude Journal 3
1. Reading Olympics coming to a successful end
2. getting into PJs at the end of a work day
3. having lots of options (sometimes)
2. getting into PJs at the end of a work day
3. having lots of options (sometimes)
Thursday, May 05, 2011
Gratitude journal 2
1. a cup of tea when my head hurts
2. wool socks
3. having lunch with friends on a work day
2. wool socks
3. having lunch with friends on a work day
Tuesday, May 03, 2011
Gratitude Journal 1
Three things I am grateful for today:
1. Watching seeds become seedlings
2. Being unable to do up my jeans because of my growing baby
3. knowing R will happily go to bed at 7.00 and I will have the evening with B
"Weigh up your life once a year. If you find you are getting short weight, change your life. You will usually find that the solution lies in your own hands" Robertson Davis from Authentic Happiness p. 82
1. Watching seeds become seedlings
2. Being unable to do up my jeans because of my growing baby
3. knowing R will happily go to bed at 7.00 and I will have the evening with B
"Weigh up your life once a year. If you find you are getting short weight, change your life. You will usually find that the solution lies in your own hands" Robertson Davis from Authentic Happiness p. 82
Situation Room 05/01 2011
The gesture and expression of Hillary is so telling of gender differences. You assume the screen is showing a moment of high drama (they may be watching the moment bin Laden was shot and the men passively watch while Hillary holds her hand to her face. Fascinating.
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