Chapter Forty

13.6.12

Cafe chic

Even before I had a daughter I imagined taking her out to a cafe, chatting over the days events and pondering life together over a coffee.

So as soon as she was able Little Miss and I have done just that.

At first she may have had her bottle or slept in a pram while I grabbed a coffee to recharge myself for that afternoon's dinner, bath, story, story, story, song song and song then finally bed routine.

But over her nearly five years Little Miss is now quite a cafe chick. She has moved on from babychinnos, "Which are really for babies Mummy." To partaking in hot chocolates. Now these can't just be any hot chocolates, they can't be too hot or too cold, they have to be just right and that includes coming with a marshmallow. But it has to be a pink marshmallow. If the hot chocolate comes without a marshmallow, well quite frankly we never return to that establishment....well at least she knows what she likes in life.

In my experience the best hot chocolates leave their own mark on Little Miss.

As these special mother and daughter times have left their mark on me. Soon to start school I will dreadfully miss Little Miss. Her company at cafe's and supermarket expeditions will be sorely missed.

17.5.12

Mother hen

How hatching baby chicks at Kindy has confused things.....

"Mummy when you laid B and I did it hurt?

After I stopped laughing I asked, "A little bit. Did you come in an egg?"

"No," Little Miss replied, "But I was an egg inside your tummy."

12.5.12

Letting go....again

B reached a milestone in the last school holidays that makes me really happy and a little bit sad at the same time. He's riding a bike.

At eight it might be a bit late on his list of achievements, we haven't intentionally held him back. His late learning to ride has been a consequence of situation. Living in a house with no backyard close to busy roads then moving to a house on a hill. But over the holidays we stayed in the beach shack with its wide long driveway and safe esplanade bike path round the corner. B has been scooting for a while now so we hoped it wouldn't take too much, just so long as he would give it a try.

Getting kids to try new things can be tricky. They don't want to fail, so a lot of encouragement is needed. With the new bike in the car we talked to him about practising something before its perfect. We told him stories of how we learnt to ride. Our embarrassing bike crashes that had me caught up in a rose bush and his father in a creek, complete with wet newspapers he was meant to be delivering. So when he came to trying out the bike and not getting it straight away he would know its a process.

But I need not have worried, whether it was the balancing practise on his scooter or his mature 8 years, he was riding that bike within an hour. As proud as we were I couldn't help feel like I had just lost a hold of him. Now he has his own method of transport, his own wheels.

After a big bike ride along the esplanade, I asked him, "Did you taste the freedom?"
B said, "No Mum you kept calling me back."

4.5.12

Five dangerous things kids should do

Gever Tully explains that to help children become creative and confident we should let them do several dangerous things. And I can't help but agree, but that doesn't mean I'm ready, just yet.

Thanks for passing this on to me Shiona

26.4.12

Kids iron beds

Right now I am so into Pinterest. It's like having a new magazine of whatever you want to look at everyday, but you can rip out your favourite pages and put them all together. I'm gaining a lot of inspiration for B and Little Miss's bedrooms. In our house we need to to a lot of renovating, kids bedrooms included.

I have been admiring antique single iron beds and have been really wanting one for Little Miss. So it was with a screech of brakes and butterflies in my stomach that I approached one the other day at a garage sale. I thought it was going to be at least $200, but was overjoyed to find it was only $30!!! It does need restoration and a new coat of paint, but Little Miss really loves it.

The following images are of kids rooms with iron beds that I think have a lovely old world feel to them. A magical space seems to be created when something with history is given to a child to use and appreciate. If only the furniture could talk. All the children that have come before and laughed, played and learnt in the presence of these objects. Growing up is such a precious impressionable time. Making a space special for each of my kids is high on the renovation priority list.

Source: daffodildesign.com via Chapter on Pinterest

Source: marktuckey.com.au via Chapter on Pinterest

Source: elinadahl.blogspot.com via Chapter on Pinterest

Source: dotcomsformoms.com via Chapter on Pinterest

Source: ohdeedoh.com via Chapter on Pinterest

Source: plentyofcolour.com via Chapter on Pinterest

Source: designspirationsk.com via Chapter on Pinterest

Source: kireei.com via Chapter on Pinterest

Source: remodelista.com via Chapter on Pinterest

Source: 2bydesign.blogspot.com via Chapter on Pinterest

Source: designspirationsk.com via Chapter on Pinterest

How to really love a child

This is great advice,

from here

13.4.12

Easter Picnic

I have this little sister Ruthie, she is small and very funny.

Ruthie lives on a lot of land and keeps alpacas.

This Easter she had the idea to have a family picnic under a tree in a faraway paddock.

So we had to trek to the paddock.

Past the alpacas

and up the hill

Where we picnicked by lying around and eating a lot of food

We played "bunny hop", which is Ruthie's Easter version of Kris Kringle only with Easter eggs (This is a game where you take turns to select a wrapped gift, but can choose an opened gift someone else has already selected, so it can get a bit playful) Thankfully the children did not end up in tears.

Full of the view, food and chocolate, we then we made the trek back again.

Now I have to admit I was not all that keen on the idea of trekking up the hill to the picnic spot. Lacking in adventure that day I just wanted to enjoy the warmth of the house and a comfy chair. I may have even been hoping for some rain to spoil the plans, naughty sister that I am.

But I have to admit how wrong I was. The effort was absolutely worth it, the fresh air, the exercise and the view altered my soggy mood, we all laughed about this crazy thing we were doing and it felt really good. So like most things in life the more you put in the more you get out.

Thank goodness I have a funny sister.

20.3.12

Crazy about Creationary

It's no secret the Chapter Forty household is a big fan of Lego. We all love the stuff. Sure it can be annoying when it's in the bed or underfoot, but I can forgive is uncomfortable corners as it's just so wonderfully creative, entertaining, imaginative and playful. I thought it couldn't get much better than that really, but then entered the Lego game Creationary. (With thanks to my 23 year old nephew)

You have a box of basic Lego pieces and a deck of cards picturing, vehicles, buildings, natural things and tools of some kind. The idea is that you have to make an item from the card and the other players have to guess what you have created. The cards vary in difficultly and the rules are adaptable, so one person can create or all the players can create at the same time.

It sounds simple enough, but with the box of basic pieces limiting your palette you have to get very creative.

B is really good at Creationary and he wanted to record some of our creations.