Gravity

What is it with little boys and balls?


It started with a nice quiet game with the marble run. Thinking about gravity and momentum.

So naturally a step ladder got involved

But wait we have real stairs

and lots of balls

So play progressed to this.

The thump, thump, thump, thump, thump was an intoxicating noise as the balls bounced down the stairs. We couldn't help but smile and laugh.


If only gravity didn't have the same effect on my skin.


View more great games kids are playing here

Big girl fairy bed

There comes a time when when you have to admit your baby is really not a baby anymore. It's time to face facts, Little Miss must put the cot behind her. She is ready, even though I am not. So now Little Miss sleeps in a big girl fairy bed.

"But I'm not a big girl I'm a little girl" she insists

It is really just a normal single bed, but since her brother has a car bed, (please insert a long sigh, as I have always hated car beds, but we were given the silly thing) Little Miss thought it right that her bed be called a fairy bed.

After two and half years of sleeping in what has really been the spare room, the big girl fairy bed move prompted a room decoration. (Insert a big yeah from me.)

Since fairies seemed to be the theme, and fairies live at the bottom of the garden I went for a wishing tree to sleep under. I got hold of some simple effective inexpensive Ikea wall stickers and went to town.

I am really happy with the outcome. Her face lit up when she saw her room. And she went to bed that night saying, "I want to be fairy and fly Mumma."

I hope all her wishes come true.

Rhythm

I have well and truly taken off my slack coat and I am really proud of myself. I haven't let my kids watch TV at all this week. And its been really wonderful and EASY.

No, I am not mad
And No I have not found my inner hippy.

But I have noticed a huge difference in the way my kids play since the box has been turned off. They are using their imaginations and inventing creative role playing games.

I don't have two zombies passively sitting on the couch only speaking to me in between shows, asking for refreshments anymore and I really really like it. I cant help but be proud of myself as a Mum, and this is a new feeling. I encourage you to try it.

Why would I do this?
It started with my old friend guilt. Particularly for Little Miss. She was watching way too much ABC TV and DVDs. Lola (Charlie and Lola fame) was becoming her alter ego, Angelina ballerina her hero, The Fairies her idols and the Play School presenters her family. I needed to get my daughter back.

I got really inspired by this post at Childhood magic. We have a general daily routine that gets the kids fed and in bed at 7pm every night, but I had lost the daily momentum of rest or sleep times for Little Miss. I also felt deep inside I wasn't grasping enough one on one play time with her. She goes to child care two days a week when I work, so I really wanted to make the most of the time I have with her. B is learning guitar and practising time was slipping away. Before I knew it, it would be Friday and no practise had happened. B responds well to charts and calendars and I thought if I marked which days to practice it would then be set, no negotiation.  I really wanted to chart our routine and activities and get a rhythm in our home.

our chart

Once I made the chart, it was really easy to not turn on the TV. At first I thought I would just try it for one day, but it really was so easy that I kept it up.

While doing chores I have included Little Miss as much as I can. Getting her to help me make the beds, load the washing machine or unload the dishwasher. She has also happily played with toys and books at this time.  I have had some general ideas about activities to play with Little Miss, but she has also initiated play. This week we have done simple colouring and drawing, sticking and pasting a paper mosaic letter "L" for her name, and crayon drawing with water colour painting over the top. She has played sorting games, which she really loves, using little tongs to sort out a mixed bowl of items into separate containers. And for the first time in years we went to a Library's storytelling session with craft and play time. She has asked several times to watch Fairies, but I have just said 'No,' and got her busy with something. It has felt like a really busy week, and yes, it required more effort on my part as I don't use the TV as a baby sitter, but  I am engaging Little Miss with opportunities to learn play and flourish. It has been really rewarding.

sorting activity

After Lunch, with a lot of convincing and perseverance, she has lay down for a rest with a book, I was happy with that and glad for an hour to myself, but to my surprise she has more often than not fallen fast asleep and has had to be woken in time for B's school pick up. She has been a much happier little girl. The terrible whining and whinging has gone and she has slept really well at night.

In the afternoons the kids have made cubby houses inside, played Mums and Dads, been to the park to meet friends and gone out to a cafe. When it has been music practice time for B, I encourage Little Miss to get out the box of toy musical instruments. It has been noisy, but we have had a lots of fun all getting involved in what turns into B's music lesson with him as guitar teacher.

The most amazing part of this all is that B has not asked to watch TV once or even noticed that it is not on.

I feel a bit radical, but I feel so proud of myself. I know with absolute certainty that I am doing the right thing for my kids. I can't say I have ever felt that before in this challenging role as Mum. But it has only been a week, and I am sure it will get hard, especially over the weekend, but I really hope I can keep it up.

Taste

Is it just a matter of taste? Or does your nose have something to do with it? What about texture? How does it feel? What words would you use to describe it?

I am talking food.

A game my older sister used to play with me when I was little was 'taste testing'. I would always know there would be hot english mustard in there somewhere, but I could not resist the blindfolded guessing game that tested my senses.

So I played it with B recently, and he loved it. I assured him there would be nothing he didn't like on the menu. I was flattered by his trust. And I admit that for a moment I really wanted to put something sour, or chile hot on the plate. Kind of like when you hold a hose, you just want to spray people with water. But I resisted and didn't put anything nasty on the tasting plate, I stuck to his well liked staples.

B was blind-folded with a tea towel and given a taste of each item with a drink of water in between.

clockwise from bottom

cashew nuts, berry fruit flakes, chocolate freckle, yoghurt on spoon, cheese, white bread and cherry tomato in the middle.

He had no problem with identifying the yoghurt, freckle, bread or tomato, however it took him ages to recall their correct names. And he couldn't think of the name for the cashew nuts or the fruit flakes, but knew what they were. It was only the cheese he had no idea about.

I found it really interesting that he couldn't think of the words for the foods. Was that because he didn't have the visual prompt of the item? I asked him to use describing words about the textures and flavours he was experiencing. My favourite lines were.

"They were rough, but they were smooth, they had sugar on them making them rough" fruit flakes

"It's rough on the top and smooth on the bottom because all the hundreds and thousands have made it rough." freckle

Find out what other Mums are playing with at childhood 101

Red elephant

Sometimes life throws a spanner in the works and you just have to adapt to the situation as best you can.

It's an important lesson. But B really hates it when plans change, he gets very very upset, cries and even stamps his feet. I can symathise with him, but in the back of my mind I am really thinking, get used to it dear child as life doesn't always go according to plan.

Red elephants can walk across your path at any time.

Slack

Dear efficiency police,

I admit I have been slacking off lately, but that does not make me a bad person. Guilt riddles me for thinking Monday was a pupil free day, when in fact it wasn't.

I know if I had read the latest school newsletter (and probably the one before) I would have known that the pupil free day was cancelled, but I wasn't the only Mum not-in-the-know. I saw an 'a' for absent next to a least one other child on the sign in sheet. But if that wasn't bad enough as I humbly attended school, all be it a day late, B proudly spoke up when asked about his health,
"Oh, I had a pupil free day, I'm not sick."

The parents' laughter still rings in my ears. (please note the plural parents)

I've decided pupil free days are actually a tool the school uses to determine which parents are slackers or not, staff training is just a guise. The efficiency police have spoken to the school and told them to organise a pupil free day each term to weed out the slackers. Then cancel one or two and really see who is on top of the school calendar.

Being found out as the slacker I am, has some benefits though. I can admit to really loving these school holidays. Time away from the routine, demands of homework, music practice, the nightly 'reader' torment, the school lunch doldrums, and the school uniform washing regime have been fantastic.

A new slackness overcame me these last two weeks, an awful lot of T.V. was watched, a lot of mess was made, a lot of takeaway junk food was eaten, computer gaming was involved and B thought one of the best days was pyjama day. We all got to stay in our jammies all day long and the next night. It was simply the best 24 hours he had ever had.

But you will be glad to know that as the pendulum swings one way it returns back just as far the other way. The slackness is sure to be short lived, as I am already thinking of implementing a time chart to limit TV viewing, ensure homework is done, music is practised and quality time is spent together as a family, fully dressed in clothes suitable for the outside.

Yours sincerely,
A slacker Mum.


PS  Please make feel better and let me know how the school has caught you out? or at least how you have been slack, a bit?

School report

Desalination Plant designed by B.

How time flies, B's school report was handed out recently. And I was completely taken aback. On reading it in the playground I exclaimed rather loudly,

"Oh, I am really shocked."

A fellow parent knowing my belief that creativity is paramount low expectations said,

"See B does need to learn to read."

"Huh" was all I could manage in reply as I stared at As, Bs, and Cs judging my child's performance in school.

As, Bs, and Cs, he is 6 for goodness sake. Whatever happened to the competent or developing scales he faired last year?

Suddenly I was torn. I wanted B to have a fantastic report full of As, yet deep inside I know it really doesn't matter. I was getting sucked into the school report vacuum that encourages conformity.

I love the school he goes to, we chose it because it is a Reggio Emilia school. We wanted a creative approach because of our own school experiences and we have been influenced by the work of Sir Ken Robinson. (For the sake of your kids please check him out)

B's teacher this year has an amazing approach, it is so organic and child lead. She sets up provocations that are designed to make the children ask questions. (It might be a hollow log in the middle of the room with a sign that says "What is this?") Every morning the provocation has developed in some way to encourage a line of discussion. The discussions cover topics like maths, science, society and design with her non judgmental facilitation. (The hollow log turned into a home with a spider moving in) B does a lot of painting, which we think it is brilliant, but sadly the teacher has received criticism from other parents.

B is really happy at his school, he loves the provocations and rushes into the class room to see what has developed. His drawings are getting more and more detailed and contain intricate workings. Check his blog out. His Dad and I simply can't believe the drawings he is doing. They are brilliant.

Container ship by B

I am so proud of B, he received glowing comments from the teacher and a great collection of As, Bs and Cs. But most of all I am really proud that B hasn't paid any attention to his school report at all. It really is no big deal at all...

Truly.

Library play

Winter.

It's cold.

The kids are climbing the walls.

You just have to get out of the house.

But, you don't want to spend any money.

Where do you go?

A library of course.

We ventured into the hills, past our local dusty library, to go to the purpose built Stirling Library. It has a great children's section. You can safely make as much noise as you want as the children's library is located away from the adult's books. A cafe space and the borrowing desk actually separate the areas so you don't have to keep quiet. (However Little Miss did at one point decide to do a run through the quiet reading areas with B then me running after her, of course I received several looks with daggers, but just thought, "Lighten up people, public libraries are for everyone.")

We aren't members so borrowing books was not on the agenda, but the kids did not mind.

B found a nice spot to read

Little Miss just pretended to read

We played with the computers, explored the toilets, had a few stories together on a nice comfy couch, and drank the free water from paper cups. B had lots of fun playing knock'em down dominos with a giant wooden domino set.

Little Miss concentrated really hard on the game, but got a bit frustrated.

It was a fun afternoon.

Find out what other Mums are playing at here

Hide in the sink

A favourite game we play at home is hide and seek, but for some reason Little Miss thinks it is called hide in the sink. No one has ever hid in the sink. But sink and seek are pretty similar words. She probably doesn't have seek in her vocabulary yet. Once I did hide in the bath, much to B's amusement. B then hid in the bath when it was his turn to hide next and he ending up getting wet from a bath toy which he wasn't too happy about.

The counting is creative so you have to be really quick to hide and once hidden we call out hotter or colder to give the seeker some help. At first Little Miss really didn't get the concept of hiding and would just cover her face with her hands, but now she is often the hardest to find. She curls up very small and still.



I love the kids faces when they find me. They are so surprised and we all end up laughing for some silly reason.

Hide in the sink is teaching my kids to have a really good look, not just a quick glance around. Looking is a really important skill, useful for finding that piece of lego they need, or finding a pair of matching socks, finding their school bag, lunch box, reader, hat, drink bottle and later in life car keys, glasses, handbag and even the butter.

Find out what other Mums are playing at childhood101.

There's no place like home

Little Miss says, "I want to go home."

We fill our homes with the objects of our choosing personalising our space. Living out our days and nights, a place to return to, our haven. We line the walls with memories. Placing sentiment within bricks and mortar. We come together as our type of family, enclosed and safe. Freedom within. We are in control of these little worlds, and they are so personal.

There is nothing like the comfort of home.

Home is a place not only of strong affections, but of entire unreserve; it is life's undress rehearsal, its backroom, its dressing room. - Harriet Beecher Stowe

I love to be home in the warm, when its raining outside. I especially love it when everyone is home with me.

When do you love to be home?

Finger painting

It would seem not all little girls enjoy finger painting. There was a promising start, mmmmm feel the nice wet slippery paint...

Make some hand prints

But then as the paint dried and went crusty one little girl was not happy.

We put it down to a lesson in opposites - wet then dry, nice then yucky.


Here is a link to a world of amazing creative Mums

Sweet treats

You have probably seen these babycinos at parties or in your local cafes. My kids go crazy for them so because I wanted to be a nice fun Mum we made these very sweet treats for an afternoon tea we went to recently. They were really easy to make and B was adept at the required glueing, but Little Miss just wanted to eat the freckles.

I used tick tock biscuits, marshmallows, freckles or speckles depending on where you buy them, and musks lifesavers, except for the life of me I couldn't find musk lifesavers in the supermarket so I used musk lollies instead.

I cut the musk lollies in half to make handles, using a bread knife and a sawing action.

Using white icing, B glued the handles to the marshmallows to make cups

When dry we glued the cups to the tick tock biscuits making a cup with saucer.

Lastly we added the cappuccino froth by glueing a freckle on top.

Once dry these are quite sturdy so are great to transport to parties, picnics and afternoon teas.
However B ate about six of them so I had to brush this teeth really well that night.

Playing with food

Pizza is a regular favourite in the chapter forty house. Not because it's a delicious treat type junk food, but because the kids get to play with the dough and make their own. I buy ready made pizza dough, call me lazy, but it tastes so good. I have also found that getting my kids involved with making dinner actually helps them enjoy the meal more. Then I do as well.

Of course things dont always go according to plan as Little Miss gets the pizza cutter out before its cooked...

But she enjoys the mark making

And B decides his pizza should take on a snail shape

But whatever the shape, once the pizzas are topped with goodness and cooked they are eaten up by the proud children. Sorry there are no photos of the finished pizzas - I wasn't quick enough.


Find out what other Mums are playing with here

Food Face #7

This little punk turned up for dinner the other night. He wanted sauce and he wanted it now! But who could refuse those watery eyes. But even with sauce he still did not smile.

Stains and Snacks

I hate to sound like a stereotypical stay at home Mum.

Or do I?

I mean we, are the ultimate underclass of overworked, under appreciated, work for nothing - not even a thank you, keep carrying on as you are, group of workers. What in God's name is wrong with being a stay at home Mum? Us Mums are the ultimate employees, and ironically we are actually doing a really important job of raising the next generation. Hear me! We are responsible for the next lot of butt wipers, cleaners, shop assistants, nurses, doctors, entrepreneurs, lawyers and rulers that you will have to deal with.

But quite frankly I need to discuss stains and snacks. Well it is the topic of conversation in the school yard. Snacks and stains people, are our greatest challenges. The snacks that must fall into line with school rules, no packaging, no peanut, no sugar, no salt, no additives and the stains that the children bring home with them. What will it be today? I wonder with eagerness as I see B come out the class room. My eye checks him over, oh its some type of texta. Another Mum looks at me and offers me some condolence "The Exit stick will work on that" she offers with sincerity. And I question what the point of my life really is?

For the snack companies that frequent this blog I've compiled a list of the attributes of the ultimate snack food (Yes yes, I know about fruit or brain food as the school has rebranded it, but B still needs some type of snack as well) We need a snack that has;
No allergen
No sugar
No fat
No salt
No guilt
No additives
No artificial colourings
No packaging of any kind
Minimal expense
Robustness so it remains edible after being jump on, or thrown about,
Long shelf life so it can be forgotten about for a day or two in situ
Easily opened not requiring adult intervention
Easily eaten and not leaky, drippy or splashy so as not to cause the next problem - stains.

For real stain removal us Mums need a product that;
Doesn't require a second mortgage to purchase
Is easy to apply
Is timely, not requiring hours of soaking or even several minutes to take effect
And actually removes all traces of -
snot
grass
blood
poo
general garden dirt
food of all kinds
washable paint (apparently)
oil paint
acrylic paint
pen ink
texta ink
mysterious ink
chalk and
sun screen.

Then we can get on and really concentrate on the work of raising decent, healthy, human beings.

Alphabet box

I have been feeling really guilty lately that I just cant find the time to spend with Little Miss like I used to with B. I remember being able to do lots of preschool activities with him at home with letters and sounds, like making little books together with basic words. The kind of one on one play that lets you get really close and gain an understanding of your child's thinking. With Little Miss I just seem to have no time. The fact that she is going through phase of constantly whining or screaming might have something to do with it (and I do have a blog or two now). So the guilt remains and its time I made more of an effort.

I found this fantastic Alphabet box idea from Pink and Green Mama and thought this would be a great start for us. We purchased the box with 25 drawers from K-mart for $20. (It came with a collection of screws so the husband was happy). B and the husband labeled the drawers sticking taping the upper and lower case letters on each drawer. The letters X and Y were combined on the one drawer.

We then got a big container and searched high and low for little bits and pieces that we could file away according to their letter. Little Miss and B absolutely loved this activity and even took it outside. They liked rediscovering their little trinkets that had gone by the wayside. We then filed them away in the drawers according to their letter. B was really good at this (as a 6 year old) and Little Miss was enthralled by it all.  She loves pulling out and looking in each drawer and wants to know where each drawer goes.

Here is the P drawer with a pom pom, peg, person, paperclip, pencil, pin and the colour purple.

For the letter B we have a block, bugs, bottle top, button and a book.

In the letter S drawer you will find a star, stamp, sheep, stone, shell, spoon and some snakes.

Getting a drawer out and naming each item is a fantastic activity to reinforce letter sounds. Little Miss has recognised the letter L for her name (Ah no, her real name is not Little Miss) and she is getting lots of practice of the alphabet song. I am also really happy there is now a home for all those annoying little things that the small people collect.




Find out what other mums are playing at here.

Discovery

Recently in a carpark Little Miss discovered her shadow.

"It can dance Mumma" she said jumping up and down.

Later as we got out of the car in the shade at home she exclaimed,
"Mumma! where's that silly shadow gone."
"It was just visiting" I explained, "But dont worry it will always come back."

Colour peace play

I am really sick of my kids fighting all the time, so in a desperate attempt to keep the peace I divided the Duplo lego into colours between my children. B got the warm colours, red, orange, yellow and brown, Little Miss got the cool colours greens, blues, white, gray and black.

There were still a few gripes about base boards to work with, but generally this colour coded play was peaceful for a while. Thankfully Little Miss didn't notice she had much less lego than B. It also taught them some negotiation skills as they did swaps for the pieces they wanted of each others. Best of all I got some peace.

Find out what other mums are playing at here