today Big read another page of her book (we’re onto Goldilocks now) and I teased her into listening to some poetry. She really enjoyed it – after we’d done the first poem, with her sitting, eyes closed, to listen, she chose two more. Good stuff – she picked up on some unfamiliar words and we talked about the ideas in the poems as well.
She doesn’t want to do her Exeter today, but seemed to miss the timetables I sneaked into her playing with the mancala coins – quick snippets of 2, 5 and 10 😉 Well, she wanted to count the money up, and it’s much quicker than counting in ones! Oh, and we also discussed different countries using different money when we found a 5 Euro cent in amongst our pennies (and I do mean amongst our pennies, not amongst our coins in general – am I the only one who gets really wound up when ppl hand children a handful of mixed coins and refer to them as pennies??? Probably…), then we went and looked up Australian dollars as she wanted to know what currency Australia uses.
And I nearly forgot her encouraging me to make lunch by speaking to me in Spanish! Amigos, vamanos, she said….wonderful stuff, Dora! (Eek, I haven’t got a foreign languages category….oversight!)
Small is refusing point blank to put his top on, and while I would usually shrug and let him out in the garden anyway (figuring if he got cold he’d come back in) he is streaming with cold atm, and I don’t want to take the risk. He is cross with me accordingly, and has taken my bag to bits – beginning to suspect that he is bored, but not quite sure what I’m supposed to do about it. Spending this kind of time with this young a child is new to me – Big was in nursery four days a week at this age, and the other three days were taken up shopping, housework and seeing ppl. Wondered about looking for beginning montessori materials – he’s a very hands on child, and I think he’d enjoy it. Must get off my backside and sort something for him, not least as he is destructive when he is bored.
We’re about to go and get the pizza dough ready so that it can be proving while we clear off to ballet – must go and get her ballet clothes off the line so they can thaw out!
Finding motivation very difficult atm, think I had too many years of institutionalisation of my own, and now that I haven’t got timetables and schedules externally enforced, a natural tendency to slothlike behaviour is emerging. Have finished reading a book today – Racing the Moon, by Terry Prone. Rather enjoyed it, even if the twist was a bit obvious.
Apparently my mother popped by yesterday, and Big’s refusal to attend this weekend is being taken personally by the entire family. 🙁 She was all enthusiastic about going to stay when they spoke to her on mothering sunday, but when I mentioned that we wouldn’t be going with her the other day, she dissolved in tears and didn’t want to discuss it further.
Ambivalent here myself, as I’m not hugely enthused about posting her down to Wales without us anyway, especially as it feels that none of the extended family take seriously (or even consider) my parenting approach, so the first second that she’s out of my sight they are plying her with chocolate and sweets (most of which she doesn’t actually like!), encouraging makeup and behaviour that I don’t feel is overly appropriate in 5 year old girls (I’d rather they stayed young, than rushed headlong into fashion and fads), and basically hyping her up. If she did go I know that I’d spend at least a week calming everything down again, and I just don’t want to do it. Sigh. Why am I trying to justify myself here? I don’t know, except that Tim suggested I call my mother to discuss it all, so maybe I’m rehearsing?
Anyway, must go and find the kitchen so that we can make pizza dough. Right after I dig through mp to find the recipe.
Comments
6 responses to “Poetry and sneaky maths…oh, and a ramble.”
(((Jax))) good luck with all of that! If you find out how to deal with mothers, maybe you could give me some lessons. And families, come to that
:-/
Given how wobbly I’d be about my parents taking our children anywhere perhaps it is for the best that the chances of them ever offering are less than a million to one! Not sure what to say other than ultimately surely it is Big’s decision? And urgh to the questioning and underminding your parenting choices too 🙁
That Racing the Moon – is that the one about twins? I’ve read it if so (infact thinking about it was that one from Melrose?)
SB certainly wouldn’t want to stay o/n with chris’s parents when we were in tent nearby, although younger. But agree its big’s decision.
You know you’re doing the right thing Jax. She is your child, and even if it wasn’t her decision not to go, it is your right to say no. It is important that you can bring up your children the way you feel is right, and tbh, it’s none of their business. I know it doesn’t always feel like that though
((JAx)) ya bo sucks to the family if they aren’t willing to play by your rules… (please remind me of that statement next time Mother winds me up….)
I’m cleary a bit of a cow, as I think it’s *your* decision. I wouldn’t send her somewhere she didn’t want to go, so in that sense I would say its hers, but if she wanted to go somewhere I wasn’t happy, I retain the right of veto. Hannah was about Big’s age when she went to my mums for a single overnight by herself for the first time, but to be fair to my mu, she had spent a lot of time with her before then, so I felt OK about it. Plus for all my mum’s faults, she would never overrule me or undermine me to Hannah. In fact, she drives me a little mad with the constant “is she allowed to” phonecalls, as I don’t control Hannah to the extent that some of it implies. Eg – she knows what the position is re processed foods, and her slt intake, so she can assess very well whether a bag of crisps is too much if she’s been eating a lot of cheese, say.