We don't stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing.
George Bernard Shaw
Sunday 27 May 2012
Saturday 26 May 2012
Pre-School Meeting
Friday night me and daddy went for a pre-school meeting at Jamie's nursery to be told all about what happens from September onwards. Jamie is eligible for 15 hours funding attend pre-school. He will continue to attend on a Wednesday and Friday. We were offered some hours on Thursday but decided just to keep to the two days.
Sarah Howe; the Early Years Advisory Teacher from Birth to Five Service attended and gave a very interesting talk on how children play and learn at pre-school. It has certainly changed since mummy and daddy were at school!!
What was interesting was the concept that every child is different; develops and learns in different ways and at different rates, and should be treated as such.
It was also discussed how we as parents need to provide an input into Jamie's pre-school learning. This will involve making his key worker aware of his interests and any significant developments / changes in order that his activities at pre-school can be adjusted accordingly.
Overall, I think we are just about confident that we are already helping Jamie to learn through play, but it was a very useful evening in terms of finding out what Jamie will be doing in the next year.
Sarah Howe; the Early Years Advisory Teacher from Birth to Five Service attended and gave a very interesting talk on how children play and learn at pre-school. It has certainly changed since mummy and daddy were at school!!
What was interesting was the concept that every child is different; develops and learns in different ways and at different rates, and should be treated as such.
It was also discussed how we as parents need to provide an input into Jamie's pre-school learning. This will involve making his key worker aware of his interests and any significant developments / changes in order that his activities at pre-school can be adjusted accordingly.
Overall, I think we are just about confident that we are already helping Jamie to learn through play, but it was a very useful evening in terms of finding out what Jamie will be doing in the next year.
Wednesday 23 May 2012
A diary for my son
Been watching The Hoader Next Door and finding it fascinating how and why people can accumulate so much stuff. In this weeks episode www.channel4.com/programmes/the-hoarder-next-door/episode-guide/series-1/episode-1 it showed a mother and son whose lives had deteriorated since the death of the husband / father. There were years of rubbish piled high in the house and amazingly under all that debri was a diary that the father had written to his son which he had started once he had known he was dying of cancer.
One of the reasons I write this blog is that hopefully after I die Jamie and perhaps his family will be able to keep a small part of his mummy alive and know that whatever happened she always loved him very, very much!! xx
One of the reasons I write this blog is that hopefully after I die Jamie and perhaps his family will be able to keep a small part of his mummy alive and know that whatever happened she always loved him very, very much!! xx
Sunday 20 May 2012
Blog Babies 26 and 27
Twins arrived safely on Friday 18th May at home weighing 6lb 4 and 6lb 10 at 39 weeks.
Mum, Dad, and babies are all doing really well and Dylan is in love with his little brother and sister. ♥ ♥
Congratulations to Liz and Rob. Big kisses from all of us!!
Mum, Dad, and babies are all doing really well and Dylan is in love with his little brother and sister. ♥ ♥
Congratulations to Liz and Rob. Big kisses from all of us!!
Friday 18 May 2012
Busy, Busy....
Like is hurtling past at a break neck speed at the moment. Mummy started a new job on Jamie's birthday which is an hour and a half less than her previous job a week. This actually means that she has Wednesday morning to herself now and can concentrate on getting some 'me' time. So far this hasn't always gone as planned but it does give mummy a 'catch up' morning at least.
Jamie continues to grow and amaze us. Although potty training and sleeping in his own bed are two goals we need to crack they both seem on the horizon at the moment. At the same time we aren't too stressed about them. I must admit to liking him in my bed - especially when Dale is on lates. The only real trouble is when we are all in bed together and Jamie starts kicking!!
As for the toilet training, we have eased off this week after a bit of a trauma. Jamie seems to be actually frightened of the toilet. He has said he has a fear of falling into the toilet, so we thought we would leave it a few days before trying again.
I continue to make a conscious effort to socialise with Jamie whenever I can. We still see Nicola and Will most Mondays and, although Nicola goes back to work this week, she won't be working a Monday until funding comes through for the pre-school places in September, so we have pencilled in a few outings in the next few weeks.
Although Wendy decided to stop Toddler Signing we had organised a series of play dates at her house. Unfortunately, after just one date (with Erin, Evie, Caroline) Wendy has decided that she does not have enough time to have another one. I did organise a play date a few weeks ago for everyone but it had to be cancelled due to the rain. I am hoping to organise another one for the end of May.
As the weather (slowly) gets better we have been able to go out a bit more. Daddy often takes Jamie to Grandads allotment - which he loves. On the bank holiday weekend we went for a long(ish) walk up to South Hykeham and Jamie rode along on his bike. This lasted about half way before he wanted carrying! But it was nice to look around the church and have a burger and also get a chance to have a quick look at South Hykeham Primary School. We have also been to the North Scarle trains. Kerry met us with the girls so Jamie was in his element. Daddy took the 3 of them on the trains a number of times which gave me and Kerry a chance to look around the car boot stalls!
We have also managed to take Jamie swimming a couple of times in the last month. He still isn't the best swimmer but at least he loves the water and doesn't hang on to me and daddy as tightly as he used to!
Jamie continues to grow and amaze us. Although potty training and sleeping in his own bed are two goals we need to crack they both seem on the horizon at the moment. At the same time we aren't too stressed about them. I must admit to liking him in my bed - especially when Dale is on lates. The only real trouble is when we are all in bed together and Jamie starts kicking!!
As for the toilet training, we have eased off this week after a bit of a trauma. Jamie seems to be actually frightened of the toilet. He has said he has a fear of falling into the toilet, so we thought we would leave it a few days before trying again.
I continue to make a conscious effort to socialise with Jamie whenever I can. We still see Nicola and Will most Mondays and, although Nicola goes back to work this week, she won't be working a Monday until funding comes through for the pre-school places in September, so we have pencilled in a few outings in the next few weeks.
Although Wendy decided to stop Toddler Signing we had organised a series of play dates at her house. Unfortunately, after just one date (with Erin, Evie, Caroline) Wendy has decided that she does not have enough time to have another one. I did organise a play date a few weeks ago for everyone but it had to be cancelled due to the rain. I am hoping to organise another one for the end of May.
As the weather (slowly) gets better we have been able to go out a bit more. Daddy often takes Jamie to Grandads allotment - which he loves. On the bank holiday weekend we went for a long(ish) walk up to South Hykeham and Jamie rode along on his bike. This lasted about half way before he wanted carrying! But it was nice to look around the church and have a burger and also get a chance to have a quick look at South Hykeham Primary School. We have also been to the North Scarle trains. Kerry met us with the girls so Jamie was in his element. Daddy took the 3 of them on the trains a number of times which gave me and Kerry a chance to look around the car boot stalls!
We have also managed to take Jamie swimming a couple of times in the last month. He still isn't the best swimmer but at least he loves the water and doesn't hang on to me and daddy as tightly as he used to!
Tuesday 15 May 2012
Chattering Away
Jamie is a right little chatterbox - I wonder who he gets that from!? All of a sudden we are having proper conversations. We sat on the swing outside last week and it was squeaking as we moved backwards and forwards. 'Whats that noise?' Jamie asked. I said it had a squeak. 'Like a mouse?' he asked. Wonderful!!
He has also learnt how to ask for things; 'I want something', 'I want to go somewhere', 'Let's go in the kitchen mummy'. A lot of the time he will give us a running commentary on what he is doing 'I am putting this there', 'Zebra is coming too,' etc.
And nearly every morning when I tell him we are off to Nursery, he replies: 'I am staying here'. Although Jamie loves it when he gets there, we still have the occasional tears and Mummy still hates leaving him.
What is amazing is that he uses the correct tenses. How did he learn that?
He has also learnt how to ask for things; 'I want something', 'I want to go somewhere', 'Let's go in the kitchen mummy'. A lot of the time he will give us a running commentary on what he is doing 'I am putting this there', 'Zebra is coming too,' etc.
And nearly every morning when I tell him we are off to Nursery, he replies: 'I am staying here'. Although Jamie loves it when he gets there, we still have the occasional tears and Mummy still hates leaving him.
What is amazing is that he uses the correct tenses. How did he learn that?
Thursday 10 May 2012
Ear for Music?
The other day, Nana brought Jamie home and had written on a piece of paper 'Somebody that I used to Know'. Nana wondered if it was a TV theme or something, as it had been on the radio and Jamie had got all excited about it. Apparently he had said something along the lines of 'the painting man' and Nana had got very confused about what he meant. The song that he was referring to was: www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cih2HRCXLA Gotye - Somebody That I Used To Know (feat. Kimbra). We have seen this video a number of times on the music channels and we all love the song and the video. Its very 80's!!
Somebody wrote about it: The symbolism in this video is relevant to the song. The covering of his body in a camouflaging paint may be a loss of innocence, but it's more obviously a loss of identity. The "somebody that he used to know" no longer acknowledges his existence. She pays him no more mind than the wall behind him. Nothing is colder than being completely shut out. Addictive song. :)
And recently we have been in Asda and Jamie noticed that this was the song being played before I did. Then he was upset when it stopped and another song started!
It amazes me that Jamie can pick out this song he likes, amongst all the other songs that are played on the radio every day. Is he showing early signs of an ear for music?
His dad is still playing in a local band http://thewarbirds.co.uk/ as well as being involved in a few other 'projects'. Could it be hereditary?
Monday 7 May 2012
Wonderful Baby
For ages now I have had the lyrics 'where babies float by....' going around in my head and the other day I actually had 5 minutes to google them. I found Wonderful Baby was written (or at least sung) by Don McLean and I have reprinted the lyrics below as they are so lovely:
Wonderful baby livin' on love
The sandman says maybe he'll take you above,
Up where the girls fly on ribbons and bows,
Where babies float by just
Counting their toes.
Wonderful baby nothin' but new
The world has gone crazy, I'm glad I'm not you.
At the beginning or is it the end?
It goes in and comes out and starts over again.
Wonderful baby livin' on love
The sandman says maybe he'll take you above,
Up where the girls fly on ribbons and bows,
Where babies float by, just
Counting their toes.
Wonderful baby I'll watch while you grow.
If I knew the future you'd be first to know.
But I don't know nothin' of what
Life's about
Just as long as you live, you'll never find out.
Wonderful baby, nothin' to fear.
Love whom you will, but doubt what you hear.
They'll whisper sweet things to make untrue.
So be good to yourself, that's all
You can do.
Wonderful baby, livin' on love the sandman says maybe he'll
Take you above,
Up where the girls fly on ribbons and bows,
Where babies float by, just counting their toes,
Where babies float by, just counting their toes
Oh.
The sandman says maybe he'll take you above,
Up where the girls fly on ribbons and bows,
Where babies float by just
Counting their toes.
Wonderful baby nothin' but new
The world has gone crazy, I'm glad I'm not you.
At the beginning or is it the end?
It goes in and comes out and starts over again.
Wonderful baby livin' on love
The sandman says maybe he'll take you above,
Up where the girls fly on ribbons and bows,
Where babies float by, just
Counting their toes.
Wonderful baby I'll watch while you grow.
If I knew the future you'd be first to know.
But I don't know nothin' of what
Life's about
Just as long as you live, you'll never find out.
Wonderful baby, nothin' to fear.
Love whom you will, but doubt what you hear.
They'll whisper sweet things to make untrue.
So be good to yourself, that's all
You can do.
Wonderful baby, livin' on love the sandman says maybe he'll
Take you above,
Up where the girls fly on ribbons and bows,
Where babies float by, just counting their toes,
Where babies float by, just counting their toes
Oh.
Saturday 5 May 2012
5 Ways to Stay Present and Appreciate Your Kids
Came across this via the Action for Happiness FaceBook status / page:
http://ranchobernardo.patch.com/articles/five-ways-to-stay-present-and-appreciate-your-kids
After a week of trying to become a more present mom, here are the tools that actually helped Abi Cotler O'Roarty in her quest:
Gratitude Journal: Gretchen Rubin suggests keeping a one-sentence journal in an effort to chronicle topics like lessons learned, a child’s first year, or gratitude. She likes the one-sentence-a-day way of journaling because it is manageable to keep up. I try to list at least five specific things that happened that day with my kids that I’m grateful for. I try to keep to specifics because the broad generalities, like: my kids are generally healthy and happy, are easy to come up with, but it’s the actual daily events that I’m more interested in, like: my daughter read her little sister an entire book three times over today.
Turn Off: Turning off your phone, especially if it’s 'smart,' is one of the easiest ways for most of us to significantly bump up our attention and focus on the present. I notice that even if I put the phone on vibrate, or in another room, I find myself checking it when I see my kids are otherwise occupied. When it is all the way powered down, I now get it through my skull that there’s no reason to go through turning it back on just to get distracted — what’s important is right in front of me.
Post-it Up: Jot down a few ideas about what it is you’re trying to accomplish here—set the intention. Then create little reminders on note cards or post-its and place the reminders around your house. Right now, there’s a purple post-it in our bathroom that reads, “Enjoy every little breath.”
Put Some Love Into It: One time I was making my daughter’s cumbersome bed for what felt like the fifteenth day in a row when she was having trouble with nighttime accidents. Grumpy as all get out, I suddenly found myself thinking that if I put all the love I had for her into making the bed, I would feel so much better. So when you find yourself cursing the eighth creative mess you’ve dealt with that day already, try putting all your love for your family into it and see if it doesn’t help let some light into the gloom.
Planned Neglect: I once asked an octogenarian artist how he managed to produce so much art over the years. He told me about something he called “planned neglect.” He said that he had to force himself to ignore some of the household chores that needed to get done every single day in order to prioritize his art. All these years later, nothing bad has happened to him as a result of letting laundry and dishes pile — and the work he had to show for this seemed stunningly fulfilling.
As a stay-at-home mom (the article goes onto say) I find one of the biggest challenges to staying present with my kids are of the demands of the home. But lately I’ve been trying to lower the standard of what I need to have done each day in order to feel that I’m taking care of my home. Sometimes breakfast dishes don’t get done until I am cooking dinner. Sometimes the house is not all the way picked up at the end of the day. Becoming more relaxed about domesticity has really helped me not feel like I need to constantly pull away from the present moment, whatever it holds.
Try starting with just one of these things above and then perhaps switch to another if it does not do the trick for you. The last thing we want to do is worry too much about not appreciating our kids enough, because nothing makes you feel unappreciative like stress and guilt. If you’ve already faced personal tragedy to a great degree, perhaps you don’t need these techniques. But I hope we can all start trying to live in a world where you don’t need to face down death to appreciate life — because life, after all, is the name of the game.
http://ranchobernardo.patch.com/articles/five-ways-to-stay-present-and-appreciate-your-kids
After a week of trying to become a more present mom, here are the tools that actually helped Abi Cotler O'Roarty in her quest:
Gratitude Journal: Gretchen Rubin suggests keeping a one-sentence journal in an effort to chronicle topics like lessons learned, a child’s first year, or gratitude. She likes the one-sentence-a-day way of journaling because it is manageable to keep up. I try to list at least five specific things that happened that day with my kids that I’m grateful for. I try to keep to specifics because the broad generalities, like: my kids are generally healthy and happy, are easy to come up with, but it’s the actual daily events that I’m more interested in, like: my daughter read her little sister an entire book three times over today.
Turn Off: Turning off your phone, especially if it’s 'smart,' is one of the easiest ways for most of us to significantly bump up our attention and focus on the present. I notice that even if I put the phone on vibrate, or in another room, I find myself checking it when I see my kids are otherwise occupied. When it is all the way powered down, I now get it through my skull that there’s no reason to go through turning it back on just to get distracted — what’s important is right in front of me.
Post-it Up: Jot down a few ideas about what it is you’re trying to accomplish here—set the intention. Then create little reminders on note cards or post-its and place the reminders around your house. Right now, there’s a purple post-it in our bathroom that reads, “Enjoy every little breath.”
Put Some Love Into It: One time I was making my daughter’s cumbersome bed for what felt like the fifteenth day in a row when she was having trouble with nighttime accidents. Grumpy as all get out, I suddenly found myself thinking that if I put all the love I had for her into making the bed, I would feel so much better. So when you find yourself cursing the eighth creative mess you’ve dealt with that day already, try putting all your love for your family into it and see if it doesn’t help let some light into the gloom.
Planned Neglect: I once asked an octogenarian artist how he managed to produce so much art over the years. He told me about something he called “planned neglect.” He said that he had to force himself to ignore some of the household chores that needed to get done every single day in order to prioritize his art. All these years later, nothing bad has happened to him as a result of letting laundry and dishes pile — and the work he had to show for this seemed stunningly fulfilling.
As a stay-at-home mom (the article goes onto say) I find one of the biggest challenges to staying present with my kids are of the demands of the home. But lately I’ve been trying to lower the standard of what I need to have done each day in order to feel that I’m taking care of my home. Sometimes breakfast dishes don’t get done until I am cooking dinner. Sometimes the house is not all the way picked up at the end of the day. Becoming more relaxed about domesticity has really helped me not feel like I need to constantly pull away from the present moment, whatever it holds.
Try starting with just one of these things above and then perhaps switch to another if it does not do the trick for you. The last thing we want to do is worry too much about not appreciating our kids enough, because nothing makes you feel unappreciative like stress and guilt. If you’ve already faced personal tragedy to a great degree, perhaps you don’t need these techniques. But I hope we can all start trying to live in a world where you don’t need to face down death to appreciate life — because life, after all, is the name of the game.
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