eye candy
sadly due to the rain today we didn't get to go on our little adventure for our morning tea picnic
we did still make the choc chip biscuits - yumm!
& lazed around the house
I was flicking through some magazines
& came across this image
which I just love
it is the front cover for this collection of recipes
available to purchase online
which is the perfect way to shop if you ask me!
Major Slacker
I have been such a blog slacker this week! I can't believe it's been so long since my last post. I've been a little pre-occupied with life and non-motivated but I'll be back in action this week! I really haven't picked up my camera until today. I gave Roxy a bath and thought to get picture with her scruffy hair everywhere.
She HATES baths and can sense when I'm going to give her one, I have no idea how. She will run in another room and hide.
Afterwards she gets so crazy. She flops around on the rug and runs around the house like a wild animal. This is the part shes loves.
Then I gave her a nice brush and hair cut. She sits so still for me that it's actually quite relaxing to do.
She knew she was a pretty girl in this picture!
I hope everyone enjoyed their weekend, I know I did even though we didn't do too much! We did get a new fridge. So we now have an ice machine and water line, hello 2011! haha. Be back shortly!
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She HATES baths and can sense when I'm going to give her one, I have no idea how. She will run in another room and hide.
Afterwards she gets so crazy. She flops around on the rug and runs around the house like a wild animal. This is the part shes loves.
Then I gave her a nice brush and hair cut. She sits so still for me that it's actually quite relaxing to do.
She knew she was a pretty girl in this picture!
I hope everyone enjoyed their weekend, I know I did even though we didn't do too much! We did get a new fridge. So we now have an ice machine and water line, hello 2011! haha. Be back shortly!
Hotel Chocolat Giveaway Winner
My contest ended yesterday and I just picked a winner using random.org and I am delighted to announce the winner of the Hotel Chocolat Giveaway is...
Drumroll please? Without further ado, the lucky winner is...
Helen, of Lilac and Lilly a beautiful blog about styling with flowers who was loving the Fruit and nut dark chocolate wreath. Please e-mail me your details.
Congratulations Helen, you will receive a box of 24 Exuberantly Fruity chocolates from Hotel Chocolat.
Thank you to all of you sweets that entered, to my loyal followers and new friends.
Have a sweet day!
Preschool.
This year, my two year old daughter Fern enters the alternate universe that is known as... Preschool.
I am trying hard not to panic about it.
Or show Fern that just driving past the Preschool has me in a tailspin.
I think it might be both a blessing and a curse that I have been able to stay at home with her full-time until now. I've been able to shower her with my undivided love and attention and mould her into the little girl she now is; if a swear word falls out of her mouth (it hasn't, but I know its only a matter of time) I know its MY fault, and not something she picked up in the sandpit.
She's had 12 months of not being sick, as well. Not even a sniffle last Winter! I'm sure that within 8 seconds of entering Preschool she will come down simultaneously with every flu-cough-gastro-vomity virus there is. It's part of Preschool initiation, I hear.
And then there's the financial savings; no school fees, and let's face it, shopping with a 2-year old ought to have a Post-graduate prerequisite, and Ive probably saved thousands in wearing old flour sacks rather than drag Fern around the boutiques shopping for dresses with me. (But Fern, SURI does it and seems to enjoy it?!)
So if I don't have to send my daughter to Preschool...... why would I?
Well, for all my efforts in shaping her into the 2nd Saint of Australia, my little girl seems to have a few little - well - faultipoos - that I am hoping Preschool might assist to iron out. Like not sharing, for example. And bossing other kids around. And leaping on her brother with wilful abandon. And, although I'm only sending her one day a week, would it be unreasonable to expect them to toilet-train her, also? And teach her to eat something other than sushi and rice bubbles? And not to pull her hair-clips out? Or twist dreadlocks into her hair? Or throw her tin full of pencils all over the floor and stare at me dully when I ask her to pick them up?
hmm. Am I expecting too much? But its the other stuff that a Preschool can offer that's also swayed me into sending her, stuff I can't give her: the fact that she can play all day with other kids her own age. And do crafty activities and get dirty without her mother chasing her around with the vaccuum. She can watch and learn from other children and take direction from other adults. Best of all, she will gain some independence and hopefully discover new talents and skills that will lay the foundation for school and her future life.
And of course, there are the benefits for ME! A day-off, of course. Yes, I still have Elliott, but he is so deliciously cruisey that it's like having no child a lot of the time (he sleeps!!) and I am looking forward to our special Mummy-son day we've been denied until now. Maybe I'll be able to leave the house! Push a pram around the shops! Have a - gulp - coffee in a CAFE with a friend! Get the house cleaned up without a tornado in tow! Read a magazine! Sew! Close the door to the bathroom!
But best of all? The dodgy handmade mothers day cards and painted bits of paper and assorted handcrafted delights that are sure to make their way home. Isn't that what my double-doored fridge was born to behold? I'll eat that stuff up!!
But most of all, if I'm brutally honest I'm looking forward to getting a bit of headspace. My daughter takes up a lot of my thoughts, a lot of the time. Even when she's sleeping I'm cleaning up after her, planning our next activity or meal or whatever. It might be nice once a week to step back from all of that and take a deep breath. Besides, how can I miss her when she's always around?!
Can you tell I'm trying to convince myself?
Ok, so I sort of feel like I'm throwing my daughter into the proverbial lion's den. And the thought of actually signing her name into a book, turning around, getting into my car and driving away without her has me reaching for a paper bag.
What if she gets bashed up? Or feels lost or lonely? Or can't find her water bottle when she's thirsty? And how will she sleep on a horrible trampoline bed with 14 other kids around her?
But I'm trying to focus on the positives. And distract myself with organising essentials, like a personalised schoolbag (a must!), groovy labels (what? you thought I'd use a permanent texta?), and sewing an oilcloth lunch-pail (I have a pink plastic back-up just in case). I'll share all of these items with you later this week... because surely she'll be the coolest kid in school? And not feel as though her mother has abandoned her?!!?
Oh golly, I have 2 weeks to psyche myself into this. TIPS?!!?!
Read More...
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| Image sourced here |
I am trying hard not to panic about it.
Or show Fern that just driving past the Preschool has me in a tailspin.
I think it might be both a blessing and a curse that I have been able to stay at home with her full-time until now. I've been able to shower her with my undivided love and attention and mould her into the little girl she now is; if a swear word falls out of her mouth (it hasn't, but I know its only a matter of time) I know its MY fault, and not something she picked up in the sandpit.
She's had 12 months of not being sick, as well. Not even a sniffle last Winter! I'm sure that within 8 seconds of entering Preschool she will come down simultaneously with every flu-cough-gastro-vomity virus there is. It's part of Preschool initiation, I hear.
And then there's the financial savings; no school fees, and let's face it, shopping with a 2-year old ought to have a Post-graduate prerequisite, and Ive probably saved thousands in wearing old flour sacks rather than drag Fern around the boutiques shopping for dresses with me. (But Fern, SURI does it and seems to enjoy it?!)
So if I don't have to send my daughter to Preschool...... why would I?
Well, for all my efforts in shaping her into the 2nd Saint of Australia, my little girl seems to have a few little - well - faultipoos - that I am hoping Preschool might assist to iron out. Like not sharing, for example. And bossing other kids around. And leaping on her brother with wilful abandon. And, although I'm only sending her one day a week, would it be unreasonable to expect them to toilet-train her, also? And teach her to eat something other than sushi and rice bubbles? And not to pull her hair-clips out? Or twist dreadlocks into her hair? Or throw her tin full of pencils all over the floor and stare at me dully when I ask her to pick them up?
hmm. Am I expecting too much? But its the other stuff that a Preschool can offer that's also swayed me into sending her, stuff I can't give her: the fact that she can play all day with other kids her own age. And do crafty activities and get dirty without her mother chasing her around with the vaccuum. She can watch and learn from other children and take direction from other adults. Best of all, she will gain some independence and hopefully discover new talents and skills that will lay the foundation for school and her future life.
And of course, there are the benefits for ME! A day-off, of course. Yes, I still have Elliott, but he is so deliciously cruisey that it's like having no child a lot of the time (he sleeps!!) and I am looking forward to our special Mummy-son day we've been denied until now. Maybe I'll be able to leave the house! Push a pram around the shops! Have a - gulp - coffee in a CAFE with a friend! Get the house cleaned up without a tornado in tow! Read a magazine! Sew! Close the door to the bathroom!
But best of all? The dodgy handmade mothers day cards and painted bits of paper and assorted handcrafted delights that are sure to make their way home. Isn't that what my double-doored fridge was born to behold? I'll eat that stuff up!!
But most of all, if I'm brutally honest I'm looking forward to getting a bit of headspace. My daughter takes up a lot of my thoughts, a lot of the time. Even when she's sleeping I'm cleaning up after her, planning our next activity or meal or whatever. It might be nice once a week to step back from all of that and take a deep breath. Besides, how can I miss her when she's always around?!
Can you tell I'm trying to convince myself?
Ok, so I sort of feel like I'm throwing my daughter into the proverbial lion's den. And the thought of actually signing her name into a book, turning around, getting into my car and driving away without her has me reaching for a paper bag.
What if she gets bashed up? Or feels lost or lonely? Or can't find her water bottle when she's thirsty? And how will she sleep on a horrible trampoline bed with 14 other kids around her?
But I'm trying to focus on the positives. And distract myself with organising essentials, like a personalised schoolbag (a must!), groovy labels (what? you thought I'd use a permanent texta?), and sewing an oilcloth lunch-pail (I have a pink plastic back-up just in case). I'll share all of these items with you later this week... because surely she'll be the coolest kid in school? And not feel as though her mother has abandoned her?!!?
Oh golly, I have 2 weeks to psyche myself into this. TIPS?!!?!
What should we really be afraid of?
As we settle into the January holidays, I seem to be seeing more and more posts from parents who are so protective of their children that they won't even let them play in their own front yard. They seem to want to protect them from… life. I’ve previously written about ‘free-range Tsunamis’, so I think it’s pretty clear that I am not an over-protective, ‘helicopter’ sort of parent. But, I've definitely felt the grip of 'what if?...'
What if I let my child play in the front yard and someone comes by and takes him?
What if I let my child cross the road by herself at the crossing and she gets hit by a car?
What if I let my child ride his bike around the block and he doesn’t come back?
What if I leave my child with a carer and s/he abuses her?
All stomach-plunging events that may or may not happen. I certainly can’t fight the logic of many parents who say “I may be over-protective, but I won’t risk my child’s safety”. However, I’m still not convinced that this is a healthy attitude because I simply do not believe a parent’s only job is to protect their children. Our job is far harder than that. Our job is to teach our children how to protect themselves and to help them develop into well-rounded, confident, content people while they’re at it .
The 'helicopter parent' seems to be a phenomenon of our generation. On the whole we were allowed a lot more freedom as children than we give our own kids. But I know in my heart of hearts, that the world is no more dangerous a place than it was when I was a child. It’s a different sort of place, of course it is. It’s a busier and fussier and larger sort of place. It’s a place full of traffic and people and noise. It’s a place echoed in broadcast so we don’t just know what’s happening in our street but also in a street four countries away. It’s a place of so much information and misinformation that we also know the smallest details about what’s happening in that little street far, far away.
These things are definitely factors that contribute to feeling that our children are more unsafe. But we’ve also become better at seat belts, helmets, soft-surface play, airbags, street crossings, stranger danger, life jackets and car seats. We’re less likely to drive drunk, drive when fatigued or drive when we’re no longer capable. Our childcare workers are background checked, they don’t smoke around our kids, they check on them every 5 minutes when they are asleep to help prevent SIDS and they apply sunscreen every two hours.
Really, we’ve gotten so much better at so many safety issues that what our fears really boil down to are those rare, random events – those stomach plunging, terrifying events - that we foolishly think we can control if we just kept a better watch on our kids. But sadly most abuse, abductions and child murders are committed by family members, not strangers in the big, bad world. A statistical fact that we might want to hide from so we blame 'the unknown'. Yet, if we face up to it, we realise that our best defense is surely setting firm boundaries with our children about what is acceptable and what is not acceptable. Letting them know that they are loved unconditionally. Opening our ears and our hearts when we are listening to the things that they are telling us. Then allowing them the freedom to exercise their own intuition and hone their own self-protective instincts.
We spend our days telling our kids that they are unbelievable human beings with much to offer and our nights telling them that they can slay monsters. But what are we really teaching them? We may think that we keep our worries and stresses away from them, but they are masters of perception and they know, they always know.
Look at the above ‘what if?’ scenarios and ask yourself what your child is thinking.
There are monsters in our front yard waiting to pounce on me.
I’m not capable of looking out for myself.
I can’t be trusted to make decisions.
People want to hurt me.
I need to be fearful.
I don’t know about you, but I think this sort of inner-dialogue is too high a price to pay for ‘safety’. You can’t always be ‘safe’, but you can be confident, assertive and resilient in the face of danger. You can learn amazing skills that help keep you from harm. You can discover and challenge your own personal limitations. You can meet life-changing people that you greet with a friendly smile. You can be open to trying new things, maybe on your own, definitely when you’re ready. You can know that you are the sort of person who can work things out for yourself, formulate a plan, think a new thought, explore a new world. You can be sure that even though challenging things might happen, you are more than capable of rising up to those challenges and conquering your world… with a little help from your loving parents, of course.
Do you think you've found a good balance with your own children? What do you worry about most for your children? Would you like to be less or more protective?
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I rewound this post on 15.1.2011
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