New schemas

I've noticed new schemas being explored lately by Orla and Aidan.

Aidan has been into disconnecting for a long time. However, lately this seems to have lessened, and he's been connecting. Examples include lines of blocks, piano stool tied to the piano, cupboard handles tied together, shoelaces and shoes connected to furniture, and train tracks. On train day, Aidan was really focused on fitting the tracks together and got quite upset when they popped apart (as they often do with this particular set!).

Orla has been rotating, notably herself! She brings helicopter toys to me with glee wherever she finds them, spins wheels on trains, scooters and bicycles with focused attention, and loves to watch the front loader. She is using rotational language (spin, round and round, circle etc).

It will be interesting to watch and see how (and if) these develop further.

Son of Bully Cat

There's a new cat in town.

A large tabby Tom, like Bully Cat in appearance, but a bit smaller. We have called him Son of Bully Cat.

Son of Bully Cat has been beating up Houdini and the neighbour's cats. SoBC is not just a toughie, but is cunning. He creeps into our laundry at night, opens the sink cupboard door, pulls out the packet of cat food, rips it open and eats. The cat food is now kept up high on a shelf.

Woman Who Drives The Blue Car down the road told me that this cat had bailed her up in her laundry a few times. She has the scars to prove it. She managed to capture it and took it to the SPCA.

But the cat came back. The very next day. Apparently it was microchipped and is a local. (We don't know exactly which house yet).

Although this cat does seem to have the upper hand on Houdini, he is a bit smaller than Bully Cat. Accordingly, Houdini seems to be able to give him enough grief that she's probably not in immediate danger.

In the meantime, I have my hose at the ready. We are considering new cat door options.

Go to your room!

So, a lecturer in early childhood education recently told a conference that techniques popularised in the Supernanny show (such as the naughty step, and time out) were unprofessional for teachers.

She's quoted in our local newspaper as saying: "What you're really doing is you're punishing the child for doing something that is not appropriate, instead of teaching them, which is our mandate".

And furthermore:

"Children are competent and capable, so if we're saying that, then we should give them the opportunity to engage in problem solving instead of putting them under a time-out sort of system".

And such techniques breach Te Whariki, the early childhood curriculum, because:

"That talks about respectful, responsive relationships".

And yet she is also quoted as saying that the techniques "were OK in the home but did not belong at early childhood centres".

Huh? So are we saying that punishing, rather than teaching is the mandate of parents? Or that opportunities to problem solve at home are unimportant? Or that respectful, responsive relationships do not exist at home?

Obviously not. I suspect that criticism of popular parenting techniques is a large can of worms that she was not keen to open. And for all I know, the article may have used selective quoting. In fact I would be surprised if it didn't, as the way it was written (under the headline "Nanny's step 'breaches kids' rights' " seems designed to provoke a response rather than educate or inform.

And so of course the article spurred a couple of letters to the editor, predictably blustering about children's apparent love of boundaries and how things were much better back in the day. (How that actually relates to the educator's key points is not immediately obvious).

For interest, it is worth saying that exclusionary time out is prohibited at Playcentre.

Louise Porter (I reviewed a book of hers earlier: http://thefloydfiles.blogspot.com/search?q=louise+porter) is one of the few writers to detail a genuine alternative approach to discipline. I'm reading another of her books at the moment. I don't agree with everything she says - but then again that would be an unrealistic expectation of any author or idea.

Anyway, I would be interested to know exactly what the educator's thoughts were on the role of parents and techniques suitable for use in the home.

Helpful hints

Brendon's pamphlet, titled "Coaching Small Blacks" might need some explaining to overseas visitors.

Easter addendum

Forgot the stunning Easter cards! Much effort went into this lot - some are highly decorated on both sides.

Easter 09

Easter - new life, new hope - new baby!

Welcome to our family little Bella! Can't wait to meet you in person.

Everything else about this year's Easter pales in comparison to this wonderful news - however, here's how it's been for us.



On Excellent Thursday I got out the breadmaker to make pizza dough. I hadn't made bread since the early days of pregnancy with Ewan (when I was getting super tired and something had to give. That something was home-made bread). It looked like disaster initially as the breadmaker blade didn't want to turn. I guess if moving parts don't move for a while, lubrication becomes an issue! I turned it manually a few times, and by the end of the kneading cycle all seemed back to normal. The photo is of Isabelle's and Orla's pizzas. Isabelle's is a portrait of Daddy, complete with glasses. The cooking process muddled his features a bit, but that means you just have to look more closely.



It was a stunning day on Good Friday. I had an eventful night with Ewan, so we had bought hot cross buns for morning tea. (Pandoro - my favourite commercial ones!). Our own buns, which we were able to have by the afternoon, were chocolate. The crosses were just cut in with a sharp knife this year, for those who wanted them.

On Saturday, Ewan smiled at Daddy. (I had had a lovely first smile in the early hours Tuesday morning).



Sunday was another beautiful morning, and we decided to go for a walk as a family for the first time. The lovely quiet of the still morning was broken only by the determined wailing of a toddler who could not decide if she would walk or go in the stroller. The first point of interest was a small river running up out of the road and down the street. A helpful person had put a note on the footpath saying that they had already rung the Council. On we went to the nearby lookout. A virtual prize will be given to the first person via the comments function who can spot Aidan in the photo! When we got back the Council hadn't arrived yet, but I filled some jugs with water in case we were cut off when repairs were made. Three burly men duly arrived shortly afterwards. Aidan, Ewan and I wandered down the street to have a look (we were out on a mission to return a casserole dish to a kind Playcentre person who had made us a meal). We saw a dead rat in the gutter on the way, which provoked speculation on whether a car or a cat was the agent of its demise. Once we returned to the house, thirsty and a bit tired, the water was off. I was glad of the chilled water jugs in the fridge!

Aidan wanted to give some Easter eggs to the workers, so we went off again for our third visit to the site. The large workers delicately peeled the foil away from the tiny eggs and told Aidan to go to university or he would end up in a hole. I think they underrate themselves. I place high value on having clean water to our house, and thus place high value on their skills. Hope they were getting some decent overtime.

We had a slow start again today due to some determined night waking by Ewan. Brendon has gone for an extended motorbike ride somewhere. Isabelle and Aidan are outside playing with their new walkie-talkies. Orla wears fewer clothes every time I see her, and as a consequence she has to stay inside. Ewan is sleeping as if it were night....

The Division of Labour

My day is currently divided into two groups of activities:

1. Things I Can Do Wearing the Front Pack, and

2. Things I Can Not Do Wearing the Front Pack.

For example, in group one we have:
- Hanging out the washing
- Chopping the vegies
- Unloading the dishwasher
- Folding the washing.

And in group two:
- Cleaning the toilet
- Cooking on the stove top
- Having a shower
- Sleeping.

Happily, blogging appears to be in group one.

Wonderful woollies

My most recent woollens gallery:



Singlets by Helen's Mum.











Baby bolero by Sharon.












Vest and matching booties by Sarah and wrap cardy by Rose.









Thank you to the wonderful and talented women who made these! They are just beautiful and very much appreciated.

I will post photos of Ewan wearing these either here (or elsewhere where you will see them) as he grows into them - which won't be long.

Rugby boy

Aidan had his first game of ripper rugby on Saturday. Here he is scoring his first try! (Sadly it's at a distance, but it was worth taking a shot of anyway!).

Aidan says "I avoided the attacker. One of my mates had the trophy and a certificate".

(Aidan's talking about the player of the day award, which already looks like being highly sought after).

Next game is the Saturday after Easter.

Synecdoche

Our new set of wheels.

Growth!

It is very satisfying to put away the 00000 clothes and get out the "newborn" sized clothes.

Night visitors

Spider! Spider! turning right
To the bedrooms late at night.
What mere mortal eye could spy
You creeping out there on the sly.

Check out this post from Alan on a rather large type of spider that seems to enjoy lurking around our suburb.

As you can see from his blog, I myself had a close encounter with one of these creatures in the early hours of the morning recently. These spiders seem particularly large at 3.00 a.m.

I made sure that for the rest of the night, I walked around wearing my jandals, NOT my bare feet. Crunch. Shudder.

Which is a good excuse to post a picture of my new jandals. Pretty pretty!

Shoe tales

Ballet character shoes for Isabelle.
Rugby boots for Aidan.