A CHILD-FRIENDLY HOME

I have been known to move the furniture around a bit.  Well, quite a lot actually.   Some evenings my husband would come home and have to search for his favourite chair.  One day he asked if perhaps I could always leave his chair in the same spot.  So we do now, but everything else gets moved around and changed according to the season, the interests we have, new things ... I just like to change it around.  

One of my children doesn't like their bedroom changed around, I understand as I was the same when I was younger.  My Dad was wallpapering my room once, so my things were moved into the spare room for the night.  I was horribly HOMESICK and cried and cried!  Dad came in and told me a funny story till I was laughing and somehow I managed to get to sleep.  Another day I thought it would be fun to move my bed against the wall, and turn my desk around to face the door - playing at being secretaries (I ALWAYS wanted to be a secretary ... and when I was, some years later, I was a very GOOD secretary!)  The game was nice, and the novelty of having my room changed was fine ... until bedtime.  I was homesick again and yes, crying once more.  Dad must have been out that evening because it was my older brother and my Mum who had to haul the furniture around, back to where it had been.  I very, very gratefully got into bed that night.  How blessed I was that I didn't have a harsh mother who might have said "Tough luck, you moved it, you deal with it."

Somewhere the years, at my own pace, I managed to learn to deal with change, some change.  And in many ways I can even enjoy it!  I see that in my children now when I move a small bookcase into a corner and throw some floor cushions down - or take a chair out of the lounge and add some children-sized desks and chairs.

Currently we have a large round table in the lounge - custom-fitted with short legs so the children can work at the table when it isn't piled with rubble:  sewing things, cushions, library books, pens, a basket of odd bits I have collected from the floor, a police truck, baby's dolly, a small blanket ...

Some time back I wrote the following article when I became concerned about the fact that some people don't think about what their home looks like from the viewpoint of their children.  Too much Pinterest, too many perfect blogs, too much looking at other people's homes ... it can put an unrealistic expection in a parent's mind.

*** 

Each room in your house that your children use must be welcoming to them – consider the children when you set it up – or re-set it. 

Can they reach the taps? If not, what can you provide to help them?

Is there a place for the towel to hang? If the towel keeps falling down (or getting pulled off the rail) can you peg it in place?

If the towel is wet are they able to take it to the correct place and put a new one up? 

Are the placemats low enough for them to reach? What else can they put on the table to help set it for meals – and where can you store those items so they can reach easily?

Are your art things available and on display to encourage use, but out of reach of very small hands?

Is there a stack of appropriate paper that the children can help themselves to anytime for making books, cutting up, letter writing, sticking things to? 

Is there a small rubbish bin for them to use when they are making art?

Do you really need a couch plus four lounge chairs and a huge expensive glass-topped coffee-table? They might be taking up valuable floor-space! Would it be a better use of your space to take away two chairs and the expensive coffee-table and replace them with floor cushions and a lower, more useable table? The type of table you choose is very important as it will be the centre of many games, it should be able to be moved by the children to make game areas (house corner, art centre, vet clinic – whatever they are playing) and it should be easy to wipe off.

Look again with fresh eyes at your living spaces and see if you can re-arrange things to make your home more exciting for your children. 

If you want your house to look like a show-home, then wait a few more years until the children are grown up. Don't make the children suffer through their whole childhood just because of your preference for a home that impresses other people. A creative home doesn't have to be a chaotic home – but it can be a haven of rest and peace and excitement for children who love to be there, work there and gain more sense of their place in the family with the work they accomplish there.

Keep these words in mind as you re-organise your home:

light – sun – windows – quiet – organised – cozy – space

I feel qualified to write that because I know it can be achieved even in small spaces. There are eight of us living in our small house! I have friends who live in smaller houses, and it is very difficult, especially home educating, but they still manage – with inventive, cheap storage systems and an eye on what is clutter and what is necessary to keep.

Sometimes a very large house is far more unpleasant to live in (hellooooo? Where is everybody? Come to the kitchen if you can heeeearrrr meee!), and a lot more work to keep tidy and clean! I have a feeling that if we had a bigger house, we'd very quickly make a bigger mess!

Real peace and joy comes from contentment with where God has us right now, and using what we have to make our family comfortable.

LOVE, NURTURE, RESPECT AND PROTECT

Commonsense tells us that to be fulfilled, deeply happy, comforted, content and have the freedom and confidence to step away from us a little at a time, a child needs to be loved, nurtured, respected and protected. And deeper commonsense tells us that the two people who conceived a child, through their union together, should be the ones to take up that honoured calling – to love, nurture, respect and protect that child. If, for some reason, this is unable to happen, then a child MUST have someone else to fulfill that role.

Let me just share with you a shameless and damaging scenario going on the world, seemingly unnoticed. I'm aware that some people will say “Come on! Society has changed! You're so behind the times! We're not bound by the same shackles and restraints from the dark old ages.” But I would answer “Yes – I totally agree that society has changed. But on the whole are those positive changes? Do we have lower crime rates? Happier, more contented, healthier people? Safer living environments? People finding a deep joy and satisfaction in simple things? People finding pleasure from having to waiting for something, and then finally achieving/gaining it? Strong family relationships that are built to weather storms?” All these things are becoming very rare in this current society. Please - really do think about it.

As society changes, protecting our children becomes more of a challenge. This has been in my head, and heavy on my heart for a while now – even heavier on my husband's heart as he leads our family: Our children can't walk through town without their senses being assaulted by over-sexualised images and music. Right there, much larger than life, in the window of the chemist shop is a naked woman, holding a couple of flowers at her front – advertising perfume. In a department store, blaring from the speakers is the latest breathy singing sensation telling everyone about stuff that children don't need to know. Have you noticed that? If not – next time you become aware of it look right at your child – take a fresh look at their innocence and trusting. Is it appropriate for that blossoming little mind to be soaking up all those images and messages.

“You can't protect a child from it forever” you say. I never said “forever”. A precious young plant with its first two leaves sprouting would not be taken from the glasshouse and stuck out into the cold frosty ground, expected to flourish and grow healthily, bearing good fruit and providing shelter for the others. Our children need protection and sheltering to a healthy degree according to their stage in life. A nine-year old will see things in society, and wonder about what they mean, and why people do these things – and you should be the one they discuss their thoughts with. A three-year old might not have the same questions, but whizzing around their little heads may be many thoughts – some of which will disturb them and give them nightmares, or colour their attitudes or relationships with other people if left unspoken and unexplained.

A child who sees evil or explicit images and comes to accept them as normal will probably develop an unhealthy body image and carry a lot of inhibitions into their married life – if they choose to marry. And then they may be hounded by self-doubts and plagued by fear of how they compare to whatever their spouse is looking at out in the world.

And now, I may be treading on thin ice, but I feel I must share a thought that many in the world are ready to hear. I know that some people may feel confirmed in their thinking after reading this:

We speak of clothing our babies in natural fibres and comfortable clothes – keeping their little legs and arms protected from the sun, ensuring they wear a cotton hat in the heat, and a warm woollen hat in the cold. I realise that not EVERYBODY places importance on these things, and some people who DO are looked at sideways as tree-hugging hippies by other sectors of society! But the sideways glances are few, and on the whole people understand the desire to treat babies gently and respectfully in this way.

However! Somewhere along as the child grows older, a parent decides (or is bullied into it by the child) to have the child wear revealing short skirts or short-shorts, mature-looking stockings/patterned leggings, itty-bitty tank tops, tops with a low neckline, shoes with heels, jeans around their hips that fall down constantly, sweatshirts with images (skulls, fire etc) and words on them, pathetic “quotations” on t-shirts that the child has no understanding of, but adults read and laugh, the latest hat worn on the latest angle (does a child live in fear of wearing the peak of their cap on the angle/side everyone wore it on LAST YEAR?), the “right” underwear, clothes that cause a child to ADVERTISE a certain company (often with a negative or evil sounding name – carefully chosen of course by the puppeteers at the top to sound cooler, more gnarly, staunch and hard than the previous brand name they came up with); clothes that 20 or even just 10 years ago the LARGE majority of parents would never allow their child to wear. Why? Because they were allowed to be A CHILD!

Love, nurture, respect and protect. Look closely at what your child sees and hears, and keep their little bodies safe from perverted eyes and minds. Your child needs to be protected from falling down the dangerous slope that many people step onto when they are young of negative self-image, comparing themselves and losing their identity due to a desire to “fit in” to the mould the WORLD says they should fit in.

DISCUSSIONS TO AVOID DISAPPOINTMENT

Right upfront in your parenting journey it's a great idea to agree together on behaviour that your family will not participate in, and why, so when a situation arises you can decide where you are on the matter.

You could make a list to discuss, and add more things as they come up naturally, or as you see them happening to other people – things like:

Would you leave your children sitting in the car without you? I caution you to NEVER leave your child or children alone in the car whist you go into a shop. I realise the time and energy it takes to get children out of car seats and into shops, but PLEASE don't leave them in the car. This needs to be discussed between husband/wife/caregiver so everyone uses the same rules.

How did you used to feel about toddlers in restaurants before you had children? And how do you feel about them now you’re a parent?

Are you comfortable with leaving your child somewhere for an overnight stay?

.Would you take your child to a public bar for a meal?

Would you leave your child in the Children's area of the library while you go the Adult area?

Is it right to let children have freedom in shops to browse on their own while you are in a totally different aisle? And when shopping with children do you think it acceptable or unacceptable for children to handle goods that are for sale?

Will your family participate in or watch sporting events or take part in competitions etc. Is your family concerned about the heart and soul attitude that can come from entering into competitions against other people?

Do you feel a desire to start early with academics? As you will read later, I think there's far too much other important stuff going on in the life of a young child to waste on pushing them academically!

If you leave your child with someone else are you confident that they are responsible, morally sound and loving enough to protect, respect and respond correctly to your child?

Are you concerned when you enter an electronics shop and your child is confronted with a wall of television screens that flash horrible images onto their mind? 

What sort of food are your family going to eat, and will there be room for making one-off decisions? 

If there is disagreement about any of these sorts of issues then it is much healthier to work something out RIGHT NOW than to leave them in hopes they might go away. You might both need time to think about them if a united decision can't be made, but don't let it affect your relationship in a damaging way, and don't let any disagreements upset the children.

DOES “NO” ALWAYS MEAN “NO”?

A child who has been taught that “no” means “no” can find peace and contentment in the situation where they happen to be right at that time (mostly!).

Teach your child early to gracefully and cheerfully accept the “no” that you give. This will enable the child, as they grow, to understand that God does not always answer our prayers with a yes – but all things are for our good.

I would urge you, however, whenever you are able, to listen carefully to your child's request and give an answer according to the situation. “May I have another plum please?” Mummy has to quickly think “How many has he had? How many are left? Who hasn't had some yet? Is morning tea really over or did I rush them through morning tea? Did they have enough to eat for morning tea? Is he actually thirsty instead? Is it nearly lunchtime?” Mum's word does not need explaining, but according to the maturity of the child and the situation she may say “No. Not right now.” or “No. But I'd like you to have a drink of water – small or large?” or “No. You may not.” or “No – let's put some plums aside to eat at lunchtime.” Each answer to be given gently, firmly with a smile and a gentle tone of voice.

If your child asks for something (or demands it) and you say no, then some time later, after more pushing from your child if you abjectly whine “Well, alright then ...” you are training your child that no often means yes, but only after you've worn me down some more. This is not fair on your child – you are actually telling your child lies, teaching them to tell lies and wrecking your relationship in which the child wants safe, secure boundaries provided by a loving stable parent.

Where You Have Been, and Who You Are Now

Our lives are full of decisions – sometimes we make good decisions – other times not so good. Every decision you’ve made and experience you’ve been through in your life – pre-children, and post-children - will shape who you are now. You may have made mistakes, bad judgment calls, relationships that went wrong – either with friends, people you worked with, or more intimate relationships You may have become addicted to something – some real self-destructive habits - smoking, drinking, bad eating habits, lack of exercise, constant desire to gain more material things, seeking monetary wealth … these things are not unusual – but HOW you deal with them now that you’re a parent is crucial to how your child grows up.

If you bring all that baggage over into your child-raising, if you are bitter, argumentative, seeking revenge, moaning, complaining because of something in your past - that will surely affect your children in a very negative way.

You must be honest, or get a friend to be totally honest, about your negative character traits (ask them to be gentle), and go about replacing those negative traits with positive ones. Ask yourself “Are these traits and habits going to be beneficial for my child in their life?”

Our words and actions must be worthy of imitation because our children will surely imitate us! If we think we can keep our thoughts to ourselves – be warned! Often a child will ask their parent “Why were you cross with that man?” - and you thought you’d kept it to yourself quite well! When a parent is obviously angry with someone, bitter, unforgiving or vengeful, or if they are continually re-visiting past hurts this will colour their words and their actions daily - children will be deeply and negatively affected by living with a person like this.

How can we clean up our words and our thoughts when our past is full of hurts?

Prayer. Earnest and honest prayer. Then listening for, and acting on the answer – your tailor-made plan from the Creator of all Heaven and Earth.

Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer. (Psalm 19:14 King James Version)

Or

May the words of my mouth and the thoughts of my heart be pleasing to you, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer. (Psalm 19:14 New Living Translation)

Take the lessons you learned from your past, and apply them in a positive situation to make you a much better parent, more caring, more understanding, more protective and guiding than you might have been. As I said at the start of this book – if you’ve been on a journey and you see others just starting out on the same path please turn around and give a hand up to those who are willing to accept it.

Whatever we practice, we get good at. Practice positive words and actions. Start right away! Stop your child right now and tell them you love them or congratulate them on something they are doing well.

Before I finish this bit I’d like to give you a look at “The Fruits of the Spirit” (to be found in Galatians 5: 22 and 23). These are what we strive to achieve in our lives – look also at the opposite and how they can poison and embitter a person.

Love vs. hate, indifference, callusness

Joy vs. grumpyness, heavyness

Peace vs. turmoil, chaos, impatience

Longsuffering vs. quick to blame, punish or pay back

Gentleness vs. harshness, unforgiveness

Goodness vs. badness, selfishness

Faith vs. hopelessness, reliance on self

Meekness vs. pride, loud bearing, “look at me” attitude

Temperance vs. lack of restraint, poor self-control

Being With Baby

I was talking recently with a new Dad – his little girl is only 8 months old and he is convinced of the benefits of bonding with babies and children, but is also aware of the fact that unless there is money coming in to the family they can't survive. I would never tell anyone what to do, and I don't know anything about their circumstances, but I heartily confirmed for him that the early years are so VERY important for bonding, and you can't go back and redo those years when the child gets to 2 years old, or 4 or 6 or any age. I did however, share a little advice that I think is so very important – live as simply as possible, do without, pare things down – it isn't forever, just while baby is little … then review things in a few years. Living simply means different things to different people.

We live simply, but we still have what some people might call “luxuries”. We have food luxuries that others may not be able to afford: jam, tomato sauce, peanut butter - we are able to budget enough money to pay the power bill and the rates etc when they come in, we have a small car for Daddy to go to work in (it's very old, but reliable!), we have a van for Mummy and the children to go shopping in and daytrips to the beach … we choose secondhand clothes (apart from shoes and underwear), we choose mainly secondhand toys (one reason is because the old toys are usually much better quality than the new ones) and we enjoy our environment for fun (the photo shows our little guy wrapped in a blanket after playing in the mud)

we have a lot! But yes, compared to many people in this society and culture – we live very simply.

There are many decisions to be made if your income doesn't match your outgoings – or worse, if your outgoings far exceed your income. Can you reduce outgoings? There are a lot of publications that give advice and hints about saving money – the regular advice goes something like: don’t have takeaways, stop smoking, don’t go to the pub, don't rent DVDs, take the bus not the car, don't have that overseas holiday … but there are more REAL and far-reaching things to consider – Do you have pets that are costing a reasonable amount of money? Perhaps you may have to give up any pets for a few years. should you only have one vehicle, and move a small rental accommodation near the shops so Mummy and baby don't need a car for a few years? Could Daddy bike to work? Take the bus? Go with someone else? Growing up in the 70's it was the norm for families to only have one car. My Dad took the car to work most days, but he biked on Thursdays so Mum could take my Nana and Great Aunt out to do their weekly shopping. It gets more difficult if you are rural, or if you have 6 children! But friends of ours were rural with 6 children and they biked everywhere with children on the back of their bikes until they were old enough to have their own bikes. They chose a certain lifestyle and then kept their outgoings within their income.

It is my opinion (many people will disagree, but this is my blog and I so I can say what I like!) it is my opinion that it is often a bad decision financially, and a very bad decision emotionally and physically to have Mummy working. Look at all factors closely when considering this option.

Loving, Respectful Interactions

Every physical interaction between baby/child and parent should be gentle and caring. Some babies/children don't like to be swung up away from you – they may stiffen and go quiet – or cry loudly! Please take this into consideration when lifting baby onto a change table, highchair, or putting them in a car seat. 

Speak to them about what you are about to do, and as you do it.

Always lift children lovingly with your hands clasping their upper body under their armpits, don't pick them up by their hands or arms. Little elbows and shoulders can be dislocated very easily. 

To protect your back, bend your knees to lift a child, don't stoop. Hold your child close to you as soon as you pick them up. 

Start out respectfully, and continue this type of relationship into childhood, then early adulthood ...  keep your relationship with your children sweet.  xxx 

BABIES AND CRYING

I remember when our first baby was born 22 years ago.  He cried and cried. I tried to recall what the books said about a mother learning what each cry meant – whether the baby was hungry, tired or uncomfortable … I looked helplessly at my Mum and said “What does he want? What's he crying for?” Babies do cry because that is how they communicate!

In our situation it is only hindsight that tells me why our baby cried so much – colic was one thing – that was evident in the expression on his face and the way he brought his knees up in the front. Poor little man.

Babies cry because they need something, and figuring out exactly what the baby needs isn't always straight-forward with some babies! Older, more experienced Mums, or midwives etc might have a clue when they look at your baby whether they are hungry, overtired, uncomfortable or in pain - but you will need to learn what your baby wants, and this takes time and observation.

A crying baby can REALLY wear a person down! Please seek help if you are getting overtired, confused and overwhelmed. Raising a baby is VERY HARD for just one person – seek help from someone who cares and that you can trust.

If you've been given advice to leave your baby to cry to go to sleep, and you're happy with that then it's your business how you raise your baby – BUT if you are uncomfortable with that advice please don't leave your baby to cry himself to sleep. Also please note that there's a difference between a little bit of a cry/complain/grizzle/overtired whine and a cry that turns into a screaming, frantic little baby who feels that nobody will come to rescue him.

If your little baby is often unhappy, crying, fretful, screaming - and you just "feel" that something is wrong - then you may want to consider taking him or her to an osteopath or a cranial sacral physiotherapist. Ask around for referrals from friends or your midwife - don't just pick someone out of the phone book! This is your precious baby you are entrusting to their hands for adjustment. Being born is a pretty tough thing to go through for a baby, and often things get out of alignment. Babies can have headaches, sore ribs ... many things which can be adjusted. 

Our newest baby is now 13 months old, he still cries at night - he might be hungry, have a tummy ache, find it hard going back to sleep ... I don't know.  But I do know that I will attend to him.  No matter how tired I am, I will keep attending to him till I can't wake up any longer!

This is just the way I have chosen, and I wanted to share it in case some new mums out there arn't hearing this side of the story! 

READ ALOUDS - Milly-Molly-Mandy

The Milly-Molly-Mandy are lovely read alouds for younger children!

Very British, these stories are part of my childhood.

From Wikipedia (ignore "particularly for little girls" - my little boys LOVE them too!):

Milly-Molly-Mandy refers to a series of children's books written and illustrated by Joyce Lankester Brisley, as well as to the main character of those books. Each book has a number of short stories about the little girl in the pink-and-white striped dress.^[1] The length of each chapter is well matched to the needs of a bedtime story, particularly for little girls aged roughly five to eight. The illustrations show Milly-Molly-Mandy growing from about age four through to age eight, as can be seen by her physical development.
Milly-Molly-Mandy's real name is Millicent Margaret Amanda, but she received the nickname because her full name was considered too long. Her adventures are the everyday events of village life, running errands, going to school, making presents, fishing, picnicking, and so on. She lives in "the nice white cottage with the thatched roof" on the edge of a small village. Her parents, grandparents, aunt and uncle also live in the cottage. Her friends are Billy Blunt and Little-Friend-Susan. The stories take place in England, and because of the proximity to the sea and downs, and the chalk roads in the village, they would appear to take place near to the south coast. When they take a trip to the seaside by train the illustration has white cliffs which would suggest Kent or Sussex, and is visually rather akin to Eastbourne. The author was born in Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex, which is the next town east of Eastbourne. Both Bexhill and Eastbourne have railway stations (as featured in the story), so candidates for Milly-Molly-Mandy's location are Polegate, Berwick or Glynde. The year is the late 1920s, given the state of inventions; cars are just spreading into general use but there are no telephones, household electricity or aeroplanes as a rule.
These simple tales were originally published in the Christian Science Monitor. While acknowledging that the stories have been sometimes represented as twee and sentimental, Lucy Mangan, writing in The Guardian, describes them as delightful and comforting: "each story is a miniature masterpiece, as clear, warm and precise as the illustrations by the author that accompanied them".<sup>[2]




 In the front of each book is the following map:</sup>

 <sup>I loved this map as a child, and still love it now!   The children flip back to the front  of the book if we are reading a story with something or someone new in it, so they can place it in the story.

Lovely stuff!</sup>

READING ALOUD - The Black Fox Of Lorne

I'd like to do a few posts on our favourite read-aloud books.  

I've been making a list of them for myself, so we can start proper reading sessions again in Autumn.  We have enough favourites to last us all the way through Winter into Spring!

*****************

Today I'd like to introduce you to "The Black Fox Of Lorne".

Due to lack of time I have cut and pasted a review I found on this site.

Vikings & Scotland in the 10th century.
From the flyleaf: “”Now we shall go a-Viking,” Harald Redbeard announced, and so it was that Jan and Brus, Harald’s twin sons, found themselves on the dragon-prowed Raven of the Wind, its striped sails set for the north of England. But storms, ancient enemies of the seafaring Norsemen, swooped down, and in their wake left disaster. Ragnhild, the mother, and her ship were lost, the Raven wrecked on the Isle of Skye, a stronghold of the giant Scot, Began Mor.
And that was how Jan and Brus met Gavin, the Black Fox of Lorne, and began the long journey that was to take them across half the wild land of Scotland, in search of their mother and their father’s murderer.
The story is like a panorama of Scotland in the tenth century after Christ. Loyal clansmen at war with marauding Picts and invading Englishmen; arrogant, powerful lairds – all move through a landscape of heather-topped hills, wind-swept forbidding castles. And among them go the young Norsemen, from croft to castle to battlefield, practicing the clever deception that saved their lives. For no one in this strange land knew that there were two boys, identical in appearance, and by the time the secret was revealed it had served its purpose


We have MANY "Family-isms" that we have taken from this book.   Gavin of Lorne has a "silly lip beard", McCrone Big Nose pokes his head in the door of the hut when there is a lovely rabbit stew cooking and says "Meat is it?" ... too many to list. Rich character pictures are painted, the story moves swiftly and builds to an exciting end.

It may be hard to get hold of this book, but do try!!

The Necessity Of Splitting Up Into Teams At Times

Because of the number of children we have, and the challenges some have, we've learned that sometimes its best for us to do activities in teams.   We used to do most things together, but times change, and in this season the "separate team" thing is working.

Last year a team of us went to the local Community Centre and helped with their book fair.  That went well and was good fun.

Today, a small team stayed home, and the "adventuring" team went out with Daddy.  Esther didn't take the big camera due to the treacherous terrain she knew they would have to traverse.  But she still managed to take some nice pictures on her little phone camera.

It was lovely and shady on this part of the walk.

Daddy needed to help the little guy up this steep bit.

Sibling support.

Nice bridge.

After the bush walk, the team went for a long, long beach walk.

Interesting finds.

Back again, and chatting to some people who were camping.

Very, very lovely morning, building memories.

And unusually quiet at home.  Bonus!





 

Mud Kitchen

Over time, since I originally wrote this blog post, our mud kitchen has moved, changed, evolved ...

It is currently waiting to be constructed again half-way across the paddock at the new clubhouse.

But, for now, here is a look at how it started out.

*********************************

MUD PIE KITCHEN

We love our sandpit, but I had another idea for this space off our verandah.

We hunted around our place and found some "stuff" (we collect "stuff" although we try not to), bricks, racks, paving stones, an old chip heater, a stainless steel sink bench ... you know, just the normal stuff people have ...

We moved the sandpit (that sounds easy when I say it, but it involved a LOT of hard work!) gathered our stuff together into one place and made the children a "mud cake kitchen" - now called a Mud Kitchen by our 3 year old.  

Today I spent $5 at the reuse shop and purchased some lovely enamelled bowls, a neat green saucepan and some snazzy weather-proof/mud-proof utensils.

The children LOVE IT!

We have here a mud cake decorated with sheepswool icing, served with runny mud chocolate sauce and some "whipped cream".

Not Back To School

Normal life continues.

We took the doggy for a gentle walk around the paddock - he was neutered last week and mustn't run yet.  Along the way we found the Greengage plums were ripe.  Yummy!

Then we discovered more cicada cases in a favourite shady place to play.

One of the boys decided to run back and get the pruning saw as the oak tree had some annoying little branches that needed to be cut off.

 We found the nectarines almost ready - very exciting as its the first year we've had nectarines from this tree.

We also collected some camellia leaves for a project.

Back home we sat around the table, had a bit of morning tea,  and attempted to have "Cozy Time" whilst also chasing the baby away from the drawers, the dog's bowl, getting bits of Lego out of his mouth that had been accidentally left out and calming one boy who just wanted to get to the bit of Cozy Time where we would be discussing supernovas.

(I'm going to do another post on Cozy Time soon).

We all went our own ways after Cozy Time whilst Esther melted some chocolate for us.

One of the older boys looked after the baby whilst we had fun putting the chocolate on the leaves, then into the fridge.

We ate the chocolate leaves with a cup of icecream each at afternoon tea time.

It sounds easy when I write it out like this, with Esther's beautiful photography making our lives look picture book perfect - but we're just real people, with some very real challenges.  There were a lot of lumps and bumps in the road today as there are every day.   However, I just wanted to share our day to encourage others who have a hankering for a simple life, a belief that they CAN do this natural education thing, and for those who have NO CLUE what natural education looks like!   I am happy to answer any questions if I can.