Quite a good day in a frustrating sort of way.
It started, as most mornings do, with both girls climbing into bed with me, after they'd already been downstairs and had breakfast and started watching a film and I was hoping for 15 mins peace and quiet to start my day, but no they came upstairs and disturbed me anyway. And Jade started talking about how she thought L from next door had told her a lie, and we discussed whether or not it was a lie, and I told her about how my best friend when I was 7 always told loads of lies. In fact, she had once told me that she had Elvis Presley in her room, and when I couldn't see him she told me he was lying on the floor on the far side of her bed. Hmmm. She's turned out to be a really nice, mature, sensible woman, (we're still occasionally in touch) but in those days she was a terror. Anyway Jade and I went on to talk about Elvis, and I told her who he was, and as my laptop was on the floor by the bed I opened it up and got some Elvis on Youtube. We enjoyed that so much we watched several more Elvis clips and with accompanying conversation she now has a thorough appreciation of the birth of rock 'n' roll. Scary to think that it's 'history'!!
Then once we got passed the 'getting dressed' battle, and I'd had breakfast, and set my Fair Shares gardener to work on the evil field bindweed and creeping buttercup, I sat Jade down to write her Thank You notes for her birthday presents. It's not too late to write thank you notes 4 weeks later is it? She started off happily enough, but after making several mistakes on the first card and scribbling them out and beginning to get frustrated and angry with herself, the tension rose rather. I had to do much deep-breathing and praying hard for patience to see it through, but eventually she has written 6 out of the 8 required so it's not bad going. Shannon joined us at the table and I found her some old party invitation cards that are unlikely to be needed so she enjoyed 'writing' on those and putting them in envelopes. While they were doing those I was mindful of trying to find a way for me to enjoy all this, so I decided to try a little drawing and did a fairly passable imitation of a horse which was interesting.
The next bit is when it all went rather pear-shaped, though it all becomes such a blur in my mind that I cannot write about it. This feeling comes regularly these days, when I'm trying to hang the washing out and Shannon wants to play a game and Jade is on the computer and something goes wrong and I go to put it right and then Shannon wants a drink and then the phone rings and then I try and sit down to menu plan for the week and then Jade wants me to watch her on the trampoline and then Shannon wants 'hungry' and I say no and she says "but I want to" like that's all the reason she should need and I say no again and she cries and whines and then I shout "No, you're not having any hungry, just go away!" and then everybody's hungry and wants a sandwich but then while I'm making them Jade hits Shannon and then I yell at Jade and make her sit on the stairs and go back and try and continue with the sandwiches and then I find Shannon is playing with one of Jade's toys and Jade has seen her and is yelling for me while trying to wrestle the toy off her sister and so I sort that out and then put the telly on to try and get some peace and quiet while I finish making lunch and then doing the menu plan and then doing the shopping list and by this time I am on the verge of tears and I've run out of energy and I feel like I just can't do this anymore......
So I leave them in front of the telly and go to bed for an hour. I want this to be 'quiet hour' from 1-2pm each day, with the girls quietly reading or listening to audio CDs, but I know this will need some training which will involve many interruptions to my quiet time until they get the message. And on days like this I'm just so desperate for my quiet hour the TV is the best way to get it to happen.
And then I got up and suggested we go for a walk, but by this time Shannon was n*ked and didn't want to get dressed again and it took ages to persuade her. But in the end we made it up to the woods and had a nice half-hour walk in the cool greenery, which was much appreciated. We got home and I was thinking, "I never got time to do the maths and bible stuff I wanted to do today" but by this time I had to prepare the dinner. Then I had to persuade Shannon into her clothes again because it was time for Jade to go to Rainbows. Shannon had to come too as her usual babysitter for that hour is away at HesFes. So we all went off to Rainbows where two police officers came for a chat with the girls about the emergency services and phoning 999 and the necessity of knowing your own full name and address, which Jade already does, not that she would ever tell it to anybody or phone 999 so it all seemed a bit academic really.
Then home to dinner and bed and to my surprise, while I was reading stories to Shannon, Jade found my Usborne Stories from Shakespeare and read the whole of Midsummer Night's Dream! We finished off with a further chapter from Michael Morpurgo's The Butterfly Lion as recommended by Chloe from the Manor Born. And so ends another day.
Monday, June 30, 2008
Sunday, June 29, 2008
I had a 'sanity Saturday' yesterday - took off on my own in the afternoon and spent a blissful 4 hours without anyone yelling "Look, Mum!" or "Mum, she hit me!" or "Mum, I'm hungry" every 2 minutes. I desperately needed it and felt much better by the time I got home. I must plan them more regularly rather than waiting till I get to breaking point.
So off I went to shop in Cheltenham. The main aim was to get some proper running shoes. So I can run faster to get away from the kids. No, not really! I am planning on taking part in the Little Hearts Matter sponsored run in October, which can be 5K, 10K or 15K. I'm aiming for the 5K! So in due course I shall be badgering you lot to sponsor me for loadsa money, but first I've got to get training. Which I did today - took the dog out and managed seven sets of run 1 min, walk 2 mins. Well the schedule did suggest run 1 min, walk 1 min but there was no way I was up to that! It's not going to be so easy to get out during the week unless it's after 9pm but we'll just have to see how it goes.
In the process of buying the shoes, I had a video analysis of my running gait. I never knew that I was a severe pronator! As I walk or run, my arches kind of collapse, my ankles drop in and down and generally it's all a bit of a mess. So I had to buy highly expensive, highly supportive shoes and this probably explains why I've got constant foot and leg ache and why I get so tired by the end of the day. But custom-made orthotics for ordinary shoes cost £200+ so that won't be happening in a hurry.
While shopping I also visited many of Cheltenham's charity shops and was very pleased to find a brand new, unused "Around the World" Dorling Kindersley game for 50p, a book about Robots as Jade was very interested in them when we visited the Cheltenham Science Festival a couple of weeks ago (don't think I ever blogged that) and a little book about hair braiding. A Dora activity pack for Shannon, new underwear for all the females of the family and 4 new pillows (bargain £7.50 reduced from £25) completed my shopping spree.
Today we've been to the local riding stables Open Day. The girls have been very excited about this for days as pony rides were on offer and Shannon had her very first go. She was bumped about all over the place but said she liked it and had another go. Jade had 3 rides, one on the pony she usually rides there each week and one each on the other two, including a 16-17hh horse which I thought was very brave for her!
Jade riding Sonic
Shannon riding Sonic
Jade on Bracken
Shannon on Miniman, the pony Jade rides each week, and he is 30!
So off I went to shop in Cheltenham. The main aim was to get some proper running shoes. So I can run faster to get away from the kids. No, not really! I am planning on taking part in the Little Hearts Matter sponsored run in October, which can be 5K, 10K or 15K. I'm aiming for the 5K! So in due course I shall be badgering you lot to sponsor me for loadsa money, but first I've got to get training. Which I did today - took the dog out and managed seven sets of run 1 min, walk 2 mins. Well the schedule did suggest run 1 min, walk 1 min but there was no way I was up to that! It's not going to be so easy to get out during the week unless it's after 9pm but we'll just have to see how it goes.
In the process of buying the shoes, I had a video analysis of my running gait. I never knew that I was a severe pronator! As I walk or run, my arches kind of collapse, my ankles drop in and down and generally it's all a bit of a mess. So I had to buy highly expensive, highly supportive shoes and this probably explains why I've got constant foot and leg ache and why I get so tired by the end of the day. But custom-made orthotics for ordinary shoes cost £200+ so that won't be happening in a hurry.
While shopping I also visited many of Cheltenham's charity shops and was very pleased to find a brand new, unused "Around the World" Dorling Kindersley game for 50p, a book about Robots as Jade was very interested in them when we visited the Cheltenham Science Festival a couple of weeks ago (don't think I ever blogged that) and a little book about hair braiding. A Dora activity pack for Shannon, new underwear for all the females of the family and 4 new pillows (bargain £7.50 reduced from £25) completed my shopping spree.
Today we've been to the local riding stables Open Day. The girls have been very excited about this for days as pony rides were on offer and Shannon had her very first go. She was bumped about all over the place but said she liked it and had another go. Jade had 3 rides, one on the pony she usually rides there each week and one each on the other two, including a 16-17hh horse which I thought was very brave for her!
Jade riding Sonic
Shannon riding Sonic
Jade on Bracken
Shannon on Miniman, the pony Jade rides each week, and he is 30!
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Brief notes
- Jade wrote her first story :-) About a girl and a horse ;-) I would blog it but I know she won't give permission. Perhaps if I rant more often about how little she is doing, she will surprise me again?
- Not long after I tried to impress you Twitter followers with my devoted-mummy-act about how I had gone in to work for a couple of hours to really study some books about how best to help Jade, I lost my temper with her in a very spectacular way and completely undid any fantasies I may have had about being a good mummy.
- The last 2 nights when I have come in at about 10.30pm-ish, I have found Jade tucked up on the sofa with Bill having a maths lesson using the abacus! Tonight she actually came down and told him she wanted to do the same as last night!
- We went to Stratford today. Jade had a £5 WH Smith token to spend, and she chose a pink A4 notepad, Helena the Horse-Riding Fairy, and Chrissie the Wish Fairy (3 stories in one book). She read HtH-RF on the way home in the car, and Chrissie by the time she went to bed :-o
- I bought some hand-weights. To start my exercise regime!
- I have got through Benjamin's anniversary today pretty smoothly. Too many other things on my mind I guess. And after all, it's just another day.
- Not long after I tried to impress you Twitter followers with my devoted-mummy-act about how I had gone in to work for a couple of hours to really study some books about how best to help Jade, I lost my temper with her in a very spectacular way and completely undid any fantasies I may have had about being a good mummy.
- The last 2 nights when I have come in at about 10.30pm-ish, I have found Jade tucked up on the sofa with Bill having a maths lesson using the abacus! Tonight she actually came down and told him she wanted to do the same as last night!
- We went to Stratford today. Jade had a £5 WH Smith token to spend, and she chose a pink A4 notepad, Helena the Horse-Riding Fairy, and Chrissie the Wish Fairy (3 stories in one book). She read HtH-RF on the way home in the car, and Chrissie by the time she went to bed :-o
- I bought some hand-weights. To start my exercise regime!
- I have got through Benjamin's anniversary today pretty smoothly. Too many other things on my mind I guess. And after all, it's just another day.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Please click for me!
Please would everyone coming by this blog please do me a favour?
I have nominated Little Hearts Matter to become the next charity supported by the MoneySavingExpert.com website. LHM is the charity that supported us all through the time that my first child, Benjamin was diagnosed with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome, the pregnancy, the birth and afterwards, and I now help them with bereavement support. If LHM did become the MSE charity for a year, it might receive in the region of £20,000 which would be amazing.
The way you can help is by going to this place on the MSE forums, sign up as a forum member, scroll down on page 2 of the thread to about the 7th post down where I have nominated LHM (yes, I am MrsMessy!) and click on the 'Thanks' button at the bottom of the message.
Thank you!
I have nominated Little Hearts Matter to become the next charity supported by the MoneySavingExpert.com website. LHM is the charity that supported us all through the time that my first child, Benjamin was diagnosed with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome, the pregnancy, the birth and afterwards, and I now help them with bereavement support. If LHM did become the MSE charity for a year, it might receive in the region of £20,000 which would be amazing.
The way you can help is by going to this place on the MSE forums, sign up as a forum member, scroll down on page 2 of the thread to about the 7th post down where I have nominated LHM (yes, I am MrsMessy!) and click on the 'Thanks' button at the bottom of the message.
Thank you!
HE rant
I feel a bit useless at saying that 3 years into HE and I still haven't settled on what I feel to be a successful and happy approach to HE for our family.
I like what I read about unschooling, but I am not totally convinced either in theory or in practice for us. Maybe I would feel better about it in practice if it was like I read somewhere recently with a quote roughly along the lines of "I started to realise how ridiculous it was to call my son away from designing his own model aeroplane to sit down and do some maths." If I saw plenty of designing, creating or discovering going on here, I might well just go along with it. Instead, what happens when left to their own devices is that Jade either pretends to be a horse or pretends to be riding/grooming/feeding one and Shannon begs to watch DVDs from dawn till dusk. I'm also not convinced about it in theory, because, rightly or wrongly and as someone who had a relatively academic education, I really want my daughters to be able to use grammar and the English language properly, with correct punctuation and spelling, and I want them to learn how to discuss and express their ideas and arguments fully and cogently, and I want them to be able to recognise good science from bad, I'd like them to have the basics of one or two foreign languages and the basics of maths, and how do I know whether, left to themselves, they would take these up to the level that I think they 'should'? It's disheartening when I read other blogs and find that other children her age are doing amazing art work, happily attending language groups, making their own patterns to sew their own clothes and being fascinated by electronics kits. With Jade, the only thing she is fascinated by is horses/ponies, and although I know there are plenty of educational opportunities in there, she WON'T do any of them. She will not make up pony stories, she will not write a pony project, she doesn't want to do anything that would feel to me as though she is doing something productive. She just wants to play at riding ponies and read pony stories and that is it.
With Jade in particular, giving her structured work is a dangerous venture, which has to be approached with the lightest of touches, otherwise sparking off major confrontations and leading to grumpiness and misery for us all. She is significantly resistant to being 'taught' anything, even stuff that she has actually asked to learn. I think perhaps she is incredibly insecure about feeling that she might get things wrong, so only wants to do things which she already feels she can do, and is scared of trying anything new. Her difficult behaviour seems to be part of the selective mutism syndrome, having compared notes with other parents, but she is particularly challenging to parent and I feel quite at sea with her at the moment.
It would be great if I was imaginative and energetic enough to come up with interesting activities and hands-on investigations that were fun and educational, but I feel stretched in too many directions and simply refereeing all the sibling rivalry, hitting and arguing and tantrums wears me out and I have very little left to give. It used to be that a quiet evening and a (relatively) good night's sleep (i.e. one where I only get woken about 2-3 brief times by Shannon) would refresh me and set me up again for the morning, but these days I am sick to death of the arguing and bickering before I've even got out of bed.
Part of me would quite like to throw in the towel and just send Jade to school, and then I'd get that blessed much-longed-for me-time that is so missing at the moment, but I know perfectly well that she wouldn't cope, it would do her much more harm than good and we'd end up in a worse position than we are now. Plus I'd miss what I feel that HE could and should be. I still believe in HE; I just don't feel as though I'm making a very good job of it with this particular child.
I like what I read about unschooling, but I am not totally convinced either in theory or in practice for us. Maybe I would feel better about it in practice if it was like I read somewhere recently with a quote roughly along the lines of "I started to realise how ridiculous it was to call my son away from designing his own model aeroplane to sit down and do some maths." If I saw plenty of designing, creating or discovering going on here, I might well just go along with it. Instead, what happens when left to their own devices is that Jade either pretends to be a horse or pretends to be riding/grooming/feeding one and Shannon begs to watch DVDs from dawn till dusk. I'm also not convinced about it in theory, because, rightly or wrongly and as someone who had a relatively academic education, I really want my daughters to be able to use grammar and the English language properly, with correct punctuation and spelling, and I want them to learn how to discuss and express their ideas and arguments fully and cogently, and I want them to be able to recognise good science from bad, I'd like them to have the basics of one or two foreign languages and the basics of maths, and how do I know whether, left to themselves, they would take these up to the level that I think they 'should'? It's disheartening when I read other blogs and find that other children her age are doing amazing art work, happily attending language groups, making their own patterns to sew their own clothes and being fascinated by electronics kits. With Jade, the only thing she is fascinated by is horses/ponies, and although I know there are plenty of educational opportunities in there, she WON'T do any of them. She will not make up pony stories, she will not write a pony project, she doesn't want to do anything that would feel to me as though she is doing something productive. She just wants to play at riding ponies and read pony stories and that is it.
With Jade in particular, giving her structured work is a dangerous venture, which has to be approached with the lightest of touches, otherwise sparking off major confrontations and leading to grumpiness and misery for us all. She is significantly resistant to being 'taught' anything, even stuff that she has actually asked to learn. I think perhaps she is incredibly insecure about feeling that she might get things wrong, so only wants to do things which she already feels she can do, and is scared of trying anything new. Her difficult behaviour seems to be part of the selective mutism syndrome, having compared notes with other parents, but she is particularly challenging to parent and I feel quite at sea with her at the moment.
It would be great if I was imaginative and energetic enough to come up with interesting activities and hands-on investigations that were fun and educational, but I feel stretched in too many directions and simply refereeing all the sibling rivalry, hitting and arguing and tantrums wears me out and I have very little left to give. It used to be that a quiet evening and a (relatively) good night's sleep (i.e. one where I only get woken about 2-3 brief times by Shannon) would refresh me and set me up again for the morning, but these days I am sick to death of the arguing and bickering before I've even got out of bed.
Part of me would quite like to throw in the towel and just send Jade to school, and then I'd get that blessed much-longed-for me-time that is so missing at the moment, but I know perfectly well that she wouldn't cope, it would do her much more harm than good and we'd end up in a worse position than we are now. Plus I'd miss what I feel that HE could and should be. I still believe in HE; I just don't feel as though I'm making a very good job of it with this particular child.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Festival of History
I have come across two problems pertaining to us coming along to the FoH weekend. Firstly, it is the Saturday night that we show our Rural Cinema film locally and I am in charge of that and I don't know if my colleague will feel able to have a go herself (she cancelled the one in May when I was on holiday). Secondly I note that Wicksteed Park only allows caravans on Friday and Saturday nights so we would need a tent to stay for the whole thing.
If I can find a way round problem number one, could anyone lend us a tent big enough for a family of 4 to overcome problem number two?
If I can find a way round problem number one, could anyone lend us a tent big enough for a family of 4 to overcome problem number two?
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Good unschooling article
I've just discovered this really well-written blog post by an ex-teacher about why she no longer believes in schools and was not going to send her daughter any more, written just after she resigned her teaching job. A good read.
Sunday, June 08, 2008
Birthday!
Jade is 7 today! I am completely and utterly exhausted from preparations and the party today, so this will be very brief.
T-bird Anni and Aprilia arrived on Saturday afternoon, and both Jade and Shannon were very happy to see them and to play with Aprilia immediately - no warming up time needed! Jade has even been speaking fairly openly in front of Anni (though not directly to her), so that's been lovely.
I put Anni to work making the birthday cake while I prepared the evening meal. Isn't it great having friends like that?
Anni and I were up till after midnight last night making said cake look like a horse's head. I did most of it but she did a great job steadying my nerves and making useful suggestions. Not long after we went to bed (it seemed) Shannon was awake and I had to go to her and of course spent the rest of the night in her bed, and she woke a few more times. Then Jade woke up at about 6.30am and was too excited to go back to sleep again.
She had a lovely time opening her presents on our bed with everyone watching, and was delighted with everything, which is always a relief! (Heely's, Barbie Jumping Horse (Tawny), I Love Ponies playset, squishy dolphin, fantasy castle playset, some beautiful elves/fairies on horses, etc).
She was not so delighted to go off to church but it was the 10th anniversary service of our combined group of churches which work together, so a local school had been hired and it was absolutely jam-packed with people standing round the back and sides as all seats were full. Aprilia and Jade went into the kids' group and Aprilia threw herself into all the activities with gusto and Jade refused to do anything, and in the end we left Aprilia in there enjoying herself and we went out so I could at least listen partly to the main speaker. Found Anni chatting at the main door with the mum of the only other home-educating family in our 4-church group, who introduced us to a dad who was considering HEing. Anni did a great PR job on HE! I met up with several friends whom I have not seen properly for ages so was disappointed to be having to rush off and get the party ready instead of staying for the barbecue and the afternoon's fun which was scheduled.
Anyway, we rushed home and made final preparations and then had 5 more small and excited small girls show up to have great fun at the party. We did a 'find the ponies' game where Jade's massive collection of little horse/pony figures were hidden in the garden for them to find. We did that twice! We had pass the parcel, show-jumping round a great course of jumps built by Bill, a bit of dancing, and a lot of playing and having fun. It was lovely! Beautiful, glorious sunshine too. Fab but exhausting, and as usual I question my sanity in continuing to do home parties, but as that is the way I always had my birthdays it is the only way that seems 'right' to me!
Aprilia and Anni are setting off in the morning to visit the MonsterTeenys, leaving us to get on with celebrating Bill's birthday .... now all we have to do is wait for him to decide where he wants to go for the day!
T-bird Anni and Aprilia arrived on Saturday afternoon, and both Jade and Shannon were very happy to see them and to play with Aprilia immediately - no warming up time needed! Jade has even been speaking fairly openly in front of Anni (though not directly to her), so that's been lovely.
I put Anni to work making the birthday cake while I prepared the evening meal. Isn't it great having friends like that?
Anni and I were up till after midnight last night making said cake look like a horse's head. I did most of it but she did a great job steadying my nerves and making useful suggestions. Not long after we went to bed (it seemed) Shannon was awake and I had to go to her and of course spent the rest of the night in her bed, and she woke a few more times. Then Jade woke up at about 6.30am and was too excited to go back to sleep again.
She had a lovely time opening her presents on our bed with everyone watching, and was delighted with everything, which is always a relief! (Heely's, Barbie Jumping Horse (Tawny), I Love Ponies playset, squishy dolphin, fantasy castle playset, some beautiful elves/fairies on horses, etc).
She was not so delighted to go off to church but it was the 10th anniversary service of our combined group of churches which work together, so a local school had been hired and it was absolutely jam-packed with people standing round the back and sides as all seats were full. Aprilia and Jade went into the kids' group and Aprilia threw herself into all the activities with gusto and Jade refused to do anything, and in the end we left Aprilia in there enjoying herself and we went out so I could at least listen partly to the main speaker. Found Anni chatting at the main door with the mum of the only other home-educating family in our 4-church group, who introduced us to a dad who was considering HEing. Anni did a great PR job on HE! I met up with several friends whom I have not seen properly for ages so was disappointed to be having to rush off and get the party ready instead of staying for the barbecue and the afternoon's fun which was scheduled.
Anyway, we rushed home and made final preparations and then had 5 more small and excited small girls show up to have great fun at the party. We did a 'find the ponies' game where Jade's massive collection of little horse/pony figures were hidden in the garden for them to find. We did that twice! We had pass the parcel, show-jumping round a great course of jumps built by Bill, a bit of dancing, and a lot of playing and having fun. It was lovely! Beautiful, glorious sunshine too. Fab but exhausting, and as usual I question my sanity in continuing to do home parties, but as that is the way I always had my birthdays it is the only way that seems 'right' to me!
Aprilia and Anni are setting off in the morning to visit the MonsterTeenys, leaving us to get on with celebrating Bill's birthday .... now all we have to do is wait for him to decide where he wants to go for the day!
Tuesday, June 03, 2008
Random ramblings
Excuse me if this is disjointed, but I have several things on my mind and am tired.
Firstly, Jade has been vile today. We go through these phases every now and then, when her nastiness to Shannon (hitting, pinching, name-calling, snatching toys away etc) gets worse and our parental tempers get shorter too and every day is a trial for a while. So much so, at the moment, that she only has to do 9 more nasty things to anybody and her birthday party on Sunday will be cancelled. (T-bird: if that comes to pass, our Plan B would be just to go out somewhere with you and Aprilia, so do still come!). We haven't figured out what causes these phases - it might be that we are doing or not doing something to which she is reacting, but if so we are not seeing it yet. But it is so aggravating when you have tried every which way you can to improve a child's behaviour and it just doesn't seem to make one jot of difference.
Sunday was a strange day. We sold our cot on Ebay (for a surprisingly large amount of money!) and it was collected on Sunday morning, so we re-arranged our bedroom to return it to its pre-cot configuration. Which ended up having unanticipated reverberations for both Bill and I because the last time it was like that, Benjamin was at home with us. We moved the furniture around to get a Moses basket in when he'd been home with us for a few days. And considering I hadn't gone to church on Sunday morning, because it was the annual open-air service which I haven't attended for the past 8 years because I have such clear memories of attending it 9 years ago with one small baby, I guess I was already set up for feeling a bit weird. Sometimes I wonder if these uncomfortable episodes will ever stop - will there ever be a time when there isn't something that can send me all off-balance?
It feels like not much planned educational stuff has gone on lately. We did a bit of Miquon maths this morning which provoked some tension in Jade and had me working hard to control my reactions as she fiddled about, wrote stupid things in the book, didn't concentrate on my explanations and so on. That's about it as far as formal stuff has gone on. She has however spent a vast amount of the past few days avidly reading some books about ponies and pony care, so should we ever win on the Premium Bonds and be able to buy her one, she'll at least know roughly what to do!
Shannon is really enjoying having recently learned to identify all the letters of the alphabet as Letterland characters, and frequently stops and reads through the list of letters in any word / logo / advert she comes across. It's fun!
And, having just realised how horribly late it is, that's the lot for now.
Firstly, Jade has been vile today. We go through these phases every now and then, when her nastiness to Shannon (hitting, pinching, name-calling, snatching toys away etc) gets worse and our parental tempers get shorter too and every day is a trial for a while. So much so, at the moment, that she only has to do 9 more nasty things to anybody and her birthday party on Sunday will be cancelled. (T-bird: if that comes to pass, our Plan B would be just to go out somewhere with you and Aprilia, so do still come!). We haven't figured out what causes these phases - it might be that we are doing or not doing something to which she is reacting, but if so we are not seeing it yet. But it is so aggravating when you have tried every which way you can to improve a child's behaviour and it just doesn't seem to make one jot of difference.
Sunday was a strange day. We sold our cot on Ebay (for a surprisingly large amount of money!) and it was collected on Sunday morning, so we re-arranged our bedroom to return it to its pre-cot configuration. Which ended up having unanticipated reverberations for both Bill and I because the last time it was like that, Benjamin was at home with us. We moved the furniture around to get a Moses basket in when he'd been home with us for a few days. And considering I hadn't gone to church on Sunday morning, because it was the annual open-air service which I haven't attended for the past 8 years because I have such clear memories of attending it 9 years ago with one small baby, I guess I was already set up for feeling a bit weird. Sometimes I wonder if these uncomfortable episodes will ever stop - will there ever be a time when there isn't something that can send me all off-balance?
It feels like not much planned educational stuff has gone on lately. We did a bit of Miquon maths this morning which provoked some tension in Jade and had me working hard to control my reactions as she fiddled about, wrote stupid things in the book, didn't concentrate on my explanations and so on. That's about it as far as formal stuff has gone on. She has however spent a vast amount of the past few days avidly reading some books about ponies and pony care, so should we ever win on the Premium Bonds and be able to buy her one, she'll at least know roughly what to do!
Shannon is really enjoying having recently learned to identify all the letters of the alphabet as Letterland characters, and frequently stops and reads through the list of letters in any word / logo / advert she comes across. It's fun!
And, having just realised how horribly late it is, that's the lot for now.
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