Just can't believe looking at the date on the last post... It was nearly a month ago that it looks like we did anything. I can assure you that we have been BUSY! And despite it being the summer hols I have been scratching around for spare time to just 'sit' and 'be' with the girlies.
Life, chores, play dates, appointments, weekends... they all just seem to 'get in the way' of what I thought I perceived home ed should be like. I am learning VERY quickly that it is just ALL THE TIME and there are days that are filled with questions about one particular subject and Milly role plays it out of her system so much that by the time I have found whatever it is via google or we have ploughed through the books she's worked it out for herself (and out of herself too)!
And there are the days of pure frustration when the day IS filled with chores and I fear that I am missing opportunities with them... Days when they just want to veg with a DVD or antagonise eachother or whine... oh Whiiiiiiinnnnneeeeee! Days when they just throw themselves around the garden with a tonne of energy and I still feel like I should take them on a fifteen mile playpark to playpark hike! I am SO glad for The Idle Parent book! http://http://idler.co.uk/idleparent/ Well, now that Hettie is in her own room I may get to finish it :-) - Check out the Idle Parent manifesto... Had me in stitches!
When I'm not stressed by the moment I know it's all an incredible feit of endurance... Living with your OWN family... getting to REALLY know the children you have brought into your life and figuring things out between you. For example, I really believe that they are starting to get into sinc with my 'hormones'. I explain to them somedays just 'don't push Mummy today... Mummy's very irritable because...' It's truly important I let them know that we all have low or grumpy days... it's all about learning to live with people. Can you tell I had a bad moment today!
That was a rant wasn't it!
Over the hols she has had plenty of dates with her old school pals and meet ups with the home ed groups too... but yes, there are some things that I am starting to miss (and I am only being super sensitive at the moment because Hettie has decided that she is now happy in her "OWN bedroom thank you very much Mummy" - bottom lip comes out and starts to wobble) the regular network of Hettie's old toddler group (so it's probably just the fact that by baby is growing so fast too)... Getting a grip as I type.
Anyway, interesting recent topic and top questions from Milly are "Who were the first Mummy and Daddy?" and "Who lived before the Dinosaurs?" Well, all I can say is that Darwin is getting a good look in at the moment and a trip to the Library for the other part today... It really has stopped me in my tracks this time with the 'Just how deep does one go with (an almost) six year old?' Whilst the girlies were choosing some books I was looking for a book on 'creation'. My old RE lessons from school have left just memories of utter boredom and disbelief since I always felt strongly about Evolution. I think it stems from the weekends where Dad and his old mate (and sadly late), Pete would drag Sam and I to beaches 'fossil hunting'... Yes it was Sam who ALWAYS found the sharks teeth and belemnites! Still, I guess it tapped into us somehow! And look... some lovely pictures of Belemnites!http://http//easyweb.easynet.co.uk/~gcaselton/fossil/belemnite.html
We found nothing really about how I can define to Milly other people's beliefs of 'where we come from'! She said yesterday that the earth and the moon were the first Mummy and Daddy and today it is Mother Nature (who she talks about quite often and with alot of affection!) and God! Hmmm. It's all work in progress really and that is from mine and Martin's point of view too as there doesn't seem to be a definitive explanation. We are all still learning about it all and when a child tries to rationalise the world around them you see how muddied, confused and complicated we as adults have made it!
I heard somewhere someone say that "the children in this world simply disappear"... In other words, they grow up and just become adults and I find that really sad. I recently observed the girlies with their pals the other day playing in the woods, watching them 'create' their own 'home/space' in the area where they were... A log for a table, a listing tree for a doorway... they knew that space over there was the 'kitchen', over there was the lounge etc... I had a complete flashback to when we did exactly that as children ourselves and I allowed myself to surrender to that state of mind of innocence again and just enjoy being there at that very moment and just 'being'... why can't it always be that simple!
Well, needless to say that Milly has learned that there are more ways to view the same thing... This could take sometime... I'm still lovin' it and Milly is too!
Half midnight and half alseep... starting to rant and blah blah blah!
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