More Autumn

The view from my back door is telling me that autumn is well and truly here.  What a glorious riot of colour greets me as I work in my kitchen each morning!

 

 

If you read my last post you'll know that I've been trying to loosely implement some Waldorf ideas into our unschooling life.  One of the ways I do this is to seek activities from the brilliant Hawthorn Press series of Waldorf through the year books.  Today I sought inspiration from 'All Year Round' and decided to spend some one to one time with my second son making a Harvest loaf.  It is an activity that should really be done at Michaelmas so we were a little late but we still thoroughly enjoyed it.  The whole recipe is based around an embellished tale of St Michael from the Bible.  It was great fun and provided a much needed meaningful time together.

 

 

The bread turned out really well.

 

It was especially tasty with butter. 

 

Everyone seemed to enjoy it.

 

 

Jo was particularly chilled out whilst eating his.

 

So much so that he fell asleep on a kitchen chair.  Too cute

 

I also tried playing some simple harvest tunes from the book and getting the children to join in but ,alas, it seems that my boys are not for singing.  Oh well I'll sing anyway.

 

You can find out what else we've been doing today at

 

http://learningwithusborne.blogspot.co.uk/

 

Enjoy this beautiful season. x

 

Jo

 

Lego Duplo Busy Bag - Free Printables

I have recently been investing some time in creating busy bags for my almost three year old.  He is particularly fond of Duplo so I thought I would make him a set of Duplo patterns like the ones featured on this blog  http://allourdays.com/2012/10/legoduplo-building-inspiration-busy-bag-activity-bag.html .  I didn't quite have the pieces needed for the featured patterns so I made my own with the bricks that I had available.  We have LOTS of Duplo so I decided to keep the pieces and patterns together in a bag, separate from the main haul.  If you'd like to download my patterns., you can access the pdfs here: http://www.scribd.com/jo_child_1/documents .  Have fun!!

Duplo at Amazon

This boy!

This boy is almost three years old.
This boy only eats sweet things.  Yogurts, fruit, jam and bread.
This boy climbs on counter tops to steal Easter eggs hidden away for safekeeping.
This boy draws on freshly painted walls with felt tip pens.

This boy paints the television with nail varnish while his mother is cooking the dinner.
This boy climbs on chairs to climb on furniture to hang out of windows.
This boy breaks his mother's prized heirlooms.
This boy breaks his brother's Lego models.

This boy has escaped from the house twice and been brought back by an off duty police officer.
This boy causes havoc and mayhem wherever he goes.
This boy has speech and language delay and is being assessed for further developmental delay.
This boy creates lots of hard work.

This boy is one of the reasons I get up on a morning.
This boy makes my soul sing.


Sometimes you just need to remind yourself that the mess, the hassle and the strain on your physical and mental health is sooooooooo totally worth it.  I love you Eli. x

Coming Out of the Darkness

The last year has been hard.  Really hard.  After my month in hospital when Josiah was born it took a while to get my health back to full strength. However, the trauma of being institutionalised (albeit with excellent care) and, worse still, being separated from Phil and the children, was not quite so easy to put behind me.  It's hard to explain post natal depression to anyone.  You have a lovely baby, a lovely home, lovely family,... so much to be grateful for.   And yet, despite all this potential for great happiness there is, in the depths of your soul, a pervasive blackness which envelops every spark of joy that ought to be yours for the taking.  And that's really all there is to it.  No reason, no rhyme,... just hopelessness and despair.  So there I was.   Hiding my soul from the health visitor and striving to hold everything together for the sake of my family and this precious baby I had birthed.  And one year later here I am.  I don't know how I made it; how, when other people succumb so tragically to the siren of suicide, I managed to ignore her tantalising taunts and walk forward into the light.  I can only thank God and my husband for their grace and favour; for not abandoning me in my time of need.  So do I have any advice for others going through a similar situation?  Take one day at a time and if need be one moment at a time, accept help, take time for yourself, know your limits, be kind to yourself, and a hundred other things that escape me right now.  But know this: there is light and hope on the other side.  If it takes anti-depressants and a hospital stay to get there, so be it.  Whatever it takes, as Jim Morrison said,... break on through to the other side.

May God's light shine upon you
Jo x

Not a good day today. Went to a Christian home ed meeting with the boys and they literally bounced off the walls. Feeling rather ineffective as a parent. Why does life have to be so complicated? And why do other people's children always seem so perfect? One very lovely mum complained to me about the lack of behavioural standards at a secular home ed group. Bet she enjoyed spending time with my guys!!!!!!!!!!! I feel like a terrible Christian; surely if I were half decent my kids would be of the cherub faced, hymn singing, craft enthusing, sitting nicely brigade. Instead, after being chastened for some high up, danger of falling shannanigans, my middlest proudly announced that actually mummy it didn't matter 'cos he is Superman and if he fell he would just fly back up. AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!! Not just cheeky but worldly too; excommunicate us now!