Apps for my nearly 4 year old

I'm still not sure about the wisdom of Reuben using my ipad as much as he does, not really natural is it? Continuum friendly? The Steiner people would not agree... but we have found some great educational apps and I like to sit with him. Here's our favourites:

Tallytots. Counting to 20 while doing cute things like racing little cars and feeding a chipmunk...

Shape-O ABCs. Really cute, shape puzzle and word forming.

Toddler Alphabet. More puzzles, words and the alphabet song, lovely graphics.

And then Reuben's choice of Dora the Explora and Peppa Pig apps...

Dinosaurs at Knebworth

Spent a few days with my mum in Hertfordshire and we visited Knebworth house. As usual Reuben is not the most predictable child, hated the adventure playground and loved the house gardens, we got lost in the maze and went on a dinosaur trail, I have a culture vulture as a child! And I'm happy about it. I've also found that when we go on days out now I have to use both pushchair and baby carrier as Isaac is very heavy and I have trouble carrying him comfortably when he's asleep, Reuben also gets tired so the pushchair that I only used for the airport is now enjoying a renaissance.

Isaac not very happy... It's a big dinosaur!

Reuben at my mum's

More babywearing pictures

By Martin Zalesny

Babywearing by Martin Zalesny

Babywearing

Facebook

Facebook is a weird place to be, I'm sure I'm not the only one to have noticed this. In the last couple of days I've been deleted by a couple of people and it upset me, it is possibly because of some comments relating to the recent rioting in England or it could be something else. But it made me think that I have shared a great deal with people on parenting forums thinking that we were like minded but in the end we do not really know each other, some I have never met and some only once or twice. I feel that I have been judged and found lacking, not hippie enough, not unconditional enough, so why did I bother with these forums in the first place? I needed support, a tribe, to feel part of something. But it's not real. So I am now only in touch with people I know personally and the wonderful Leicester sling meet group, so I do have to thank facebook for one thing!

Continuum concept revisited

I was walking Isaac around in the carrier the other night, he has never been put to bed awake as most people seem to recommend... he happily falls asleep in the sling and then I put him to bed, not as much hassle as you would think, he's asleep in 10 minutes, and if he isn't we just go back downstairs again. And I was thinking... what a difference between my behaviour with him and with Reuben when he was the same age. And I thought I was being a responsive parent then as well. I had no idea. Isaac has never ever been left to cry, Reuben was put to bed from 6 months of age (he slept with me before then) and if he woke up it was expected that I go to him but then put him back in his own bed, sometimes up to 20 times a night... Exhausting for everyone, sometimes I wanted to just leave him...
So what made the enormous difference? Reading the Continuum Concept just before I gave birth to Isaac, I can't explain how much it changed me, I felt like someone was slapping me hard in the face at every page turn, thank you Jean Liedloff, thank you so much! There is nothing I have read before or since that has had such a bit impact on me as a mother, it resonated with me as a human animal, as a mammal, I got it completely and felt very silly for understanding how far we have moved away from our natural continuum. A year and a half later I can see the benefits that this outlook has bought to my family and feel very grateful to all the hippie mommies who recommended it to me.











Jean Liedloff (1926-2011)

The latest

So what's been happening with us? We've been to Italy again and I have found that staying with relatives when you have two small children is rather stressful... Not everyone has the same outlook on life or does things at the same time as us, so for us being as independent as possible is the answer, for now.

Our mr baby is no longer much of a baby so it makes more sense now to call the boys by their proper names (Reuben and Isaac). We are still very much intending to home educate, Reuben has trouble doing anything teacher led anyway, so just as well. I got him an app for the ipad (which he uses more than I do) on body organs (highly recommended) and he looks at it every day! Today we were at the museum, he saw a picture of a cell and said: "Mummy, that's tissue!"



















We're also trying to re-joing the local home ed group (we went once but then has a load of personal problems, including going to Italy twice in two months, so not given it much of a chance yet) as I think it would be great for the boys to be with other kids going through the same school-free experience.

I passed my Psychology exam for the Exploring Psychology Open University module, I thought I might give the degree a break as it is very time consuming, but now that I know I've passed what essentially is year one of the course, I really want to carry on. I had also thought of starting a small business babywearing related, maybe starting with a blog, but even though I still carry Isaac quite a lot, I wonder how passionate about it I will still be a couple of years from now when he's running around and not needing the carrier anymore. I guess that home education and psychology/counselling are the things that will be with me for a long time in the future. I have started going to Yoga classes again and love it, I try to do some at home as well as I was very involved in Yoga in my late 20s and I can honestly say it changed my life (for the better!!) but, again, looking after two little people is all-consuming. So I try to do a bit of everything, even if it's not all perfect!!

Italy, July 2011

Hi, here's some pictures of our latest trip to Italy. This is when we stayed with my sister in Palombara Sabina near Rome.














































This is in Rome, piazza Madonna dei Monti with our favourite drinking fountain

And this is in Sabaudia, on the coast.