After a bad mummy evening... I decided to jot down my thoughts on parenting my kiddos as of now! I have given up with big and deep philosophies, plans and systems...because they set me up for immediate failure and stress.
So this is my parenting primer for August 2007...
Help is Help...offer and give help when it is needed/requested as much as we are able.
They are just little and learning. We want to model to them the fruit of the Spirit rather than bash them over the head with a million rules and regulations they can't possible achieve.
Serve one another in love. Seek to serve the children...not in an indulgent "Your whim is my pleasure" kinda way but in a firm/kind/nurturing/modelling way.
Err on the side of grace and kindness. Be prepared to give up control over that which isn’t important and be prepared to dig in to uphold that which is important.
Mealtimes are for family togetherness...don’t turn them into battlegrounds.
Hug A2 lots.
Read C2 lots of stories and play cars with him.
Play board games with O5 and listen properly to all of his stories and thoughts and jokes.
Spend time with E11months, showing him books and making towers with him and rolling a ball around.
Let the kids get dirty.
Expect everyone to help where they are able.
Sing and dance and play together.
Pray for and with the children and share the Bible with them.
Get out into God’s creation and really explore and enjoy it.
Relax and let them be and don’t over correct or talk too much.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Re-entering the Blogland Abyss
I have been back online for a while since our move to the Mighty Waikato...but I am enjoying being relatively freed of my internet addiction. Sure...it makes it easy to stay off the net when the computer is in our bedroom and I have to kneel on the floor...but all the same I am enjoying getting more actual real life happening.
So here's a quick update on my world.
So here's a quick update on my world.
- Settled the house and OMG is it freaky to get bank statements with oddles of cash in the account...note to self...STOP SPENDING THE HOUSE MONEY!!!
- Spent a wonderful two weeks with the in-laws...yes, that's right, wonderful. MIL was a Hero...she even looked the other way, albeit with a noticeable tick when C2 weed all over her flash new black leather couch. What a woman! FIL was very gracious at having his rugby watching continually interrupted by the hordes of marauding vultures intent on clambering all over him and scrounging whatever he happened to be eating at the time.
- I enjoyed the most fantastic weekend with some friends from all round the North Island. Some I'd only met online until that point. We had a MARVELLOUS time, knitting, dyeing wool, shopping, talking, eating and more. Check out Sarah's and Rachael's blogs for their accounts of the weekend. I have had my social fix for a few months now....bliss.
- We trundled down to our new house and have spent the best part of a week unpacking, settling, exploring, and spening loads of petty cash getting stuff we didn't need at our old house but have to have here...what is with that? All houses should be made the same so your furniture and other bits and pieces work wherever you go. Actually mostly it is cos we are renting and can't just bung up shelving and put holes in the walls so we have to buy cupboards etc.
- I have almost finished A2's jersey...she will even get some wear out of it this winter.
- I have sent my first completed soaker and longies order with offical invoice even...back in business baby. I will be focussing on making some truly unique sewn garments for Patootie next...watch this space.
- J is off work for another 10 days...boy oh boy will we miss him when he goes back to work...C2 adores Daddy and will be a very sad boy for a few days and I will have to get up do the whole breakfast/morning routine rather than laze in bed reading or updating my blog!
Moving seems to be the best time to make as many life changes as I can. thic way I can get all of my edginess out in one big hit...so here is what is on my agenda...
- Start swimming again...off to check out the local pools today. Twitching cos it involves getting up at 5:30am.
- Get back onto the healthy eating wagon again. Moving/Living at Inlaws/Schleping up and down country often has resulted in TOO MUCH CRAP FOOD!! However, I did feel slightly better when my uberhealthy and very disciplined friend Rach confessed that she had slipped also.
- Declutter heaps of our extra stuff...mainly clothes and toys and even dare I say it BOOKS...well the book declutter is actually to make room for the $300 worth of new books coming my way as we speak from Amazon...I just had to buy up before the dollar dived and it was too expensive again.
- *Consider* organising kindy for A2 and C2...in two minds about this one. I know I would LOVE having a wee break from the terrific twosome...but then again...I LOVE having everyone around most of the time...hmmm...still pondering this one.
- Organise my worm farm/Bokashi Buckets/Temporary vege garden. I am feeling like it is not worth it while we are renting...but that is just lazy talk. Gotta get my butt in gear to get the soil prepared for Spring planting.
- Keep dreaming about our acreage in the wops and how we can possibly manage to afford it next year. I am trying to work out if we could manage to squeeze into a two beddy cottage ...hence the motivation for the decluttering above! I feel the neeed to go visit Sarah in her little place to see what compact living is really like!
- Make some new friends so that I can link to more than two people in my blog! Tee-hee! Luff you girls!
Okay...enough from me...must go and rescue J from the kids, get dressed and start acting like a mummy again to ease myself back into real life mode after the holiday I have been having.
Monday, July 09, 2007
Patootie Designs
I have been playing around with T'shirt design applique since falling in love with beebeemod.
Once we have moved I am going to open up a little etsy shop or something with T's and matching soakers/longies...plus I have another couple of ideas up my sleeve...
Here are a few I prepared earlier...if you like any of them, flick me an email... jkonic at slingshot dot co dot nz or post a comment and you can swap me something you make...
Tiny House- Size 1 blue cotton skivvy (that's a turtleneck for non-kiwis/aussies!)
Garden Elephant - Size 3-6 months white cotton envelope neck T with matching Seaweed utiku wool longies
Funky Fish - Size 3-6 months dip dyed cottonenvelope neck T
Lavender Butterfly -Size6-9 months lace hemmed white cotton envelope neck T
Flower Power - Size 3-6 months white cotton envelope neck T
Once we have moved I am going to open up a little etsy shop or something with T's and matching soakers/longies...plus I have another couple of ideas up my sleeve...
Here are a few I prepared earlier...if you like any of them, flick me an email... jkonic at slingshot dot co dot nz or post a comment and you can swap me something you make...
Tiny House- Size 1 blue cotton skivvy (that's a turtleneck for non-kiwis/aussies!)
Garden Elephant - Size 3-6 months white cotton envelope neck T with matching Seaweed utiku wool longies Funky Fish - Size 3-6 months dip dyed cottonenvelope neck T Lavender Butterfly -Size6-9 months lace hemmed white cotton envelope neck T Flower Power - Size 3-6 months white cotton envelope neck TFriday, July 06, 2007
Teach Your Own
A while ago a friend asked why some of us homeschool...and I've been pondering it ever since and reading what Rach and Sharon have to say about their journeys.
I have been reding John Holt and have been nodding in agreement and inwardly saying "Yes! Yes!" all the way through...so I thought I'd leave you with an excerpt.
Even in supposedly "free" or "alternative" schools, too many people still do what conventional schools have always done. They take children out of and away from the great richness and variety of the world, and in its place give them school subjects, the curriculum. They may jazz it up with chickenbones, Cuisenaire rods, and all sorts of other goodies. But the fact remains that instead of letting children have contact with more and more people, places, tools and experiences, the schools are busy cutting the world up into little bits and giving it to the children according to some expert's theory about what they need or can stand.
What children need is not new and better curricula but access to more and more of the real world; plenty of time and space to think over their experiences, and to use fantasy and play to make meaning out of them; and advice, roadmaps, guidebooks, to make it easier for them to get to where they want to go (not where we think they ought to go), and to find out what they want to find out.
We are loving having O5.5 at home... and out and about in the real world. As we make our big move we are excited about all of the new oportunities our family will have to live and grow together....cos Home Ed is all about the whole family rather than, "Now they are 5 we better start schooling them" approach...life is learning and learning is for life...no matter what your age is!
I have been reding John Holt and have been nodding in agreement and inwardly saying "Yes! Yes!" all the way through...so I thought I'd leave you with an excerpt.
Even in supposedly "free" or "alternative" schools, too many people still do what conventional schools have always done. They take children out of and away from the great richness and variety of the world, and in its place give them school subjects, the curriculum. They may jazz it up with chickenbones, Cuisenaire rods, and all sorts of other goodies. But the fact remains that instead of letting children have contact with more and more people, places, tools and experiences, the schools are busy cutting the world up into little bits and giving it to the children according to some expert's theory about what they need or can stand.
What children need is not new and better curricula but access to more and more of the real world; plenty of time and space to think over their experiences, and to use fantasy and play to make meaning out of them; and advice, roadmaps, guidebooks, to make it easier for them to get to where they want to go (not where we think they ought to go), and to find out what they want to find out.
We are loving having O5.5 at home... and out and about in the real world. As we make our big move we are excited about all of the new oportunities our family will have to live and grow together....cos Home Ed is all about the whole family rather than, "Now they are 5 we better start schooling them" approach...life is learning and learning is for life...no matter what your age is!
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
Go visit Thebeanbag
Okay...I know that dooce is famous for her blog...which supports her whole family nonetheless...but have you met Sarah? Her blog is, in my not so humble opinion, way better...especially when you are a kiwi!!!
So go visit Sarah at thebeanbag.
So go visit Sarah at thebeanbag.
Because you Matter...mata!
Well...I can finally update with our plans...it is a wild ride...and I have been screaming to get off at times while feeling the rush of exhiliration at others...
We are off to Matamata. Yes...Hobbiton
J has accepted a job offer at Totara Springs Christian Camp. He will be a client host. This involves looking after the groups that come in for camps/conferences and the like...making sure they have all they need, the facilities are up to scratch and so forth. He will also be able to get involved in a bit of outdoor instruction...y'know kayaking, abseiling, rockclimbing, and sports galore. I will be at home settling the kids in and hopefully we will move to a job share type situation once we are settled.
We have a lovely brand new (gulp!) home to rent while we find our feet and we are full swing into packing and organising moving...who knew it would cost soooooooo much? So J has secunded a friend to do a couple of long drives with him with a HUGE trailer on the van...close to 400km in a day? No problem??????????!!!!!!!!!!!
I am fluctuating between excitement and terror...and I amust admit that the constant rain, the two year old rascals and the organisation of the whole deal have seen me meltodwn on more than one occasion in the last fortnight.
However, we are glad to be moving out of our comfort zone and moving towards our long term family goals. J will be able to pick up a lot of handyman type skills on the job, and we are going to be on the lookout for some land to buy and slowly build on/develop in a few years time.
We took a step of faith and put the house on the market and God has pushed us out of the aeroplane and shown us that he controls the parachute...it has all come together incredibly...we are looking forward to new adventures and a change of pace.
AND...more importantly...we are will be coming round to visit a whole heap of people we haven't seen for yonks, and hopefully getting house guests from our friends in Auckland too.
So...that is our news...I am not naturally very intrepid...and this would be a tiny leap for many people...but for me it is MASSIVE...
saddle up your horses....we've got a trail to blaze...through the wild blue yonder of God's amazing grace...we'll follow our leader into the glorious unknown...this is the great adventure.
We are off to Matamata. Yes...Hobbiton
J has accepted a job offer at Totara Springs Christian Camp. He will be a client host. This involves looking after the groups that come in for camps/conferences and the like...making sure they have all they need, the facilities are up to scratch and so forth. He will also be able to get involved in a bit of outdoor instruction...y'know kayaking, abseiling, rockclimbing, and sports galore. I will be at home settling the kids in and hopefully we will move to a job share type situation once we are settled.
We have a lovely brand new (gulp!) home to rent while we find our feet and we are full swing into packing and organising moving...who knew it would cost soooooooo much? So J has secunded a friend to do a couple of long drives with him with a HUGE trailer on the van...close to 400km in a day? No problem??????????!!!!!!!!!!!
I am fluctuating between excitement and terror...and I amust admit that the constant rain, the two year old rascals and the organisation of the whole deal have seen me meltodwn on more than one occasion in the last fortnight.
However, we are glad to be moving out of our comfort zone and moving towards our long term family goals. J will be able to pick up a lot of handyman type skills on the job, and we are going to be on the lookout for some land to buy and slowly build on/develop in a few years time.
We took a step of faith and put the house on the market and God has pushed us out of the aeroplane and shown us that he controls the parachute...it has all come together incredibly...we are looking forward to new adventures and a change of pace.
AND...more importantly...we are will be coming round to visit a whole heap of people we haven't seen for yonks, and hopefully getting house guests from our friends in Auckland too.
So...that is our news...I am not naturally very intrepid...and this would be a tiny leap for many people...but for me it is MASSIVE...
saddle up your horses....we've got a trail to blaze...through the wild blue yonder of God's amazing grace...we'll follow our leader into the glorious unknown...this is the great adventure.
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