Transform 2013

So what are your plans for this year?

I don't do resolutions as such, but last year I chose a word to represent what I wanted to achieve, and my word was 'present'.  I wanted to be more present in my interactions with my children, and looking at the way I interact with them now, I think I'm doing a fairly good job of being more present with them.

So what's my word for this year? Well this is a shaping up to be a year of big changes for our family.  We will hopefully be moving house, P will turn 5 and start school, I'm going back to work, J is starting kindy, and my last baby will turn 1.

I'm not very good with this kind of change, and it has left me feeling unsettled.  I tossed up between a few words to be my guide this year, words like 'change' and 'peace', but ultimately I decided on 'transform', for both our year, and for myself.

Wrap up of Montessori activites

I thought I would start out by going through the Montessori activities that I put out last time for the girls.

Sensorial - Smelling bottles

These were a hit, P and J carried them around all over the place saying 'smell' and opening and sniffing them.  I am so not a Montessori purist.  However, as I outlined initially, P couldn't differentiate between the smells, even though I thought they were all pretty distinctive.  This was also not helped by small people taking the peppermint lids off the peppermint bottles and putting them on the other ones, leaving everything smelling faintly of peppermint.

Math - Number wheel

This one was a non starter, P wasn't interested in matching the pegs to the wheel at all.

Practical life - open and close containers

The girls enjoyed this activity, but it didn't really hold their attention all that well.  But its definitely worth a revisit.

Practical life - sorting buttons

P enjoyed playing with the buttons, but wasn't so keen on the whole idea of sorting them into the right colours and into the containers.  She spent quite alot of time putting small stickers on the buttons and then decided that they were money and took them with her in a purse when she went out.  So as far as a Montessori activity goes, this one didn't really work.  As far as something that P enjoyed playing with, this was great.

As I've previously mentioned, although I enjoy the idea of the Montessori activities, I don't really like the underlying ethos.  Obviously this has an impact on what my girls enjoy and how they play with their activities.  Check out my Steiner posts to see a different perspective on toddler and preschooler play.

On the subject of presents

My last few projects have been about presents for the girls, and I thought I might explain the whats, and whys of our present giving (well I say our, but since I organise everything, DH just goes along with whatever I've done).

Those of you who are observant will know that J is getting three presents for her birthday.  That's one from me, one from DH and one from P.  If/when she has any other siblings then she'll get one from them as well.  As a general rule, the girls presents are handmade, thrifted and/or made from natural materials.  I try not to buy the girls things for no reason either.

Christmas presents are a little different.  Father Christmas gives them presents, and they will each get quite alot, but again, mostly small, handmade gifts.  As well as these they will each get a main present, something more substantial.  This year, P has informed me that Father Christmas will give her a bike.
 
I love to make their presents, and I love giving them things, but I am trying to teach them at the same time.  We live in a consumerist society, where we are bombarded by messages telling us we need more stuff, that our lives are incomplete without bigger and better stuff.  I want the girls to learn that this is not true, that we don't need a whole heap of material possessions to be fulfilled, and that the love with which presents are given is the most important thing.

All of which is easy at the moment, because they are too young to know any better.  Once they get a bit older, I'm sure that they will feel terribly hard done by that we are such mean parents to not give them all the things they want all the time, but I'm okay with that.