Filed under parenting …

monday

The sun is now creeping down the side of the valley by 7.30 a.m. and by then I was scrambling up the mountain this morning in my vibrams. Such a joy to scramble up and cross the moss-covered stones, overhanging branches and little waterfalls and see the deep forest waking up. My feet are longer … Continue reading »

How I got rid of the TV (part 2)

“Oh, does that means daddy will have to watch football at the pub then?” So, there we go, no eyelids batted whatsoever. I mentioned it briefly to Jules before the fated Saturday night and chose that date specifically because he was out all night working – so we didn’t get into a huge argument about … Continue reading »

How I got rid of the TV (part 1).

So, I am harping on yet again about getting rid of the TV. Only because I have seen, in the last few weeks the most amazing changes in my children. I want everyone to know about it. Unfortunately it is not the kind of thing that I can banter on about ad infinitum here in … Continue reading »

Waldorf ‘v’ Unschooling

Yes, I have hung up my unschooling cap for the moment. Here are some reasons why: I was waking up most mornings thinking “What the hell am I going to do with the kids today?” I was slightly worried that Bubble’s favourite films were Grease, School of Rock and Mamma Mia, although I thought it … Continue reading »

Conscious Parenting

I had a shock yesterday which really made me reassess things with my children. Bubble has been in France whilst I came to the UK with Squeak. She arrived here yesterday. For three days I had been quiet, relaxed and at ease, able to spend a little undivided time with with Squeak (the first time … Continue reading »

the nativity decoded

I had a rare chance to watch some English TV on Christmas Day at our friend’s house. We watched a programme called ‘The Nativity Decoded’, which discussed the hidden meanings behind the story of the birth of Jesus. Most of the two hour show was concerned with whether the nativity story is based on historical … Continue reading »

STOCKing fillers

The girls are ill, so I am making chicken broth for them. In fact, my chicken broth is no more than stock with salt and noodles added. But there’s no point making a healing stock unless it is done properly; the secret is to extract the most minerals, vitamins and gelatin from the carcass and … Continue reading »

Their time, not ours

When I want my children to do something NOW, like putting shoes on or getting hair brushed, I have to tell myself that children do not work on the same time frame that we do – they live in the moment, from second to second. For instance, if, when they are getting dressed, they suddenly … Continue reading »

the gentle art of zen parenting

I am not sure whether it is the moon or some other astrological phenomenon taking place at the moment, but I had the most cranky morning ever yesterday. I shouted at the kids, swore at myself, got pissed off by the smallest inconveniences. ‘Why can’t I turn the car round in this bloody driveway?’ ‘Why … Continue reading »

teeth (revisited)

More about teeth: I have come to believe that one measure of a person’s health can be measured through the state of their teeth. I just came across a great article by a dentist who works under the principles of Weston A. Price and his words have confirmed my hypothesis yet again. Bubble has lost … Continue reading »

love is….good food, well cooked

Following up on the ‘traditional family’ posts which I have been writing recently, it is now time to turn to food, one of the most influential things ever to exist within the home. In fact, if we were to travel back to Stone Age times, meals would probably be the one and only thing which … Continue reading »

baking

Squeak often hovers around the kitchen whilst I am baking and needs to mix and play with whatever appears on the table after watching me for five minutes or so. It would be so easy to get ruffled by this, especially when a cake or pie needs to be made for the family, but I … Continue reading »

Children need a space of their own

Whilst we are utilizing our walks to the lake, ski-de-fond and forest ambles the best we can, I really feel that our home should be made more sacred and special. Yesterday I cleared out the shelves of all the children’s books. I put all those which are never really looked at behind in our storage … Continue reading »

Weaving our stories into the web of our family

I have been thinking about the last post I wrote and the reunification of the family unit and I found myself turning back to a lovely little book I have nearly finished reading: The Web of Life: Weaving the Values that Sustain Us, by Richard Louv. This book is concerned with re-establishing family ties by … Continue reading »

reunited family

I have realised something – and this is after three months of letting my children do what the hell they want – when one tries to implement an ‘unschooling’ environment in the home, one needs to make sure that certain other elements of family life are secure and even enforced on a daily basis. One … Continue reading »

Spirituality

Spirituality, now that is a word that made me prick up my ears when I started to read about Rudolph Steiner’s philosophies. I feel that spirituality is the one thing lacking in today’s world (school and elsewhere) and the one thing that will succeed in pulling us all back together again. So, perhaps I could … Continue reading »

Strewing

Following a comment left by Michele from Natural Attachment, I have been thinking about the idea of strewing. This word, first used by Sandra Dodd, is an idea one can employ in the unschooling home. Strewing is the act of placing objects in a seemingly random way around the house so that children may ‘come … Continue reading »

John Holt ‘v’ Steiner (part 1)

I was talking to a friend yesterday who has sent her fourteen year old daughter to a Waldorf/Steiner school in England, whilst the rest of the family remains in France. She spoke so passionately about the system and then showed me a video of the school which another woman from the valley had made. I … Continue reading »

lost in time

“What child, while summer is happening bothers to think that summer will end? What child, when snow is on the ground, stops to remember that not long ago the ground was snowless? It is by its content rather than its duration that a child knows time, by it’s quality rather than its quantity – happy … Continue reading »

good ‘v’ fantastic

A GOOD DAY: We get up early before the children. We watch a little french t.v. and drink coffee. The girls get up and I sit  at the computer whilst they watch french cartoons. DOH goes off to do some errands. Me and the girls eat breakfast and plan the day. Grocery shopping, walk by … Continue reading »

dusk walk on the shore

Dusk fell quickly this evening, we held hands and dug in the sand. Horses were whinnying from across the lake, black as night. A moth fluttered overhead. Stones took on strange appearances, like the face of the moon. The water was an inky blue, with turquoise marbling, still. The sky fell closer to the water … Continue reading »

screwed up

Squeak is reaching the ‘terrible twos’. She will be three in December. She has only just started to speak, so I guess, for her, this is the terrible, belated twos. She has started to get into furious tempers when things do not seem to be going her way. I know how she feels. Bubble is … Continue reading »

S

Just one small thing I want to write about today, I have found that the most effective way of connecting and understanding my children is to write an “S” in Biro on my hand at the beginning of each day. In fact, it has been so effective that I may have the letter tattooed on … Continue reading »