Gnomes and elves

In our house we have naughty gnomes that live under the Christmas tree. They play tricks and get up to all sorts of mischief. ...
And this year they have been joined by elves on the shelf....
Here are some of their antics....

Happy no oo ay

My home is filled wit music -- be it the stereo playing, or the humming of the Star Wars or Harry Potter themes or Auld Lang Syne from the Dragon, or the adorable muddled up childrens songs from the bumblebee.  There is music.
Music in the rhythm of the fan rotating in my room, as it spins round with a clicking sound to cool me down, music in the birds and insects in my garden, and in the giggles of my children.
It is times like these, where I get to seek comfort and joy in the singing and giggles of my family, that I am reminded how lucky I am to have senses that allow me to love sound.  I have worked with so many children where sounds grate on their nerves and overpower them to the point where they cannot function due to the physical pain caused by sound.  It saddens me to think how the magic of sound can hurt as much as it can heal.
As I write this, Bumblebee comes n, demanding "Happy no Oo Ay" from me.  So I smile at her, turn from my computer and sing "If you're happy and you know it,, shout Hooray!"  And I am thankflu that my children love music and melody....

Viking training

So the Dragon wanted a "How to Train Your Dragon" party. I had great fun planning it and we all enjoyed watching the vikings complete their training.
They had to complete an obstacle course, with tasks requiring balance, coordination and stamina. In other words, they had to walk along a rope, balance bean bags on their heads, leopard crawl and more.
The obstacle course was followed by an egg and spoon race, sheep tossing, dragon feeding, tug of war, pin the flame on the dragon, sleeping dragons and pirate capers.
The food on offer included dragon eyes, dragon toenails, and shield biscuits. All with labels in dragonese. And the cake was my humble attempt at Toothless.
At the end of the party, each viking was awarded a medal, sword and shield.
Whar I have been touched by is the number of compliments about the party and how much fun the children had. I love planning my children's parties, and am glad other children don't mind that this is a homemade party with a homemade cake. In fact, I have been told by some of their parents that this actually made the party better.
All in all, dragon training was a great success and now I have to wonder what the Dragon will want next. ....

Giving is better than receiving....

I love surprising people for their birthdays, so I am trying to instill the love of giving in my children....  It  doesn't always work out the way I intend, and some of the gifts Dragon has thought up have been rather unusual.....  I'm still not sure why I needed a homemade book of Dragons (but the effort he put in was great) and I have been given a paper anvil before too.....  

When I work with them to make gifts for others, they have fun and the gifts are always well received....  It doesn't matter if it is a necklace, place mat, coaster, cake, soap or whatever... and at the end of the day, my children have understood that birthdays and Christmas are about giving as much as receiving.....

Monkey Time

I keep hearing about how different countries are bringing in legislation to keep kids safe.  Laws are being passed to stop kids from climbing trees, playing hopscotch or making daisy chains.  Cartwheels have to be supervised in Australia, as I speak, and I foresee bicycles being prohibited in the near future.  WHY?  Our kids need to stub toes and graze knees.  It's all part of being a kid and learning about the world.  Not to mention, developing gross and fine motor skills.  I have seen too many kids with underdeveloped muscle tone, poor co ordination and social skills and arthritic conditions all stemming from the lack of exercise and increase in TV and gaming time.

I know I have ranted about this before, so today I am posting images of Dragon climbing trees, playing in the park, scrambling on rocks and just having good fun in the fresh air.....  Even playing rugby.....  As for the Bumblebee.....  she loves being outdoors.  Bring her indoors and she yells.   Give her some sand to play in, grass to run on or gravel to sort and she is in her element......

So my kids have holes in their clothes, grazes on their knees and freckles on their noses.  But they are fit and healthy and sociable....  so I will keep them climbing trees as long as possible......

Parent Police

I am struggling to come to terms with dealing with the fear of being branded a "bad" mother because I allow my children to climb trees, play in the mud and ride their bikes.  My kids have accidents, some of which have been fairly serious.  Whilst I take accidents seriously, and do the best to ensure my children are always safe, when they do get hurt, I can't help glance over my shoulder, expecting Social Services to come by and accuse me of negligence or abuse.
It is feeling like this that I think is one of the main reasons so many children have poorly developed gross and fine motor skills.  Children are discouraged from climbing, tumbling, playing ball, running and growing.  We, as parents, are so worried that grazes and bruises will bring the "parent Police" knocking that we are, inadvertently causing problems.  When I was at school I had never heard of Occupational Therapy and the only Physio I knew worked with children who had very serious disabilities.  Now it seems that most schools have one or other of these stationed on the premises, ready to "fix" our kids.
How is it that we have allowed ourselves to be freaked out by regulations and opinions that are drawn from the few parents who do harm their children (and have no qualms about it), when we, ourselves were encouraged to play outdoors and just get on with life when we grazed our knees?  And do we really need to spend the huge fortunes on these therapies, when encouraging some basic fun outdoors would be cheaper and more effective?  I watch as Dragon clambers down the rope on his climbing frame, or as Bumblebee tries to climb onto the back of the sofa, each with amazing dexterity and balance for their years.  In my hand is one of the many "dream Dragons" made for me by Dragon -- complete with fine details and complicated wings, carefully cut out and suspended on a string.  On my desk is the letter from his school's Occupational Therapist telling me that she thinks he needs an assessment (costing a small fortune) as she is worried that his cutting skills and eye for detail are not up to scratch.  And all of this starts me thinking about whether I am a bad mother because the evidence I have makes me disagree with her, and so I have not requested the assessment. Am I a bad mother, because I let my kids play with mud and do crafts with them and generally believe that doing stuff with my kids when I can is the best therapy for us all?
Yes, my kids have accidents.  I keep a small first aid kit in my bag -- complete with smiley face plasters and sterile wipes -- just in case.  My kids get dirty -- I buy clothes that are hardy and washable and we make bathtime a fun experience so they enjoy getting clean just as much.  They eat healthy food, drink water and seem fairly well adjusted (as seen from my rose tinted mommy eyes).
So maybe I can stop looking over my shoulder in case the parent police come knocking, and I can enjoy being a mom of two funny, curious and clever kids.  Maybe I'm not such a "bad" mother after all.

Family matters

Recently I have had several little things happen which have got me thinking about the concept of "family" and what it means.
I have had to come to terms with one relative shocking everyone else with some "bad" behaviour.  I've also had the fun of a visit from my husband's much younger brother -- along with his skateboarding and youthful innocence.
All this has been preceded with the acquisition of four step-siblings and an "evil" step mother in the last few years.  My step sister and I have had the luck of having babies within hours of each other.  My stepmother had the drama of dealing with these dramatic events.
Next week I will be seeing an old school friend who is the closest to a sister that I ever had while growing up and is the guardian of my children, should anything happen to me.
Looking at all of this, I start to wonder about what makes a family?  Does it have to be through a genetic link, or can we adopt friends into our families?  What about those members of our families that misbehave?  The relative mentioned above has been "ungodfathered" by my cousin, following on from his behaviour.  Is this the best way to deal with him?  What about just being there to offer some support while he tries to figure out the mess he has landed himself in?
I know that I would walk through fire for my "adopted" sister, and that she is likely to do the same.  I am not sure I can feel confident of this in some people who share my genes.....
I look at my two children and how Dragon has embraced his sudden new clutch of cousins and how Bumblebee loves playing with her "twin", and I think back to a feud between my cousin and I that has been going on for almost two decades, and which I still have no idea as to the cause.  I was raised to put family first and that supporting one another is vital to maintaining close ties.  My grandmothers were the matriarchs who saw to this.  Since they died, the ties have come undone rapidly and I see a close know family rapidly becoming strangers.
So now I ask, given that the people I count on to be there when my immediate family can't, are not related to me by blood, is blood really thicker than water?