Oh. My. God. Today it hit 44 degrees here. FORTY FOUR or 111.2 in the old scale. And guess where I was? In an un-air conditioned classroom attending a parenting seminar.
Urgh does not really cover it.
The seminar was fantastic, I have been discovering the slow parenting movement and Forest pre-schools - pre-schools where the kids spend all day messing about in a forest with no toys except what they can find - I kid you not. They do have a shed or similar to hide in when the temperature drops below -10 (yes MINUS TEN DEGREES CELCIUS) or there is a storm, but other than that they potter about outside playing with sticks and lighting fires with flint stones, none the worse for wear.
I also experienced my first encounter with an attachment parent. I'm an each to their own kind of person in most things and parenting style is no exception. Personally, attachment parenting has always been one of those things that I was sure if I tried my head would explode within twenty minutes and I'd have to retire to bed with a valium and a large glass of bacardi. But yanno, if it works for you...
When I realised that the mother in question had eschewed the offered child care and was bringing her two kids aged 6months and 2.5 into the lecture with her I was all you are KIDDING me, and how totally selfish is she, and great, 40+ degrees and I'm stuck in a room with her screaming kids. But these kids were without doubt the happiest and most beautifully behaved I have ever come across. Not a peep out of either of them. They ate, played happily and silently and then napped. Woke up, got a hug, and went on with their playing.
I honestly never thought that children could behave like that in a crowded room - mine certainly wouldn't.
Arrived home with Miss nearly 4 in a sweaty heap and the sum total of achievements since then has been sorting out my bumper 13kg plum harvest into those for drying (the perfectly ripe ones), those for jam (the under-ripe ones) and those for making into plum butter (or puree or fruit leathers) - the over ripe and blemished ones.
OH AND... we got a new shower head.
:)
3 people love me:
hehehe - we used to joke that I was a "semi-attached" parent. I only heard of the movement when I was pregant, and thought it seemed like airy-fairy rubbish, but then I ended up wearing GG in a sling (a lot... "colic" was actually wheat allergy), co-sleeping, feeding on demand and not letting her "cry it out" (mainly becuase it meant she chucked over everything). Mind you, I also loved my baby swing (the "neglectomatic"), topped her up with formula and had her in her own bed by 10 months (pity she didn't stay there!).
LOL the neglectomatic! Sounds like it was a bit full on for you until you discovered the wheat allergy. Honestly, I'm relieved that those early baby days are behind me - so so stressful. I look back now and wonder how I made it through them sometimes.
Ewwww that sounds bad. 44º and we haven't even got to December.
Very very skeered of summer this year....
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