Doing the Mum stuff

I’ve got off pretty lightly when it comes to making costumes so far. My sister’s children had been angels in the past so last year was OK. The sheep for the class assembly came out of a friend’s nativity collection, etc.

This year the dragon (of bad luck) is to be a sheep – luckily Asda have sheep in his size so that was OK – especially as they need to crawl in the costume!

But the angel needs to be a shepherd! I finally unearthed an old fashioned (stripe down each side) dish cloth and her ballet head band for the head dress but then there was actual sewing to do. My shirt wasn’t long enough so one of Daddy’s old ones with over half the sleeve cut off has been pressed into service. I don’t think that shepherds are known for being particularly smart so I didn’t feel the need to hem the sleeve. I then made the belt out of strips of the remaining sleeve sewn together then folded into a flat tube and sewn ip the side to stop it unfolding.

I haven’t found a walking stick yet!

 

Role models for numerate children

The Numberjacks are some of the few heros I’ve found, aimed at children, that are numerate. In a lot of writing the people who enjoy Maths are at best scatty and eccentric and at worst downright unsociable.

Is this because most writers create heros that are partly semi-autobiographical or at least have opinions and qualities to which the writer can relate? With most people either favouring Mathematical subjects or Literate subjects. The vast majority of people who enjoyed Maths and Science didn’t shine at writing and people who liked writing were only too glad to drop anything to do with Science and Maths as soon as they could?

All that left numerate children with books and television characters that portray their subjects (if they are mentioned at all) as being strange and undesirable and giving them a raft of alternative role models with skills and aspirations with which they do not relate. They are not inspired by these characters so they are even less inclined to read.

Then bouncing onto our screens come the Numberjacks. They are enthused by numbers, shape, size, time… They spend their spare time counting, playing with shapes, adding, taking, multiplying, subtracting and what can’t they do with their buddy blocks?

What characters are there in children’s literature with that enthusiasm and flair for numerate subjects? Are there any series with heros that would understand and empathise my daughter’s “Number Fun” and my son’s fascination with numbers?

 

Round and round the table …

Round and round the table,
Like a little man.
One step, two steps,
As quickly as you can.

Which of course isn’t very fast when you are just two and a half. You can get bags of fun out of chasing your sister (and being chased) round the kitchen table. Every now and then one (or both) of you is on the tricycle. Then you can run round with a cylindrical block saying tesco, tesco (I think he meant telescope not the supermarket – the clue was in the way he held it up to his eye!) Then you can get Mummy to chant your name as you race round – this is really exciting.

The evening started with wheeling in the Og-Pog and washing Daddy’s jacket. Then parking the Og-Pog in its cave and then going to get a stone to keep it safe. The Og-Pog substitute was the trolley, the cave is a kitchen chair and the stones were an almost endless procession of small building blocks. In The Night Garden has added a whole new world of games to the already fertile ground.

 

The joy of learning

I found “My cat likes to hide in boxes” by Eve Sutton in a secondhand bookshop. This proved to be a great source of fun. My four year old daughter delights in looking for each place in her Atlas as we go through the book.

“The cat from France…”, “Lets find France, it’s in Europe.” so she looks at the contents page to find Europe, then we find France. Even better both the Atlas and the book have a picture of the Eiffel Tower so we go and look at the picture of Mummy and Rachel (her godmother) standing in front front of it with 287 days to go before year 2000.

 

The angel to the fore

My husband hasn’t been feeling very well for the last day or so. Our little angel said, “When I feel poorly I go to bed and cuddle a toy. Wait here, Daddy, I’ll go and get you one.” She came back with a big cuddly panda called LowLow. “Here you are, I brought this one as it was the only one that was big enough for you!”

If that doesn’t cheer you up …

 

Two sides of the angel.

My daughter was in her Sunday School Nativity tableau today. She (being one of the younger girls) was cast as an angel. Not altogether appropriate in this case. Did she sit nicely through the rest of the service? Did she keep her halo on? Did she stand still in a prayerful manner during the performance? Or did she roll around on the floor through the whole service, take her halo off every few seconds and turn around bumping into the smallest angel (and nearly being sent flying off the stage when the smallest angel took exception to this)?

We then got home with all the relations and started having our nibbles. Finally she was an angel offering round the Fararo Roche (Auntie wasn’t offered them at the High Commissioner’s party and hasn’t had time to check the embassies) and checking who needed coffee. You never know she might even be in bed now!

 

Shoes are a sore point!

If the dragon of bad luck loses a shoe it will be the left one!

He had just got his first pair of winter shoes when we went shopping at Bluewater. After having lunch I noticed that he only had one shoe on (the right). We retraced our steps but didn’t find the other so we had to buy a new pair of shoes for him. They were identical to the lost pair so we would have a spare.

Ho, Ho, Ho! We couldn’t find one of his shoes for days, he had to wear wellies as it was the left one he’d lost. Last night he surpassed himself. We left the two children at a friend’s house while we went to the “Nine Lessons and Carols”. When we went to collect the kids the dragon only had one shoe on. Having searched the whole house twice it was found in the back of our car! Have you ever tried searching the back of 4-seater Morgan (no courtesy lights) on a dark night with a tiny torch? Trust me you really don’t want to.

Anyway, we had the shoe. We put it on then got hats and coats on, put the child seat back in the car. Loaded the children – couldn’t believe it, only one shoe! Searched the car again, in the dark, with the tiny torch and no courtesy lights. Too cold, so we went home without finding it. Looked at the spare shoe – wished the dragon had two right feet. Searched with the garage light to help – it didn’t much. Rang friend to see if they had the shoe.

Luckily the friend found the missing shoe so all is OK (until the next time).

 

Satisfying the inner pink

When I was at school my uniform specified black shoes. The choice available was uncompromisingly black.

My daughter’s uniform also specifies black but children’s shoes have moved on since. Now it is possible to satisfy the little girl desire for pink and still comply.

 

Feng Shui for mothers

If you leave the bathroom door open the dragon of bad luck will drop his sister’s toys down the toilet!