Daddy time

After having a lot of mummy time lately, a certain someone is enjoying some naked lawn mowing with her daddy.  This scene was beyond beautiful to me. It was a dream I once had come true.

Waldorf and Reading

There was a very good post over at The Magic Onion about learning to read in the Steiner school model.  I had a wonderful conversation about it with a new friend this afternoon. I found myself admitting that although I love the process and understand why Waldorf schools don't teach their kids to read until a few years later than mainstream schools, I am going to be hard pressed to keep my daughter from reading.  If she could own one thing in the world it would be a book.  Actually, that might be a lie.  It would be her trolly and then a book.  Perhaps this photo of our living room is why.

 

Regardless, I know we have too much stuff to be as simple as some of the other Waldorf parents in the blogosphere, and that is ok.  We are as simple as we can be and are learning as we go.  The point is I found the article to be amazing at describing the process of learning for children and, as with everything I have read about Steiner education, it is just is just as intentional.  I won't repeat the article here but think it is really worth a read.  

Summer Solstice

A view of the weald.

With a full belly,

a full heart,

we celebrate.

Introducing the latest Sleepytime Dolls

For my husband... I knew you would love our children with an open heart but to watch you father melts my heart.  You are an amazing dad.  Thank you.

For my father.... For who you were to me growing up, thank you.  For who you are now, may you find peace.  

What did your week look like?

This about sums up ours:

Our Fart in the Tub

One of the most amazing things about being in my second trimester is the start of the flutters in my belly.  They are so subtle and soft.  I often hear of parents fretting about the lack of attachment they feel for their second child. Truth be told, I was one of them when I was first pregnant, because I remember when I found out about Narina I was ecstatic.  Nearly two years later I am exhausted.  I don't really get ecstatic about anything anymore.  Then I started to quiet my mind and realize that it is a soft elation, one that comes at the perfect moments, to realize our next baby is on the way.  It may be a quick glimpse of my reflection and my growing belly, a kick, or even Narina saying hello to "the baby in mummy's tummy" in the supermarket.  It fills me with light and a very recognizable love.  So for all the kicks that shoot light through my body, I offer this Kimya Dawson song.

Hey Papa, make Mama a smoothie

make mamma a smoothie right now

Hey Papa, make Mama a smoothie

coz when Mama drinks a smoothie little baby goes WILD

And it starts splashing and a-splishn like a school of little fishes

If a school of little fish was in me

Then glub glub glub like a fart in the tub

like a fart in the tub inside of me

and then the head and butt start rollin

like two balls bowling, perfect games on the lanes inside me

then a great big kick up under my ribs

that feels like nothing else

but assures me of the health and the length and the strength of my little baby

Because when baby is feelin lazy

Mama goes crazy thinkin something’s wrong

And then Mama runs to Papa and she sings him this little song

Hey Papa, make Mama a smoothie

make mamma a smoothie right now

Hey Papa, make Mama a smoothie

coz when Mama drinks a smoothie little baby goes WILD

And it starts splashing and a-splishn like a school of little fishes

If a school of little fish was in me

Then glub glub glub like a fart in the tub

like a fart in the tub inside of me

and then the head and butt start rollin

like two balls bowling, perfect games on the lanes inside me

then a great big kick up under my ribs

that feels like nothing else

but assures me of the health and the length and the strength of my little baby

Hey Papa, make Mama a smoothie

make mamma a smoothie right now

Hey Papa, make Mama a smoothiecoz when Mama drinks a smoothie little baby goes WILD

Waldorf Wednesday: Finger Plays

One of our favorite quiet moment things to do is finger plays.  Often Narina can listen to the same one five times before she starts to chime in and sing it on her own.  I often find the words to finger plays but don't see the actions so I thought I would share this one with you.  It is our current favorite.

These are my lady's knives and forks

This is my lady's table.

This is my lady's looking glass.

This is my baby's cradle.

Juice love

Beet + Carrot + Celery + Ginger = A beautiful purple smile!

Newborn Knot Dolls added to my Etsy shop

Before I had a daughter, I didn't understand the different styles of Waldorf dolls that I would see being sold on Etsy.  Why a knot doll, a sack doll, a limbed doll?

Now that I have had my daughter, I can feel the answers as I watch her development.  When she was first born, her hands would search for material, thin, soft, without any bulk, to hold and suck.  It was often involuntary movement that wouldn't stop until the above was nestled into her hands.  This is often why we see newborns with muslin cloths, or comfort blankets, sucking on a corner as they are sleeping.  The newborn dolls have no facial features, no distractions.  They are thin, soft and are made to fit into those tiny hands.  They have knotted hands and hats so that there is some texture for a baby to hold onto and later to bite and chew for sore teething gums. 

Each newborn doll is stuffed with a ball of wool that is then tied to form the head.  Wool, even when clean, has natural oils that retain smell.  So when you receive a knot doll, you can place it in your shirt and it will smell like you and comfort a little one while sleeping. 

I am often asked how you "make"  a child like a new toy or doll.  You can encourage attachment to a newborn knot doll by making it something that is only ever in the baby's sleeping space, between you and the baby while feeding or when singing a special song. Soon the baby will associate the doll with those special comfortable moments.

They are simple to take care of and one of the only Waldorf dolls (that I make) that can be machine washed and dried in the dryer.  That being said the head ball will become more solid if you put it in the dryer so I prefer to let it dry on a radiator.  I always recommend, if you are going to air dry your dolls, to have two of the same colour so one is always ready for a snuggle. Parents often will do this as a loss precaution and after watching the pain my own brother went through when loosing his best friend teddy bear, I understand why.   Often times I will only post one on my Etsy site, so if this is something you are looking for, please just "convo" me and I will let you know if there are others in that fabric choice available. 

Community

Something that many of my close friends have heard me talking about lately is the concept of community.  It is something that I have been craving and something that I know I am lacking.  I am not lacking friends, but rather a collective relationship with the people around me.  There is an investment into community that exists here, but in areas that don’t really fit with our family.  There is the farming community, Land Rover community, the local legion/ pub community, the church community, the school community, the actual village community as a whole (we live outside of it), the business community, horse riding community and the women’s institution… I could go on.  I try to use my cyber community as a way to create the web of like-mindedness that I would like to have in my weekly life and that works well, for the most part.  It has been more recently that  I. Want. More.   So how do you go about finding people who are like-minded?  We go to Steiner fairs, but no one really talks to you (as a newbie).  I sell at Steiner schools, but so far, in each of the fairs I have been to, the tables surrounding mine don’t even know what a Steiner school is.  I am investigating, brainstorming, manifesting.  Right now it looks like Waldorf toddler groups would be the way to go.  They are all about an hour away from me here, but I think the time has come that a once a week drive would be worth it. 

Wish me luck.