The good, the lunch and the sometimes lonely

And then like a gentle prod; in two days, two people asked me about my blog…. And my answer was the same. I can’t manufacture inspiration. Not that I am suggesting anyone can. I just find that I need an extravagant amount of mental space to be able to write anything of interest and this space is not something I have found of late.  Strangely however, after these two conversations I feel re-motivated to banish my creative tardiness.  The last weeks have been full of much busyness both mentally and logistically.  And this ends my excusing of my absence from my writing.

Lovely Miss (just turned) 5 has started Kindergarten and while I am supposed to be an expert at school transition by now I am not. Like every baby is different so is every Kindy kid.  Thankfully she is enjoying school. When I asked her about her favourite thing the other day she answered lunch. I suspect that in part this love of lunch related to her new found confidence in opening packaging.  She is so pleased about this skill that she opened 5 boxes of a breakfast milk drink for each family member - the slightly unfortunate aspect was that no one actually likes these drinks i bought but she was so pleased i could do nothing more than share her joy and thank her.   

I was surprised tonight that she asked if she has to go to school every day, and when she can have a play date with one of her preschool friends.  I smiled bravely and said she did but we could invite a friend over on the weekend. I wandered out loud how many new friends she would make at school over the coming weeks.  I was dismayed to hear that at lunchtime she played on her own today despite the backup two older siblings! I have learned that whether this feeling of loneliness is actual or relates to her internal experience it should not be disregarded.  Again I imagined what it would be like when she had made lots of friends at school. And asked about the friend she has spoken of.   We talked about it taking time to form new friendships.   

Whilst I am desperate to offer a quick mummy fix I am also quietly confident that Miss 5 will have no shortage of friends or fun at school over the coming weeks and years.  I am sure I have said it before, I was not enamored with may things about my school years however I do remember that one only needs a few good friends to make it way more fun. This hasn't changed so much over the years.   And i can wholeheartedly relate to eating lunch being a favourite pastime as well.

Call it a revisit

Call it a revisit if you must but someone reminded me of my love of months passed so in the wee hours of Sunday morning I wrote... stream of consciousness, rawness blogged and it felt good.  It's that crazy, young, silly feeling.  The wanting, the wooing.  It is a wordless feeling. The hoping, the pleading... The push and pull. The high, the crashing low. It is intimacy intoxicated by the unknowing. It is paradoxical yet safe. Shameless, without pretense, writing... Finally.

Crazy fun

In all honesty I think I have been exercising as often as I've been blogging lately so tonight, with the sun decidedly set and the children in deep slumber we escaped! Thanks to the presence of our lovely housemate we snuck out the back door. Husband on foot. Me on my bike. Actually me on my (tall) 11 year neighbours bike! We cat and moused our way about around the outside of the Parklands. There was something crazy, something spontaneous about the event that made it extra fulfilling... Not to mention that I managed to break a sweat.

The Calm without the storm

We have been back a week now and 2014 is shaping itself. Our week of birthdays has been a beautiful, enchanting and engaging (if sometimes chaotic ) celebration of these fabulous and full on little ladies. It was in the midst of this week I found myself looking for resources that might help me better meet their ever changing parenting needs.

In this search I stumbled upon this article and it was such a brilliant reminder of what i want to teach my kids through my parenting.

http://m.empoweringparents.com/Stop-Letting-Your-Childs-Behavior-Make-You-Crazy.php

The idea of calm parenting really resonates for me. However in many ways it is foreign to how I was parented and as a result opposite to my default settings. But I like it and I like how i feel when I am this kinda parent so I am reminding myself of these strategies and seeing some love results already.

Really?

I just logged on and my account told me quite irreverently that is has been 2 and a half months since I have posted. I'm so sorry.... Blogger, anyone who reads, creative self! Thankfully my mojo is returning as rapidly as I type.  I am not even sure how the time lapse occurred but it feels good to be back.  I guess it was just life that took over.  School holidays, road trips and now the girls birthdays have all featured high on the four kid family radar the last few months.  But with the new year I am embracing the joy I find in reflecting in print.  Despite this my time is short today as I am off to toast some lentil granola, bake the beginnings of a Peppa Pig cake and find a recipe for tofu burgers.  So... see you sooner rather than later.

Cakes, Capes and witches Hats

There is a pattern to my creativity and I really don’t understand it fully.  All I know is that since Eric’s birthday on Monday I have been itching to make.  Cakes, capes and witches hats are just a couple of the things that have been turned out this week.  I have my heart set on another cape but I fear that time will not allow today. We are off to celebrate a birthday with a beautiful almost three year old on Saturday and I would love to arrive bearing a creation.  Perhaps if I shift from this blog post and talking about being creative to some more pressing admin I will be able to steal some moments at my machine later in the day.  Just before I go this is what I have my eye on ….

http://biglittletales.blogspot.com.au/2011/09/mini-baby-cape.html

A coming of (school) age!

The heat is thick outside our back door but inside the coolness is clear and thoughtful.  The kids are pottering and I am having a moment that I know already will be only too brief.  I will, I have decided fill it with writing in the hope that this creative burst may project me faster through the other tasks at hand.  The holidays have ended free of drama and as if by some magic we are catapulted toward the end of the year and all that means for our family.  2014 marks the end of a season in our lives.  Our boy will no longer be a preschooler and with his coming of school age comes an overwhelming flood of mixed feelings.  It feels there will be an ease, not that Kindergarten is without its challenges but it is also a year of maturing, of changing. I am excited about a year of new and creative moments for Master five and for his mumma.

Soon my boy, soon...