10 February 2015

Humans

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Unsurprisingly, things have been very busy at ours these past few months. As much as I try not to be busy always, I'm most definitely one of those people who finds it difficult to just stop. Even when I stop, I'm doing something. It's something I'm working on and it always surprises me how much the act of stopping can help change direction and set everything right again.

A few weeks ago, the Owlets and I were in town, running a few errands, on a mission to find bathers and a few other things. It was warm and busy - post Christmas sales and still school holidays… There were people about. The Owlets were excited to be out amongst it. They'd brought their pocket money and they were after some stuff. Not sure what yet. Just something. Days like this seldom go well.

I brought along snacks and water, hoping desperately to stave off multiple cafe visits. It seems just stepping outside our front door accrues a $50 minimum fee in food and transport, so I was keen to keep cafe stops to a minimum. This didn't go down well with the cosmopolitan owlet cafe set. There was mutiny afoot. Things got ugly.

Big Owlet's at an age now where she can see a little humanity in situations like this. She's starting to see cracks and that I make mistakes and feel overwhelm and all sorts of things too. She's a wise owlet, that one. An old soul… But even Big Owlet was seeing where this day was heading. She was in the middle of delivering one of her own rants on consumerism, while simultaneously eyeing off some sort of plastic toy in a gaming shop, while Tiny was crying that we didn't stay a full half hour with Peppa Pig in the ABC shop and Little Owlet wanted a sweetie… Ugh.

I felt exhausted and angry and overwhelmed and like having a shouty-cry about it all too. I make sure the Owlets see that I'm not superwoman - well not all the time. So I told them. I let them see how I felt and that I understood how they felt too. I threw my hands up in the air and exclaimed "I need a hug! Lets go and sit down over there and have a hug".

And so three owlets and I melted into a hug puddle in the middle of Hobart on a hot Tuesday afternoon. There was giggling and owlets saying "Oh Mum!" and cuddling and we all breathed for a bit. Time slowed down and we all felt much better. Then the crowds parted and Huz came along to find four smiling faces, rescued from what might have been one of those days, had we not chosen to stop.

Have you had one of those days lately? 
How did you get through it? 
Do your let your owlets see you being human sometimes? 
Do you find time to stop? Or are you a bit like me, always doing more than one thing? 

Happy Tuesday, lovely ones. I hope you find time to stop and have a cuddle this week. xo

3 February 2015

That time we tried school...



A few weeks ago, Little Owlet hit that stage… The one where an Owlet gets curious about what most other kids her age are up to. We've been here before, but all the same it surprised us. All the cartoons and kids shows she watches online begin talking about how awesome school is, to prepare the back to school crew, and an Owlet who is Little Owlets's age wonders what it means to fit in.

She began by asking Huz and I what it was like to go to school. And then she said she'd like to know what it feels like. She wanted to try it. Just for a day. So we asked her what it was she wanted to find out about… and together, we hatched a plan. Little Owlet has a rather vivid imagination, so pretending our home was a school was an easy compromise.

We ordered a uniform in her colour of choice, knee-hi socks and black shoes to match. We worked out all the things an Owlet her age might learn in a schoolish kind of setting. And then we tweaked it a bit. We picked out a day, marked in the calendar, and woke up to a whole new schoolish world that day.

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Lunches and backpacks at the ready, three Owlets assembled at our dining table at 9am one Monday to attend Mrs Carter's School for Particularly Wise Owlets. We structured our day around the school bell (thanks iPhone), and set to work with me as the teacher, my students eager to learn. Hands were raised when questions needed answering, a toilet pass was given when the toilet was needed. Recess and lunch were taken outside and playing with friends had to wait until the bell. Although, apparently, I wasn't as strict as they'd have like,  and it was a fairly simplistic representation of a school situation, I'd say they were fairly convinced.

The Owlets found the day interesting and hilarious, boring and exhausting. As did I. We didn't work at their usual pace and it was odd for them to have to persist with some things and give others up before they were finished. We covered maths, LOTE (French and Japanese all at once!), music, geography, english and art… and I'm fairly sure we approached them in more uschooly ways than we first intended, but old habits are heard to break!

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By the end of the day, we had a story to share with Huz and Little Owlet had determined that school was no longer something she was curious about. She did still like the uniform though… with a few minor alterations - daisy leggings for climbing trees, long sleeves for keeping the sun off and bare feet for feeling comfortable and free. And so we began with our year accordingly.

Happy new school year to our pals getting back to it and happy rambly days to our unschooly-type friends. Here's to finding what works, trying new things and learning together. xo