magic mountain

Last Thursday we slept in...we slept in so late that we missed our play dates and work that day... Not our finest moment, but after super late nights spent tending Spiral Garden and big owlet days, I figure we needed it. Huz called in to work and organised a couple of last-minute annual leave days (thank-you understanding boss!), during what appears to be an unusually quiet period at work, and we were all set to get back on track... Have breakfast and make the day shiny and new again...






We took Tiny Owlet to see snow for the first time. She ate it. Little Owlet rolled in it and Big Owlet threw it. Pretty much sums where they're each at developmentally. Ha! Huz and I ducked snowballs and enjoyed the sun and peace up on top of the mountain and felt recharged again. How lucky we are to have that just up the road. Somewhere to escape for a quick adventure and turn the day around... It still amazes me after all this time that it's all just there, so close...

Have you ever up to a day that looks different to what you expected? Have you ever had to make a day shiny and new and start over? How did you do that? Was there snow? 

unschool monday :: the art of unschooling

Unschooling is a little like handing an owlet a paint brush. You have to let go of your own preconceived ideas of what you think they should be doing.



You need to provide the materials, provide the opportunity for them to learn. Then you need to stand back.



Watch them explore and learn in their own way. Ask their own questions. Experience things for themselves...



It will, most likely, get very messy. And they will probably wander off course. You may desire to intervene and stop things before they get too out of hand. You may feel out of your depth. You may wish to redirect them away from that particular learning path and specify something tidier, more linear. But to do that, to control their learning and exploration, would kill their vision and their passion. Their own questioning and originality would be lost...



But if you give them space, they will create something new with what they've learned and by supporting their interests, providing more materials and more of your time, they'll create a masterpiece.



With time, they'll learn to hone and develop their skills.



And apply their new learning. They'll expand on it...



And pass on what they know. The days when unschooling works best for us seem to be when I remember this basic approach. Stand back and leave the exploration and discovery to them, all the while providing support and encouragement and the ability to take their questions further. Sometimes it takes guts to let go of your own knowledge and your own ego. It takes guts to put the learning and the experience ahead of the material and the time you'll invest in helping them. But isn't all parenting like this? An experience in loving, learning and letting go...

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Thanks for reading along with Unschool Monday. If you have a question for me, or one of the other participants on the linkup, ask away! I'm happy to try and answer here next time. If you feel like linking up, it'd be lovely to have you on board and see how unschooling happens at your nest. xx

a very merry unbirthday...

An Unbirthday party for two owlets... Flamboyant hats, Alices, cheshire cats and red queens everywhere. Jelly in teacups, cake, biscuits and cordial marked "drink me". Pass the parcel, pin the grin on the cheshire cat, a caucus race, chess and croquet. Pinata and birthday cakes... Lots of happy memories. Very happy owlets. Very pooped mama deserving of feet up and a cuppa. Thanks to the gorgeous peeps who came along and made our day so special. xx

my creative space

It's been such a long time, but I finally found some creative space in my week! I mean, sure there's been creative parenting, business creativity, blogging and stuff like that... but the real creative stuff, where you set out to make a thing, you play with colour and pattern and you make a thing. A beautiful thing or a practical thing... that's the stuff I love most. There's a zone you get into when making and creating. A space. I love that space...

So anyway, this week, I made space to make some Owlet Garden Skirts for Spiral Garden. Three new skirts and this time they have a little pocket for treasures... But then this lovely woman came and visited and took off with two skirts tucked under one arm! I'm so glad her gorgeous little ones will be wearing them... But it looks like it'll be a little longer before there are skirts in the shop. More creating for me :)

More creative spaces here

tree of life

When Big Owlet was born, we were so happy to have her here, healthy and by any means. We didn't take the time to think about what her experience may be like. We didn't offer her the most optimal birth. We didn't know until I birthed at home, exactly how peaceful and respectful birth could be. The way we birth is important. Not just for the mother, but it is also important to provide our babies with a birth that honours their journey. The gentlest, safest birth, and a time after birth that is respectful, gentle and nurturing. We didn't look at Big Owlet's placenta with amazement when it was held up to us at the hospital. We were just happy it was out and gone and done with, so we could get on with things. It didn't occur to us that the placenta would be important to Big Owlet. It was removed from her before the cord stopped pulsating and taken away.



Big Owlet has seen two beautiful, healthy placentas. It was the first thing she looked for when her sister, Little Owlet was born. She's marvelled at them, studied them, held them and helped bury them under trees in our garden. She has a huge amount of respect for the tree of life that has helped grow and nourish two of her sisters. She's confused as to why we threw hers away. She wants to have her own placenta tree. She wants to know that we think her placenta, the beautiful thing that grew and gave her life, is important too...



So, I asked my beautiful friend Apwool to make a placenta for Big Owlet. Quirky, yes. But very symbolic and very important for our placenta lovin' owlet. When she opened the parcel from Apwool yesterday, she teared up. "Its my placenta!" she beamed. She cuddled it tightly, then inspected it and held the umbilical cord to her navel. It's super cuddly, so she's decided to spend some time snuggling and bonding with it and maybe one day, when she's ready, she'd like to bury it under a pear tree in the garden, next to her sisters' trees. Thanks again Apwool for such a generous and beautiful gift of time and love (and felt!). This has gone such a long way to showing Big Owlet that we respect and honour her experience and healing that somewhat. Such an important need to meet for each of our owlets and a simple gift I'm so glad we were able to provide.

unschool monday :: feminism, princesses, dolls and owlets

I'm a feminist. Huz calls himself a feminismist and we endeavour to instil feminist values in our owlets. A necessary measure when you live and raise daughters in a patriarchal society, as we do. The irony that my current job description is probably something like "home duties" isn't lost on me. If anything it highlights the patriarchy that devalues my role as equal partner and full-time educator. But how do we work to instil feminist vales in our owlets? How does that work with unschooling? Last week, Natalie asked: 


"So I have a question... Have Disney Princesses invaded your nest? I have a nearly 4 year old who is princess-crazy. This obsession leads to hours of imaginative play, colouring in, reading and story telling. But conversely there are so many negative associations with the princesses - antifeminism, consumerism, external beauty etc.

Does unschooling embrace any interest? Or would it limit/redirect some?"


Yes, Disney Princesses have invaded our nest from time to time. As has Barbie. The owlets have pocket money that they spend each week on what they like. They have bought themselves Barbie dolls at a garage sale and Princesses on a wander through a department store... I don't love them. They know this. But it isn't about me. We don't go out of our way to buy them or give them as gifts, but if an owlet takes it upon herself to buy Barbie or Princesses, we figure it must be important to her. We encourage her to make her own choices based on the information in front of her. We nurture her interest in a broad sense and use it as an opportunity to provide an ethical and feminist critique.


Little Owlet is particularly enamoured with dolls and princesses of all kinds. She loves Cinderella best of all, I suspect because she also has a thing for shoes. Rather than just watching Disney movies, we read old fairytale versions that are slightly different to the ones she knows. We talk about the characters and what their lives are like, why they've been written to assume certain roles. We look at alternative depictions of the princesses Disney has chosen. We read fairytales with strong female characters, or twisted fairytales. We talk about real life princesses and what it is they do... We play with Barbie and we look at her body and discuss it in context to our own. We talk about her clothes. We talk about who might have made her and how and we imagine what it might be like when Time Team do an archaeological dig in 500 years time and discover a layer of Barbie and Princess dolls.... The owlets spend hours colouring, playing, acting out stories, reading (as Natalie mentioned), and doing puzzles. They know they are not beautifully made, or lovely to hold, but they love to play with dolls of all shapes and sizes, because the game is what's important to them.


We compromise with Blythe. Her body shape is girlish and she has flat feet... and fashion sense in spades. And the owlets LOVE her. They relate to her. They love that each one is so different and can be customised. Saving for Blythe has led to lots of numeracy learning, further discussions about fashion and body image, history and geography discussions... Mastering of ebay... Building... I expect there will be much crafting for Blythe in years to come. A recent trip to the shops to see if Barbie might have something in her wardrobe that Blythe might like to wear turned up a big fat NO. Barbie is very fond of pink shiny lycra... Blythe is not. Blythe isn't into platform stilettos either. The owlets' feminist critique continues to bubble away, helping them question why and how things are marketed the way they are... And OH the questions!! A visit to the toy department is a really interesting and eye-opening visit almost every time. Add to this the fact that we've just bought a business promoting handmade, ethical and natural products and discuss why we care about these products with the owlets, and we have a fairly well rounded response to Disney and Barbie. If we banned them altogether, we might miss the opportunity for those discussions with the owlets. But we show them that there is SO MUCH more choice out there if you shop around and use your imagination... Their fascination with them doesn't last. It fades and gets lost in the message of what they've learnt along the way. But they had a lovely time learning it...


For more on Princesses and feminism, you can't go past Unschool Monday regular, Sazz.
And Shae captured it all beautifully with this post on what she wants her daughters to know. 
Oh, and this fabulous post by Wildecrafted, on Barbie and even some doll customisation. 


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Thanks for reading along with Unschool Monday. If you have a question for me, or one of the other participants on the linkup, ask away! I'm happy to try and answer here next time. If you feel like linking up, it'd be lovely to have you on board and see how unschooling happens at your nest. xx

{sunday snippets}

Joining in with Tinniegirl