Archive for November, 2009

by Barbara Lombard – wife, mother to 2, co-owner of Earth Babies , occasional doula

In deciding when they get to stay home I think each parent differs. I am relatively relaxed about it in that I do let them miss an occasional day of school. When would I let them skip? The obvious is if they feel ill,  less obvious would be when something fun or interesting is happening or on those days when they really, really don’t want to go (which is not often) – they are after all only in preschool at this stage and I see no reason to already make school going a forced chore rather than a fun choice.  I will admit that some days I insist they go to school as I know once they are there they have fun. It  is just the drop and release that is an issue (I hate days like that).  We will re-evaluate this approach when formal schooling starts but I think I will still be occasionally flexible on this.  I have never regarded a perfect attendance record as being the ultimate. I see little value in it as I don’t think it shapes the child as a more responsible individual and children can also learn valuable lessons out of the school setting.

 I am a stay at home mom so that I can be there for them when they need me, and they come home every afternoon. I would however never (unless I had no other option) home school. The idea gets me all panicky. My children and I need a little time apart in order to keep on loving each other haha. I need the space to get my things done in the mornings and they need time with friends, activity, running, playing, imagination games  things that I as an adult can’t (and yes no longer want to) provide.

 There is always discussion about when to keep a child home when they are sick, what qualifies as being sick etc. For me if they appear sick, are in pain, their normal nature is affected, they are running a temperature I keep them home for as long as I feel is required. If they have a runny nose or an irritating cough I don’t as both of these could last weeks on end.

 This week past I had 2 extra children, they are homeschooled, so when we originally organized for them to stay with me while their mom is away, I thought I will just keep my own 2 home to play with them (both sets and 2.5 and 5 years). 

When the time came though I decided to rather only let mine stay home occasionally. They get on better when they have some time apart, I need to maintain sanity. It  is the week before my son’s school concert for which they are practicing and my daughter’s little school going routine, which is usually very looked forward to, can at times get upset, and then trying to get her to go to school is like pulling teeth without aneasthetic. She loves it once she is there but if she has missed 2 or 3 successive days when sick, the drop and release can be difficult – a full week away from school and she might think she has graduated and never has to return.

The first day they arrived it was early before school started so my kids stayed home – worked well they played nicely had fun and no issues all day long (Mom 1 / Kids).

Day 2 mine went to school and afterwards they all played, lovely (Mom 2 / Kids).

Day 3 Mine stayed home to play … bad decision I can’t take back, they were horrors together lol – the bigger ones fought all day about the most trifling things, and the smaller ones caused chaos wherever they could – they threw all the washing (piles) waiting for ironing on the floor, threw everything out of cupboards in the rooms, unpacked the product shelves in my work area (Earth Babies), painted themselves blue – or at least mine did (Mom clinging on to her rocker and back to 0 / Kids counter broke trying to keep track).

Day 4 as you guessed they went to school – it was a good day (Mom 1 / Kids).

Week end Day 5&6 went relatively well some fighting but not bad. (Mom 2 / Kids 2)

Day 7 mine are going to school, then get to play together for the afternoon before their friends go home as their mom gets back today.

 In summary for me personally there is a balance, it is sometimes about what is best for them and sometimes about what is best for me

by Gina Jacobson, a wife, a mom, a leo.  She works for a  non-profit organisation, is a procrastinator, loves sci-fi, sushi, good books and scrabble.  Her blog is made up of A Bit of This a Bit of That.

On Tuesday I leave my husband and my baby for 10 whole days, I wont even be in the same country.

I have never left Aaron for more than a night at a time and then he is just up the road at my mom and I can get to him in 5 minutes if I need to.  Paul has been overseas or to Cape Town or Durban a few times but its not the same.  This time its me that wont be here.

I am dreading being away from my family for so long but as Paul pointed out, I will at least be able to get a full nights sleep while I’m away…

We haven’t really told Aaron that I will be going away, Im not too sure how much of the concept he will understand and I don’t want to upset him unnecessarily.  I will be going to work as usual on Tuesday morning and then coming home at lunch time to collect my bags and a travel companion and then off we go to the airport.

We have decided against Aaron coming with, he has been a few times and I think the airport is a little overwhelming for him, with all the people and the noise.  So I will be saying goodbye to him at home.

I will be able to talk to them both on Skype as I am taking my laptop with me and as both my laptop and Paul’s are equipped with cameras we will be able to see each other which will definitely help.

I am going to get a small stuffed animal for Aaron to give him when I say goodbye, something just from mama especially for Aaron.

Have you been away from your family for long stretches?  How do you handle goodbyes?  Do you tell your little ones before hand?  How do you prepare them?  How do you cope with being away from them for so long?

by Sally Cameron,  midwife, mother of 2 and co-owner of earthbabies. I am  passionate, creative, trying to be Green unschooling single mom.  It’s a journey.

My daughter looks forward to Halloween every year it is one of the highlights of the year for her. She really got into the whole idea when we lived in the UK for 2 years. I was worried that we would not be able to find anything to replace the fun she was used having when they went trick or treating around the neighbourhood.

 The idea of Halloween has really taken off in SA over the last few years and there were actually quite a lot of different activities to choose from. I heard about Halloween Zoo at Johannesburg Zoo and we decided to give it a try. I was so impressed. The turn out was amazing and people went to so much effort with the costumes, young and old alike dressed up and got into the spirit of the day.

The zoo had various Halloween themed displays for  kids and lots of Halloween inspired decorations all around. We then had a picnic on the grass and all the parents took along bags of sweets. The  kids ran around from one picnic blanket to the next trick or treating. They had lot and lots of fun and it was declared to be as much fun as going door to door in England.

 My daughter and I dressed as witches and it was not without a little hesitation from me. In ancient times the women who were labeled as witches, when Christianity spread to those areas, were often midwives, healers and wise free thinking women. They were seen as a threat to the church and their healing powers were attributed to be other than God and therefore evil. Witchcraft was declared a heresy and many innocent women were tried and executed. As a midwife myself , someone always drawn to natural healing  I wonder if I would not have been a prime candidate for being burned at the stake for heresy.

 I think we got the balance right of being quite lovely witches, and if it is to identify with those who suffered, then I wore the costume proudly.

 How did you and your family spend Halloween?

How much should we remember the symbolism behind these holidays or do we just celebrate them on their fun and commercial value now?

by Denise Pape, mother of two, passionate about education, righting the wrongs of the world and eating good food.  Creator of  Left-Hand Learning, a support organisation for parents and teachers.

Being left in this right-hand world can be extremely frustrating.  Not only are teachers often trying to teach skills such as cutting, drawing, letter and number formation from a right-handed perspective but then to try and get suitable stationery and workbooks used to be impossible.

Being left-handed myself, I found it quite easy to teach my left-handed son the necessary skills but when we got to school I suddenly realised how ill equipped our teachers are.  Further research confirmed that teaching left-handed children is not even covered in the majority of teacher training colleges anymore.  Is it any wonder that a left-handed child is more likely to enter some form of remedial therapy than a right-handed one?  Is it because the frustrated teacher no longer knows what to do with the child when it comes to teaching fine motor skills so consults occupational therapists or remedial therapists ?  Often I have heard teachers and therapists saying that it doesn’t matter if the child is right or left-handed, well, it does and let me tell you why. 

First of all, stationery.  Ever watched a left-handed child try to cut with right-handed scissors?  Not easy I can tell you – the blade on the scissors is formed differently so the paper will be folded or bent and the cutting jagged – not the child’s fault at all but a simple switch to the correct scissors makes it a much easier task to learn. What about pencil sharpeners – watch a left-handed child use a pencil sharpener – he will hold the pencil in his left-hand and turn the sharpener with his right – often resulting in a pencil as blunt as before. 

Secondly, watch a left-handed child use an activity book for letter or number formation – it is designed completely with the right-handed child in mind.  Often a left-handed child doing symmetry drawings or dot to dot will turn the book upside down and work that way.

Having watched my son go through this process with much frustration and increasing anxiety, I started researching left-handed stationery and the teaching of fine motor skills.  What an eye opener it was for me!  I found that parents and teachers in Europe all sit with the same problem.  Teacher training colleges that barely covered the issue and parents who were none the wiser.

 So Left-Hand Learning was created.  Through our work we are now able to run workshops for parents and teachers, we import and sell left-handed stationery and we publish and import workbooks specifically for the South African market.  Our aim?  To make sure every left-handed child is taught the way he or she needs to be taught and enable the parents and teachers to provide the right equipment and materials to allow that to happen.