The sun'll come out tomorrow..

It's been a trying sort of week. Nick has been working super-crazy-only-coming-home-to-sleep-hard and besides missing him massively it can be rather tiring doing the single-parent thing. The kids have both been pretty grumpy this week - I think they've both been feeling a little under the weather, but that has resulted in Ella being particularly bossy and rough with Jacob and Jacob being extra whingy about it. *sigh*

It's also been raining more than it has for weeks (although that's not saying much!) so we've been somewhat confined to the house. It's actually been sort of nice in a way. We've had to slow down a bit and I've enjoyed just hanging out with the little ones, not worrying about having to be 'doing' something (always a challenge for me!) We did manage to escape the house for some fresh air once the rain eased off and we were treated to this beautiful sunset. A perfect reminder that the rain never lasts forever and lovely surprises are usually just around the corner...

Rain

Last weekend we lucky enough to be able to share a really magical experience with our little boy. We took him to Drop Bear Theatre and The Seam's production; 'Rain'.
It was a beautiful performance installation / sensory experience for babes in arms and crawlers. Jacob was simply mesmerised from the minute we stepped into the space - and you can see why!

Picture from Shine Little Light

Our little man wasted no time at all setting off to explore the room, clambering over the actors, and inspecting the beautiful cello which accompanied the performance.  I think his favourite part was the huge bladders full of blue water - they were wonderful to climb over, or bury your face in; you could jiggle the water to make waves, watch them move and listen to the sounds they made, you could beat them like a drum or just watch the beautiful reflections!

To see him so engaged and interested, so full of wonder and delight was an amazing and moving experience for us as parents! It was a lovely reminder that the best thing that we can do for our babies is to be present in the moment, to notice what draws their attention and interest and to try to see the world with their eyes, to experience everything as if for the first time.

At the end of the session we were handed a poem, which is too beautiful for me to not share. It's by Cheryl Lawrie, I haven't seen her work before but I think I might be a fan...

Mindless Parenting (The Activity Jar)

Do you ever have those days where you really do want to do something fun with your kids but coming up with the ideas is just too hard?  I first came across this idea in Montessori at Home! a really great e-book for anyone who is drawn to the Montessori way of learning, it's full of ideas for simple and inexpensive activities that you can set up at home.

Our Activity Jar is full of ideas for fun things that we can do if we are ever stuck for inspiration. Many of them are really simple things, such as 'Brush your hair', 'Read a book', 'Dance' etc. The activities are all colour coded into groups such as 'Art and Cooking' 'Outdoor Play' 'Active Play' etc so that we can ask Ella to pick a certain colour based on what sort of activity would suit the situation.

I sat brainstorming (and searching Pinterest!) for a couple of hours to create my lists but I think it will prove to be time well spent.  It's certainly not an exhaustive list and I'm sure it will be added to, but for now it's a wonderful resource to have.  Excuse me now, I have to go and help create an obstacle course...