Weekend recovery: PAINTING

Many teachers know that, for the children, Monday is a day of recovery from the weekend. Cheryl had Armistice Day off, and so she and the boys were away. Now that Nana is somewhat incapacitated because I'm waiting for a hip replacement, my time with the boys is curtailed. And so, they have an au pair helping out. And Cheryl wanted to show her Niagara.

In her own words, the Blue-eyed Boy and Curly-Locks had 'a rough weekend'. Translation: too much TV and ice-cream.

It happens.

So what to do to help the recovery? Yesterday morning my beloved husband took them on a hike. Being in nature is always restoring. Then Curly-Locks spent the afternoon here with me, while the Blue-eyed Boy had some 'alone time' with the au pair.

First of all he bounced in, so delighted to be here he didn't know what to do with himself. Then he had to explore the old, familiar toys. What's struck me about these lately is how much mileage you get from good, wooden toys. At 5 and a half the Blue-eyed Boy will still play with the cars and planes and animals that he's been busy with since he was around 2.

After I coaxed Curly-Locks away for some brown rice and avocado (take that, ice cream!), which he devoured quite happily, he went for a nap. When he woke he wanted to paint.

"Good," I thought, "that's exactly what he needs."

Now, setting up painting for the little ones and supervising is a lot of work, as my artist son-in-law found out when he was visiting last Christmas. But thanks to him I had a suitable brush and proper watercolour paper to hand.

Before we started, I made sure that Curly-Locks was wearing a pinny. And during the process I kept a close watch on the blue paint, which stains quickly and permanently if it spills. I cut the corners off the paper, wet it and laid it carefully on the painting board. He set to work and was quickly absorbed in the process, engaging with the colours as they 'talked' to each other, and melded.

Wet on wet watercolour painting has something special about it because the colours move. You could say this is something like being in the heavenly world. At Curly-Locks's age there's no question of painting something for 'result': i.e. depicting an object, although he tries to draw when crayonning. It's simply a matter of letting the soul engage and be restored.

Karmic connections

Karma and our karmic connections have been much on my mind lately. So much of our interrelations can become clearer if we look at them in the light of previous experiences together. I'm leaving aside the concept of new karma for now because there are a couple of points I'd like to raise as regards our children.

In my experience and observation, it's true that mothers are likely to have the strongest karma with their first born. Sometimes this can lead to difficulties and clashes that need to be worked through somehow or other. I was fortunate that this wasn't the case with me and Miranda. In fact, rather the opposite. My sense is that our connection from previous lives is stronger than that with her dad, whereas with our second daughter, Helen, it's the other way around.

This, of course, has nothing to do with love and doesn't interfere with it. It's simply that there are differences.

And of course we also know there are differences brought about through the very fact of birth order. Since Dr. Karl Konig's groundbreaking book 'Brothers and Sisters' other research has been done and is easily found. But his small book was useful to me. Anything to help us understand the enigmas that are our children, right?

Activities that make sense (yours, not the child's)

I've just been cleaning. Cleaning is satisfying and makes me feel good. Far more so than hitting the keyboard for hours while spinning thoughts in my mind. Well, it's different of course.

While we were away over the weekend we were fortunate enough to stay with good friends who own a lovely house. For some reason, what I noticed particularly was the spotless, shiny bathroom. My friend has a cleaning lady once a fortnight and she must be the best in the land!

We can't obsess about these things, but putting in even a small amount of good tidying and cleaning will helps the house spirits and they in turn can help us. We do what we can do. And what we do with our limbs works into the future, especially when you're dealing with young children.

I was thinking about this after that 'karmic' meeting I mentioned in the last post. The poor woman looked tired, and who could blame her. Sometimes, she said, it felt like all she did during the day was change diapers and wipe bums. But you know what? Even if that's all child care amounts to, at least the caregiver can go to sleep knowing that her or his actions have made sense. Give yourself credit, dear readers.

Cleaning scents

Over the weekend, my husband and I went to a workshop back in our old haunts. There I met a wonderful woman I hadn't seen for a few years. She has a certified daycare/kindergarten where she looks after over twenty children between the ages of 18 months and 5+ years. It's a challenge, especially as (as she told me), she's dealing with all the 'a's. She meant, ADD ADHA, asthma, autism and allergies.

It's the last 'a' that I want to talk about today.

Recently I read an article where the research spotlight focussed on what we use for cleaning in our homes. You'll probably be unsurprised to hear that strong scents are now considered harmful and likely to cause allergies. Therefore, we're exhorted to look into our supplies, discard those and replace with gentler products that have softer scents.

Years ago, my dear friend and spiritual mentor brought this to my attention. She simply showed me the product she was using, a soft pink paste. "Why do you use this?" I asked. Her simple answer? "Because it's not so strong."

At that time, we didn't have the abundance of choice available now. We are fortunate. Let's choose wisely and well for the health and well-being of our families.

Who (or what) are we scaring at Hallowween

In November, the so-called dead are closest to the earth. We see this in the Christian calendar in All Saints and All Souls Days, and other religions have similar timing for remembering their loved ones and ancestors who have passed over. The first statement also applies to those who have remained too entangled in the earthly realm to access the heavenly i.e. ghosts.

Now, the origins of Halloween lie in lighting lanterns to help guide those wandering spirits home. On the other hand, people wanted to protect the children from malignant forces. Thus the 'scary' element on the outside of houses.

But today I have to wonder: who are we scaring?

When the blue-eyed boy was no more than three, something happened that still brings me pain when I recall it. On Halloween, it was already dark and he was sitting at the end of the table, eating dinner. The door bell rang and he turned his head. Unfortunately, he could see the door. And what he saw was a black and white mask of 'The Scream'. I swear that poor child jumped at least three inches and went totally pale.

A shock like this is really damaging for a small child. So I would urge you, somehow or other, protect your little ones this Halloween. I know some parents who put up a notice saying 'no scary masks', but in any case, be vigilant. A mask, after all, hides our humanity.

Simply a link

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/23/technology/at-waldorf-school-in-silicon-valley-technology-can-wait.html?_r=2&pagewanted=all

Oils and Lotions

This post will be kind of rambling, but I hope you'll bear with me!

Over the last few years I've had the joy and privilege of accompanying first the Blue-eyed Boy and then Curly-Locks to parent-and-tot mornings at our local Waldorf Schools. Mid-morning, the adults and little ones sit down for a snack, but before that, everyone parades out to the washroom to wash hands. And afterwards, in the classroom, comes one of the parts of the morning that the children really love.

The teacher has a bowl, and a towel and some wonderful smelling Weleda lotion. One by one the kids approach, get their hands rinsed off and dried, and then comes the anointing of the hands and fingers. A special hush seems to descend on the room as the tots absorb the sensation. Do I even need to say that such a practice nourishes the sense of touch? We already know how important that is, and even adults can be deprived of the touch of fellow human beings.

So for myself this morning I was using some lavender oil, which is soothing and calming. Lavender can be used to help a child wind down after a busy day and prepare for sleep in various ways. If you have Lavender bath milk, for instance, or a lavender filled small pillow, or the said oil could be stroked into your child's arms.

Another useful herb is rosemary. This can help the child to wake up properly in the morning, which will also help towards healthy sleep at night. Maybe I mentioned before that a simple wipe of the face with a washcloth can do the trick, although you wouldn't want to use rosemary anywhere near the eyes.

Let's use the wonderful gifts that nature provides.