Autumn craft extravaganza. Photos and ideas.

A couple of Saturdays ago, we had an Autumn craft afternoon. I had my niece and nephew in our home too, so it was art and craft for seven children 1 to 11 years.

I cleared our long dining table and set it up with many different materials to be used.

I added pencils, scissors, glue, paint, and round crayons from The Poppy Fox.

I started by showing the kids some different ideas I had, and techniques I had thought to use.

Then they all had a game of musical statues to start. Because apparently that's a great start to autumn activities.

The kids had a great time creating for a few hours.

And then it was time to clean up. The vacuum cleaner and dishwasher were a big help, but overall it didn't take too long, because everything we used has it's own 'spot'.

Overall, it was a really fun couple of hours. A few children were not quite ready to say goodbye to Autumn craft, so continued with one of the activities once all was cleaned up.

Jen.x

Motherhood, expectations, and noticing wonderful.

There are such beautiful spaces where I work. I often pass right by without noticing.

This afternoon I noticed. I chose to notice.

I had what turned out to be a good day at work. This afternoon I played the game 'Socially Speaking' (teaching social skills) with a group of boys. One student landed on a "give a compliment" square. He sat there and thought long and hard, looking around at all the people in the group. And then finally, he turned to me:

"Mrs Shipway. You are such a great teacher for me. I hope you can teach me in this group next year too."

This was not an easy thing for him to formulate and say, so it just about melted my heart! Teaching provides wonderful moments like this often. Moments where students tell me they think I'm the best. Moments when I can actually see the a connection being made: that light bulb! Moments when I see new friendships being formed. I could go on! It's all amazing. Awesome!

But this isn't most of the time. Most of the time I'm wishing I had more hours in the day. I'm researching how I can perhaps help another child who is struggling. I hear constant I-don't-get-it-s and explain-again-s. And sometimes I feel that overwhelmed feeling, while rushing about trying to meet everyones' needs.

Yet with teaching, even though I don't see big-moments all the time, I am aware that I am always looking for them. I am always expecting great things and notice the little gains, all the while not being overly discouraged by the hard parts.

What I realised today, walking past the beautiful spaces at school without noticing, was that I am not the same person at home. At home I just don't notice all the great, much of the time.

At work I see the good. I focus on the good. Inside I celebrate every tiny accomplishment.

At home I don't.

I'm too busy being focused on what I'm not doing. On what my children are not doing. I'm focused all too often on why I'm not meeting the too high expectations I constantly set, yet seem to find it too hard to change. And to make matters worse I know I'm doing it, so am hard on myself about that too.

To be honest I don't know exactly what to do about it. Adding something else to my exhausting to-do list would have me crying in the corner. But I would love to be more like teacher-me at home.

I'm always saying to look for and capture those special everyday moments that will never happen again. I say to myself that time is short and realise that the moments I live now, will one day be the wonderful memories I will treasure. And I do this with everything in me. That's just it: I am great at the doing. It's the just being and letting go that I have a problem with. I've written about it before, yet seem to find it a hard lesson to learn. This steals my opportunity to be present and notice all the wonderful things.

So my aim for tonight is not going to be homework and dinner and readers and endless cleaning up and bedtimes.

Tonight, I choose to notice the little things. I choose to put aside all the have-to-s that are weighing me down and just be. And maybe in doing so I will actually start to see all the awesome that deep down I know is here.

And if that doesn't help, and it's a complete disaster: hugs and stories. There are never enough hugs or stories.

Jen.x

Making the best decision for my child. And realising what is actually most important.

Today I was not completely organised. I was organised last night to go to night church with the kids, only to discover Craig had the keys with him at work. And he was working a double shift.

The craziness and meltdowns that followed the disappointment of not going, caused too much work (oh Sudocrem I hate you!) and tiredness. I was challenged at every point. I was slower at every task. I forgot things. I went to bed after 1 am, feeling that overwhelming sense of failure. And so this morning was somewhat of a blur: doing hair, drink bottles in bags, and forgotten school notes.

It wasn't until I was sitting at Daisy's dancing that I had the chance to think about what was happening for the rest of the day. Another mum asked me what we were up to after dancing. I couldn't think. Having to be honest I told her I hadn't really thought about it, but as the lack of essentials flooded my mind, I concluded that I would have to do some grocery shopping. Following the Sudocrem vs lounge fiasco yesterday, at the very least I needed tissues. They are extremely necessary in a house of 7 people. My Costco reserve shelf was empty, so we have been shopping at night once every few days. Unfortunately tonight this was impossible, so this was the one and only opportunity.

Not thinking much of it, I left dancing with Daisy and headed for the local shopping centre. As I helped Daisy out of the car I felt a little uncertain. It was after all her snack time, and I had no snacks. She is also not a fan of lots of people and noise. Being the homebody she is, she loves quiet and calm. I shook off my concerns. This is Daisy, I told myself. She is easy and I'll be in and out in no time.

Only I wasn't.

Having not gone shopping much in the daytime for years (other than at crazy, fast afternoon times) I had forgotten that the pace of day time trolleys is much slower. Much slower. I reminded myself to be patient and smiled at all the people wanting to say 'hi' to Daisy, or others who wanted to tell me how cute she looked. And then we reached the baby food section. She has what she calls a "squeezy fruit" when I wake her to pick the kids up from school, because she is too tired to eat. Daisy saw them and naturally wanted one. It was an hour after snack time, but I managed to convince her to wait, thinking we wouldn't be too much longer, and hid them at the bottom of the trolley. With the tears avoided I tried to quickly move on. Trolleys seemed to move slower.

Then she saw rice milk in the cold food section. Her rice milk. In the last isle.

She completely lost it.

It had been too long. It had been too slow. She was hungry and I hadn't packed my bag with anything other than a nappy and dance stuff in the morning. The squeezy fruit pack was under a massive pile of too many things.

She was done. So she cried.

And understanding why, knowing there was really nothing I could do to fix it for her in that moment, I did the only thing I could do. I gave her a hug. I stroked her hair as she cried, and told her it would be all over soon. She calmed a little and we made it to the register, where she began crying once again. I picked her up and cuddled her, as I unloaded the trolley one handed (at the speed of years of experience.) Finally, with the trolley unpacked and her food found, she settled, tired but thankful back in the trolley ready to go home.

On the drive home I had a moment in my own thoughts to reflect.

There are some big decisions in the process of being made in our home right now. Decisions that although mainly concern only one child, will have the ripple affect in the years to come for the others. For all of us in fact. The hugeness of this has had a somewhat crippling affect on my ability to make decisions. Like everything with my children I am conscious of the repercussions that can result from big decisions.

It all comes down to the fact, that the hard thing about making decisions is just: I don't want us to make the wrong choice.

After today with Daisy though, I am reminded that often a decision just has to be made for the good of our family. And experience reminds me that sometimes I won't make the right choice. At times it might not even be close to the best choice. But usually, this can only be seen in hindsight. Like the moment when a toddler starts crying in the cold foods section of a supermarket. Perhaps though, it isn't so much the 'right' decision that really matters. Maybe what is really important is what comes after. Maybe it's what I do in response to what comes next.

Sometimes all there is, is jumping in, eyes wide open, all together, waiting to find out where we land. Waiting; ready to smile and embrace in pure happiness, or to simply be there to catch each other when we fall, for the hugs and tears.

Either way, it's not really the decision in itself that matters. It's the jumping together. And the being there. And the hugs, to the exclusion of the outside world. That is what makes a family, and children strong enough to make it in the world beyond. For my children, it's knowing that no matter what, Craig and I will be always there. Waiting to be what they need in the time that comes after.

No, I won't always make the best decisions for my children. I won't. And that hurts so much to admit and commit to words.

But.

But I will always be there to jump with them if they need me to.

And I will always be there to hug them when it all gets too much, and they have had enough.

Even if it is in the middle of a supermarket, surrounded by slow trolleys.

Jen.x

Autumn books for children. And why we pay attention to the seasons.

We talk a great deal about seasons in our home.

As each season draws to a close, a new one dawns, and I choose to recognise and celebrate it, with the kids. We are very mindful of the rhythm of life and all the new and wonderful things that are present in changes as they come our way. We choose to focus on the awesomeness of change because in reality, they world my children will be a part of in the future, will be one that is fluid and ever-changing. Seeing possibility rather than fear will be an asset.

Understanding that life is ever moving and changing is also more than important for children. Actually it's something that I need to be often reminded of. It is far too easy to feel a difficult moment or period of time will last forever. It generally doesn't. But this is a very difficult concept to teach children. And so we look at the natural rhythms in life and all the new possibilities each new season brings. We focus on changes good and bad and ones that we don't even notice, and the impact that they have. At the same time discussing how fleeting some of these affects can be. The seasons - life - moves on and soon we face a new season and change again.

We talk about how different people around our world experience seasons differently, and can respond differently as well. But then I love any opportunity to talk about how we are all different to my little ones. Understanding that some people find cold/hot weather more difficult to withstand than others, can be a small beginning in the development of empathy for a young child. Understandings of big topics often don't come all at once, taught at school. Understandings, empathy and kindness build over time, moments added to moments. This is just one small way to build into this.

You have all read by now that I believe there are never enough hugs or stories. It is almost always my answer if a moment, or even a day, just can't be saved. So I guess it is only natural that my jumping off point for each new season would be stories. Books! How I love thee! Often they are followed with much talk, exploring our natural environment and then finally creative endeavours. These creative moments can vary significantly from art projects to the things like the pear-tree tee-pee.

I will let you in on Autumn's creative adventures after the fact, soonish. For now, these are a quick collection of our Autumn books. There are more, but some are not in our main children's book case, and this is plenty for my children for now. "Guess how much I love you, in the Autumn" is one that the kids love, but alas, someone has it somewhere. It will turn up.

My favourite Autumn book is below. I had the same book as a child. I was thrilled to get the four book set from the Book Depository! The kids love them.

Best toddler board book:

Best interactive book (great for reluctant readers or active children):

Love the "Bear" books. Each one is set in a different season.

Just an awesome book that happens to be set in Autumn. Great for helping children to acknowledge the different strengths others have.

New readers love the simplicity of this book. While not really Autumn, the colours remind us of Autumn.

Isabel's all time favourite book (part of Eloise Wilkin collection):

Yes we have LOTS of squirrel books. Lucy adores them.

The BEST overall seasons book that I read all the time:

The second best:

And this is a lovely seasons book too (part of a Little Golden Book collection):

All together, placed on some Autumn themed fabric, the collection looks like this:

Not too many to feel overwhelming, but enough collected together to encourage interest. The kids have now seen them and have already begun to collect natural items in readiness for the next step.

They recognise the rhythm of our home.

Love it.

Jen.x