Summer Tomatoes

Bright red delicious tomatoes are ready for picking in our garden. In my infinite wisdom I show Matilda the first ripe tomatoes for the season. It is quickly gobbled up. I notice 2 other in other part of the garden. A 5 minute phone call and I return to the children in the garden- The tomatoes are gone. Matilda plays happily with Felix in the sandpit.

Blackberry Delight

Giggles of delight are heard from behind. I pass another handful of organic wild blackberries over my shoulder. The berries are quickly grabbed and shoveled into Matilda's mouth. I push through the rapid upstream to the next blackberry bush. Matilda impatiently taps me on the shoulder, grunts for more and becomes annoyed as I leave blackberries behind. The blackberries taunt us- so ready to be picked but so high and unachievable to pick. Matilda's face and hands are covered in deep purple blackberry juice when I put her down from the carrier.

Zucchini Flip Flop

We arrive at our bush camp site at 10pm. Zucchini and Gus jump out the car and run through the bush until 1am when they return and fall asleep in the tent. Morning sunrise and the dogs continue their bush adventure. Zucchini flips from front to back paws and back again like a cartwheel. We all laugh. She does it again. From the next 2 hours she flip flops. "I love bush camping" Zucchini says.

To Play or Not to Play

It is fascinating to watch the differing style of play and children interacting that take place when children are at play. The age, gender and exposure a child has experienced seems to effect the play style. But do more subtle differences arise because a child is lives in an authoritarian home, make to sleep by themselves, when cries are ignored, when children are shamed because they do something natural like self exploration change the way they play? What makes a child bite or hit to achieve the "right" to play with a toy over another person? While I feel my children play well I am also aware of the unfortunate nature of being polite in a world that is largely focuses on "me". My heart feels for my 3 year as he tries to share, negotiate and reason with children who don't apparently know how to and who will ruthlessly take what they want without a care in the world. I feel I want to go in a bat for him to make it more fair but feel this is not fair for him either. I trust that we have raise him with a high level of emotional intelligence and empathy for others and saw this today first hand.

Bad habits- your childern will show you

Only weeks of Felix starting Steiner Kinder, an alternative kinder environment which nurtures the sprite of children and treats them with reverence and I have a reality check. "Shit I can't do this" Felix stated a he threads beads to make a bracelet. I shuddered- I hear my bad language thrown at me. It is time for me to start to realise that those ears are listening all the time- thank goodness every second statement I do hear from him is "I love you Mama". It seems I might be saying somethings right after all.

Tyre Swing

My vivid memories off sitting on my tyre swing under a big old oak tree are reignited. I witness a young boy swinging on his tyre swing under a big old apple tree. Is he day dreaming, enjoying the gentle rocking motion, the smell of summer, the solitude? To see a child enjoy the same types of moments as you remember doing yourself brings joy from deep within, a feeling of knowing and kinship.

City kids with farm attitude

While other children are panicked by the site of a dog, Felix and Matilda are completely confident and comfortable with Gus- our German Shorthaired Pointer. The confidence they derive from living with a dog I believe translates to their confidence at "our farm". Felix believes that the Collingwood Children Farm is our farm- and for only $90 a year for membership it is a lot cheaper than the real thing. We are also fortunate to have my parent's Mt.Martha place with sheep, and also Alex and Little Alex the two horses who love to eat carrots and bite each other.

Babcia Berries

Blue Eyes, Blue Berries. Matilda grabs a fist full of Babcia Berries and shoves them into her mouth. The delight of summer fruits, more than you can eat- and even better they are hand picked and delivered by Babcia- love berries!

Lost

"I just need a few more minutes to put your sister to sleep PLEASE"! Felix grabs his "Thomas" novel and matches down the hall to the lounge, waiting for me to read him his beloved book. 10 minutes later I exit the bedroom looking for Felix. moments later I am frantic. I can not see him anywhere. I search outside- no sign. every hiding place- no Felix. I grab the phone- do I call the police or my husband. Think think think. I glance down- I see a small hand holding tight to a Thomas book under the doona pile- I breath, smile and laugh.

Basket

My inner child wants beautiful objects for my children. I feel a sense of peace when I enter a play space that does not use cheap plastic toys that spoil the beauty of the space let alone the enveloped warmth of play. An old basket catches my attention- it has history, it has a thousand uses- not limited by a materialist driven toy business. A boat, an island, a bed, storage for play clothes, my mind has been limited but my children will find 100 more uses. It is ours. A welcome addition to our beautiful play room- a haven for the child at heart.

A boy and his dog

A unsuspecting Felix lights up as Michael arrives. Quickly he realises that his best friend Gus is absent from the car. He wails. No eye contact for Michael, no hello, only a wail for Gusy- my friend Gusy. A promise of fishing silences the wail and dries the tears. If Gus is spoken about in conversation a scow will cross Felix's face.

Fishing Inspectors and Ice Cream

The bike zoomed down the hill towards the waiting lake. Briskly walking, I tried to keep up. Other children tried to catch fish into the shallows, A fish covered car captures our interest as fishermen are booked from illegal catches. Matilda just tried to stay upright. One icecream is never enough and devastation reigns when it is discovered that there is none of Matilda's left for a try. We head back up the hill- slowly until the homeward hill where Felix is gone in a cloud of dust.

Family Friends Drop by

A random phone call from Beata, "we are in Orbost, can we drop over?" 2 hours later we are beach combing being blown to pieces. Children don't notice and playfully splash in the waves. Time to go tears and cries of "please don't go" I assure Felix we will see them again and this reminds him to smile.

What to get with Christmas Money?

What will you buy with your money from Christmas? Enthusiastically Felix states, "A big long car with a boat". Trying to encourage realism I say, "But $30 won't really get you a big car maybe only a small one". "Thanks ok I will get a long small car for the driveway" comes the thoughtful reply and smile.

New Years Day

With pants on backwards felix heading off with Jane and Pecki for a sail. Late night bags still lingered as we lay down for a midday rest. Hot air mixed with the sea breeze as we struggled to relax.