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.