I debated whether to post about her first day at school or not and then thought that if I don't mark this occasion, it would look odd and that however ambivalent my thoughts are, they really should go right here.
On the surface, things went really well. The nursery staff kept going on about how ready she is for school, how she'll do amazingly. Of course this is nice and reassuring. It doesn't change the fact though that starting school at 5 (Snowflake will be even younger) is an uncomfortable territory for me.
Yes, she was bored with nursery. The last couple of months were a struggle to motivate her to go at all, and the same applied to the forest kindergarten. She was keen to start school, for the sake of something new and different. A new challenge for sure.
However, I know my child. Some call her lively, other boisterous, my dad calls her a Powerkind, I quite like Firecracker myself. She is ever full of energy. This wonderful girl of mine does not ever feel tired. She just feels even more energetic and keeps going until she collapses. She will go from one thing to the next, life's too short to stay in one place for too long. She always runs, often climbs and jumps, balances 8 feet up in the air and makes my heart miss many beats when I know she is going higher and higher while having reached her extra speed mode (when other children would be tired) and I know an accident is immanent. She babbles incessantly, often in a made up language and always at full volume. She will knock on anyone's door and want to come in, search your every drawer and nook. She has no understanding that you may not want to spend time with her, or that other people's houses are their, not her, castles. Her first question in the morning is "where are we going today?" and her last question at night is "Where are we going tomorrow?". Just being at home is not an option, she lives life in the fast lane. She demands full attention and will not take being ignored for an answer but keep asking for a response until she gets it. She does all of this with an infectious smile and a determination which is rather something.
I can't see this child sat at a desk for most of the day. Sorry, I really can't. They say the teachers will work with her, keep her busy. But how can teachers give individual attention to 30 in a class? Above all, will she enjoy school?
We've kept it positive of course and made it special without pressure. She went with a gleam, she is so proud to be a school girl and to wear a uniform. She is confident in her reservedness in groups and declared she would not speak in front of the class on her first day, but maybe on her second or third, instead she'd watch and observe. I love her confident shyness, her awareness and ease. She will find friends even though she demands her friends to be best friends with her and only her, she doesn't want to be second best and can be oh so hurt if her best friend, her self declared twin, plays more with another child than her.
When she came home she was full of stories. Yet she also remarked how she never got time to play properly. I didn't bring it over me to say that there won't be much play at school. That this is it. "Am I going again tomorrow?" yes. You'll be going every day of the week. For 12 long years.
I have no idea how long the enthusiasm will last. I hope for the best. And wouldn't be all too surprised if it waned by the time she'll go full days. But today I'm both proud and sad that she refused to hold my hand as she walked to school, and she asked me to leave as soon as she'd found her seat. Proud that I know that she'll take on the world in her stride and sad that I've lost a part of her to the world.
Mummy do that!
Wednesday, 15 August 2012
Sunday, 12 August 2012
Can you kit your child out for school on £80?
Cubling will be starting school in, ahem, 3 days time. Which means that we had to embark on this school uniform business, which to me is new territory as I didn't go to school in the UK and there were no school uniforms in Germany. It was daunting to say the least and I felt a tiny bit lost and aimless when I went into this experience having no idea what is needed, how much of it and where to get the best bargains. After having done it (and having made some mistakes), I'm sure I'll do better next time.
Most Wanted, the lifestyle magazine of vouchercodes.co.uk has set me the challenge to source a full back to school kit on the high street for under £80. That's a challenge I'm really keen to take (I'm pretty sure I went over!), and maybe there are some useful ideas for those of you down south who are still doing the back to school shop.
I started out with a list of items from my daughter's school website and the recommendation of a specialised shop. We headed there first, because there were some pieces which had logos on them and I wanted to make sure we got them from this shop. Unfortunately, something got lost in translation and I walked out with a pinafore costing £15 but no logo wear (and no information as to which items actually have the school logo), and a tie for £3.50. Eventually I found out that it was the jumper and the polo shirts - I'd bought the latter already so added 2 jumpers to the bill at £9 each. Well, at least I supported a local shop with my purchase. Another specialist shop had a 10% off week but we didn't manage to take advantage of it, so I could have saved £2.
We were lucky to walk into a 25% off all clothing sale at Sainsbury's and I jumped at the opportunity. However, I wasn't the only one so there wasn't an awful lot left in the correct size. I did buy a set of 2 blouses (£2), 2 skirts (£3.75 and £4.50) and a pack of 3 polo shirts (£2.25).
Pencil case and notebook had been given as presents and we're still to get a water bottle which I've seen from £2.99.
There was talk of a blazer, however it is not listed as part of the school uniform. While they can cost £60, I have seen blazers for £15 in some supermarkets, so it's doable on a budget. Still, if you add shoes and blazer there's hardly any money left to get the rest. School uniform definitely is an expense on the family pocket, although hopefully it will mean less money is spent on other clothes.
As part of my attempt to live more sustainably, I had tried to get some back to school clothes second hand. I wasn't very lucky sourcing anything second hand. I trailed all our local charity shops but they just shook their heads, arguing that as the items were cheap in supermarket chains, there was no market for second hand. This is a real shame and once again demonstrates how we have become a throwaway society and don't value resources. If the gear is still ok, I don't see why they wouldn't be good enough to use again. Apparently there is one charity shop that specialises in children's wear and back to school wear, and it's located in Uddingston (which I decided was too far for us).
So, I could have kept the budget lower and my top tips are:
- shop for cheaper shoes. I'm sure there are plimsoles for £2.50 in some shops, and supermarket shoes are cheaper too. I have been bitten on quality before and decided to splash out as there's no use saving on shoes if you have to buy a second pair a month later. (£22 saving)
- Don't buy clothes from specialist shops (£9 saving)
- Plan your shop: look out for the best deal and don't get more than you need (£5-£20 saving)
- Keep an eye out for special offer days, I'm sure every shop will have these at some point during the summer holidays
- Know what you need and stick to it - I'm sure 2 pinafores, 2 skirts and 2 trousers are totally overdoing it. We have no dress because the school colour is blue and Cubling point blank refused. I'm sure I'll shop more wisely next year when I know exactly what gets worn and what is needed.
- Set time aside to research or source second hand - because I shopped with 2 kids I often just went for whatever I saw first rather than consider the price. Also if I had had more time I'd have trailed ebay for second hand stuff. There is a lot on right now, so you may still grab yourself a bargain, and that's where you can get a good deal especially on the more expensive items.
What we spent:
pinafores: £21
skirts: £8.25
trousers: £6
blouses: £2
polo shirst: £2.25
cardigan: £3
jumpers: £18
tie: £3.50
bag: £12
shoes: £43
= £119 - £36 potential saving if I'd shopped with a budget in mind: £83. So it is almost possible to shop with a £80 budget, but I have a feeling you'll have to compromise on shoes, and have a hawk's eye for special deals, plus a lot of determination to spot those bargains! Do you have any tips that I missed out on?
Full disclosure: I received £80 to spend on schoolwear as a research project from vouchercodes.co.uk for this article. It was a great opportunity to try and see if I can kit out my daugher on a budge. All contents and views are mine and specific links are not sponsored but are items we actually bought. The decision to buy these was entirely mine.
Thursday, 9 August 2012
Wondrous Weaning
My kids may be well past their weaning ages, but if there's one thing I remember vividly it's that weaning was a daunting mountain for me as a first time mum and that the information out there wasn't really in line with what I was looking for. I was concerned with low weight gain, and when presented with having to prepare purees, there was a whole range of vegetables that I'd never cooked in my life. As an almost vegetarian household I also had to make decisions about if, how and when to introduce meat to my child's diet. I remember the patchy information provided by the health visitor team, which effectively presented us with leaflets and 3 purees of varying consistency, and gave an opportunity to buy a masher and puree tool at discount prices.
I'm much more relaxed this time around, but weaning was still a worry. By now I'd heard of baby led weaning and when Snowflake refused the spoon, I didn't worry and just let her eat whatever I was having. She didn't eat much and still doesn't, but she delights in food now and gets utterly excited about the announcement of "dinner time".
In a way I felt a bit let down both times around with the support available at this critical time in a baby's life.
Put it into context, we are experiencing an explosion of childhood obesity, with 30% of primary aged children in Scotland being overweight or obese. It's not just about kids being a bit heavier than they should, obesity leads to shorter lives, and these short lives are not as fun filled (with a family history of obesity and obesity related illnesses, I know this all too well).
So it strikes me that a bit of support and information that makes sense at this crucial stage might be a good idea. I did a bit of research on what's been proven to be the good and the bad in weaning for later life health and found out some interesting facts that even after 5 1/2 years of being a mum were new to me.
The risk of obesity and overweight is increased significantly if a baby is breastfed for less than 4 weeks AND solids are introduced before 16 weeks. This increases the risk of obesity a staggering 6 times. There is also an increased risk of obesity if a baby is formula fed AND solids are introduced after 6 months, though not as pronounced. So for the formula fed infant it's important that solids are introduced no earlier than 17 weeks and no later than 26 weeks. For breastfed babies, there is no significant increase of obesity risk depending on when solids are introduced.
Now we all know the guidelines to introduce solids no earlier than 17 weeks but ideally no earlier than 6 months. However, a whopping 51% of infants in the UK are introduced to solids before they are 16 weeks (this statistic is quite recent, Bolling et al.: 2007). This means that half of our children are put at a six fold risk of obesity from when they are not even 4 months old.
Then there's the interesting subject of protein. I won't go into the details because you'll just get all bored on me, but the bottom line is that a weaning diet rich in protein significantly increases the risk of obesity and overweight. Protein would be dairy and meat. So a diet rich in Carbohydrates is much better, and it's important to keep protein intake below carbs intake (= too much cow's milk can be bad): "Children who were overweight at 5yrs consumed significantly higher protein as a percentage of energy than non overweight children." (Scaglioni et al.: 2000)
Third up is earliest weight gain - which may be linked to protein intake. Infants who cross growth centiles upwards are hat significantly higher risk of obesity and overweight. This is particularly prominent in the first weeks of life, but the effect carries on through the first year: "Emerging evidence therefore strongly supports the first few post-natal weeks as a critical window for programming long-term health in both humans and animals" (Singhal/Lanigan: 2007). Researches aren't clear what causes this upward movement, and as it's observed mainly in formula fed infants, it may be something to do with formula being too rich in protein (although there are another few suggested causes, such as breast milk ingredients keeping insulin receptors happy and formula fed babies not being able to fully self regulate food intake). Anyeay, I wish I'd known this one earlier, it would have spared me all the worry of both my girls moving downwards on their percentiles... All I was concerned about was to get them up as high as I could, and I'm sure this is an instinct most parents share.
I also looked into the approach to weaning and how this may make a difference. There is one small study that indicates that spoon fed babies tend to be at higher risk of obesity than infants who feed themselves (baby led weaning). However the study is so small and the difference between the groups not big enough to allow for any conclusions. At the same time, the results, even if limited, indicate that baby led infants choose carbohydrate rich foods above protein rich foods which may indicate that they make food choices which are healthier for them.
So the bottom line is that it's most important to ensure solids are not introduced before 17 weeks and that most of the energy of the weaning diet comes from carbohydrates and not from protein. For formula fed babies, it's better to introduce solids before 6 months (but no earlier than 17 weeks), while for breastfed babies it doesn't matter.
References:
1.Rebecca Kendall. Weaning: Risk Factors for the Development of Overweight and Obesity in Childhood - A Systematic Review (2011)
2. A. Singhal and J. Lanigan. Breastfeeding, early growth and later obesity (2007)
3. Susanna Huh. "Timing of Solid Food Introduction and Risk of Obesity in Preschool-Aged Children" (2011)
4. E. Townsend and NJ Pitchford. "Baby knows best? The impact of weaning style on food preferences and body mass index in early childhood in a case-controlled sample (2012)
I'm much more relaxed this time around, but weaning was still a worry. By now I'd heard of baby led weaning and when Snowflake refused the spoon, I didn't worry and just let her eat whatever I was having. She didn't eat much and still doesn't, but she delights in food now and gets utterly excited about the announcement of "dinner time".
In a way I felt a bit let down both times around with the support available at this critical time in a baby's life.
Put it into context, we are experiencing an explosion of childhood obesity, with 30% of primary aged children in Scotland being overweight or obese. It's not just about kids being a bit heavier than they should, obesity leads to shorter lives, and these short lives are not as fun filled (with a family history of obesity and obesity related illnesses, I know this all too well).
So it strikes me that a bit of support and information that makes sense at this crucial stage might be a good idea. I did a bit of research on what's been proven to be the good and the bad in weaning for later life health and found out some interesting facts that even after 5 1/2 years of being a mum were new to me.
The risk of obesity and overweight is increased significantly if a baby is breastfed for less than 4 weeks AND solids are introduced before 16 weeks. This increases the risk of obesity a staggering 6 times. There is also an increased risk of obesity if a baby is formula fed AND solids are introduced after 6 months, though not as pronounced. So for the formula fed infant it's important that solids are introduced no earlier than 17 weeks and no later than 26 weeks. For breastfed babies, there is no significant increase of obesity risk depending on when solids are introduced.
Now we all know the guidelines to introduce solids no earlier than 17 weeks but ideally no earlier than 6 months. However, a whopping 51% of infants in the UK are introduced to solids before they are 16 weeks (this statistic is quite recent, Bolling et al.: 2007). This means that half of our children are put at a six fold risk of obesity from when they are not even 4 months old.
Then there's the interesting subject of protein. I won't go into the details because you'll just get all bored on me, but the bottom line is that a weaning diet rich in protein significantly increases the risk of obesity and overweight. Protein would be dairy and meat. So a diet rich in Carbohydrates is much better, and it's important to keep protein intake below carbs intake (= too much cow's milk can be bad): "Children who were overweight at 5yrs consumed significantly higher protein as a percentage of energy than non overweight children." (Scaglioni et al.: 2000)
Third up is earliest weight gain - which may be linked to protein intake. Infants who cross growth centiles upwards are hat significantly higher risk of obesity and overweight. This is particularly prominent in the first weeks of life, but the effect carries on through the first year: "Emerging evidence therefore strongly supports the first few post-natal weeks as a critical window for programming long-term health in both humans and animals" (Singhal/Lanigan: 2007). Researches aren't clear what causes this upward movement, and as it's observed mainly in formula fed infants, it may be something to do with formula being too rich in protein (although there are another few suggested causes, such as breast milk ingredients keeping insulin receptors happy and formula fed babies not being able to fully self regulate food intake). Anyeay, I wish I'd known this one earlier, it would have spared me all the worry of both my girls moving downwards on their percentiles... All I was concerned about was to get them up as high as I could, and I'm sure this is an instinct most parents share.
I also looked into the approach to weaning and how this may make a difference. There is one small study that indicates that spoon fed babies tend to be at higher risk of obesity than infants who feed themselves (baby led weaning). However the study is so small and the difference between the groups not big enough to allow for any conclusions. At the same time, the results, even if limited, indicate that baby led infants choose carbohydrate rich foods above protein rich foods which may indicate that they make food choices which are healthier for them.
So the bottom line is that it's most important to ensure solids are not introduced before 17 weeks and that most of the energy of the weaning diet comes from carbohydrates and not from protein. For formula fed babies, it's better to introduce solids before 6 months (but no earlier than 17 weeks), while for breastfed babies it doesn't matter.
References:
1.Rebecca Kendall. Weaning: Risk Factors for the Development of Overweight and Obesity in Childhood - A Systematic Review (2011)
2. A. Singhal and J. Lanigan. Breastfeeding, early growth and later obesity (2007)
3. Susanna Huh. "Timing of Solid Food Introduction and Risk of Obesity in Preschool-Aged Children" (2011)
4. E. Townsend and NJ Pitchford. "Baby knows best? The impact of weaning style on food preferences and body mass index in early childhood in a case-controlled sample (2012)
Tuesday, 7 August 2012
Glorious Waste
Meanwhile the world just parties on as if nothing was at odds.
I don't think I've felt as alienated as I did last night ever before. The feeling that people, when sharing my worries, will label me as a nutcase, dismiss my concerns. Of course it didn't come out of the blue, even if it felt like it. I had a conversation by Skype with a very open dismissiveness about my resolve to avoid air travel at all costs. It must have stuck. And let the images of my girls having to deal with a world going to pieces keep me awake.
I know that my personal choice to avoid air travel is a drop in the ocean as long as businesses require their employees to travel. It's a drop as long as air travel doesn't carry its actual cost. It's the only thing I can do though.
Ever since I read this feature, my positive outlook as been tweaked to one of impatience at this world that won't change its way. The way we saw off the branch we are sitting on, like a slapstick joke courtesy of Laurel and Hardie (and they always come out alright at the end, don't they?).
Last night I had visions of the end of the world. I had them before, but this time they seem around the corner. There is a sense of urgency and not knowing how to deal with a wider world that is ignoring the signs and refusing to act on them. So the ice sheets keep melting, the rain keeps pouring, migrations and food shortages, and yes, the end of the world as we know it may descend upon my beautiful and innocent girls who had nothing to do with this situation we're in. The world is out of sync and we all pretend we'll come up with a solution in time.
Enters National Zero Waste Week and a bunch of inspirational folk. Just what the doctor ordered in times of doom and gloom.
I remember three years ago when I first heard of Zero Waste how I thought, surely that's a euphemism for something. Ahem, no it isn't. There are families out there who manage to produce just 100g of rubbish a week.
I don't pretend I'm one of them - far from it. But it has made me think that maybe, just maybe, half a bin of rubbish per fortnight isn't needed (and I know that's little compared to others, considering we're a family of 4). It has also made me think about the bigger picture. While consumer action is nice, political action is better. What use is it that I compost my banana skins when the compostable bin at Hampden Park is filled with plastic cups? Wouldn't it be easier if there were no plastic cups? How about the big supermarkets offering package free food and launching an advertising campaign to bring your own tub?
20 years ago I was introduced to the problem. The problem is bigger now than it was there. With all my efforts to live more sustainably, even I use up far too many resources of this planet. If everyone lived like me, we'd need 3 planets, and it's no consolation whatsoever that the UK average is something like 4.2. It's not good enough.
I may not have the answers or my answers may be wrong, yet considering that all anyone can do is change their own behaviour, this is my own plan of action for Zero Waste Week - one more thing:
1. revamp my food storage system so that bulk buying and package free buying becomes easier
2. buy at the only shop where you can fill your own tubs (Whole Foods Glasgow) or at market
3. take on to recycle all that can be recycled at work
You can be part of Zero Waste Week too. You don't have to go totally zero waste - it takes years to get there but the beauty is that once you start with one little thing, it leads to a chain reaction and before you know it, you'll have halved your waste and buy with more awareness. It's easy to start with taking your own bags or trying to avoid packaging whenever possible. You may even ditch that shampoo and shower gel (but worry not, you don't have to if that's just one step to far!) Zero Waste Week is for everyone. So why not sign up and do one more thing, just a little one, and together it will make a difference and go from drop in the ocean to a tidal wave. You'll make my day too!
WEB – Leave a comment on the My Zero Waste website pledge page
FACEBOOK – Join the zero waste facebook page and check out the events page where almot 300 people are already signed up and sharing their advice!
TWITTER – Use the twitter hashtags #onemorething and #nzww and follow My Zero Waste.
f you run your own website, feel free to grab the code to proudly display your own banner in support of the week.
This summer's fun
If even your husband notices that I haven't blogged in a while, things must be quiet on the blogging front. Well, they're not really because there's this other little blog of mine that did get some attention. But it's true, I've been busy with other stuff. Sometimes I even wonder how I ever managed to produce a post every other day.
So this is what I've been up to:
Knitting. I have 4 projects on my needles, which is unheard of. One is even BIG.
Taking photos. I'm doing the Manual Overdrive e-course, which has kind of finished but I'm still working my way through this new language that manual settings on a DSLR bring with you. I've had a lightbulb moment and have totally changed the way I take photos - technically that is; I still very much take the same kind of photos composition wise, but I'm moving towards having the focus where I want it, the exposure how I want it, and the colours as I see them. I've learned a lot about spot metering and how metering and focus are two entirely different things (who'd have thunk) and that back button focus is my new best friends. There's lots of servo going on because those kids of mine never stand still and evaluative metering will sure please some work colleagues of mine (one of whom is lucky enough to be on the course too). As you can see, nobody can put me in the corner with all those fancy camera terms now! I'm even almost ready to give Lightroom a second chance.
Doing fun stuff with the kids. Making the most of the precious days before Cubling starts school and is institutionalised. I have this strange urge to make sure that she gets to know my version of the world before all is lost and she'll do what the teachers tell her (of course she already does and no, she has no interest in learning how to knit). We have done so much stuff that today I just had to take time out and just relax at home. That was nice.
Buying school uniforms. It's not an easy task if you've never had to wear one yourself.
Dealing with the pitfalls of everyday life. Like a broken washing machine. For anyone reading this who doesn't have kids, it's a MAJOR crisis if your washing machine breaks. I do a wash a day, roughly, and there's stinking cloth nappies in the nappy bucket. I need a washing machine engineer hero.
Work. Not one to be underestimated - it's quietish at the moment but the problem with me is that if work is quiet I come up with stuff that creates more work. Like new programme ideas. I love that kind of stuff and it was totally amazing how one day of not having anything useful to do turned into a creative outburst, while now this needs followed up by the grinding of pulling research together and making a strong case (which I still enjoy very much, just that there's my normal job to do too).
Bumpy Jacket in progress, pattern by Fawn Pea. I did not intentionally try and copy her colour scheme, however it's interesting that 2 out of my 3 projects are in teal.
On the Waverley Pedal Steamer, watching a bungy jumper doing a bungy jump on the Clydebank Titan.
Olympic football in Glasgow - Japan v Spain. I like the Japanese goalie's outfit. How lucky are we, we walked there. And yes, I took this photo, we were really rather close. Snowflake is definitely destined to become a 10 k runner as she was being tough competition running in circles around our living room coffee table. She also quite likes a new discipline which is called sitting on a balloon and falling off it with hysterical laughter.
So this is what I've been up to:
Knitting. I have 4 projects on my needles, which is unheard of. One is even BIG.
Taking photos. I'm doing the Manual Overdrive e-course, which has kind of finished but I'm still working my way through this new language that manual settings on a DSLR bring with you. I've had a lightbulb moment and have totally changed the way I take photos - technically that is; I still very much take the same kind of photos composition wise, but I'm moving towards having the focus where I want it, the exposure how I want it, and the colours as I see them. I've learned a lot about spot metering and how metering and focus are two entirely different things (who'd have thunk) and that back button focus is my new best friends. There's lots of servo going on because those kids of mine never stand still and evaluative metering will sure please some work colleagues of mine (one of whom is lucky enough to be on the course too). As you can see, nobody can put me in the corner with all those fancy camera terms now! I'm even almost ready to give Lightroom a second chance.
Doing fun stuff with the kids. Making the most of the precious days before Cubling starts school and is institutionalised. I have this strange urge to make sure that she gets to know my version of the world before all is lost and she'll do what the teachers tell her (of course she already does and no, she has no interest in learning how to knit). We have done so much stuff that today I just had to take time out and just relax at home. That was nice.
Buying school uniforms. It's not an easy task if you've never had to wear one yourself.
Dealing with the pitfalls of everyday life. Like a broken washing machine. For anyone reading this who doesn't have kids, it's a MAJOR crisis if your washing machine breaks. I do a wash a day, roughly, and there's stinking cloth nappies in the nappy bucket. I need a washing machine engineer hero.
Work. Not one to be underestimated - it's quietish at the moment but the problem with me is that if work is quiet I come up with stuff that creates more work. Like new programme ideas. I love that kind of stuff and it was totally amazing how one day of not having anything useful to do turned into a creative outburst, while now this needs followed up by the grinding of pulling research together and making a strong case (which I still enjoy very much, just that there's my normal job to do too).
Bumpy Jacket in progress, pattern by Fawn Pea. I did not intentionally try and copy her colour scheme, however it's interesting that 2 out of my 3 projects are in teal.
On the Waverley Pedal Steamer, watching a bungy jumper doing a bungy jump on the Clydebank Titan.
Olympic football in Glasgow - Japan v Spain. I like the Japanese goalie's outfit. How lucky are we, we walked there. And yes, I took this photo, we were really rather close. Snowflake is definitely destined to become a 10 k runner as she was being tough competition running in circles around our living room coffee table. She also quite likes a new discipline which is called sitting on a balloon and falling off it with hysterical laughter.
Tuesday, 17 July 2012
The Patchwork of Childcare
The BBC article on 8 radical solutions to childcare made me smile this morning. Not because they are so lovely, but mostly because they are so utterly unworkable, that there is definitely a bit of comedy going on. Still, nothing wrong for being a bit radical when really there is a big issue around childcare.
The reality of childcare is more like a patchwork. So I thought things would get a) simpler and b) cheaper once Cubling starts school. That would have been the naive world view of the uninitiated. With less than a month to go before the big day of starting school, I'm awfully smug because I managed to get all my childcare needs met. Yes, you heard me, and I know it'll make some jealous and want to hit, kick and bite me, but the jigsaw is complete.
And this is what it looks like, verion 5.13:
For term time:
Cubling:
Snowflake:
In service days:
School holidays:
Total: 6 child care providers between two children. I've not yet figured out the total cost, but we're on the very cheap end of it all and so lucky in that respect, but one thing I have realised is that we'll be paying significantly more on childcare than we currently do with 2 under 5s. Ok, my working hours are increasing so this is probably the bulk of the additonal cost, but still, my hope that once school kicked in, childcare costs would come down was an illusion.
For the past few months, I've had headaches and near head explosions about how to get it all organised and make sure there are no pieces missing and not gaps. Thankfully, our current 2 childminders (who we fall back on for anything additional) were able to pick up the missing pieces and it all worked out just fine.
However, looking at this it becomes clear that childcare isn't the simple "just put your child into a nursery" situation. My work is not strictly 9-5pm, there are commuting times to consider. After school, school holidays and in service days.
And even if it is all looking good, I still have the conundrum that I need Snowflake to be at nursery 8.30-5.30 and the nursery will only offer me 8-5pm, leaving me half an hour short for being able to have a full working day.
One of the suggestions are taking your baby. Have you tried it? Well I have and to be honest, not a lot of work gets done and I'm not sure if the work I do manage to get done is offset by the distraction from work that my colleagues surely experience (open office). A parent co-op? All I can say that whenever I tried to organise child activities , as soon as it goes over the 2 hours threashold it has to be registered, inspected and a whole lot of regulations, paperwork sets in which includes the necessity for any workers in this scheme to be disclosed and training towards a child care qualification. Not doable for working parents.
I do like the idea of combining care for the elderly and childcare. Of course I might be naive not having experienced the ins and outs of this, but it sounds like a solution which would benefit both children and older people, so I'd like to hear more about it.
As to schools being open all day, I've been arguing for a while how it would be good to have a one stop point for childcare, i.e. a child care provider located at a school and integrating preschool and after school care. Here in Scotland at least, pre school is delivered in half day sessions, so the nurseries that are attached to schools will mostly only offer 2.5 to 3 hours a day for 4 and sometimes 3 year olds. Which is no good if you're working. There are exceptions to this but these nurseries are notoriously difficult to get your child into. After school and holiday care would be best delivered as a standard at each primary school (I've not yet even found out what holiday care there is available and how much it costs as we're lucky enough that one of the childminders can step in).
Integrated childcare. The magic word. Sounds so much better than having to stop at 6 addresses during the course of a week.
Universal childcare. The end of worries and financial strains on families, which demonstrably has led to more equal societies and happier children in the Scandinavian countries - thus actually saving money in the long run rather than costing the taxpayer (through lower rates of crime, reduced mental health costs, lower health budgets, less prison sentences, less vandalism, less substance abuse, and the list continues).
The thing is, it can be done. It's not a distant dream. It does depend on political will and public support for the idea that children are an asset for the whole of the society and not just the parents' issue; that universal and integrated childcare reaps benefit for all of us, whether we choose to have children or not. And looking at the comments on the BBC article, we are a looooong way off such public support.
The reality of childcare is more like a patchwork. So I thought things would get a) simpler and b) cheaper once Cubling starts school. That would have been the naive world view of the uninitiated. With less than a month to go before the big day of starting school, I'm awfully smug because I managed to get all my childcare needs met. Yes, you heard me, and I know it'll make some jealous and want to hit, kick and bite me, but the jigsaw is complete.
And this is what it looks like, verion 5.13:
For term time:
Cubling:
- 8-9 am Breakfast club on 4 mornings
- 9am-3pm school
- 3-6pm after school care on 2 afternoons a week
- 3-6pm childminder 1 on 2 afternoons a week.
- late work days: child minder 1
Snowflake:
- 8-5pm nursery on 3 days a week
- (will change to 2 days plus 1 day at outdoor nursery once she turns 3)
- 8-6pm childminder 1 on 1 day a week
- late work days: child minder 1
In service days:
- Childminder 1 or 2
School holidays:
- Childminder 1 and 2.
Total: 6 child care providers between two children. I've not yet figured out the total cost, but we're on the very cheap end of it all and so lucky in that respect, but one thing I have realised is that we'll be paying significantly more on childcare than we currently do with 2 under 5s. Ok, my working hours are increasing so this is probably the bulk of the additonal cost, but still, my hope that once school kicked in, childcare costs would come down was an illusion.
For the past few months, I've had headaches and near head explosions about how to get it all organised and make sure there are no pieces missing and not gaps. Thankfully, our current 2 childminders (who we fall back on for anything additional) were able to pick up the missing pieces and it all worked out just fine.
However, looking at this it becomes clear that childcare isn't the simple "just put your child into a nursery" situation. My work is not strictly 9-5pm, there are commuting times to consider. After school, school holidays and in service days.
And even if it is all looking good, I still have the conundrum that I need Snowflake to be at nursery 8.30-5.30 and the nursery will only offer me 8-5pm, leaving me half an hour short for being able to have a full working day.
One of the suggestions are taking your baby. Have you tried it? Well I have and to be honest, not a lot of work gets done and I'm not sure if the work I do manage to get done is offset by the distraction from work that my colleagues surely experience (open office). A parent co-op? All I can say that whenever I tried to organise child activities , as soon as it goes over the 2 hours threashold it has to be registered, inspected and a whole lot of regulations, paperwork sets in which includes the necessity for any workers in this scheme to be disclosed and training towards a child care qualification. Not doable for working parents.
I do like the idea of combining care for the elderly and childcare. Of course I might be naive not having experienced the ins and outs of this, but it sounds like a solution which would benefit both children and older people, so I'd like to hear more about it.
As to schools being open all day, I've been arguing for a while how it would be good to have a one stop point for childcare, i.e. a child care provider located at a school and integrating preschool and after school care. Here in Scotland at least, pre school is delivered in half day sessions, so the nurseries that are attached to schools will mostly only offer 2.5 to 3 hours a day for 4 and sometimes 3 year olds. Which is no good if you're working. There are exceptions to this but these nurseries are notoriously difficult to get your child into. After school and holiday care would be best delivered as a standard at each primary school (I've not yet even found out what holiday care there is available and how much it costs as we're lucky enough that one of the childminders can step in).
Integrated childcare. The magic word. Sounds so much better than having to stop at 6 addresses during the course of a week.
Universal childcare. The end of worries and financial strains on families, which demonstrably has led to more equal societies and happier children in the Scandinavian countries - thus actually saving money in the long run rather than costing the taxpayer (through lower rates of crime, reduced mental health costs, lower health budgets, less prison sentences, less vandalism, less substance abuse, and the list continues).
The thing is, it can be done. It's not a distant dream. It does depend on political will and public support for the idea that children are an asset for the whole of the society and not just the parents' issue; that universal and integrated childcare reaps benefit for all of us, whether we choose to have children or not. And looking at the comments on the BBC article, we are a looooong way off such public support.
Thursday, 12 July 2012
Mummy according to Cubling, aged 5 and 3 months
I saw this little interview a long time ago on Kids Craft and Chaos and tried it out at the time. Alas, Cubling would now play game and didn't just not give any interesting answers, but actually walked away. So when Clair posted an update, I took the opportunity of Cubling being sat next to me and all cuddled up to try again. I think she enjoyed the game but made up a few things, as she does.
1. What is something mummy always says to you? draw
I'm obviously not 77 and she knows it. I'm not that fussed about a tidy house but this girl just flings everything everywhere so I am on about trying to keep things off the floor so we don't break our necks. I definitely don't like spaghetti that much, and if anyone is silly in this house it's little miss chatterbox not me, but she is spot on, I can't for the life of me draw a cow.
1. What is something mummy always says to you? draw
2. What makes mummy happy? When I tidy up
3. What makes mummy sad? When I don't tidy up
4. How does your mummy make you laugh? Making funny faces
5. What was your mummy like as a child? silly
6. How old is your mummy? 77
7. How tall is your mummy? super tall!
8. What is her favorite thing to do? do work
9. What does your mummy do when you're not around? She doesn't do anything
9. What does your mummy do when you're not around? She doesn't do anything
10. If your mummy becomes famous, what will it be for? pennies (???? I don't think she understood this question)
11. What is your mummy really good at? Writing
12. What is your mummy not very good at? Drawing cows
13. What does your mummy do for a job? Typing at the computer
14.What is your mummy's favorite food? Spaghetti
15.What makes your mummy proud of you? Kissing her
16. If your mummy were a cartoon character, who would she be? Princess on the pea
17. What do you and your mummy do together? Play hide and seek
18. How are you and your mummy the same? our noses
19. How are you and your mummy different? hair colour
20. How do you know your mummy loves you? Because she loves me
21. What does your mummy like most about your daddy? talking about things
22. Where is your mummy's favorite place to go? To other countries. Germany.I'm obviously not 77 and she knows it. I'm not that fussed about a tidy house but this girl just flings everything everywhere so I am on about trying to keep things off the floor so we don't break our necks. I definitely don't like spaghetti that much, and if anyone is silly in this house it's little miss chatterbox not me, but she is spot on, I can't for the life of me draw a cow.
Wednesday, 11 July 2012
Those special childhood moments - collected and captured
For the past 6 weeks, I've been part of a wonderful photography ecourse - Collect the Moments, run by Kat and Kat from Capturing Childhood. When I first heard about their new endeavour, I was instantly drawn to it, simply because I love their photography, and who can be a better teacher than those whose art you admire?
I've been taking photos as long as I can remember. I used to be even quite ambitious, and geeky about it. Yes, I did darkrooms and went totally manual when there were automatic SLRs on the market, and then I got totally into sports photography (I still struggle to bin those thousands of tennis photos that I took). Somehow though, all that I once knew, had become a bit rusty. Yes, I picked up the camera much more once I got my DSLR a couple of years ago but it was more hit and miss. Sometimes I was totally happy with my photos, other times they didn't live up to my expectations. Trouble was, I couldn't tell what had gone wrong.
It was the perfect timing for me - still on reduced hours and holiday time, which means that work, while still busy, isn't taking over my life. So I signed up.
Well, what can I say? I loved it. The course did so many things for me. It brought back my lost knowledge of how to work and be in control of aperture and shutter speed. For the first time I learned about composition and really looked into how light affects the photographic outcome. I analysed my shots, and was inspired by those taken by my fellow students. I found out about free tools out there that I didn't know about, and nailed down the problems that previously led to disappointing photos. I started using the tools of my camera, one at a time, and could even be found reading the manual!
By week 2, I was sitting at my computer waiting for new posts or waiting for people to upload their most recent assignment shots to the flickr group to admire them. It was so refreshing seeing childhood through so many eyes, so many perspectives and with so much love and tenderness.
I've taken away a theoretical knowledge that I never had, refreshed the knowledge that once upon a time I did have and lost on the way, and the motivation to dig deeper into the potential of my DSLR. The latter translates to having registered for the next course, the Manual Overdrive bootcamp which will be all about going manual on the DSLR (and registration is still open). I'm also now making more of an effort to have the camera with me all of the time, so I don't miss those special and fleeting moments of childhood. Yes I may have been the annoying papparazza on our recent holiday, but hey ho, it was worth it! Now that I know what works and how to overcome photographic challenges, all that is left is putting it into practice. And mastering the beast of the manual settings!
I've been taking photos as long as I can remember. I used to be even quite ambitious, and geeky about it. Yes, I did darkrooms and went totally manual when there were automatic SLRs on the market, and then I got totally into sports photography (I still struggle to bin those thousands of tennis photos that I took). Somehow though, all that I once knew, had become a bit rusty. Yes, I picked up the camera much more once I got my DSLR a couple of years ago but it was more hit and miss. Sometimes I was totally happy with my photos, other times they didn't live up to my expectations. Trouble was, I couldn't tell what had gone wrong.
It was the perfect timing for me - still on reduced hours and holiday time, which means that work, while still busy, isn't taking over my life. So I signed up.
Well, what can I say? I loved it. The course did so many things for me. It brought back my lost knowledge of how to work and be in control of aperture and shutter speed. For the first time I learned about composition and really looked into how light affects the photographic outcome. I analysed my shots, and was inspired by those taken by my fellow students. I found out about free tools out there that I didn't know about, and nailed down the problems that previously led to disappointing photos. I started using the tools of my camera, one at a time, and could even be found reading the manual!
By week 2, I was sitting at my computer waiting for new posts or waiting for people to upload their most recent assignment shots to the flickr group to admire them. It was so refreshing seeing childhood through so many eyes, so many perspectives and with so much love and tenderness.
I've taken away a theoretical knowledge that I never had, refreshed the knowledge that once upon a time I did have and lost on the way, and the motivation to dig deeper into the potential of my DSLR. The latter translates to having registered for the next course, the Manual Overdrive bootcamp which will be all about going manual on the DSLR (and registration is still open). I'm also now making more of an effort to have the camera with me all of the time, so I don't miss those special and fleeting moments of childhood. Yes I may have been the annoying papparazza on our recent holiday, but hey ho, it was worth it! Now that I know what works and how to overcome photographic challenges, all that is left is putting it into practice. And mastering the beast of the manual settings!
In case you were wondering - I do take photos of my children's faces of course. Some of the best shots are in fact the moments captured. However, these are the pictures which I'm happy to share publicly.
Tuesday, 10 July 2012
Holidaying
It almost feels as if we hadn't actually been on holiday. It all happened rather quickly, and I don't think I've ever stumbled into my holiday this badly organised. Sometimes though it works out anyway.
We'd been to Devon, in the hope of some warm but not hot weather, some sunshine and beach.
It rained. It poured. It rained some more.
And you know what? It was just fine. We'd stayed at a place that had an indoor swimming pool right next to it, a play park and a trampoline too, and a toy and DVD library. And I'd brought not one, no two knitting projects. We can do rain.
Still. It was nice to also have a hire car and explore Devon and Cornwall.
There was a lot of knitting in cars while manoeuvring through hedgerow lined roads. The manoeuvring was done expertly by t'hubby, the knitting similarly expertly by me (cough cough).
There were many trips to the pool and the kids loved it. Apart from Snowflake who liked to watch and throw balls instead which was fine by me, not being a pool fan myself.
There were visits to the Eden Project, Dartmoor, Clovelly, Bude, Holsworthy.
There was a lot of playing by 4 cousins without the need of adult interference.
There was a lot of TV - DVDs, tennis (Snowflake calls it Fussball which I find quite cute) mainly.
There were long train journeys and one ugly interchange station.
There were late nights for the kids.
There was a duck pond with ducks and geese ready for bread.
There were donkey rides, market days.
There was wool from a local Devon sheep. Could I resist? Rhetorical question. I still buy yarn quicker than knit it up.
There were lovely country inns, woodland walks, and about 400 pictures taken.
Cubling cried when we said goodbye. She wanted to stay in her new home, the Badger House, forever. So with one grumpy child and one under the weather with a nasty cough child we returned home, just in time for the Wimbledon final. "Fussball, Fussball, Andy, Andy!"
The challenge of the week is to dry the holiday laundry. I can do rain, but the laundry doesn't like it.
PS you can see some run downs on our outdoor adventures on my other blog, Nature Kids.
We'd been to Devon, in the hope of some warm but not hot weather, some sunshine and beach.
It rained. It poured. It rained some more.
And you know what? It was just fine. We'd stayed at a place that had an indoor swimming pool right next to it, a play park and a trampoline too, and a toy and DVD library. And I'd brought not one, no two knitting projects. We can do rain.
Still. It was nice to also have a hire car and explore Devon and Cornwall.
There was a lot of knitting in cars while manoeuvring through hedgerow lined roads. The manoeuvring was done expertly by t'hubby, the knitting similarly expertly by me (cough cough).
There were many trips to the pool and the kids loved it. Apart from Snowflake who liked to watch and throw balls instead which was fine by me, not being a pool fan myself.
There were visits to the Eden Project, Dartmoor, Clovelly, Bude, Holsworthy.
There was a lot of playing by 4 cousins without the need of adult interference.
There was a lot of TV - DVDs, tennis (Snowflake calls it Fussball which I find quite cute) mainly.
There were long train journeys and one ugly interchange station.
There were late nights for the kids.
There was a duck pond with ducks and geese ready for bread.
There were donkey rides, market days.
There was wool from a local Devon sheep. Could I resist? Rhetorical question. I still buy yarn quicker than knit it up.
There were lovely country inns, woodland walks, and about 400 pictures taken.
Cubling cried when we said goodbye. She wanted to stay in her new home, the Badger House, forever. So with one grumpy child and one under the weather with a nasty cough child we returned home, just in time for the Wimbledon final. "Fussball, Fussball, Andy, Andy!"
The challenge of the week is to dry the holiday laundry. I can do rain, but the laundry doesn't like it.
PS you can see some run downs on our outdoor adventures on my other blog, Nature Kids.
Wednesday, 27 June 2012
Growing wings
On Monday, it was the last meeting this term of our German playgroup and six of the children are off to pastures new and will be starting school in August. Cubling was one of them, and the eldest at that. For a few weeks now, she had lost a bit of interest in going to the Kinderclub, she was getting bored, so it was really the right timing.
The mums of the 4-5 year olds had met one evening to make the must have for any German school starter, a Schultüte. This is a cone shaped container, nicely decorated, which bears sweets and items for school, and which children take along on their first day at school. I have no idea where this comes from, but it is such a quintessential starting school thing that it has a lot of meaning to me, and I would assume, most German mums. More meaning than the British equivalent, the graduation ceremony (which we had at the forest kindergarten and also at the pre-school). Cubling has known for a while now, at least a year, that as a German\Scottish child she would get a Schultüte, and the prospect has had a definite effect on her wanting to be German (whereas before she was just English or Scottish).
She didn't know though that she would get it early, namely at the last day of Kinderclub because I can't really send her to school with the Schultüte, that would totally single her out, possibly in a negative way or in a way that would make her too aware of being different rather than special.
We had been busy making it, decorating it, and finally filling it. I had gone through hoops trying to buy the contents without her noticing it. And finally, the big moment was there. The look in her eyes as she realised what was about to happen was priceless. Utter excitement, delight and pride all in one. She wouldn't let go of the Schultüte. And when I explained that she'd have to wait until daddy was home to open it, she sat on the stairs watching the clock for 3 hours, keeping herself busy with this and that, so that she wouldn't miss the time that daddy comes home, which she knows is 7pm.
With daddy eventually home, she proceeded to unpack her bag, and suddenly I saw a pre-schooler turn into a school girl. There was something so grown up in how she had waited without a moan, how she unpacked the bag and went through every item in good time, how she shared the chocolate equally with us, and how she made plans of how to use each item that made me rather emotional. Pens, have been used, as have all kinds of rulers, and she is now doing "work" and copying words, and even writing them from memory.
For a moment I could see her wings. It won't be long now until she takes off into the world and will move further and further away from us. I can only hope that we've given her enough grounding to support her on her flight, and that she'll be able to find her way back here to refuel whenever she needs to.
So this is it, a few weeks of summer and then she'll be at school 5 days a week. What a horrible and wonderful thought. She needs a new challenge, and yet I already mourn that she'll spend more time with her friends and teacher than with me. She of course takes it all in her stride. "what will you miss most when you go to school?" "Playing with my old friends" "What are you looking forward to at school?" "Playing with my new friends".
Oh man, how she has grown up.
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