Linus is great at reading, but I decided a few months ago that – for a few reasons – it would be good to read to him every night at bedtime and to focus on chapter books that would take weeks each to read.

For one thing, I think it’s easy to get so caught up in the technical aspects of reading – especially as you’re learning – that you fail to get immersed in the story and to use your imagination to its potential.

I also chose to do this at a time (first trimester, perhaps?) when I was having trouble coping with bedtimes at all and was getting very grumpy with the swarming children. I figured that I could commit to giving myself to one child for that time, but if I tried to be involved with all of them I’d just end up growly and it would be horrible for all concerned. (Bob is far more patient with them than me… although to be fair, I’ve usually spent the whole day with them while he’s been with them for an hour.)

Choosing books to read to Linus also extends him and opens him up to options that he either wouldn’t or couldn’t choose to read himself.

And finally, it’s always a treat to get one-on-one time with any of my children

So far we’ve read:

• Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone
• The Story of Dr Dolittle
• one of The Famous Five

And we’ve nearly finished The Hobbit (another perk – I get to choose books I’ve been meaning to read or re-read for a while!).

Next, I’m thinking about The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, but we’ll see…

To celebrate my birthday and Zoe not needing me so much, I had a weekend away. I took a bus – on my own – up to Canterbury to stay with my gorgeous friend RH and her family, and had a lovely, relaxing time. I LOVED being with RH, but I must say the bus trips were possibly the highlight of the weekend… books, magazines, iPods, scenery, snacks, drinks, and no demands from anyone else – those 10 hours were a holiday in themselves!

In other news…

We had a family trip out to the Botanic Gardens with another home-schooling family (PS, MM and kids).

Zoe was obviously really keen on showing us her camera face if the month’s photos are anything to go by.

Linus went horse-riding again, but this time Ada rode as well, and Zoe, Nana and I kept them company. Zoe even enjoyed a cheeky wee ride herself.

My big kids enjoyed the mud at the playgrounds. The two photos shown below are different playgrounds on different days in May!

Thanks to the modern age of time-stamped photos and a look at our trusty wall calendar, I can give you some idea of what our March 2011 was like five months down the track!

Wedding

My sister was married in late March, and we all had a lovely day at the Oamaru wedding and Moeraki Boulders reception. The kids all looked gorgeous, and Ada and the groom’s almost identical niece were picture-perfect flower girls.

Circus

Ada and I went on a date to the Circus Aotearoa. I hope Ada enjoyed herself, but I know I LOVED it! We so much on television these days that it’s easy to be underwhelmed when you see stunts performed in real life, but after the first ten minutes I was completely engrossed in what these real people were doing right before my eyes.

The highlight for Ada was definitely getting a balloon animal (a dog) at the end, with the candy floss at the beginning coming a close second.

Horse-Riding

A retired teacher that my mum knows takes children out for horse experiences (i.e. riding plus learning about grooming etc.), so Nana and Linus went and did this one morning in March. Linus had a great time, and even stood on the horse’s back!

Odds and Ends

The photos also remind me:

• I made popcorn for the first time.
• I got the girls “mopping” the kitchen by tying rags to their knees.
• The kids got heavily into Minecraft, which included making Duplo zombies (aka “creepers”) and making zombie masks.

I’m enjoying the challenges of trying to minimise the STUFF in our house, inspired in part by my friend Jess (who’s Minimalist Mum blog I don’t get a chance to read very often).

Today I’ve taken a step to tackle toys.

Like most children these days, mine have a LOT of toys. I’m very uncomfortable with throwing out their toys once they’re old enough to form attachments to them… it seems fundamentally disrespectful to dispose of their property without asking their permission. And I daren’t ask their permission, because I suspect the answer will always be “No!” and they’ll suddenly realise that the toy they haven’t touched for six months is their favourite thing on the planet and they can’t live without it.

The Prep

The kids have been prepped: last week at our inaugural Sunday evening “family meeting”, Bob and I chatted to the kids about minimising clutter. We tried to introduce it in a positive way, emphasising that it’s about valuing and appreciating and being able to FIND the things we have, not about being deprived in any way.

The Plan

Today I packed up most of the kid’s toys into some plastic roller boxes (which ALL miraculously fit under our spare bed). I then asked each of them to choose seven toys that they wanted to play with for the week, and they happily did so (although I chose for Zoe, and Linus and I also had to choose most of Ada’s – she was distracted after she’d chosen two!).

If they decide they want more things out, I’m happy to be flexible. Maybe they can do a swap; maybe they can get something out for a limited time; maybe they can add the item to their wishlist for the following week. As long as it doesn’t result in masses of toys spread undiscerningly all over the floor or forever lost at the bottom of a toybox, that’s fine by me.

At the moment books are excluded, as are large toys like ride-on bikes and the doll’s pram.

I’ve also excluded items that were in the toy box that weren’t technically “toys”, like a back massager, some weights, and some little calculators. I see these as household items that everyone in the family should have access to.

The Hopes

I hope that the house will be tidier, and quicker and easier to clear up.

I hope that the kids will “play” with more non-toy items… tools, pots and pans, and other safe household items. The them-and-us divisions of “that’s a toy, that’s NOT a toy” often make me uncomfortable about the precedents being set.

I hope that the kids will learn to appreciate what they have and enjoy the anticipation of what they’ll get out of the box next Sunday night.

I hope that we’ll all gradually learn what toys the kids really do love playing with and which ones they can happily dispose of.

What’s new with us?

• Zoe is walking quite well now. She’s managing to (sometimes) keep standing once she stops walking and she can turn corners and negotiate her way past objects. I don’t think she can get get to standing without support yet, but I’m sure it’s not far away.
• I’m probably going back to work for 2 mornings a week next term. A little extra money and seeing my former colleagues will be nice, as will getting time to do some tasks without kids around to interrupt. Less nice is the fact that it means time away from my kids and Playcentre, but Nana will look after those responsibilities
• Zoe has been sick in various minor ways for a few weeks now – a snotty nose, gunky eyes, and a nighttime cough are taking turns at bothering her (and us). Her napping has deteriorated. I’ve generally been happy for her to have a couple of 45 minute naps each day, but she’s struggling to get these at the moment – 20-30 minutes seems to be all she can manage at a go now. She’s also had a few horrible nights… in the past, because she’s in bed with us, we’ve hardly noticed when she’s woken wanting a feed, but she’s had a few nights recently when she’s seemed to wake up every hour and scream until I manage to feed her.
• Ada is occasionally using the potty and occasionally telling us when she has a dirty nappy, but for the most part she doesn’t seem bothered by what’s going on in that area. Hopefully summer will help reinspire us to support her in getting rid of nappies!
• Zoe has two teeth down the bottom now. To me they look like they’re growing at a funny angle, but we’ll see a dental nurse sometime this year to check it out.
• Linus is reading! It’s in its early stages, but it’s very exciting to see the different techniques he uses: context, memory of story, sounding out, educated guesses, picture clues, memory of word, tracing along with his finger, etc. (It’s also funny to watch Ada “reading”, following the words along with her finger while saying completely different words from the story!)
• Ada is driving us a little crazy at the moment. Her “using her words” seems to have regressed, and she’s back to crying over the slightest insult or denial. She’s also very keen on ignoring us or not doing what we ask. Perhaps we expect a bit too much from her?
• I’ve been managing semi-regular contact with the Mums in the SHEAF (home education) group. Now I just need to fit into my schedule more time for Linus to hang out with them and their various-aged children as well. We did manage it once, and I was delighted to sit back and watch how Linus observed and (eventually) interracted with the other children with no input from me.
• Zoe is now swimming with the rest of the family (minus Mummy) on their weekly outing to the pool. A friend’s teenage daughter has started accompanying them to maintain the 1:1 adult:child ratio.