Baby Proof

When Rowan was a wee one he wouldn't leave my side. He wouldn't even go in another room in the house if I wasn't there. He would explore the house but wouldn't put things in his mouth and I didn't really worry much about him doing anything dangerous or having an accident since he was just not that kind of kid. Poppy..well...she's got an adventurous spirit. We still have the electrical outlets covered since that was the one thing Rowan did like to play with, but otherwise we haven't done any other 'baby-proofing' of the house. Some days we continually climbed up and down stairs with her because she loved the stairs. But usually after going up one or two we'd bring her back down and get her attention near us again. We've had a few things end up in the toilet and we've recently decided to keep the garbage can in the pantry because we've lost a few things in there...but that makes it easy when we go out since we put the garbage away for the dog anyway. But I'm in a bit of a dilemma because I love the idea of letting my kids explore their surroundings on their own terms. Yes, it makes for a HUGE mess ALL day long many days. And I have to be proactive and put the cleaners up out of reach and any other real dangers out of the way. But (see picture) I really think that kids learn when they have the freedom to do so - when their environment is safe enough but not sterile. Because toys are fine, but they do get boring. But a cupboard full of dish cloths, tea towels, table cloths, and place mats, now that's HOURS of entertainment! The dish of keys by the door - also far more interesting than other small symbols that adults think small children should be interested in. And they are real life materials. A basket of plastic food is.....a basket of plastic food. Who says that's what interests children? An adult who probably didn't want the kids emptying out the fridge and putting things back in repeatedly! Not saying that's wrong or bad - I do have days where I wonder if I should simplify my life and put a few cupboard locks up. But I can't go there yet. I don't really complain about being tired, but I do acknowledge that these choices I make for my kids do make more work for us as parents (and I am pretty darn tired!). And it's also partly how I think kids learn self-preservation. We sleep on mattresses on the floor so our small children can crawl up and down the bed easily. Rowan fell out of the bed twice and Poppy once. They learned the parameters of the bed by falling off and now even in their sleep they know where the edge is. Poppy can go up and down the stairs on her own at 14 months because she's had so much practice. We do have a dog who doesn't know that she can easily knock the baby down the stairs by accident so we can't let Poppy have free access unsupervised to the stairs. But for the most part our house is as much of a free learning environment as we can make it!

(These pictures are the kitchen floor after Poppy was in the tea towel cupboard and one after she found a bib she needed to wear and some rubber boots in the front closet!)

Kids Will Homeschool Themselves

Seriously. If I wasn't totally sure of this before, I am given more and more reason to be sure of it all the time. I had to go upstairs to put Poppy down for a nap - I told Rowan to be quiet downstairs and I would be back in a few minutes. As I was laying with Poppy I could hear some rustling around, doors opening, a little clanging here and there. About ten minutes passed and when I came downstairs, he was making his own papier-mache mixture. See picture. He had a huge bag of flour on the table, a measuring cup with water (he got water from the sink by standing on a kitchen chair), big metal bowl, and wooden spoon. "Can you just get me a bit more water please?" he said as he continued to stir his goop at the table. I had given him a brief verbal rundown of how we were going to make a papier-mache dragon whenever I got around to it but he got all the supplies and started to do it all on his own. Pretty cool. Now once the mixture was done he would not put his hands in it so I was able to be his Adult Assistant and did the messy work. Just going with those moments is what makes homeschooling (unschooling) so much fun in our house.

Parade and Calgary Stampede - First Visit of 2010

Yes, we rounded everyone up except for poor Rand, who had to work, for the Annual Stampede Parade. Rowan's 5th parade and Poppy's 2nd. They have been every year since they were born - I have been to almost every one except for two of them that I recall - not sure how old I was when I started going but I was young enough to remember Dad barking, "If you're going to the parade then you'll dress western!" at 5:30 am or some crazy time of day. And so the tradition continues! So my kids aren't usually up before 8 am but I coaxed them both out of bed by 7:30 and we dressed as western as we could (or rather, I made the kids dress western - I wouldn't be caught dead in a western shirt and hat - I can't pull it off!). Mom stayed the night before and came as well. As is tradition, we parked in Inglewood and walked through the Fort Calgary field where we could see everyone getting ready for the parade. Poppy was not as excited about all the action as Rowan had been near her age - she was more interested in the people. We found a great spot on 7th avenue right near our neighbours and in the shade - thank God as it ended up being around 30 degrees by the time we left. The parade itself is always fun but the people watching has always been one of my favorite parts, just like Poppy. I find it so cool how small children choose people to be friendly toward. This couple sat near us for a few moments and Poppy kept walking up to them, looking them right in the eye, and 'talking' to them. They were clearly a homeless couple with dark tanned skin, a cart or bag of cans and bottles, having a smoke on the curb and Ya-hooing at the parade participants. And I assume they were just generally nice folks because Poppy's intuition hasn't been tainted by anyone else's judgement of who is nice and who is not - she just knows. Another fellow came and sat near us who looked just like my brother, Jeff, when he is dressed for work. Again Poppy thought he was pretty cool as she kept wandering down and chatting with him.



Rowan took more pictures than I have space allowed for on this blog - I think he snapped more than all the tourists together! By the time we left he was hot and tired.

We decided at the last minute to go to the Stampede on Saturday since it was cool. However we did run into some rain and had to hide out in the Big Four for a while. We attempted to see the Super Dogs but you need tickets now so that was out. Rand and Rowan went on lots of rides together and Poppy and I rode the carousel about 6 times. Poppy and I also went through the barns (Rand has really bad allergies to horses) where she squeaked at the horses, sheep, donkeys, and a few cows. Rowan won a stuffed dog which he has named Baby Rowan.

Both kids fell asleep on the way To the Stampede (it was a big day) - here is a shot of Rowan with $20 tightly held in his hand before we even got there! That kid likes money! We'll probably head back down to see more of the Stampede this week - Ya-hoo!

A Day at the Farm!

I have a friend who lives on a farm that her great-grandfather homesteaded on in the early 1900's and has been in her family ever since. She kindly invited us along with several other friends to spend the day and celebrate Summer Solstice! It was one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen in Alberta. The kids had a ball. We drank local beer and ate mostly local food, visited and played for a few hours in the country. It was just lovely! They have two mules, several chickens, a gorgeous garden, and a gorgeous view.



Poppy squeaked at the mules - she was quite taken with them. She also squeaked at the chickens - I think it's her way of trying to communicate with non-humans. Rand took a pic of her and I surrounded by the orange and yellow poppies that happened to match the hand-me-down dress she wore to celebrate solstice! She wasn't into posing though. Rowan learned how to peel apart dandelion stems and was quite proud of himself. Our friend's mom made us some dandelion fritters as we were on our way out and they were DELICIOUS! Thanks for the fun, Lindsie and Denis! It was a lovely way to spend the day!

Happy Canada Day!

Canada Day started out rather quiet in our house...Poppy hollered at Rowan until he gave up his step chair so she could get up there and do workbooks with him. It's never too early to start - and she's a homeschooler too so why not?

When we finally got organized to leave the house we popped over to Fort Calgary for the Canada Day festivities! Poppy fell in love with several goats, a couple of pigs, and some bunnies. She made a loud squeak at each of them and was prepared to hold her ground if any other larger kids tried to step in between her and the animals! Rowan went down the blow up slide by himself a few times - a first for him!

Later on we went to celebrate a friend's little boy who turned 2 on Canada Day! Yay! A very full day for us! (Sorry for the mixed up content and photos - still learning!)