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Motherhood

Taking His First Pictures

For the Little Monkey’s second birthday, I got him his first digital camera. Nothing fancy but one specifically designed to take the beating you’d expect from a toddler, a Kidizoom Twist. I blatantly ignored the labelling on the package that said age 3+. But I thought he could have lots of fun with it. And, clearly, this purchase represented my attempt to get my child interested in the joy of photography at an early age. Goodness knows he’s got a camera in his face enough I figure maybe he can learn all about why mummy is doing this.

When he got this for his birthday it was one of those gifts that he gave a once over, pushed some of the buttons, and then moved on to the cars and trucks. Not interested. Gutted! It’s been in one of his toy drawers now collecting dust for five months.

Well he’s recently rediscovered it. The camera still has a number of features that are too complicated for his age. But he’s figured out how to do the one thing that matters, take pictures. He can look in the little LCD screen at himself and push the shutter button.

They’re not the greatest resolution and they’ll never be considered fine art, but I’ll love these photos forever.

The Little Monkey’s first ever self-portraits.

February 22, 2012

Motherhood

Learning to Make Recognizable Play-Doh Animals

One of the things I put on my life list was #80, making recognizable Play-Doh animals. I realize this isn’t one of those amazing “once in a lifetime” experiences that you’d think should be on a life list. I want lots of these things in my life, but for most of us life can’t be filled with these on a daily basis. We’ve got to fill it with lots of everyday adventures as well, sometimes even whimsical things that don’t serve any higher purpose other than making us smile. Sometimes simply things we’d enjoy sharing with someone we love.

Well Play-Doh, the monkey and I already do A LOT of Play-Doh (and Plasticine) in this house and I’m sure this will continue to be the case for some time. So I figure why not kick it up a notch, make Play-Doh a little more fun and learn to create an endless cast of creatures, animals that we can bring to life at a moments notice. And I don’t mean the cutout kind. We’ve got little cutouts to make cats and dogs and butterflies and the like. I want something more challenging, I want to mold this crazy substance into animal shapes from nothing.

Now the key word here is “recognizable.” Anyone can make a shape out of a lump of clay. But when my son says “cat”, I want it to be because I intended to make a cat, not because I tried to make horse and it went horribly wrong.

So to give you some perspective on the steepness of my learning curve, I thought I’d share with you where I am on this journey, square one if you will.

First, I present “Dinosaur” and “Snake.” To be fair, snake is really not that much of a challenge. I think I’ve got that mastered. But the dinosaur, that looks like some creature popping out of a floppy wizard’s hat.

And then there is “Seal.” Do not ask me why he asked me to make a seal. That one came out of no where.

I have found this article on how to make clay animals which has a few tips I’ll try. In fact, this technique might help me with the problem I’ve had with arms and legs constantly falling off.

The more I’ve used Play-Doh I’ve also learned that it bugs the crap out of me when the colors get all mixed up. I want them to stay separate and pure. A quick survey of my friends revealed that I am not alone. But I’ve got to let that go. Life is too short to worry about whether a bit of red gets in the white. Just go with the flow and enjoy the pink.

Stay tuned…

February 15, 2012

Motherhood

The Circle of Trust is Widening

Back in the fall I wrote about the Little Monkey’s first trip to the dentist and how success is not a word you would use to describe it. Wouldn’t open his mouth and barely even made eye contact with the dentist. I knew it was mission impossible but it had to be done.

So in accordance with Plan B, we waited a few months and gave it another go. The basic idea being that the more we go, the more he’ll get used to the idea and decide that no one is out to kill him.

Well, this time I did a little more to prepare. We read books about the dentist, we practiced opening our mouths, we watched Peppa Pig go to the Dentist, a lot. We made a game out of brushing our teeth and we talked about the Tooth Fairy. Which, I’ve now learned, is as effective a weapon in my parenting arsenal as Santa Claus.

He was even genuinely excited about going to the dentist. The day before he said several times, “go to the dentist now”. I’d made such of big deal of it being a fun adventure. And in the morning of the day, when I said we were going to get in mummy’s car and go to the dentist, he grinned with excitement.

But no amount of preparation is like the real thing. Like the bright lights and strangers and big scary chairs. So as soon as we walk into the exam room, he’s all clams again. We try to get him to sit in the chair, none of that. But the dentist is an amazingly good-natured guy. And miraculously, after a few minutes of my coaxing, the Little Monkey warms up. He actually opens his mouth and he goes “Ahhhhhhh.” The dentist gets a good look at his bottom teeth but we struggle to get him to look up so he can see the uppers. And, still the dentist has to keep his distance.

But the dentist is pleased, he’s made progress. We’ve gone from a jaw clenched shut to one wide open. So we’ll try again in a few more months. Maybe next time he’ll be brave enough to get in the chair.

And as we leave, the Little Monkey says “bye-bye Doctor Elephant.” (Peppa Pig reference for the uninitiated). The look of confusion on the dentist’s face as we left was priceless.

February 1, 2012

Gratitude, Motherhood

Things I Want to Remember: Embracing the Kairos Time

Parenting is hard work. Really hard work. It’s harder than any other thing I’ve ever done. But then the most rewarding things in life don’t always come easy.

Glennon Melton eloquently sums up this conflict when she writes:

I think parenting young children (and old ones, I’ve heard) is a little like climbing Mount Everest. Brave, adventurous souls try it because they’ve heard there’s magic in the climb. They try because they believe that finishing, or even attempting the climb are impressive accomplishments. They try because during the climb, if they allow themselves to pause and lift their eyes and minds from the pain and drudgery, the views are breathtaking. They try because even though it hurts and it’s hard, there are moments that make it worth the hard. These moments are so intense and unique that many people who reach the top start planning, almost immediately, to climb again. Even though any climber will tell you that most of the climb is treacherous, exhausting, killer. That they literally cried most of the way up.

That “haggard and annoyed and angry” woman in the grocery check-out she describes, that’s been me. I love my son and think he is the most amazing person I’ve ever met. But sometimes, well sometimes we have days that make me want to knock back a couple of dry vodka martinis.

It’s easy to focus on the negatives, the “Chronos” time, the “my god is it bed time yet” time. Because you’ve got to navigate that time every day. Get groceries, run errands, prepare meals, keep the kids entertained. But when I look back on these early years of my son’s life, I certainly don’t want to focus on those things. I want to focus on what Melton calls the “Kairos” time, those “magical moments in which time stands still.”

So in an effort to remember those Kairos moments, the ones that make it all worthwhile, I’ve been writing them down. I’d actually started this some time ago but reading her article really brought home to me why I started doing this in the first place. I wanted to have something, 10 years from now, to look back on and remind me of the moments that made me laugh and smile. The moments that melted my heart.

Things I Want to Remember

…running to me when I pick him up from nursery, jumping and shouting “that’s my mummy!”

…repeatedly showing me, with pride, how he could blow his own nose with a tissue and then put the tissue in the bin. He repeated this process at least five times in a row. Get a tissue. Blow. Put the tissue in the bin. Repeat.

…doing E.T. fingers with daddy through the railings in the stairs.

…taking a book out of my hand and saying “I read it mummy.” He picked out Monkey and Me and “read” it to me all the way through. I turned the pages but he told me the story.

…taking the rubbish to the bin, of his own accord, at Starbucks. Watching him try to shove an entire Starbucks muffin into his face all at once is, well, glorious.

…running full speed into the Oxford University Natural History Museum shouting “Dinosaur, Grrrrr!” Complete with hand gestures. Standing by a rock in the museum with a look of intense focus. The woman next to him saying to me “He really likes that rock.” I say “it’s either that or he was doing a poo.” I was right.

…saying “that’s rubbish” when his little race cars don’t go far enough across the kitchen floor.

…squealing with delight when I press my lips against the outside of the shower door.

…insisting on getting out his tools to help the gate man with some repairs.

…saying “tom-AH-to.” Oh, he’s English.

…giving the iPad a hug and a kiss as he said “night night” to daddy who was away on business. FaceTime, brilliant.

These are just a few of the mundane but magical things the Little Monkey has been up to this month. You’ll see more of this, more of the things I want to remember.

If you’re a parent, how do you remind yourself of these moments and not get caught up in the day-to-day?

January 30, 2012

Motherhood

We Call Him the Puzzler

It’s hard to pinpoint exactly when the Little Monkey became The Puzzler. But man, that kid can do some puzzles, jigsaws if you like. He’ll spend an hour sat at the kitchen table as we cover it with train puzzles, car puzzles, tractor puzzles, and Peppa Pig puzzles.

What I love most about this is he now reacts with a big “YEAH” for himself when he finishes a puzzle (demonstrated with a horribly out of focus photo). Putting puzzles together all by himself is the first thing he’s outwardly shown pride in doing. It warms my heart to see him excited by his own achievement, not just because someone praised him and said “well done.”

However, the biggest lesson The Puzzler has taught me as a parent is to never underestimate your child. They don’t have the barriers, the preconceptions, the inhibitions, the things we adults have collected as baggage along our journey. They’re like sponges soaking up every last bit of information about the world around them and how it works and they don’t care whether they fit in the age range listed on a box of puzzles. As parents, shouldn’t we encourage this inquisitiveness as much as possible and set aside our own preconceptions about what our children are capable of? After all, they might just surprise us with something amazing.

January 18, 2012

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