Ode to a Dirty Face

I love that smear of porridge in your eyebrow
From playing peekaboo at breakfast time.

That smudge of blue under your chin
Is a reminder of the beautiful picture you drew, before you walked across it and it tore.

There's glitter in your hair
And if your sister sees it she'll know you were 'reading' her Valentine's cards.

There is a morning's worth of running and climbing caught in the jam around your mouth
And one clean cheek above which your blue eye shines with the mischief that meant we were much too busy to clean the rest.

You look, as always, perfect.

Ancient Egypt, kid style

You just gotta love it when kids put their learning into action. Yep, it is endlessly gratifying to watch them employ newfound knowledge in a game, reinforcing their school- and home work.

Today, for example, Little Man's reader was about a magical trip to Egypt in the time of the pharoahs. The children in the book got to make a model pyramid from a special workbook and then travel back in time to see slaves, pharoahs and the Sphinx for themselves.

Now, time travel is beyond my remit, but I did happen to have a 'Build your own Pyramid' workbook right here for when homework was finished. We talked about what the pyramids were used for, how they were built and even took a quick look at hieroglyphics.

Imagine my pride when they started playing Ancient Egypt this evening.

'What's that you're doing guys?'

'Well, we wanted to make a pyramid, so we killed the pharaoh with a sword and now we can put him in!'

Well, quite. 

Secret second lives

There's something strange going on in our house.

For a while now, Little One has displayed all the balance, strength and co-ordination needed to walk, but still he chooses to crawl. He'll stand up to play football, but as soon as the ball moves out of reach he drops down and crawls briskly to his target. 

Until, that is, darkness falls. Then it's straight up on his feet for some intense walking practice. Three steps - bump! Undeterred, he stands again, six steps - bump! Straight up, five steps - bump! This could go on for half an hour at a time. Worn out by bedtime, he sleeps soundly, but come morning he will deny all knowledge of perambulation. 

All day long we try to encourage steps, but to no avail. Content with his ride-on car and the power of his knees and palms he passes a pleasant day, biding his time until dusk - whereupon he is free to display his true abilities once more. 

After observing this for some time, I have drawn the only natural conclusion. 

Little One is, in fact, a ninja spy. We are obviously just part of his cover story. Cute baby crawling around in Mickey Mouse dungarees? Clearly not a threat. Look how excited he gets when he sees a doggie or a brightly coloured ball - the very picture of innocence. Only under cover of darkness can he reveal his true role - Ninja Baby in training. As soon as he's got the walking perfected, we'll move forward to Wax on, Wax off and Dressing All In Black. 

Now, I just hope this blog entry hasn't blown his cover...

Always friends

I have been bitten by the baby. 
Bitten hard. 
Yes, bitten there. 

I am tired, and fairly hungry. My self-control is the first casualty of this state. Involuntarily, I shout 'OW!'

Startled, his face falls and he sobs. Proper, heart-rending sobs. Naturally, I cuddle and soothe him and he seems calm. 

Pushing himself up, he plants a kiss on my face, then leans back as if to survey my reaction. He stays there, half-smile in place and eyebrows raised quizzically, watching my still-furrowed brow. 

I'm powerless. I smile back at this cheeky creature and his face breaks Into a proper smile. Delightedly, he claps twice and then throws himself into my embrace. Satisfied that we are friends again, he settles himself and is asleep in seconds. Satisfied that we are friends again, I settle myself in for a snoozy cuddle. I'm still smiling.

Book review: The Snatchabook

‘In every house, in every bed

A bedtime book is being read’

There. They’ve won me over already.
Yes, I know that sadly not every child gets bedtime stories, but for the ones who do this is a great affirmation of the comforting bedtime routine. The Snatchabook, by Helen Docherty is a beautifully rhythmical book whose poetry seems to flow gently from page to page. The author’s use of asides - 'Long hours passed without a peep (She'd nearly fallen fast asleep!)' - to deal with trickier words for rhyming is observably smart to an adult, but to the wide-eyed child it just adds to the narrator’s charm and gives a sense of them being let in on a secret.

Now for the bad news. As you may have guessed from the title, The Snatchabook is a story in which books are snatched. Gone. Vanished. The first time we read this story, I had to read it quite fast in order to get to a point that would reassure my indignant children that no such fate would befall their books! But fear not dear reader, without giving too much away, I will tell you that no creature in Burrow Down is left without a book to treasure.

I think that I would love this story if it were merely scrawled on a dog-eared A4 sheet and shoved through the letterbox. But oh my, that is far from the case.

The illustrations are stunning, with richly detailed double page spreads just screaming to be framed and put on the playroom wall. ThomasDocherty brings to life the inimitable Eliza Brown, the titular Snatchabook and the cosy, magical Burrow Down with apparent ease.

This is one of those books that really is a true gift, and since having received it ourselves (Thanks Aunt Claire!) I have bought a copy or two to give to other happy children.

We are very much looking forward to the author’s next bedtime read!

Hitchhiker rating: 5 thumbs up 

Playing the heartstrings

It’s 6am and the house is blanketed in silent darkness. Through deep, much-needed, layers of sleep the woman’s subconscious alerts her to a disturbance. Something has changed in the blackness. She tenses, all senses searching for more information.

There! A muted sound, surely? She sits straight up in the bed, heart pounding, bleary eyes attempting to detect subtle variations in the little light available.

Oh.

‘Sweetheart, WHAT are you doing out of bed? It’s still not getting up time you know.’

Little Lady replies, ‘Well, it’s just that I love you so much, I really wanted to give you a hug and it woke me up.’

The moments of fear and disorientation fade, and what’s left is amusement and a little pride.

How does she do that? At 4 and-a-half years of age, how does she know so innately how to defuse a situation?

‘C’mere pet. One and a half hugs and then straight back to bed until getting up time, ok?’

This emotional intelligence is not new, but it surprises me every time. We’ve recently celebrated her learning to peel a banana all by herself. She sat down one morning and learned how to tie shoelaces more through stubbornness than dexterity. She and Little Man are bright kids, but she is streets ahead of him when it comes to understanding emotions – how to read them, how to soothe them, and how to take advantage of them!

The first real grasp of how clever she is in this way came about 6 months after Little One was born. When I went to tuck Little Man into bed, he asked why my belly was still so big even though there wasn’t a baby in it anymore. It was an emotional slap in the face. I thought I hid it well, explained that Mammy’s tummy needs some time to learn how to be small again and he was satisfied. With my brave face in place I went to Little Lady’s room to tuck her in to bed. She stood up, threw her arms around me and declared ‘Mammy, you are a beautiful princess and I love you!’.  I almost cried. It was the perfect thing to do, the perfect thing to say and somehow she knew it!

She’s got a real knack for cheering people up, for just throwing herself into a hug at exactly the right moment and she’s used her charms to get herself out of trouble at least once. To hear her telling a fussy Little One ‘It’s ok pet, you’re just having a tough old day, I’ll say a hug is what you need!’ is at once adorable and admirable.

I think overall, it’s moments like those that make me look at my kids with a kind of awe. We made those kids from scratch, and are so lucky to get to watch them learn and grow into fascinating people with diverse talents and quirks.

And even at 6am, I wouldn’t change a thing!

Book review: I Dare You Not To Yawn

One of our favourite things to do as a family is to read stories. The house is bursting at the seams with books for babies, toddlers, older kids, teens and anything Hubby or I might like to read. 

So, I thought I'd share some of our favourites with you. 



I Dare You Not To Yawn by Héléne Boudreau is one of our latest favourite books. 

Narrated by a small boy, the reader is immediately warned of how sneaky yawns can be - and what the disastrous results might be if you do succumb to their sneaky efforts! The descriptive passages are excellent, and the narration seems utterly authentic from the point of view of a perhaps slightly cranky but NOT at all tired little boy.

Both older kids love this book*, it's sweet and funny and a bit of a competition not to yawn the whole way through reading it. Their glee when Hubby or I start to yawn is uncontained, 'You yawned - you YAWNED! I saw you. Straight to bed you'll go!"

For adults, this book is absolutely brilliant for bedtime. Take some excitable, chattering children who look like they may not sleep for hours. Curl up somewhere cosy, read this clever book to them and watch them yawn yawn Y A A W W N N their way to sleepy town. 

Hitchhiker rating: 5 thumbs up


*To be fair, Little One likes it too. Although more for its chewiness.