Hello friends
It’s been a while (over a month!) since I last did one of these posts. I hope you’ll forgive my sudden disappearance - during some seasons writing feels absolutely life giving, and during others it’s another chore on the (already very long) to-do list.
While I firmly believe in sharing the good days and the bad, we haven’t really had any bad days lately per se. Everything has just felt tiresome recently, for no apparent reason - do you have times like this? I had thought that by now I’d have had a wave of spring energy, but the days with three small children at home are just the same as they were during winter - equal parts wonderful and exhausting! That said, I wouldn’t change them for all the world.
My eldest also seems to be going through the ‘seven year change’ and is feeling more sensitive and emotional than usual (which is saying something!). Between her and my threenagers, it feels like there’s never a quiet moment. I’ve been rereading Simplicity Parenting for some inspiration this week, and wondering whether we need to cut back on activities for a while until we’re all feeling more ourselves. We started a toy declutter this weekend, on top of weeks of general decluttering - hopefully we can create the time and space the whole family needs to be at its best again. Until then, here’s a peek into our week!
If you’re new here, my daughters are 6.5, 3.5 and 3.5 years old. We are a neurodiverse home educating family based in Essex.
Out and about
On Saturday we went pond dipping for the first time. There were some free sessions at a local nature park and we were able to book the same time as the girls’ friends (another HE family). It was really peaceful, and with six children we made up the whole group so we had the pond to ourselves. The kids got so excited by all of the different water bugs and by some miracle no one fell in! We even found some tadpoles. Hopefully we’ll be able to go back and visit again once they’ve grown into frogs.
On Sunday we went to a spring fair where the girls saw a bubble display (reminder to self: purchase some more giant bubble mix!) and tried out some circus equipment. All in all it was a busy weekend, so we decided to stay at home on Monday.
I’d promised the girls that we’d go swimming again after the school holidays, so we finally went on Tuesday morning. The toddler pool is only open for an hour (and not the same hour as the teaching pool) but this is fine for us, as all three are still building confidence in the water. A did some actual swimming with her float held in front of her this week, which is a big improvement! Afterwards we had some much earned sausage rolls for lunch at the bakers.
On Wednesday morning we had a free pizza making workshop at Pizza Express then went straight on to HE group. Honestly we were exhausted by the time we got home! It was worth it as the kids all loved being together, and shared experiences like this really bring them closer. The idea was that the kids would all bring their pizzas to the park to eat for lunch, but obviously none of the pizzas lasted that long!
HE group passed by in a blur, as per usual. There is always so much going on, children all over the place, so many people to talk to. I’m very grateful that my in laws come with us to help look after the girls while I stand around and chat facilitate!
If you’re new here, I run a weekly group for home educated children aged 4-11. We’re based at a park with a cafe - I really should do a separate post about it! Starting up a weekly group is hands down the best thing I’ve done since we started home education.
We were out again on Thursday morning, this time to visit a childminder. Now there’s a bit of a story behind this.
The other evening I was sitting alone after the girls went to bed, thinking about our failed attempt at preschool (I pulled the twins out in January) and how my friend has just increased her youngest’s hours at nursery. How we could have done with those nursery hours recently! I feel like the wind has been blowing me in so many different directions lately, I feel physically battered some days. There is never enough time, enough energy, enough of me to go around. Preschool at home is wonderful in theory (no time restrictions! No drops offs and pick ups!) but not so easy in practise, it seems.
So, in the spur of the moment, I looked up local childminders - and found one quite literally on my doorstep. We visited and she’s a really lovely lady with a small child of her own, and they like to do pretty much the same things that we do. It seems like a really good fit, and we all really enjoyed the visit - so wish us luck! We will visit again next week and see how things go.
Eldest skipped Rainbows this week as energy levels were low, and our friends took mercy on us and offered to come meet us for a play date on Friday, saving us the bus journey. We did still go out to L’s dance lesson, where she was pleased to finally receive her new leotard, ballet and ‘tappy’ shoes. Although I don’t watch the class, I believe she’s really enjoying it as we can hear her squeals of delight all the way down the corridor! Afterwards, we met our friends at the skate park and a happy hour was lost in the spring sunshine until the mothers decided it was time to return home and put the kettle on.
In the garden
We somehow managed to start some gardening this week, in between the wet and windy weather. A and Q have been helping me fill our old sandpit with dirt, ready to make it into a Peter Rabbit inspired garden. We started reading Beatrix Potter books the other week, and I found a lovely picture of a themed garden on Pinterest when I was looking for resources. We didn’t get as far as planting anything outdoors yet, but the girls have been growing cress indoors which they’ve found far more exciting than I expected!
While the back doors have often been open, for the most part the girls have played outside alone. They’ve come in with handfuls of caterpillars, a couple of butterflies and even found the first dragonfly of the year (and spotted a fox one evening, too!). I wish I could say I’d been outside with them, too, but usually I’m busy tidying up or making lunch or the like.
One day I found an old glass water dispenser in the shed and filled it with water, which has been really popular with the girls and saves the millions of requests for water from the kitchen sink. The twins mostly fill up little pots, and L had the idea to bring outside a paint palette and brushes. That’s what this week has been like really - full of simple, wholesome activities led mostly by the children.
I wish I had time to share the things that we did at the table - book work, crafts, baking - but I’ve left the girls alone for too long already. I will have to catch you up next week! Perhaps I’ll start there in my next newsletter. As per usual, there just isn’t enough time for everything!
Wishing you all a restful weekend, what’s left of it.
Amy