advent 1: the jesse tree

observing the season of advent in the lead up to christmas day helps me, and this year my family as well, to remember and mull over what it is we're really celebrating at christmas - the birth of Jesus Christ, our Saviour and King, who came to make peace between God and this broken world. someone at church pointed out recently that taking the time to observe advent keeps them from heaping all their expectations for christmas meaningful-ness onto christmas day - a day that can often be busy and tiring, as well as enjoyable.

one kid-friendly way that we're going to wander through advent this year is by making a "jesse tree." it is named for jesse, the father of king david, the human king who pointed forward to Jesus in many ways. in particular, the name and idea come from isaiah 11, which begins:

'a shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit...'

(that shoot is Jesus, and the chapter goes on to describe what kind of king Jesus will be and what life will be like under his kingship.)

the idea of a jesse tree is that you walk chronologically through the old testament of the bible, from adam through to Jesus, focusing on one person a day and considering how they point forward to Jesus. each person is represented by a symbol (eg. noah's symbol is a rainbow) and their significance expressed in a relevant bible passage. your symbols and tree can look however you want them to - i've just drawn some little cartoon pictures onto cardboard circles this year, which we will hang on some sticks from our yard (classy, i know). we will read our bible passages from a children's bible, and focus just on the person and their story. when the girls are older, we can begin to talk about the ways each person's story points forward to Jesus, but for now that will be something just for me to ponder as i pace the driveway with little sister in the pram.

:: in other news, happy 6 month birthday, little sister! and big sister is currently running around wearing big girl undies, wiping dolly's bottom with toilet paper and hoping to earn the first sticker for her potty training poster. ::

our pattern of christmas giving

big sister "helping" little sister find her way around her new water cup...

we (well, technically i, but on behalf of we, since i've been the only one with enough head-space to be pondering such things during the last couple of months) have decided to establish a pattern of christmas giving for our family, to guide our purchasing habits and our (especially the girls') expectations into the future.

each year, husband and i will give our kids a present for the whole family to share - this year, that is the little play kitchen from yesterday's post. we will then also give each child some books and something handmade - this year, i'm making the girls some clothes. we want our family to see and experience christmas as a time for simple, thoughtful living, just like the rest of the year. we especially want to make sure that the generosity shown at christmas time is not confused with or an excuse for greed - in terms of the amount our children expect to receive, but even more so about what we decide to buy for them. we also hope that by the "main" present being communal, we can help foster in our children a healthy personal detachment to their stuff and that sharing for them will become as natural as breathing.

i am already grateful for this pattern we have chosen, as it has helped me defeat several "keeping up with the jones's" kind of thoughts - "no, big sister does not need a balance bike this christmas, just because her 2 little besties each have one - then she'd probably ignore the 2 bikes she already has and loves!" i still have a lot to learn for myself about fighting the constant urge to get more stuff, but i'm hoping that i can learn and teach simplicity simultaneously...

:: on another note, yesterday husband completed the last requirement for his masters, and today little sister has commenced eating solids (pear). beginnings and endings. ::

rainbow things i'd like to make

these cupcakes are so wrong, yet so right. (should food be this colour?) would love to make them for a rainbow-themed 3rd birthday party for big sister next year, though perhaps i'd ditch the jars. found here.


i have the felt balls already, and hope to make a garland like this in time for december 1. found here.

we've got plenty of old t-shirts i could use to weave a beauty like this for the girls' room. this is a "maybe some day..." kind of project. found here.


this is what i'm making the girls for christmas this year, though ours will be turquoise with a rainbow mosaic tiled splashback. found here.

child-wrangling

this is big sister "sleeping" out the front of our house. last night, she snuck out the front door just before bed-time and refused to come back inside. when husband asked her if she'd like to sleep outside, she gleefully said, "yes!" and lay down on the ground, promptly beginning her thumb-sucking, hair-twirling bed-time ritual. (perhaps we should take this girl camping?) after some coersion, husband convinced big sister to come back inside, but these battles of the will are becoming more common of late as she embraces life as a two-year-old.

i've begun reading a couple of books, to help me/us think through our approach to managing challenging behaviour from our kids (as we face the inevitable reality that stubborn mules of parents such as ourselves will have stubborn progeny.) i think my current approach is to be super-patient and "understanding" and hope that big sister eventually decides to do what i want her to, but when that doesn't work i just end up angry and using physical force (not smacking, just picking her up and taking her where she needs to go) to make her do what i want her to. turns out her stubbornness can outlast mine (grrr...) this volcano approach is not really working for me, but since big sister is on the whole not a difficult kid, it has sufficed til now.

first i began reading gary chapman and ross campbell's book, 5 love languages of children, but it made me feel kind of, well, crap. so i've put it aside for later. (isn't that a good approach to anything in life that makes you feel bad?!) i'm thinking now that the reason it made me feel bad was that it kind of describes what i've already been doing (trying to "love" my girl into doing what i want her to through vast amounts of patience and tolerance) and what isn't helping me to get her to let me buckle her into her car seat or the pram without feeling like a psych nurse restraining a patient.

so now i'm reading the new dare to discipline by james dobson, which is all about addressing said battle of the wills. i'm feeling much more confident already, and this is helping me to take effective action much earlier (before i begin to unravel in an angry mess) when big sister tries to take me on. there is some discussion of the use of smacking (as the biggest discipline gun of them all, never to be used when you're angry), and i'm still not sure what i think about that. mostly opposed, i think.

anyway, would love to hear any recommendations on good child-wrangling books!

contemplation

:: i've been feeling lately that my blog has become more of a shrine to my girls, than a window into our real life. so i'm going to start sharing a few more of my thoughts, alongside the images of my lovely daughters. hope that's okay by you! ::

little sister's current preference for falling asleep during the daytime only when she is pushed in a figure-8 motion in our driveway has given me plenty of time for contemplation. and husband's focused study effort during the last month has given me plenty of tv-free evenings in which to read. so i've been pondering many questions - too many to present in a single post - about advent, christmas, healthy eating, child-wrangling, a godly attitude to discontent, and what i can only describe as a natural approach to childhood. through the coming weeks, i hope to share my thoughts and remaining questions with you here.

since you've made it this far, i'll reward you with a photo of big sister enjoying a natural approach to childhood - might i add that this was her idea, i'm no slave-driving mother!

delighting in the sunshine

from the weekend: baking

style icon

summer pyjamas, thongs with socks, wooden beads
my little style icon

belated post: the baptism of little sister

a week and a half ago
little sister was baptised
at our church
surrounded and supported
by family and friends.

to little sister, we said:

God has brought you out of darkness
into his marvellous light.
Shine as a light in the world
to the glory of God the Father.
God has called you into his Church.

We therefore receive and welcome you
as a member with us of the body of Christ,
as a child of the one Heavenly Father,
and as an inheritor of the kingdom of God.

Amen.

singalong

gathered around the piano
we sang and played
as many nursery rhymes
as we could remember.

big sister kept up marvellously;
her language and memory astound me.

singing together
quashed the anger
rising in my chest
after an afternoon
of unreasonable demands.

roly poly

today little sister just does not want to stay on her back.
every time i look away, she rolls onto her belly.
perhaps she heard me tell our neighbour yesterday
that i know i won't be able to leave her
lying on the picnic rug in the yard, while i do my thing outside,
for too much longer once she starts to move.

(is anyone else surprised that i,
who could happily stay occupied inside for the rest of my life,
have a regular "thing" to do outside?
hey, i mow lawns - i'm head gardener at our place at the moment!)

story-telling

this morning i returned
from rocking little sister to sleep
to find big sister reading stories
to her dolly
ahhh, so sweet...

(i'm also enjoying unfettered use of my bedroom
now that little sister has been evicted
for a week of partying between 2-3am.
it's amazing how spacious it now seems
and i'm rediscovering clothes
previously hidden
when the portacot barricaded
our cupboard shut!

big sister was a real trooper last night
while little sister got used
to her new surroundings
for which i am incredibly grateful.)

jolly jumping

it's back for round 2
(along with the chain
suspended from our living room ceiling -
shhh, don't tell our landlord...)

big sister enjoyed helping
by pushing down on little sister's shoulders
so that she bounced like a spring
smiles all round

pake, i hope you'll have that beam ready
for our upcoming visit!

a package

a package arrived this morning
full of goodies
for crafting

big sister was eager to open the box
and discover what was inside

i have plans
for observing advent
and preparing to celebrate christmas
through crafting and baking
giving and story-telling
with my girls

hoping to start a family tradition

5 months

happy 5 month birthday, little sister!

you bring much joy into our lives
we're so glad to have you

commercialisation of children

this isn't my usually blogging style, but i just watched this doco -

http://www.waldorftoday.com/2011/10/consuming-kids-the-commercialization-of-childhood-full-film/

and it made me want to cry, smash our tv and head for the hills! i despair for children (and their parents) that they are being targeted so purposefully, yet with scant regard for what is truly in their best interests, by marketers and companies looking to make profits. i am especially saddened by the growing tendency for children (and all people, really - i know i feel this way at times as well) to define themselves and their worth by the "stuff" they have, and by the increasing use of media (read: tv, internet, smartphones, etc) diminishing children's imaginations. i honestly feel a little scared that this is the type of world my girls are growing up in, and i know that husband and i will have to work hard and make tough calls to protect them as they live in it.

i don't normally get so preachy, though i have held these views for a while, but i've been thinking about appropriate christmas presents for our girls (and feeling a bit sick about it) this week, and was also disturbed that i had to go to 2 supermarkets to find a toothbrush for big sister that didn't have a cartoon character on it (after her last toothbrush fell in the bathwater that little sister had just pooed in...)

what happened to being free to be a child and delight in the world?

this face

this face is driving me to extremes

she has embraced being a two-year-old with gusto
she is passionate, energetic, imaginative
she tells stories, she sings songs
she is a loving big sister and a caring mother to her dolls

sometimes my heart wants to burst through my chest
i am so proud of her and who she's becoming

and sometimes i almost bite through my own hand
so that i don't yell at or smack her
for being an unreasonable, overly-demanding little person
who, through her growth,
shows me where i still need to grow as well

yum yum

little sister's first bite of grown-up food
cucumber - yum yum!

though we're not planning to start little sister on solids for another month
(to reduce the risk of her being digestively-challenged like me)
the intrigue and interest she has started to show when others are eating
is getting a little hard to ignore

reaching

these little fingers
grab everything within their reach
daddy's glasses
mummy's shirt
big sister's nose

and with some determined rolling
they strive for toys lost

she's on the move...

our weekend

our first bus ride, to see fishies (not for eating and sadly no dolphins), turtles, bush rats, snakes, green tree frogs and dragons in coburg on friday;
driving in the car-car to see ducks on lake wendouree and angry, lunch-thieving swans, while (unsuccessfully) hunting for a new home on saturday;
getting lost on the way to a party, celebrating our god-daughter's first birthday, then winning the pass the parcel spoils on sunday;
and enjoying the sunshine with another little friend, whose doppelganger we found at the playground, while being pushed on the swings by some big kids on monday!

p.s. this is what you get when you say, "smile for the camera!" these days.