Making Monsters at School

For some crazy reason, obviously something to do with my massive hero complex, I offered to help with ‘University Day’ at school.

Ed's first sewing project

As parents, we were invited to come in & share with the kids our expertise, talents and proffessions.

What a great opportunity to teach kids how to sew I thought to myself...only when I started getting the project together did I realise the reality of teaching 5 year olds to hand stitch...gaaaa.

I even did a small experiment with my 5 year old, I helped him appliqué a little circle onto a square. It went ok, but Ed being Ed, he soon wondered off.

 

So after much mooching through Pinterest looking for inspiration, a few sketches, I then made a few practise monsters. Got a bit carried away. Never mind

Eventually I came up with a simple design.

I raided my felt box for scraps, cut out monster shapes, gathered together some buttons, thread & stuffing. Armed with these I went to school today.

my basket of goodies

I was terrified but actually it went very well. I knew it would be a big ask, but never one to underestimate a child, I jumped in with both feet. If my kids have taught me one thing, it’s to never presume they can’t do something, because they’ll usually have a go and they’ve often been observing far longer than I think they have, and therefore understand far more than I think they do.

So I had three groups of kids aged between 5 & 8. An hour per group. Just an hour to sew on button eyes, growly teeth, stitch up the sides, stuff & close up. 

They chose their felt bodies, button eyes & teeth. They chose whereabouts they went on the body.

And yes, there was a lot of waiting around for the poor things. With only one of me & needles that constantly left their threads behind, cotton that got knotted & troublesome buttons, I had to do a fair amount, but the work they did do was fabulous & it was a pleasure to see the different ways they approached solving their problems. When we ran out of time, I had to finish some over break time & at the end of the day as they were going into their end of day assembly, I stayed behind to frantically finish off a few.

Despite how difficult some of them found it, it was awesome to see how passionate they were, & how keen they all were to take them home;

“Can we take these home?” yes.

“Can we take them home today?” yes.

“Really?” yup.

I hope they loved it, even if it was a bit dull at times as some of them had to wait a few minutes for me to re-thread needle after needle, sew a few buttons & snip a few threads.

These are a few of the monstery delights they made today.

Arrggh! Monsters!

Happily, I have ticked ‘run a makery class’ off my bucket list. I think this totally counts.

Poo in the Pool

Warning! This story contains poo.

So I finally took bean swimming today. I've been promising to for months, but we never get round to it. I couldn’t tell you when the last time I took him was (another thing to feel the dreaded ‘mummy guilt’ for grrr).

When I came to sort his swimming kit out, I was worried his shorts would be a tad small (yup, it’s been that long), so we bought him some new snazzy Spiderman shorts. Very cute. And very happy he was with them. He put them on as soon as we got home in preparation for our swim.

So we went.

He had a great time. The boy has no fear.

However, he’d just got out (so he could climb back in again; it was a game) when all of a sudden, grabbing his man bits he yelped

“I need a wee!”

I bolted out of the pool just in time to watch his face change...it was too late. I grabbed him and rather than take him to the pool side loo, I took him to the shower & rinsed him off before returning him to the pool.

About 15 minutes later, he was at the top of the ladder when all of a sudden he yelped

“I need a poo....it’s coming...”

His faced changed...

Too late.

I carried him, loaded pants and all to the loo, where I man-handled the poo into the loo, wiped him clean and washed his pants in the sink, washed the sink, etc etc.

Bloody hell.

The things they make us do.

Before we had got in I had asked him if he needed the loo.

I guess he’s just an overexcited, easily engrossed, almost 4 year old, who isn't taken swimming nearly as often as he should be.

Thank goodness he wasn't IN the pool both times! Very lucky.

Next week, we’ll do better.

My Rambunctious Bean & His Violent Tendancies

There are a lot of things to moan about lately, so here’s a nice positive post for today.

After having to sign the Big Black Book of ‘incidents’ due to Bean’s violent tendencies two days in a row, I was tempted to keep him off Preschool today.

Instead, I decided to go with him, just to observe.

I’m constantly being pulled in about his behaviour, so it’s difficult to not presume he’s just being awful the whole time he’s there. I keep being told he’s hitting the other kids unprovoked, throwing toys and snatching. My mental image of how he is while I’m not there was getting more and more negative. I just wanted to see for myself how he behaves, how he reacts to the other kids, and most importantly, if there’s anything that can be done to help. The most worrying thing is that in a few short months, he’ll be going to big school where he will not be able to get off so lightly.

The thing about Bean is, at home, he’s a delight. He’s full of energy, easily excitable, easily entertained and tons of fun. He can be very rambunctious, which can often lead to someone getting punched in the nose, but it’s not usually meant in a vindictive manner. He just gets over excited.

The fabulous thing about Bean’s Preschool is how friendly & approachable the staff are. It really feels like raising my son is a joint effort. My eldest went to another Preschool before he got his place at this one, so I know how different it can be. I knew I could turn up for his session today and ask if I can stay too, whereas at Ed’s old Preschool I barely knew what he’d been up to, and I definitely wasn’t  welcome to pass the threshold.

I've come away feeling much better. We had a great afternoon; Bean shared and took turns with the other kids beautifully. He even sat down for a story (something he constantly struggles with – he’s a bit antsy-pantsy). There was a moment when he tried to snatch a ball back from someone and I noticed a kick that missed its intended target, but since he’s not quite four yet, no-one can expect him to be perfect all the time and he just needs help to work out how to deal with these situations.

I’m just so pleased Bean and I are dealing with teachers we can really talk to.

And Bean will be alright.

I don’t know why he lashes out at the other kids, but I’m sure in time he’ll work it out.

My rambunctious Bean