The Christmas Nativity Star

Natty attends a mainstream primary school and last week Daddy Downs Side Up, Mia and I proudly watched her and her classmates perform in their second ever Christmas play.

Last year it was the traditional Nativity story, this year a jazzed up modern tale which included fish and penguins. Both were equally magical.

At least she wasn't rude to her fellow thespians like last year!

We rushed around to feed the girls after school, get them changed and returned for 5.30pm, all warmly wrapped against the chill of the dark December evening. We found a space to sit and chatted to other excited parents as we waited for the actors to ready themselves. 

As the action began to unfold, we sat and craned our necks to see a glimpse of our daughter past the heads of the other parents, all doing the same of course. Mia snuck down to the front of the hall and sat cross-legged, inches from her little sister. Once these optimum positions were found, all three of us didn't let Natty out of our sight for one moment, eager to catch every second of her festive role.

Well, the performance comprised some very nice singing, Natty joined in and all the words. There was dancing around the stage, waving wands and she knew exactly what she was doing and where to stand, interacting with her classmates perfectly.  She stayed where she should during the times when her group was not under the spotlight. Most of all, she was really enjoying herself.

There was also:

a little bit of nose picking, 

a small amount of fidgeting, 

a stand up and wave at Mummy 

a poke of her neighbour in the back with her wand

a couple of verses where she sat and yawned instead

"Oh dear," I thought.

And then I looked at her peers, all 30 or so of them, and I noticed these behaviours were, of course typical for any only-just-six year old. Mia had done exactly the same back in her day too.

And so, our Christmas play experience was much the same as yours I should expect, and that of your neighbour's children, your cousins and your neices. 

Each and every one a Christmas Star.

Mummy and Daddy Love You Both More than Words Can Say

Mummy and Daddy Downs Side Up

Just a couple of weeks ago Natty spontaneously said "I Love You" for the first time. Those three words that mean so much.

She'd signed it, repeated it back to us, shown us with hugs and squeezes, even said "Mummy, Daddy, you happy me", but this was a new high for us.

Mia continues to tell us daily with words, poems, drawings and letters.

Here are some words I wrote for the girls at the beginning of the school year, on Natty's fisrt day, exactly a year ago. We gave it to them in an envelope with a gift of flowers. This was written before I began blogging.








Mummy and Daddy are so very proud of you both for so many different reasons...

Mia Bella, you were born beautiful and smart, dark and strong, with a wise knowing face that midwives said 'showed you had been here before'. You instinctively and impulsively knew what you wanted out of life from day 1, and communicated it to everyone around you. 
7 years on, you are not only clever, musical, artistic, feisty and unafraid to stand out and be different, but you are the most caring and thoughtful and hilarious friend, clasmate and family member anyone could wish for.
Believe me, you will get there, wherever 'there' is.

Natalia, you have overcome obstacles that few can comprehend. You fought for your life in those first weeks in intensive care. You learnt to breastfeed after 3 months, against all odds. You survived heart surgery. You have learnt to walk and talk and smile and sing and paint and cook and ride horses amd make friends. Most of all you have changed opinions and melted stereotypes wherever you go. Today you confidently stride into mainstream school, making a mockery of all who doubted you ever would. This is the beginning of a new and long journey, but it is an exciting one.

We love you both more than words can say xxxx

The New School/ Home Ed Term

We've been dropped on the shore of a new term, today our first day back, having ridden the crest of a wave all through the summer holidays.  

It was our best summer ever, the girls were super company, got on well for the most part, and the house was filled with visiting family end to end. I think we only watched Mary Poppins about 87 times too, which wasn't too bad going ;) Read about our summer experience here : Looking Back, Looking Forward

Now we are ready to plough on, full of enthusiasm and determination to be better organised, get up earlier, work harder and happier, fit in more play and leisure time and ditch the stress. (ahem, that is not unrealistic is it?)

Natty has moved up into year 1 alongside her peers. New classroom, new teacher, new (slightly higher) loos. The few teething troubles of last year have hopefully been ironed out. The new class format is more table-based and formal, in a warm, colourful welcoming way. Gone is the role play corner and boxes of dressing up. This could go one of two ways, but I'll wager that Natty will thrive and soar with less distraction, freedom, (chaos even) and will don the more grown up hat of a year 1... we'll see. Maybe it was the exciting air that made it seem OK for Natty to push her classmates. I hope that this behaviour will also dissappear. We haven't seen it over the summer.

Also new for this academic school year is that I will be teaching Natty from home for one day a week. This wouldn't be for everyone, but I felt it was right for us.  I didn't want to Home Ed entirely, as Natty thrives in the school environment, a popular and communicative pupil. She has learnt so much from the daily routine of school and I cannot begin to compete with their resources, and quite frankly, I'm not sure my sanity would stand up to 24/7 education. But this particular balance feels right. Our amazingly supportive Head is behind us, understanding fully my reasons and thinking.

Essentially on our one 'playing schools at home' day, I will stir a mixture of what is going on currently at school with what is coming up in the following week. I will add a generous measure of life skills and a sprinkling of sporty fun.

Why can't you do all this in the evenings and at weekends? I hear you cry. Well, when the girls are at home I treat them equally. We play and bake and read together, but it's impossible to tell one to go away while I quietly work with the other. This way I can have undisturbed learning time with Natty without Mia feeling pushed out of the equation, or, as is more likely, feeling she wants to be the teacher.

Our Wednesdays will be fluid and subject to change, but tomorrow's plan looks like this:

Drop Mia at school

Do a short shopping trip, using a magnetic shopping list. Ask Natty to pint out the right shop then  encourage her to ask for the items such as apples and bread, help bag them up and pay.

Go home for a good 2 hours formal learning comprising:
Reading current school book - reinforce with key words and flashcards. Make sensory words, using sand glued onto card.
visit www.oxfordprimary.co.uk website for additional, alternative activities for the same book.

Finish summer scrapbook by sticking in photos, leaflets from places visited, adding drawings and labelling.

Begin our Days of the Week project, incorporating Makaton, pictures of what we do on different days, using our velcro calendar and wearing the appropriate socks and pants for that day! Make colourful shapes with each day of the week and blu tac onto kitchen window!

Then we will do some life skills in the afternoon.
Having collected eggs and looked after the chickens, I plan to make cookies tomorrow (constipation-busting ones of course). I have printed images of all the ingredients and we will do a matching game with them, then find the ingredients in the kitchen. When we've made the cookies we will glue the cards into our book and Natty can write 'and' between each one. Her first recipe card!

Then we'll get Mia, come home, run round the garden, plan tea, do homework, bla bla bla.
Don't expect to see me on Twitter on a Wednesday evening. I will most probably be tucked up in bed at a reasonable hour for once.