About me and my blog

miércoles, 23 de noviembre de 2011

Of buggies and carriers

Well, and today that M is turning 11 months we have assembled the stroller and used it causing a wave of opposing feelings to beat on me.
M always used to complain a lot every time we tried to use the stroller and I felt stupid pushing it while wearing her so very soon I took on to wearing her all the time and forgot about the buggy.
M is getting a bit heavier and after feeling a bit weak last week today I decided to give the stroller a go.  It felt so very odd to have her look at the landscape and me push her without being able to see or touch her face. I must say I absolutely love to carry her.
Surprisingly she seemed to enjoy the stroll -around the garden. Well, for the first ten minutes...
I have realized that this doesn't really work for us, it is not the way we relate to each other, and it makes us both feel strange. She needs me as much as I need her and it is absurd to push a baby who screams because she needs the comfort of her mother's body while feeling empty because I am used to wearing her close to my heart.
As long as she needs it and my strength is enough, we will go on using the baby carrier.

martes, 15 de noviembre de 2011

The way we parent; or reflections on daily routines

As we were bathing M last night, my husband made me notice the way he has to rinse our daughter's hair. Of course, I already knew, I had seen him doing it many times. He dips his own hands in the water and strokes M's hair a hundred times. I only laughed at him and at how ineffective the system looks. I also happen to mention that M's hair always has a sticky lock due to this so very gentle rinsing method.
How do I do it, anyway? I always start gently pouring water on her head with the best of intentions. "This time it won't pour on her face" I tell myself, but in the end it does and she starts crying and wants to leave the bath immediately. The consequence being that some shampoo remains also in her hair.
Somewhat offended my husband has looked at me and said: "We are always talking about how to parent respectfully, how to do things the most respectful way and there you laugh at my method".
How right he is! If neither way can completely rinse M's hair, we better have the one that doesn't make her cry.

jueves, 10 de noviembre de 2011

Some cozy nooks -M's room-

These last weeks we have been busy rearrenging our house so M can crawl everywhere and stand up on furniture with no danger.  Now that she crawls up and down at her will, she can decide where to spend time so we have set some activities for her in nearly each room of our house. There is, of course, her room, where she doesn't sleep yet but where there is a mattress so she can rest whenever she feels like it. I have to admit she has never used it but to climb, but there it is. The decoration in the room is scarce:  two pegs with marine elements ( a mermaid, and a flounder) on one wall; a picture made of knitted letters with M's name on another; a low shelf with a cloth dice and a cuddly elephant. There are also two baskets in the room, one with some books and the other with a weekly activity, as I mentioned in my last post. This week we have several pieces of fabric; a woolen scarf, a silk handkerchief, some velvet mittens, a piece of flannel, and a remnant of corduroy. She has scarcely paid attention to this, so interested she is in looking at the books, but I am already thinking ahead. I will prepare a matching activity with these remnants.

sábado, 5 de noviembre de 2011

Hats on

In M's room there are two baskets, one containing several board and cloth books --including one I made myself; the other a weekly activity. This past week we had several hats in it: two straw pamelas with ribbons, a knitted cap, a bonnet, and a peaked cap. 



Once a day M checks the basket and although she is not very attracted to the hats, she enjoys seeing me taking one by one and trying them on. I offer one hat to her but she doesn't want to wear anything on her head.
This activity was intended both to make the routine of getting dressed a funny thing and as an introduction to body vocabulary. She already identifies the nose. I have realized one could do many other activities with the hats. They are made of different materials, have various sizes, and so on. However, since M is still very young and she is not very keen on putting on hats not even to have a look at the mirror, I will keep the activity for later on. Tomorrow I will change the contents of the basket... and will let you know what our new treasure hamper contains. I have several ideas...