I have been quiet on the blogging side lately but life has been very busy with activities. This past week we have all been down with a horrible cold so I am using this down time to organise my records, photos and to provide some much-needed updates here.
Before the weather (and our health) went horribly wrong, we were spending most of our time outside. I was especially looking forward to having summery meals in the garden.
His childhood so far has been filled with simple pleasures like this. Can you spot him reading a book about mythology while eating a bowl of pomengranate seeds in his reading hut?
Tiger's childhood so far has been uncomplicated, perhaps even unsophisticated by some measures, but he is noticeably happy, motivated, and contented within himself most of the time so the lack of 21st century sophistication doesn't bother us. For example, he still plays with bubbles...
I am still very unwell so another week has gone by without much academics being accomplished. I hope to get up and running very soon because feeling woozy all day is not fun.
Before the weather (and our health) went horribly wrong, we were spending most of our time outside. I was especially looking forward to having summery meals in the garden.
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| Note: the drink is for the adults, not for Tiger. |
As a result of some home improvement projects, we have quite a few big cardboard boxes laying around. Instead of putting them straight into the recycling bin, the boys made a cardboard house which kept Tiger entertained for many happy hours. Watching Tiger use his imagination with the cardboard house (the house has been a pillbox, a manor house, an air-raid shelter, an army barrack, a nuclear bunker, and even a sulking room at different times) reminds me of the story in a pre-reading book that I had used with him when he was little. It still amazes me how much enjoyment my son derives from playing with the simplest items.
Tiger's childhood so far has been uncomplicated, perhaps even unsophisticated by some measures, but he is noticeably happy, motivated, and contented within himself most of the time so the lack of 21st century sophistication doesn't bother us. For example, he still plays with bubbles...
and draws with chalk on the patio.
When Tiger got together with the other homeschooled children (there were about 12 of them on that day, mixed ages from 6 to 14), they had good fun playing in and out of an old pine tree. No props, no prompts, no instructions from adults. The children just got on with it and made up their own games spontaneously. Later, Tiger told me that they had been in and out of a 'secret world', the entrance of which lies in a certain opening among the branches of the pine tree. The adventures the children had inside the world of the pine branches sound no less exciting than the world of Narnia through the wardrobe!
Hope you feel better soon. The best games just seem to involve imagination and maybe a cardboard box! Tiger has obviously been reading about the Second World War.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Sarah. I think the worst of the cold is over, but recovery seems to be slow. :-) Yes, Tiger has indeed been reading about the wars and his play with the box house has come in very handy!
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ReplyDeleteI am so sorry to hear you are unwell. I hope you are feeling better soon. Oh yes children can have so much fun with simple pleasures. My children have so many happy memories of days spent in an imaginary house beneath the pine trees. Yesterday Gemma-Rose was making herself a notebook from scraps of brown paper and string. She said, "Don't you just love brown paper and string, Mum?" I do! They seem to belong to simpler times. Thanks for sharing your photos. I enjoyed looking at them!
I, too, love the rusti look and feel of a brown paper book bound with strings! I also much prefer the simpler times where people and life in general are nicer and more real.
DeleteI'm sorry you are feeling so rotten, I do hope you feel better soon.
ReplyDeleteYes, I totally agree, a simple childhood must be one of the greatest joys. A friend of mine just recently was saying how her daughter now wants her hair cut in particular styles (changing all the time) because that is how the girls in her school are wearing their hair. It is a small example but I am pleased my guys are completely unaware of what is in or out and just get on with enjoying their life, which like Tiger's is simple, joyful and unfettered by the expectation of others.
I know what you mean by the school-girl example, Claire. I've heard worst examples of the kinds of information shared among 11-year-olds in the playground, things that I don't think are appropriate for any child to hear or share. There is so much unhelpful and negative peer pressure on youngsters these days that I am grateful to be able to give Tiger an uncorrupted childhood. :-)
DeleteSimple childhood pleasures are THE best! I hope you feel much better soon.
ReplyDeleteI agree wholeheartedly, Phyllis! :-) Thank you for your well wishes. I am on the mend.
DeleteI hope you're feeling better now.
ReplyDeleteWhile you may not have been doing anything officially academic, it sure sounds like they got a lot of learning done here.
Still not 100% yet, but getting there. Thanks for stopping by, Ticia. :-)
DeleteMy I hope you feel better soon! I can't help but read this with wistfulness - it's always been a joy for me to see Pea retain quite a bit of innocence throughout the years, but both girls, especially the youngest seem very caught up in "21st century sophistication" and all the pressures at school. Going out in nature seems to be the best remedy for us - their imaginations still run wild and they lose themselves, it's such a joy.
ReplyDeleteI know exactly what you mean, Marie. It's very difficult, these days, to retain a more 'natural' kind of childhood for our children, as they are constantly surrounded by technology and a very wide spread use of social media. I can imagine how much pressure (both academic and social) there is at school to keep up with everyone else. I have to make a very conscious effort to steer Tiger away from being over-exposed to technology for now. There will be a time for all that in his teens.
DeleteYour girls appear to be very lovely young ladies. I'm sure you're doing a very good job guiding them in the right direction. :-)
Hwee - I'm so sorry, I managed to totally miss this post. I hadn't had an email so I came to you direct. I hope you're feeling better now? I LOVE the kind of activities you describe in this post. I'm looking forward to hearing more about you guys have been up to when you're up to it.
ReplyDeletePlease don't worry about it, Lucinda. Sometimes email notifications fail to do what they're supposed to. :-) I'm feeling better, but am so lagging behind in my updates that I don't really know where to start! I'll get to it eventually.
DeleteThank you for your kind words about the post. Such activities are heartening to see in children and I'm totally mindful of the fact that childhood passes very quickly, so I try to capture these childhood moments when they present themselves. :-)
I feel rather like that about not knowing where to start, too. We had a wonderfully educational five days in Andalucia which I really want to share but I'm so enjoying both homeschooling and making the most of the sunshine so much that I don't seem to be finding much time for blogging. Perhaps a rainy bank holiday will help! :-) I'm glad you're feeling better.
DeleteActually, I've been waiting to read about your trip to Andalucia. It's so full of history. I bet you guys have had a really fabulous time! :-)
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