What these 6 and a half year old kids are up to, and the disequilibrium

I started a page in my notebook on things Connor currently says because I think it's so cute.

1. Here you go, my dear (98% of the time, he says this to me) - no, I don't know where he picked up the "dear". I do say "here you go, my love" but I'll take it!
2. astounding
3. devastated
4. blurb - tonight's one. D took out a library book and Connor said, "read the blurb, Daddy". I was organising in the bathroom but D and I both burst out laughing. Nobody taught him that word apparently.

Kendra has taken to mothering Connor. She speaks exactly like I do, and I hear things like, "no, my boy, that won't do" which is very funny from one 6-year-old to another.

Anyway, moving on from their chit-chat.

School

We've had 8 days of school and I am yet to see homework.

They had more homework in Grade R last year (every day was a few books to cover or a different set of forms to complete).

I suspect the homework will start on Monday. So therefore, why are the 3 flipfiles sent home every day? 

On the bright side, they tell me they are very well-mannered (!) because they both have stars at the top of the chart or some such thing.

On growing

They leap out of bed every morning, get dressed and we have not been late once! Can I just say my heart gets a little bit sore when I see how cute they are in their school uniforms, and how big! Of course, I say this to them and they tease me when I tell them I get just a little bit sad because they're growing too quickly.

I'm happy to have them growing nicely but it also makes me realise how quickly time passes. If the last 4 years passed so quickly (0 - 2 took its own sweet time), seems like when I blink a few times they'll be teenagers.

But let's not get ahead of ourselves.

Lunches

Favourite lunches are peanut butter and jam, with apples. They've both gone off bananas for lunch.

Games

This was the holiday of card games. I shouldn't even have bothered taking any activity books because all they used was the pencil and a notebook to keep score. Uno, Bicycle cards (which we bought in Ballito one rainy day) and some other games D bought, as well as Ludo.

I have lots more to say about toys and such, and how D was WOWED by our visit to the Se7en gang, but let's just share this nugget:

In Pringle Bay, I didn't have to say once, "go make your beds" and so I said to them, "what's going on, guys?" and they said this..... wait for it....

It's easy to make our beds and keep our rooms clean because we only have 1 teddy bear in it.

I literally said, WAIT. Did you just hear what you said??????? 



Disequilibrium

Remember in years past I would speak about the half year disequilibrium? It's a real thing. So I bought "your 6-year-old: loving and defiant" - I buy the age book every year, and both D and I read it. It's been great.

D went to renew his driver's licence when we got back from holidays and I gave him my Kindle so he could read this book in the queue. For the record, he started and finished the entire book while standing in the queue. Yes. And then still had time to chat to some people.

Anyway, D was dealing with them one way when he left that morning, and when he returned he was saying things like, "oh shame, they're going through the disequilibrium," which is remarkably satisfying for someone like me to hear. :)

A quick tip - for the boys, the moms are the best friends when things are well, and the worst enemies when things are not. Things I hear regularly - I'm never speaking to you again! and You're my favourite person in this house. So there's that.
(Read your age's book!)

This should all ease off in Feb sometimes so we wait and see.



I'm going to write a post next week on Organising Queen about how I'm doing goals this year but basically, one of the things I'm doing is to read and listen more to things that tie in with my goals. It's not earth-shattering but it's something I don't know why I don't do more consciously.

At the moment I'm listening to Peaceful Parent, Happy Kids (how to stop shouting). The 3 sections of the book are: Self-Regulating (for parents), Connect then Correct, and Coaching.

So far so good - this is helping while we're in the disequilibrium......

How are you settling into the new year with your kids?

PS these pics were taken on the last day of 2015, just before they went to their granny's for a sleepover.