Cesar has been working on changing his dreams at night. He got some nightmares and since then we’ve been discussing different ways he can work with his fears as well as how he can change his dreams – that the dreams come from him, are him and are his creation. He does not have to …
Embracing our Role as Parents Recently there has been a reemergence in the realization that spending time with our kids as parents plays a vital role in their character development and personal fulfilment, both for our children and ourselves. That the idea of having babies and sending them off to daycare or the care of …
As soon as Syntia started exploring solids, we’ve let her decide what she wants to eat. Initially she was mostly interested in a small selection of fruits, but she quickly expanded her tastes and interests to a large and varied range of foods. Sometimes her choices seem odd to me, like choosing a tomato as …
Sometimes happiness is putting little gravel rocks one by one in a wheelbarrow and using said wheelbarrow as a trumpet and just sitting there watching little people do things that don’t have to make sense with a wheelbarrow. #wheelbarrowsforlife #teamwheelbarrow #kids #children #parenthood #parenting #zen #itdoesnthavetomakesense #gravel #rocks #ordinary #farmlife #unschooling #consciousparenting #continuumconcept
When did you last see yourself in the mirror and spontaneously wanted to give yourself a big smooch? Lol, I don’t remember ever feeling that way! As for many, looking in the mirror has over the years become an automated moment of self-scrutinizing, self-criticising and self-judging. As soon as I’d see my reflection in the …
When I imagined myself one day becoming a soccer mom, I didn’t think I’d actually be playing any soccer… Seeing our kids growing up gives us as parents the amazing opportunity of revisiting our childhood, the personalities we created, the beliefs we formed about ourselves, the decisions we made and the chances we never took. …
The other day I was playing with my son Cesar on our veranda. We have a collection of wooden cut offs that we keep there for him to play with (cause you know, our room is at maximum toy capacity). I started building random structures with the blocks, and Cesar was complaining he doesn’t know …
A moment of grace for me on a busy day – Leila took Syntia on her lap and took care both of her and Cesar, freeing me up to enjoy a nice warm cup of coffee. Sometimes it takes a mom to understand exactly what you need as a mom… I’m so lucky and grateful …
A few years ago I dragged a bin of wood cut offs destined for the fire place out of the shed, thinking they’d be awesome as building blocks. I was talking to @adam.closs who is a carpenter and was busy with some woodwork outside about the blocks. He got the idea of cutting some pillars …
![Cesar gave Syntia his train tracks about a year ago, and before they were hers, she would play with them together with Cesar. She's had a ton of time to learn the different pieces, how to put them together and build a track, but for some reason, she DID NOT want to build a track by herself and most of all preferred to just watch as someone else built the track for her.
Lj and I knew she was perfectly capable of building a track for herself and we tried to support her to start small and show herself that she can do it. Or that we'd be here if she gets stuck, but she can at least try on her own. Any such attempts, however, were met with an absolute and firm refusal. So, we did it with her, or for her.
We started wondering, is this little girl really just taking advantage of us at this point? Are we entertaining this too much? Should we push harder? We knew she could do it, she knew she could do it, but for some reason she just didn't want to do it, at least, not yet.
And then one day, out of the blue, she takes out her blocks and starts building a track... by herself. Lj quietly waived me over, pointing at her, then signing 'shhht', lol - didn't want to disturb the moment. The track you see in the pic is the first one she built by herself. It wasn't a "beginner's" track like a simple circle or a straight line, it was a more intricate design laid out exactly and precisely how she wanted it to be, including all the elements she wanted to have as a part of it. Kabam, out of the blue.
There are other things where Syntia 'took her sweet time', like learning how to walk and potty training, where it was clear at some point that she was able to do it, but for some reason, pulled back or didn't want to do it all by herself just yet. It's so easy as parents to freak out over that, to think that children should develop skills in a particular way, like 'starting small' or doing something by yourself as soon as you're able to. But not all kids are the same in this. [Continued in comments..]](https://scontent-sea1-1.cdninstagram.com/v/t51.29350-15/135216034_868657797266702_107582540258970761_n.jpg?_nc_cat=105&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=8ae9d6&_nc_ohc=YW0BFh5jCagAX8o4-_O&_nc_ht=scontent-sea1-1.cdninstagram.com&edm=ANo9K5cEAAAA&oh=00_AfAu5PXgozAsoNXkk2oVpvh6PLzszyXUuzDSKFLhABau9A&oe=647E3CD2)
