Living in a community comes with a set of challenges. One of those challenges is the use of space. Lj, Syntia and I share a house with (currently) 4 other people. The kitchen, lounge, bathroom, laundry room, porch and garden are all communal areas. To ourselves we have a 40 square meter room that we can organise to our liking and create into the space we need it to be. As we personally move through different phases in our lives, the purpose and so shape and content of the room changes with us. Yesterday we spent the day again reorganising furniture to best support the phase of life we are in currently. Before, we had a quarter of the room completely sectioned off to have a dog free area where Syntia could play on the floor and practice rolling, sitting and crawling. Now that the dogs and her have learnt to consider each others’ movements in a shared space, we opened everything up again. We did leave a bit of a separation by keeping the cupboards in the middle. It allows Lj a space where he can focus better and not get too distracted by Syntia and me. And I enjoy being able to change clothes behind the cupboards without needing to close the door, lol. My desk is now by Syntia’s toys to create more flexibility between work and play (literally! 
) and Syntia can enjoy her increased mobility by having a bigger space to roam around in. The couch also moved so we can chat while watching Syntia and Cesar play. While I consider at times that it might be easier to have a house to ourselves, living in a community forces us to be creative with the space we have at our disposal. We get to practice working with what is here and reinvent our space over and over again. The first step is defining the purpose a space requires to fulfill now and in the months/years to come. Once the purpose is clear, the possibilities reveal themselves and we start puzzling to attain the best possible outcome for all of us. Each time I am amazed with the result!! Not because it is pretty or stylish or posh, but because it is exactly right for us and will support us to be our best in the next phase of our life-journey 
![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-dfw5-1.cdninstagram.com/v/t51.29350-15/135216034_868657797266702_107582540258970761_n.jpg?_nc_cat=105&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=c4dd86&_nc_ohc=Z1V8WJUUqosAX-4LmjA&_nc_ht=scontent-dfw5-1.cdninstagram.com&edm=ANo9K5cEAAAA&oh=00_AfCJjAXVxtNiIi6gvUUl0MZd6cdkXtaHW6r2JeZgYPVE-A&oe=64DB2E92)
