Quality Parenting

I try to do something "quality" with Diddy-G every day. If we are out and about at a group, that often does the job, especially if it is a middle-class-ish-educate-your-tiny-child-class (more of that some other time I'm sure) but even if it is just running around with friends, I think that is pretty quality in terms of what is good for Diddy-G just now. Other days if we are home alone it will be things like playing with musical instruments together or doing something in the garden or some colouring or a big sit down with books or or or...

Today's act of quality parenting involved a jug, a mixing bowl, Diddy-G's stacking cups (with holes in the bottom...) and a lot of water. It was brilliant fun. Diddy-G kept looking up and beaming at me as he worked out a new thing he could do with the cups or the jug or the bowl. He spent a long time trying to pick up water between his fingers and transfer it from one place to another (fascinating to watch all the methods he built in to try to make this possible.) Of course, it was also extraordinarily messy. Diddy-G was soon utterly soaked. Really, totally soaked. The kitchen floor was not dry either. Somehow I'd arranged myself to only just marginally wet, less wet than an bathtimes, not quite sure how that was achieved. On realising just how totally soaked Diddy-G was (and regretting that I hadn't considered a swim nappy necessary for this activity) I began to wonder what really makes for quality parenting. On the one hand, Diddy-G had learnt a lot and done a lot and had a good time. On the other hand, he was wet and cold and his nappy was disintegrating. (It was interesting to see just how willing he was to get changed after this activity when normally suggesting a change of clothes is met with protests at the moment.)

I think this does come down on the quality side - we were at home and he was soon changed and warm again - but it did make me wonder if there is going to come a time when I actually have to behave a bit more responsibly around my children and not always go for the most fun option. Hmm!

The things you pass on

What?! Day two, post two?! Shocking! Don't expect it to last!

Anyway. :)

Those of you who have met Diddy-G will know that he is a mini-Husbink, not a mini-me. There are times when he looks like my brother or my uncle or my cousin but only the briefest of moments when he looks anything much at all like me. Which is not a problem - though I do find it interesting when people make comments like "my goodness, I didn't realise til I met Husbink...he's the spitting image! ... Of course, Diddy-G looks like you too!" No, he doesn't.

But I have passed on other things to my son...

This weekend has been a bit tough. It's been about ten days since it's been just me and Diddy-G all day long but that's what we had on Friday. Husbink is on long days so leaves the house just before 7am and gets home sometime around 9pm. He doesn't see Diddy-G at all (except sneaking in for a bedtime kiss) and they both hate it. The only adult I spoke to on Friday was the check out lady at Tesco early in the morning. Add to that Diddy-G deciding not to really bother with a nap and we had on our hands the perfect recipe for an awful afternoon. However. The trait I'm currently aware of having passed on to my son is the desire to make people laugh. For him at the moment, it is really just a desire to make me laugh (since for a little longer at least, I really am the centre of his universe). So as the afternoon wore on, he started to be the clown. Rushing about, jumping out at me, squashing his face on the patio doors while I was the other side of them. And mimicking me. Particularly when it came to sitting down pregnant-stylee (collapse, sigh, rub whichever bit aches now, close eyes...). So then I would ham up my own sitting to make him laugh and he'd ham up his imitation...and so it went on. Instead of reaching bedtime utterly desperate to be rid of the monster, we just had a nice relaxed time with more giggles. I can't say I wasn't glad when he was in bed so I could put my feet up and sigh dramatically in peace but still, I'm glad he's caught this one off me. It makes him a whole heap of fun to be around. Sometimes!