May 28th, 2010
My little girl will be 4 in November and loves to follow in her big sisters footsteps (who will be 5 in July) so when R1 went to preschool this yr R2 wanted to go too. So off she sets on a Friday. She thinks she is so grown up and just like her sister but it does tug at my heart strings when I drop her off and she says …. ” today just 3 minutes. Come back in 3 minutes”…. it melts my heart to think she tries to be a big girl but at the same time as being tough she is a little softie too.
Needless to say I pick her up a little earlier than the others but not much as as much as she is apprehensive in the mornings and how delighted she is to see me I know she had a great time from all her tales.
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May 28th, 2010
Waiting for my little girl to be able to communicate with me so I can understand is something I’ve been really looking forward to.
She seems to understand what I tell her and becomes just as frustrasted with me as I do with her when I don’t understand what she is trying to tell me. My friends that have children that can talk continually tell me that I should relish this moment of unsolicted questions.
I love the communication connection I’m gaining. I’m desperate not to miss this opportunity to build the rapport so that as she grows older I never loose this contact with her. I want to be able to have that connection with her always.
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May 28th, 2010
I never thought I would be a mothering father, but over the last 9 months, whether I let my wife know it or not, I found myself being very paranoid, proctective and ‘clucky’ about my little girl’s well being. I have had nightmares about things that won’t happen for 10+ years and wonder if I will be able to give her the freedom to grow and explore that I once begged for as a child. All of those short leashes I was given, all seem very long ones now.
I find myself sympathising with every parent that looses a child in the daily news and now understand what it must feel like to invest so much of yourself into a child only to have it snatched away. And now I believe so much more in the community spirit that I once shrugged off as someone else’s responsibility.
With all these new responsibilites and fears I wouldn’t change a thing….as for being a father for me ….it’s the ultimate achievement.
All of that being said a child’s greatest gift is freedom and knowing they are loved.
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May 28th, 2010
I’m always the one who has to do the shots.
Taking our children to get their immunisation to the Dr’s while my wife waits in the waiting room is a nightmare. I hate the way my little girl looks at me after the Dr has stuck the needle in her, as if I had done it myself.
I understand why my wife wishes to give me this job and are so much looking forward to 3 months form now to having to do it all over again ( yeah right). Bearing in mind in 3 months time she is older and is more distressed than the time before. I am now at the end for my 18 month olds shots only to look forward( yeah right) to it again with my 3 month old.
In saying all of this it is for their own good and might save you one hell of a heartache later.
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March 4th, 2010
So another story of a child being lost in child care….is our system failing us?
There was a story in the news today about how a child care worker was sacked and 2 others are under investigation for a toddler leaving their centre and being missing up to 30minutes before police returned the toddler. He was supposedly playing in the outside play area of Swinburne Childcare Centre in Melbourne on Monday when he slipped past supervisors and wandered on to a busy road.
This brings flash backs for me. The very first time I left my little girl (3yrs) was at a preschool in Yea. She had been 2 weeks and on the 3rd week when I went to collect her she actually met me at the car park outside the centre unbeknown to the centre staff. I went in to collect her things and let them know that I had found her in the car park and there was very little response. It was basically unacknowledged. I did complain to the appropriate authorities and they were investigated. No one lost their jobs and as far as I know not even disciplined. The part time admin lady had told me that they had had to review their procedures and had made amendments upon recommendations made to them from their visits from the authorities. They were keen to have her back and kept saying she was welcome and everything had been addressed when I would bump into the staff or management in the street, yet they hadn’t addressed my fear of their lack of care!
How can you regain trust having experienced such a breach of trust? I was mortified and all the what-if’s ran through my mind. The preschool was on a main road and had she turned right instead of left she would have been on it; or what happened if someone took her from the car park; or what happened if she was hit by a car in the car park….and so on. I can certainly appreciate the need for such penalties as being sacked as you have entrusted your precious child in their care…there is no excuse for being remise!
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December 28th, 2009
It’s the quality of the interactions that boosts a child’s development and well-being. Research has even stated that the amount of time kids spend in childcare or away from their family doesn’t itself cause problems. What does concern kids is if their parents are stressed and cranky all the time, especially if this time is limit.
Is it a trip to the shops? Watching TV together? Reading books or talking? Doing activities together?
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December 28th, 2009
My girls (3yrs & 4yrs) are very much into being helpful (around the house is a whole other story) and doing all the things us mums (and dads) do. In particular they would, if they could, cook us dinner! While, I’m not complaining per say…I do have some reservations about the limits that we, well I mean I, need to set. My husband and I don’t necessarily see eye to eye on this one as he is the 5 star Chef and so thinks it is great to have budding Chef’s. Secretly I think he is grooming them so he can kick back (he does 99% of the cooking- only so it is actually edible! but I’m not complaining).
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December 28th, 2009
We are all guilty of it at some point, even if we don’t like to admit it out loud and if we justify it by saying it is only to allay our own fears or see if said child is on track. I’m talking about comparing other kids to our own.
Well, this is common but not such a good idea, especially if you compare and don’t get the outcome you had hoped.
Because each little munchkin develops at a slightly different and individual rate, it is useless to compare oranges to apples. I know you think I have gone completely barmy saying our kids are oranges and apples but since a child has individual experiences, genes, etc it is not as crazy as it sounds….well, maybe a little. Yes, there are general ‘guidelines’ but basically unless they are what is considered as being delayed significantly then we are all, to a degree, only torturing ourselves.
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December 28th, 2009
I have been struggling to understand the theory behind and the policing of a what seems to be new law that is to come into effect in May 2010. See, the thing I am having trouble with is I read an article about it in July this year and have not had any success in finding any further mention of the said certification by way of a certificate.
The certificates will be compulsory for self employed nannies and tutors and anyone without one will risk a $2,000 fine. The Minister for Youth, Graham West, says the certificates cost $80 and involve a police check.
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