The five-year-old received some lovely books this year for her birthday, a combination of ones that we had found and others that she was given as presents. Five is something of a transitional age for reading. She's interested in chapter books and happily listens along to stories by Roald Dahl but she will also look on when her younger sister is read picture books.
The Little Fairy Sister by Ida Rentoul Outhwaite and Grenbry Outhwaite (National Library of Australia)
This book was a gift, and I'm so glad that it is now part of our collection. It is a popular Australian children's book from the 1920s that has been reproduced by the National Library of Australia from an early edition. The illustrations are representative of illustrations of the Art Nouveau era and the text is not dissimilar to books such Alice In Wonderland.
The Hidden Kingdom: Sippy & Sunny - A Great Barrier Reef Adventure by Vicki Wood and Kelly Elsom (Unclebearskin Productions)
As we have all of the Sippy & Sunny books it was too irresistible to add one more to our collection after mother and daughter authors Vicki Wood and Kelly Elsom released their latest book. It follows Sunny on an underwater adventure and is accompanied by the most beautiful illustrations by Brigitte May. Vicki has a real talent for selecting illustrators to really bring her stories to life in a completely unforgettable way. As with all the other books in this series, it flips and has a French translation on the other side.
When We Were Very Young by AA Milne and illustrations by EH Shepard (Egmont)
It's interesting that even though poetry is less read by the general population as a whole, it still has a way of captivating children. Our son has enjoyed many books of poetry, and we thought that this one might appeal to our daughter. Many of the poems are familiar to me from my own childhood, and I look forward to reading them all over again.
Home by Carson Ellis (Walker Books)
This book is perhaps a little young for her now but the illustrations were hard to pass by. But even though the text is quite simplistic, the illustrations are rich and, hopefully, will provide a talking point. Sometimes books like these can actually provide the opportunity to talk about different topics because the images are the strongest thread.
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Years ago I read about a man who wrote a letter to his son every year and sealed the note in an envelope for it to be opened when he was a grown man. I thought this was a lovely tradition. And I started it with my son. But then life got in the way and I wasn't able to keep it up. But it has always stuck with me.
However, without even realising it I have started our own tradition, which is much easier to manage. It's a simple idea but one that I hope will be appreciated in years to come.
Every year I write a long note on each of the children's birthday cards. I've never been the sort of person to write just a brief message but with them it takes up an entire card and is perhaps about 300-500 words long.
I reflect on the changes in their personality since their last birthday, their milestones and interests and comment on how they relate to their siblings, and the changes in our family's circumstances - moves and holidays, etc. They always enjoy when I read it to them on the morning of their birthday and I hold onto them for them to re-read when they are older.
And for these cards I enjoy using special ones that can decorate their walls. One year I got each of them a card/mask from TMOD. This year I was taken with the illustrations by Cat Lee on cards from UncleBearskin Productions.
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No matter how busy the day, and noisy the dinner, story time is always our quiet time. Quality time. Generally it is a one-on-one experience between one parent and one child. Although sometimes another child might listen on.
However, because they are at different levels of interest and understanding, they tend to play while someone else's book is being read.
These are some of the books that we're reading at the moment.
8-YEAR-OLD
We had tried to read The Neverending Story a couple of times before and it didn't hold his interest. However, we explained that sometimes you need to stick with a book for number of pages before it gets interesting. This time around, once he got into the main story, he was hooked. The first part is the story of a boy going into a bookshop and finding the book of the same title. Once we got to the part of the land of Fantasica the eight-year-old really engaged with the story.
4-YEAR-OLD
This year she has started to enjoy chapter books. At first we did The Magic Faraway Tree and then Heidi, which were both well enjoyed. Now we have moved onto our Roald Dahl collection. First up was The BFG, as she recently saw the movie, and now we are reading one of my favourite books, Fantastic Mr Fox.
3-YEAR-OLD
Her attention span is getting better with picture books. She enjoys ones that have an element of repetition. Or the illustrations engage her. We go through stages of reading different books every night and then other times we might read the same two books every night for a week or so. At the moment we're reading We're Going on a Bear Hunt, which both my other children loved too (although her older sister went through a stage of being scared of the bear) and How to Hide a Lion. She likes this because it references The Tiger Who Came To Tea, which we have been reading a lot recently too.
It's always good to get other book ideas, so if you're reading something that your little ones love, please share.
Note:
Throw available here.
Cushion available here.
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About a month ago the seven-year-old learnt to knit. It is an activity that is encouraged at his new school, and something the children learn before writing or their times tables. Even before I had the chance to read about the reasoning for this teaching method, I found myself buying yarn and a set of bamboo needles. Initially it was because I wanted to help him and couldn't quite remember how to knit as I hadn't done it since I was his age. Then as he became more adept, I became transfixed watching his new-found dexterity with the needles. It seemed like a fun activity to do together.
After teaching myself from a few online tutorials, I soon became addicted too. Moving through the stitches and rows can create a meditative state. It is a repetitive action that is incredibly calming. And while many experienced knitters can talk and not even look at their stitches while they work, focusing on the task at hand creates the single-minded calmness that I have only experienced before from yoga, swimming laps and meditating.
The school's literature states that the amount of attentiveness required to knit helps to train young children's concentration spans which will help with their problem-solving skills in later years. It is also an activity that focuses on fine motor skills, which can assist in learning to read and write, especially the repetition of moving from left to right.
Counting the number of stitches and rows and devising patterns with various colours for the piece that they are working on can help children to develop mathematical skills in a stimulating yet enjoyable way.
Then there are the conversations that we have had as a result of this new activity. Why wool is better than acrylic. The pluses and minuses of using different types of ply and materials - from twine to cotton. And the cost of wool - as he was going through so much so quickly - and why some products from countries such as China are cheaper - but explaining how the companies who produce such goods get those costs down.
While he learnt French knitting at his previous school, and got a loom weaving kit the previous year, which he went through spurts of using, the act of having knitting as an ongoing class activity has spurred his interest in all sorts of knitting, knotting and weaving again. He sometimes intersperses his knitted pieces with French or finger knitting. This way he has created bunting, which now hangs from his sister's bed, and a bag that he uses to carry his school hat inside. Also, in the past month he has created various bracelets for his sisters and a stock whip, which he enjoyed learning to crack.
His current focus is on using a bale of sisal twine, which has lead to many interesting twists and turns in our talks. We have spoken about how you might create string bags, coasters and light shades using this material. The work of Indigenous artist Regina Wilson also came up. She has created home furnishings for Australian furniture and design company Koskela in the past. He was impressed with her dilly bag design and some of her other weavings.
"We cannot underestimate the self-esteem and joy that arise in the child as the result of having made something practical and beautiful - something which has arisen as the result of a skill that has been learned. In an age when children are too often passive consumers, who, as Oscar Wilde once said, 'know the price of everything and the value of nothing', learning to knit can be a powerful way of bringing meaning into a child's life." - Eugene Schwartz, "Knitting and Intellectual Development" in Waldorf Education: A Family Guide (ed Pamela Johnson Fenner and Karen L Rivers), Michaelmas Press, 1995.
And if you're interested in a few other facts about knitting, here are a list of six unexpected benefits.
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The month of March was marked by the arrival of visitors - both welcome and unexpected. The former were friends - almost local, although they live closer to the coast - as well as some international visitors, who have been travelling around the world with their family of six. Both families had four children apiece and made for a fun albeit slightly rambunctious day. These are the visits we remember though - when the house is full, there's food and special treats aplenty, conversations are somewhat snatched but cut to the essence of what's important in life, and a walk down to the creek becomes an adventure. We see our home with fresh eyes.
Unexpected visitors also provided us with a new perspective on where we live. After the flooding rain of January we experienced two months of virtually no rain. The extended summer kept temperatures warm and the humidity high. And snakes came out searching for water. We have seen at least three different varieties in the past month - a diamond python, a tree snake and potentially a yellow-faced whip snake - although we're still learning to identify our slippery friends. One of them was found in our living room and had to be captured on a makeshift hook attached to the end of a broom handle.
We also came across an injured bird that had flown into our living room window. The children delighted in creating a temporary home - made out of a cardboard box, lined with wool and filled with berries - where it could recuperate. The four-year-old was initially devastated though when it was well enough to fly again. Although she's since told me several times that she's happy that it flew away. We spoke about the bird wanting to return to its family and friends.
The tree house has continued to be an ongoing weekend project with the children. The platform was completed last month and since then we had added a safety rail and fence. Our visitors helped us to collect sticks and they were cut to size and attached with twine. We've also added a more permanent ramp and the children enjoy spending time on the deck, playing and eating meals.
Work on the house itself has been on hold for the most part while the treehouse was being built. However, in the past month the magenta fireplace surround was painted white and a hanging rail was added to the girl's room, as well as a cupboard converted into a temporary wardrobe of sorts. Over the Easter weekend a wall was built in the place of a hanging curtain behind the bed in the master bedroom. Modest changes that make a difference to our day-to-day living.
We are fast learning that there is always maintenance to be done on a property. No sooner had we moved in than we were issued with a notice to clear under the electrical power lines. As a lot of the bamboo had grown out of control, removing tracks of it was the first stage. We then employed the school gardener to trim some trees too. This turned out to be a good exercise as afterwards he was he able to walk around the property and identify various trees and plants, giving us a quick lesson in what is native and what should be scaled back.
One benefit of chopping down trees is that we now have a small supply of firewood for the upcoming winter. While it is still warm during the daytime, the evenings can get cool and so we decided to test out the fireplace. We have never seen the children bathe and dress for bed so quickly.
The end of the month posed some challenges. Our water supply is derived from rainwater tanks - three of them at various points along our hill. Pumps feed the water up to the house and when one of them died a couple of weeks ago we tried to get it serviced, were given a different pump that didn't work, and had to cart water up the hill in containers. Then the hot water system itself failed and, finally, we ran out of water completely. It was a sharp lesson in the importance of water, and how much we are beholden to nature and its inconstant ways.
But every morning we are treated to watching the mist lift off the surrounding mountains and the view from almost every room provides with the most wonderful, calming vista. And we can open our front door and the children can run, play and explore. That is why we moved here, and embarked on this journey. To find freedom in the everyday.
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The four-year-old has recently started to enjoy longer narratives. A couple of months ago she wanted to start listening to chapter books, just like her older brother.
Initially we started with an Enid Blyton book that she had received as a gift - More Wishing-Chair Stories. It seemed perfectly suited to her. She often talks about sliding down rainbows, and this one has characters that get to do this! It's also about fairies and pixies, and having a playroom at the bottom of a garden. The stories held her attention and were a great introduction to longer narratives. With a picture every couple of pages, it's a hybrid between a picture and chapter book.
Once we finished this book, we started to read one that had been on her bookshelf for a little while. It was a second-hand book that I had picked up at a vintage store, attracted to the cover. There is an inscription inside that is dated 1938. For its age, it's in great condition and many of the stories are just as interesting and entertaining as they would have been all those years ago. I did try to find a link to this particular title but was just deluged with "popular story books" rather than the actual book itself. However, it's worth keeping an eye out for second-hand books with short stories.
Her current read is Sophie's Misfortunes - part of The Fleurville Trilogy. This was another gift, and one that she has thumbed through many times over the years. But now we get to enjoy the story. Sophie is four, which of course has its own appeal, and comes up with crazy ideas about what she wants to do. For example, her mother gave her a tea set and she wanted to drink "real" tea when her friends came over. But her mother said, no. Undeterred, Sophie went out and got some water from the dog's bowl and chalk for sugar and mixed it with clover leaves. When her friends came to visit and drank it, they said it was disgusting. These stories hold our four-year-old's attention and she comments on them. To this story she said, "She should listen to her mummy a bit more, shouldn't she." Every night she asks to read two chapters. At the end of them she's quite tired, as there's a lot of listening involved, but she really enjoys the book.
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Recently when our seven-year-old got a wobbly tooth, I started to search for ideas on how to mark this rite of passage. During my research I came across what seemed to be a great book. It arrived just ahead of him losing his tooth a week or so ago and both he and his sister enjoyed reading about the stories and traditions from different parts of the world.
Throw Your Tooth on the Roof is just that - a precis of how different cultures deal with this milestone in a child's life. And it's quite amazing how many cultures do actually throw the tooth on the roof!
The book started when the author was telling her daughter about the Tooth Fairy and a Brazilian friend questioned what this was. This conversation started an interest in finding out what children around the world do with their teeth when they fall out. She asked people everywhere she went and contacted universities, cultural centres and UNICEF offices around the world to find out the answers.
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While summer is officially over in Australia, it is still hot. Most days we are experiencing temperatures above 30-degrees-C, and it's incredibly humid too. Or at least in the areas near where we are based. So I thought it wouldn't be out place to share some of my summer essentials.
My days consist of working from home, travelling to other people's houses for photo shoots and, of course, living and working on a country property. Clothing tends to be casual but with an eye for detail and design. Comfort, yes, but never at the expense of everything else. There's nothing that can quite set you in the right frame of mind as a beautiful piece of clothing. Something that makes you feel, and look, good.
Note: I tend to buy items on a needs basis rather than because new wares have hit the stores. Some pieces have lasted years, and I expect to be around for many more. So I've listed similar items where necessary. Also, I've included items I would like to purchase when my current pieces need replacing.
Dresses
I am and always have been a dress person. I enjoy the simplicity of them - that you don't need to "match" or consider an ancillary piece that will complement it. Also, I've always found them to be more flattering on my body than a top and skirt or trousers or jeans, which can be more of a struggle to find flattering cuts. Generally, I tend towards feminine slightly bohemian styles, often with lace details.
In summer I choose light fabrics - soft gauze cottons or linen to keep cool. I enjoy wearing natural materials and pieces that wash easily.
Over the years, I've found a few labels that I gravitate towards regularly because of the style, cut or fabric. These include Ace & Jig, Lemlem, Malene Birger, Mamapapa and, more recently, Numero 74.
I've always found beautiful clothing at Christensen Copenhagen, Jim and Jane, Joanie Loves Chachi and Mr and Mrs Smith Manly.
Labels I'm eyeing off include Christy Dawn, Meg by Design, Paddo to Palmy and Ulla Johnson. I'm also looking forward to seeing the recently released organic range from Yoli and Otis.
Hats
I've always loved hats. They are such a fun accessory and as I get a little older I'm enjoying their sun-shading benefits too. For summer, I've worn a Panama hat for years. However, more recently I've started to wear this one from Brixton. And I'm eyeing off the beautiful range from Sarah J Curtis. Fallen Broken Street is another great Australian brand too.
Footwear
I basically live in about three different types of shoes over summer - Splice slides for the beach, Bensimons for around the property (love that I can slip them on and off so easily) and a pair of Sol Sana roman style sandals that I wear to dress up a little more - I bought the ones above from Jim and Jane.
Bags
I have a few bags that I alternate, depending on the occasion. For life with children (and work when I'm carrying my laptop) as well as travel, I regularly use my Tampico linen bag. It's brilliant. It has plenty of room, goes with pretty much everything and holds a ton of things.
When it's just me and I'm carrying my wallet and a few smaller items such as sunglasses, I use one of two bags - a camel-coloured leather one from Estellon (which I always receive comments on - above) and a teal blue leather over-the-shoulder bag Mini Gueliz from Lalla, which comes with a Liberty floral print lining.
For the beach, I use my French market bag.
Swimsuit
I've had a Zimmermann swimsuit for years that's still going strong. I love the cut. It's low around the legs - reminiscent of 1950s style swimsuits - and rouched around the front so forgiving for post-baby bodies. It also has a tie at the front that can go around the neck (for extra support while swimming) or can tie in a bow at the front (to prevent strap tan lines). I've seen similar at Malia Mills, above.
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After continual rain in January, it's been wonderful to feel the summer sun again this month. It's meant that we've been able to get out to the beach, and enjoy the great outdoors in general.
While I often buy ahead of a season, I've learnt that there are no certainties when it comes to children and what they will love wearing. So I thought I'd share what have been some of the big hits of the summer.
TWO-YEAR-OLD GIRL
Dress
This dress belonged to her sister but now she has claimed it as her own. No sooner is it washed then it's straight back on again.
Dress - a few seasons ago from Mabo Kids.
Beach dress
Both girls have one of these dresses and it's ideal for wearing to the beach. It's light and airy (so can be worn with comfort in the heat), has long sleeves (so we don't need to worry about sunscreen) and it doesn't matter if it gets wet (which is what the beach is all about). She also constantly wears her long-sleeved top in the same print but seagrass colour.
Beach dress - Printebebe.
Shoes
We're a shoes-off-in-the-house family, so these are perfect for a younger child who doesn't know how to tie laces yet. The velcro means they are easy to get on and off. They are leather too and have moulded well to the shape of her feet.
Shoes - Poppeto.
Hat
The two-year-old is obsessed with this hat. Even though it's getting a little small on her, no other one will do. It provides enough sun shade while folding easily into her bag or ours. (She also loves this dress from Peggy, which will soon have to become a smock top as she's growing.)
Hat - Printebebe.
Swimsuit
Both girls have a swimsuit from Petit Bateau. Strangely, the four-year-old's often falls off her shoulders so I had to adjust with ribbon. This one seems to be a slightly different cut and is the two-year-old's current favourite.
Swimsuit - Petit Bateau.
Sleepwear
Similarly to her Mabo Kids dress, as soon as this nightie is washed it's back on again. When it was first given as a gift, she wasn't interested in trying it on, and then didn't like the labels - but once they were cut she has hardly taken it off.
Nightie - G Nancy.
FOUR-YEAR-OLD GIRL
Outfit
Dresses still feature prominently, such as above, however, the swirling, twirling dresses she favoured six months ago have now made way for jumpsuits she can climb trees in and roam around the property without having to worry about getting caught in long grasses. This jumpsuit wasn't worn much when we were living in the city, but now it's on regular rotation. It is not as high cut in the leg as some others which makes it more of a standalone outfit rather than a jumpsuit that needs to go underneath a skirt. The dresses she does wear though tend to be this one from Minouche (as it's short enough to wear while walking through bushland) and the fine crinkle cotton Faerie dress from Printebebe, as it's not too long (it's her sister's!) but super cool.
Jumpsuit - a few seasons ago from Mabo Kids.
Beach dress
As above - Printebebe.
Shoes
As above - Poppeto.
Hat
As above - Printebebe.
Swimsuit
This swimsuit seems to provide the perfect fit for the four-year-old and she loves wearing it.
Swimsuit - The Bathers Company
Sleepwear
Both girls love their "cat nighties", but they also both enjoy wearing their beautiful linen nightdresses from Bonne Mere. Perfect for hot summer nights. For the four-year-old it's probably a tie between the two different styles.
Sleepwear - Bonne Mere.
SEVEN-YEAR-OLD BOY
Outfit
Coolness is important for the seven-year-old boy. He notices heat and humidity easily and so lightweight t-shirts are important for him. This thin t-shirt is one of his favourites.
T-shirt - Mampapa.
Swimsuit
As he is a slim fit a lot of board shorts are too loose on his frame. These swimmers from The Bathers Company have been great for him, particularly at the beach.
Swimsuit - The Bathers Company.
Sleepwear
We only received these PJs recently, however, he has worn them regularly as they're a loose fit and he doesn't get too hot at night. When it's slightly cooler, he enjoys wearing his star PJs from G Nancy.
Sleepwear - Little Winnie.
Hat
Both the seven-year-old and his four-year-old sister enjoy wearing the paper straw Dingo hat from Fallen Broken St Kids. It provides enough sun protection but is not so tight that it makes them hot wearing it. It's similar to ones that the adults in the house wear too, which I think might have some influence.
Hat - Fallen Broken St Kids.
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