Mid-March Reflection

First off.. wishing everyone a Happy (safe) St.Patty's Day. I've never been much for green beer. The sight of it just turned me off. Nevertheless I'm sure plenty of people will be enjoying it today.

This month has been full of change for our little family. We are adjusting quite well. Mama is loving working 3 days/week. Brendan has adjusted well to going to Montessori for the mornings I am gone. We had a few tears at drop off for a couple of days. He is quite excited to ride the bus after school with his auntie who he so fondly calls "TiTi". The hubby has been pitching in more around the house to account for the fact that I am gone more.

Days off are spent playing with building blocks, going to the park, walking along the beach and visiting Daddy at work among other things. This week we went to the zoo with some friends. B's favourites were the gorillas, the horses and the camel. But our days off have not been all fun and games. Lately I have been noticing that B gets really really cranky if he isn't being constantly entertained. That's not to say he can't entertain himself, because he can, I just need to give him the activity like...open the building blocks and he will play. This has become somewhat exhausting for me and I feel like he just isn't getting enough stimulation being home with me unless we go outside or do activities we don't normally do. I'm not quite sure how to remedy this... hmmm

Happy March!

This month is one of big change for us around here. Firstly, I will be starting a new job tomorrow. It is only part-time which is perfect so I can still spend time with my little man. Not to mention it is in the my field and I will get to do some great things for some pretty great pay too. The job kind of landed in my lap through some of the volunteer work I do. It is only a year long contract which is great since I plan on going back to school this Fall if everything pans out. This also means that our plans for baby #2 are sadly put on hold for another few months to ensure I can finish up my contract. I also don't think I could manage full-time grad school, a part-time job and a new baby. School, job and Brendan are going to be more than enough come Fall.

This job has also meant that I have had to find care for Brendan. Last year he went to a home daycare for a few months and it didn't work out. This time around we are sending him to a Montessori for 3 mornings/week and having my sister pick him up, feed him lunch and put him down for his nap at home. I feel really comfortable with our choice. Expensive it is but he will be well looked after. The school also aligns very well with our own parenting philosophies such as...

- eating nutritious food - the kids only eat fruits and veggies for snack and drink water which means no sugar laden foods

- getting out in nature - they play outside every morning

- learning through play

- arts and crafts

- teaching manners

Things I particularly like are that on the child's birthday, the parents are asked to donate a book to the classroom. They ask that the books are nature books or stories about real life experiences. The parents can also send a plant with the child's name on it and the name of the plant so that they may take part in nurturing it and watching it grow. The class also sponsors a child in a third world country. Many of the philosophies are very similar to Waldorf principles. Unfortunately for us, we live nowhere near a Waldorf school but I think this environment will be just fine for us.

Brendan has gotten to do two one hour visits to the classroom and has seemed to enjoy his time there from what the teachers tell me except for the initial me leaving part. I'm sure things will get better.

Perhaps I'll find out this month whether or not I have been accepted to the program for this Fall.