In which much mundane inner monologue appears

Nothing exciting for you today. I managed to post on both the Farm Blog AND Blue's Blog* (I know you are shocked) but can't seem to get motivated a third time, lol.

So I thought I'd offer up a few recommendations.

I don't recommend stuff a lot. I need to, but I never seem to get around to it.

Some of the reasons are: I don't shop; I don't buy clothes, shoes, handbags, or baby stuff; I don't hardly ever buy retail at all. I'm a plain cook so I never offer recipes; I don't drink wine or frou-frou drinks; I don't watch telly so I can't suggest shows to watch. One has to be an obedient consumer in order to recommend things often and we all know how Blue echews rampant consumerism.

I do partake of some things, though, when I'm not beating my clothes on a rock in the stream or making 'possum jerky.

What I do consume new are films and books. But I go through these so quickly that I'm on to another before I get a chance to blog about the last one. EGH and I are film fanatics and it takes me about 48 hours to read the average novel (my beloved non-fiction authors like Richard Dawkins and Matt Ridley take me a bit longer). Subsequently I fail to gush about how cool "V for Vendetta" was and how pleased I was with Will Ferrell in the delightful "Stranger than Fiction' because I usually really hate his films or that "The Woman in the Water" was quite cool as long as you went into it with the understanding that it was a fairy tale and not a horror film.

So today, with absolutely nothing else to offer, I give you some recommendations!

First: food. As I said, I'm just a plain cook. I'm not terribly good at it and I don't like, nor do I feel like, preparing the sort of fancy stuff that Julia and Linda are capable of. I fix the same core Southern and British basics. When I see a new recipe, my first two thoughts are; "will I have to go buy some exotic crap to make it?" (bear in mind that 'exotic' to me is, like, olives) and "is it SIMPLE?"

So when I ran across this recipe from Zach and Brie's mom, I thought, "Hey, I could do that ... maybe".

I made it and it was FAB. We scarfed it before I could take a pic. Seriously.

Then, in my own pressed-for-time way I started thinking, "Hmmm ... could I make a version that was actually quicker and easier to make?" I don't generally have ham in the house and making a pie crust takes time (esp. with clean-up) so I came up with this version (Z&B's mom, please don't kill me for altering your wonderful recipe and then ... erm, blogging it. It's an homage!)

The quiche right out of the oven. I'm holding back the slavering horde just out of the picture.

Zach & Brie's mom's quiche - lazy cook version

Frozen pie crust in the aluminium tin

5 eggs

2 handfuls of cheese (we love cheese)

1/2 cup milk

Bacon bits (I use about a tb)

Sprinkle of dried onion

Pepper


Then follow her directions: Cover crust with foil and bake at 425 about 8 min, mix all remaining ingredients, turn oven down to 350, pour filling into hot pie crust, bake about 40 min. I cover my crust edges with strips of foil to keep them getting too brown. (Take the piece of foil you used prebaking the crust and tear it into four strips.)

After being hacked - EGH inhaled this piece.

Mmmmm, yum. Great now I'm hungry.

Ok, on to books!

Both are non-fiction and parenting-type reading. The first one is How to handle difficult parents (a teacher's survival guide), by Suzanne Tingley. I bought this book ostensibly for EGH, but I wanted to read it as well to give myself - a mom who is about to send her first to school - better insight into what a teacher sees when she looks at us parents.

I'm so glad I read it. Not just because it's funny and well written and dead-on in the types of parents discussed, but I saw a bit of myself in some of the descriptions.

If you are a teacher, know and love a teacher (this would make a perfect gift!), or are just a parent who is concerned with working with her children's teachers rather than against them, then you should try to pick up this book.

The next book is called The Power of Play by David Elkind and it discusses a subject about which I feel strongly. His basic premise is that it is healthiest for kids (mentally, emotionally, physically) to spend a great deal of time - especially children under 6 or 7 or so - engaging in self-initiated, unstructured play.

He laments the changes in the way kids play and details how he thinks it's harming our children.

I agree 100%. Kids don't get to be kids any more. They no longer get to just run, jump, dig in the dirt (and eat it!), socialise with each other unfettered, build forts, pretend ...

Today kids - even tiny children - are dragged to classes and organised sports, drilled with flash cards, pushed in front of 'educational' videos, given 'educational' electronic no-comprehension-required toys, and loaded down with homework. They're not allowed to get dirty, they're not allowed to go outside, not allowed to fail, to fall, to imagine, to learn on their own, to think on their own.

I often fret that my children, who have never been institutionalised, have never been to gymboree or a play date, might be socially inept. I can't say until they start school, but I will say this: they have learned from birth how to socialize with their peers (each other) without my meddling hand.

I do not hover over my kids. I don't micromanage their days. They play how they want to play, whatever they want, whenever they want, so long as it doesn't break anything or harm anybody. If the boys want to put their hair up in ponytails, so be it. If they all want to run about pretending forked sticks are guns and they're shooting bad guys, fine. If they want to sit quietly all day reading books or drawing: no problem.

I have never once announced that it was now time for crafts or that we were all going outside to play a specific game. The only thing I initiate is reading. My kids are read to - several books at a sitting - minimum, twice a day: once by me and once by their father at bedtime.

I've noticed in my limited experience with other moms with kids the same age as mine, that they (the moms) are the playmates. Almost all the play is adult initiated and the games are strictly organised with rules. I've also noted the parents' tendency to keep a running, encouraging commentary: "Great try, Graycee! You almost had it! Ooops! Try again! Oh no, you fell down! Jump up and get the ball!"

These kids seem - to me - to have two traits as a result. They can't seem to just make up their own games, for one. When confronted by free time, they seem to have no idea what to do, and tend to get up to mischief (and complain loudly of being bored). They also can't seem to engage in anything without their parent's input. If my child initiates a game and they participate, they get distracted if the parent isn't right there approving and commenting and run to find her.

Elkind also discusses the points in a child's development at which they are capable of doing certain things (like comprehending complex game rules). For example, my Dad just recently worried that EGH was not throwing the ball with Boy (he is apparently fearful for my sons' masculinity. He called Bulk a 'momma's boy'.) I didn't bother to tell him that before age 6 or so, throwing, catching, and batting a ball are difficult (that's why they invented T-Ball), and that I felt that the kids were doing plenty of self-initiated interactive things to improve coordination.

I wasn't able to keep quiet when he mentioned how wonderful he thought the youth football (soccer) programmes were. Uh, nope. Don't think so. Preschoolers driven to fields where they are told to play, and how to play, (and to have fun!) by a crowd of adults?

No.

Ok, that's it for recommendation (and rants). Here are some of my Brood engaging in some self-initiated, imaginative play:

No sexual stereotyping in my house. Guinevere has a lovely flowery veil and a big honkin' sword.

Bat Boy and Playa Bulk (they were calling him "Doctor Bulk", not sure what the connection was.) Yes, those are girly glasses. He also has a wee ponytail in back. Be afraid, Dad.


And finally my own Bad Little Mother Sucker doing some adult initiated grinning. Yes that's one of the onesies from my store (*shameless plug*) and may be had here.

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parenting, raising children, play, David Elkind, Suzanne Tingley, books
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