Ribh's D'Coopage

[Kris5902]

Yeah. Love all these ideas for just that little bit older. There are some great chemistry things around but they are labelled 8+. What I need is the National Geographic shop.

2&4 are hard ages. Stuffies are always a good bet, and clothes usually make the parents happy. Fuzzy PJ’s are a staple here too (I think I got a pair every year from 1-30 years of age) although I don’t quite know what the Aussie reverse season equivalent would be? I’m sure it’s too hot for flannel over there. As to the chemistry sets... I am a very bad influence and I let the 8 year old here play with caustic substances for fun and profit. However, now she mostly understands PH and chemical burns, also that to neutralize a base you use an acid... “I told you not to stir it that roughly, here’s some vinegar to pour on it... trust me, it will work!” Yes, 4 is probably a little too young for chemistry.

 

[Ribh]

2&4 are hard ages. Stuffies are always a good bet, and clothes usually make the parents happy. Fuzzy PJ’s are a staple here too (I think I got a pair every year from 1-30 years of age) although I don’t quite know what the Aussie reverse season equivalent would be? I’m sure it’s too hot for flannel over there. As to the chemistry sets... I am a very bad influence and I let the 8 year old here play with caustic substances for fun and profit. However, now she mostly understands PH and chemical burns, also that to neutralize a base you use an acid... “I told you not to stir it that roughly, here’s some vinegar to pour on it... trust me, it will work!” Yes, 4 is probably a little too young for chemistry.

Plus I'd have to do it with him. His mum's idea is he has toys so she doesn't have to engage...

 

[Kris5902]

Plus I'd have to do it with him. His mum's idea is he has toys so she doesn't have to engage...

I find this so frustrating, and it’s a slippery slope; the parent of the “feral farm child” here literally picks her up from school, drops her off at the driveway of the farm and leaves again. Why the 9 year old is running around outside alone at 10pm on a school day is beyond me. We need to ‘rush home so soon’ because DH has to work at 6 am... and shouldn’t you be in bed? Getting to school on time isn’t a priority, near illiteracy is considered no big deal. My mother is parenting the kid more than the parent! Not having kids myself I understand changes my view of it all, but I really can’t fathom the complete disinterest and lack of engagement.

 

[Ribh]

I find this so frustrating, and it’s a slippery slope; the parent of the “feral farm child” here literally picks her up from school, drops her off at the driveway of the farm and leaves again. Why the 9 year old is running around outside alone at 10pm on a school day is beyond me. We need to ‘rush home so soon’ because DH has to work at 6 am... and shouldn’t you be in bed? Getting to school on time isn’t a priority, near illiteracy is considered no big deal. My mother is parenting the kid more than the parent! Not having kids myself I understand changes my view of it all, but I really can’t fathom the complete disinterest and lack of engagement.

Nor me either. I keep telling myself I'm not the kiddies parent ~ but mum would literally rather do anything else than spend time. I get she works. I've done that with kids. It's exhausting but if someone else is always doing all the work of raising them then guess who's values they will have? And you don't then get to bitch about it.

 

[Ribh]

near illiteracy is considered no big deal.

I had 3 dyslexics. I worked my butt of to ensure they were all literate by the end of Primary school. There is NO excuse. I will now remove myself & my soapbox before I say something unforgiveable.

 

[rjohns39]

Good evening folks

Happy Birthday Kat @LaFemmeKatia have a wonderful day

 

[Grammy60]

Good evening everyone

I couldn't agree more with you both, I read to my kids every night growing up and my DS is an avid reader to this day. He will only read to his kids occasionally, but DIL does read and play when not working. DD did not get the reading bug as much, but its there for the kids and can truly get into a story. So I guess I did something right on that front!

 

[Louwin]

I have always been a working mum but i treasured story time before bed. It was a time when we could all sit still, be calm and enjoy each other. I feel for both kids and parents who dont have this experience. My parents modelled it for me. I hope i have modelled it for my kids. Australian Geographic has been my go to for presents for many many years!! We have grown crystals, conducted volcano eruptions. So much fun.

 

[BY Bob]

Sorry people. I thought it was obvious there was a mirror there. Apparently not.

Don't apologize for our foolishness. Maybe we should have looked closer.

 

[BY Bob]

I think this is a blessing, and just as much from a teacher or librarian, a grandparent or a parent. You can spark their interest, you just need to keep going until you find the right subject that grabs them. I am almost 40, and I can still hear my Papa’s voice reciting the highwayman and the wreck of the Hesperus, and a lot of Kipling, Goldilocks and the three bears, E.A. Poe, Shakespeare, the rime of the ancient mariner, and stories he told of growing up, of the horses in the kitchen, rowing out to get water and molasses, a one room school house, and catching seagulls for dinner (not recommended, and yes I’ve eaten one too, squirrel and pigeon, even rat, is far superior) So many little smidges of poetry that hover in the grey areas of my memories... if there is one gift you can give to your grandchildren, that may just be it. My Papa passed twelve years ago, and I was “too old” for bedtime stories twenty five years ago; but that is something I will always have, and I hope that younger generations can also have something like it. Don’t underrate or diminish the ability to bring life to a story, even a silly one, if it engages the audience then it is magical, and irreplaceable.
*Kristen tucks both the soapbox and the box of precious memories away* but thank you for reminding me of them. And storytelling (Even just reading aloud with feeling) is a dying art that needs preserved, so if anyone has that gift, please share it as often as you can!

I hear from my 30+ year old children that the time we spent together at bedtime as I read The Hobbit to them is one of their most treasured memories. My oldest still to this day reacts visibly when I do my Smeagle voice and say, "my precious". It is one of the best gifts I gave to them. They are both voracious readers.