Big Fat Flaky Snow

I love the sight of snow. They look so pretty coming down. Don't like being outside when it snows, though. Really wet and cold. I've got 5 layers of clothing on, and yet, I'm shivering when the wind blows. The boys, on the other hand, are warm blooded creatures that I have to nag at them to zip up their coats! They still go for cross country running (nj) in their shorts and t shirts in this sub zero temperature. Me, the only running that I do is my nose when it's too cold.
I figure that shivering constitutes exercise.
I was coaching the kids with some mummy produced homework over the weekend. nj is learning, each day, a new type of grammar e.g. nouns, verbs, tenses etc. I suddenly remembered how I and many others used to get one fundamental bit wrong. You know how the used to ask the students to fill in the blanks e.g. c_t goes miaow. We were always told to fill in the correct alphabet. Why? The alphabet is the whole thing from a to z . Pick any of them out of that list , they are called letters and letters can be divided into consonants and vowels. They still insist on using the term alphabet for everything. Hubby used to laugh at me. Now I laugh at everyone else. Hee Hee!
Phonics is the other new thing that I had to wing when nj started school. Thank Goodness for the Internet. There are things about phonics that I don't know and nj will "educate" me, making me feel like I'm 65years old. In order to restore some order in the who is smarter that who in the house, I use the "do it because I told you to" to make myself feel better.
Maybe that's why parents couldn't relate anymore to their kids. Curriculum changes every year, children come back with jargon that we don't understand, and after a while, no one tries anymore. That's just me trying to be the psychologist. I want to know why things can happen so that I can hopefully prevent it from happening to me and the kids.
It's hard to know when to be cool and when to be mum. Apparently, there aren't such things as a cool mum. No, I lie. Their own mum can't be cool. Other mums can. Advice is try, but not too hard. Give up when they threaten to disown you. Never ever compromise about getting the kiss at the playground before they go and stand in line. As their mum, with all the hours of pregnancy and labour, I'm entitled to embarrass them,

Happy New Year!

A very Happy New Year to all. Time sure flies for those who are having fun. As a rule, I don't do resolutions. Hate the guilt when I don't keep to them and trying to justify why it doesn't matter anymore. If I need my conscience pricked, I only have to talk to our 2 boys. Christmas brings out the holy in them. I may not make resolutions but I do spend a little time to reflect on the happenings over the past year. Hitting the big 40 was unusual. Was sort of waiting for this big bang but nothing's changed other than my knees creaking more, back aches and constant questions from everyone asking what is it like to turn 40. I told them to give me about a year before i let them know. Don't have the relevant experience yet.
Boys are self sufficient in many ways. Love them more now that they can get their own breakfast, dress themselves, get themselves ready for bed and school without much input from me.(Hee Hee!) Yeah! Finally, all those years of mind melding nagging has produced results. I must say that I'm enjoying it. I get to lie in on weekends and they are not screaming downstairs. Quiet as a mouse. I'm not unduly worried that they'll do anything bad as they always tell tales on each other. I hear all the gossips.
I'm one who can't sit still and watch telly. I have to be doing something, ironing ( which I love) or now, I knit. Thank goodness the boys are still young and they don't mind putting on vests and pullover and hats that mummy makes. Soon, they'll stuff those in the neighbour's hedge! I wonder how I'll react when I'm not "cool" ( sorry) "hot " anymore. Apparently, ( I've recently been advised ) that it's not cool to say "cool". The cool word is "hot", like "That's world hot!" " Hot set of wheels" etc.
I love the way the young ones mishear words . My friend's son is in the same class. He was under the impression that teachers don't get ill. If they are not in class teaching, they are in a course. If the headmaster isn't there, there is a jupiter head that takes over for the day. Sometimes they behave like adults but when they speak, you realise that they are only 8.
I beieve that I have forgotten how to look at everything through the eyes of a child. A child does not have google to find out how something works. They work it out in their heads and they believe it. The believe what their parents (less) and teachers ( more) tells them. How scary is that? How does one teach a child how to distinguish what is the right thing to hear and keep and what is "iffy". As a mum , I speak to the boys every night to try to find out what's happened at school, who said what, who got into trouble etc. Sometimes their friends tell them things that are not true but as kids, their hold it as Gospel truth. I believe that when parents and their children stop communicating, that's when things can go really wrong. We may not be there all the time for our boys but we need to know that they will grow up being able to make the right choices, able to tell us about their choices, able to accept our reasoning and rationalising ( if needed ) and that they will never be afraid to talk to either of us. I think what helps with parent child relationship as well is that a parent should not be afraid to admit to the child that the parent made a mistake . This way, it makes us all appear more human and more approachable.