Table Time - Carving Out the Most Precious Time of the Day
The dinner table is a precious place in our house. At dinner time, we sit around the table. We put away phones and our son knows to scold those who try to bring phones to the table (even his extended family)! It is a time for talking. For being together. For sharing the ups and downs of our day together. The idea of family time around the table sounds lovely. Perhaps a bit idealistic? Let me be honest with you, it is not as Insta-perfect as it sounds! We are constantly dishing out reminders to stay in the seat and to eat up. There are spills, things fall on the floor and food that has been lovingly prepared is sometimes refused! There are tears, there are huffs and there are occasional stressful moments! I hear stories about people who feed the kids then have a proper sit down meal with their other half when the kids are tucked up in bed. This is tempting for sure and we do this occasionally when we have a date night. But to do this every night, would take away a central family experience. Table time is a messy experience, but also a beautiful one.
Is Ranking Children in the Class Really Helpful?
“Where are they in the class?” A question I regularly get asked by parents. Answering this question isn’t as easy as you might think. Of course as parents, we want to know how our children are doing in their schoolwork. But are we asking the right questions?
Building Resilient Kids
Anxiety: a word we hear everywhere at the moment. Many people attribute this to Covid 19. Although it’s true that Covid has certainly played its part, I think there was a problem long before Covid reared its head.
In the classroom, there is an evident increasing lack of ability to cope with life’s normal stressors. Whether it is a spelling test or a challenging maths problem, some children can go to pieces at the very thought of facing a pressurised task. In the eight years that I have been teaching, there has been a distinct increase in the number of tears shed over everyday mundane classroom tasks. My job has become as much about emotional learning as it is about curriculum learning.
Working Mum Guilt
Career and parenthood. Can we mums really have it all? A thought that plagues me regularly.
Being a working mum is exhausting. Whether you work out of financial necessity or vocational aspirations, mum guilt creeps in constantly. I imagine even stay at home mums know the feelings of mum guilt too. It’s inescapable…