creative chaos and cake

This is just a small smattering of what has been going on around here this past week. I've been knitting like a madwoman, gifts for everyone. I made some napkins for purple day (Monday) in the Aftercare, the rest of the days of the week to come.

Brent has two new painting projects due at school so he's been busy and since the boys have been off I've been baking in addition to my knitting and sewing. So tonight the table was a mess of paint, photos, slides, glue, and cake.

Having one week off from school was great but we could really use another one just to catch up. Instead this next week I will be busy preparing for our schools annual Christmas Craft Fair. It's so much fun and such a great time but the days leading up to it are always just a little crazy.


p.s. that painting isn't really something B would want me to post. It's 3rd in a series of four and certainly not the best of the bunch. I just liked the way Aslan is peeking out from underneath ; )

wip wednesdays :: i've been busy

With Noro Cashmere Island. It's been on sale at my local yarn shop and I've been busy with my Noro Designer Mini Knits book and loving the feel of this yarn!

This is a few days ago when a hat for Hamish was my work in progress.

The hat complete.

Now I have a some yarn left over of the same colour so I'm working on some fingerless mitts. I'm not sure who they are for yet but with Christmas on the way I'm sure I won't have any trouble coming up with a recipient.


~ * ~

media

I was so disappointed today when it hit me that most of the children in my Aftercare seem to be exposed to media (that's of the TV variety) on a regular basis. The little girls always talk about princesses - and not just fairy tale princesses but the ones that have been Disneyized. The boys talk about tv and movie characters alot.

One of the reasons we came to Waldorf education for our kids was because they supported and even required that your child be media-free. Brent and I have been no angels in that department. I can still recall with horror the day I walked into the room and saw Brent watching the Lord of the Rings with my then two-year old son. I think in our case we were anxious to share things with our children that made us happy and that included movies that we found inspirational. It was the wrong thing to do and I'm just grateful that my oldest was very resilient in that way and also happens to have imagination enough for two kids. With my youngest it's a bit different. Though we've been more careful with his exposure he seems to want it more. He can become obsessed with watching a DVD, a TV show, anything, as long as he is watching. I've seen the negative impact it has almost immediately not only in his play but in his behaviour as well.

I've been reading this excellent book and it's just really bringing it home to me how important it is for children - especially young children to be free from television. It just changes how they think, imagine and perceive the world around them. It's an assault to their senses and they really don't deserve to have such an integral part of their childhood being stripped away from them by an electronic device that offers zilch by way of positive influence or education.

I've heard that some Waldorf schools require parents to sign an "no media agreement". I think our school needs something like that just to serve as a reminder to parents to be more mindful and perhaps educate themselves more on how detrimental TV and computer use is to children.

Felt picture courtesy of WaldorfTeachers.com

Snowboarder

Isn't she cute? Available at my friend's shop - here.

She may sell fast but I think more of these are in the works.