History, birthdays, and possibility of a move

I think my blogging is slowing down, but I am trying to spend a little less time on the computer as it felt like it was taking over. I'm happier if we have days when the computer isn't on at all, because once its on we both tend to drift back to it throughout the day. A isn't too bothered, she enjoys playing and investigating stuff online, but generally doesn't think about it unless the machine is on.

A really got into The_Diary_of_Anne_Frank which was on BBC1 all last week. After the final one last night we switched over to BBC4 and watched Anne_Frank_Remembered, a brilliant 2 hour documentary. I didn't think A would want to watch the whole thing, and warned her that there would be very upsetting images and descriptions about the concentration camps, but she was engrossed.
We also enjoyed A_History_of_Scotland, which last week focused on AD 84 - 943. Tonights looks at events in the thirteenth century. It seems to be covering a lot of what I read in James Hunter's The_Last_of_the_Free, a wonderful book, very readable for a 'history' book. It really blows away all the romantic patriotic nonsense you sometimes hear up here (I'm half Scottish and half English - quite an uncomfortable legacy at times!)

Its A's 10th birthday next week!! Plans have changed from a swimming party and sleepover, to lunch at a local restaurant and a few hours back at ours for cake and 'play' (seems like the wrong term for these very grown up 10/11 year olds, but I cant think of what else to call it!). There will just be five of them, so a nice little group.
I'm quite pleased about the way its turned out, its a shame she didn't get her swim, but problems with pools in the area (closed because of burst pipes, weird opening times) made it difficult to organise. The sleepover is something I wasn't particularly looking forward to anyway, but A has been having bedtime problems for the last week or so, so decided herself it wasn't a good idea. She's in with me at night at the moment, which is ok but not ideal as I need SPACE. Not sure where this all came from, she just gets very anxious and frustrated about not being able to get to sleep, and it turns into a cycle of getting upset about not getting to sleep and not getting to sleep cos she's so upset. I'm just playing it by ear and trying to give her what she needs just now. We are giving her room a big clear out and make over, and I'm hoping that might help. We shall see...

We have been discussing the idea of moving which I mentioned in my last posting, and A - initially very against the idea - is now listing what she wants in our new place! Anyway, its definately on the cards now. We will start looking at places soon I think, but will be very discriminating! I'm not moving until I'm really convinced that the new place will be better. We've been here for over six years, and the thought of all the upheaval of packing everything in boxes and physically moving fills me with dread, but as my friend said 'you just fix the date, hire a van and call a few friends to help' - simple as that !?! But I know what she's saying, it is doable, I'm lucky enough to have friends who will help. Its all about perspective.

Castles, mushrooms and nice tai chi ladies

I meant to post these castle creations a while ago as they are so pretty, but forgot, so here they are now. The first one was something me and A did a few weeks ago on a rainy afternoon. The silver one below is something created by A and my Mum ages ago. They are now up on our shelf together in the living room, and get lots of nice comments from visitors.

A took these pics today. She has developed a real interest in fungi, ever since we looked at a book my friend lent me called 'Food_For_Free' to help us with our foraging. I'm too terrified to try any of the wild mushrooms we find, as there seems to be so many 'bad' ones that look like 'good' ones. I also remember seeing a mushroom 'expert' on a Jamie Oliver programme warning about some highly poisonous mushroom that looks exactly like an edible one - the only way you know the difference (unless you are an expert of course!) is if you eat it and die. Well, that may not have been exactly what he said, but thats what stuck in my mind. Maybe I'm just a sissy! Anyway, A has decided to do a project on fungi and is busy collecting information, so along with the photos she took today, and some she made her Nonna take when she was over there, we got some more books out of the library today. We must have a look at some websites too, I'm sure there'll be some helpful ones out there.

Tai Chi this morning, I was chatting to one of the other women afterwards when she looked at A and said "when is she back at school then?", so I smiled sweetly and replied "well, she's not going back actually, I'm home educating now." She then gave a huge smile and said "Really? Well good for you!" and turning to A said "that will be fun, wont it?". What a lovely response!

A and I had a discussion last night about how we will approach things now, as her old school starts back this Wednesday so it feels like time to get a bit more organised. A wants to keep to a bit of a (flexible) routine, so we decided on 2 hours each weekday morning on English and Maths as a basic plan. I think it might be good to have this as a general rule to motivate us (me!) in the mornings - I am not a morning person! We'll see how this goes, I think there's a sense of security in it for A, because she is used to this sort of routine. At school they had their 'main lesson' for two hours every morning. The rest of the time she'll work on her various projects as and when she feels like it. There are some things we will work on together, for example learning Italian, and others I will just support her in when she needs me to. She expressed a real keeness for spelling tests too (?) so I'll go along with that. Things will change and develop I'm sure, we are still at such an early stage, but it does feel nice to have a little bit of a plan.
Bedtime doesn't seem to be such an issue, she is still staying up very late but is happy to go to her room when I ask her to (usually 9 - 9.30). I'm hoping she'll start actually getting to sleep a bit earlier once we have more happening in the mornings.

Another lovely day at the beach!

We have been really enjoying the hot weather, and spent this afternoon on the beach with our friends - perfect. I'm hoping next week will be as good because my brother and his family are coming up and we never have good weather when they come - his partner doesn't believe it ever gets warm in Scotland.

A has been enjoying going to a drama group every morning this week, classes put on for the school holidays, and subsidised by the council - so very inexpensive. It has actually felt quite good to have a bit of structure to our week. From what she's told me the classes have been mainly drama games and improvisation, my idea of hell! But A has had a great time. This is exactly the kind of thing she loves. There was the usual nervousness about first going in, which is totally understandable, but one of her old classmates was going too, so that helped. Anyway, she seems to have made lots of new friends. This is something she is very good at, and I'm so glad because I'm not the most sociable person and would hate that to hold her back in any way.

A has also been rehearsing for a show she is going to be in at the local drama club - Roald Dahl's 'Revolting Rhymes'. They did it last year and it went down really well, so are putting it on again for a few nights. A gets to play a bratty version of Goldilocks, which she thoroughly enjoys!

Bedtime is becoming a bit of an issue, and I'm not sure how I'm going to play this one. I've been letting it go - not too worried about when she goes - the usual way I would in the school holidays, but of course these holidays aren't going to end! I'm torn really, part of me really wants to trust her to do what she needs and let her decide when to go, but there's another part thats going 'no! this is my time!!' I suppose thats the way its always been - once she's in bed I get a bit of time for myself. As a lone parent who spends a lot of time with my child (and it will be even more now she's not at school) I felt I needed that couple of hours at the end of the day. Another point is that I often watch things on TV later in the evening that I wouldn't be happy for her to watch.

I'm going to have to make a decision soon because she needs some clarity, either have a definate bedtime (tricky, as our lives are becoming much more fluid without the school timetable) or change my way of thinking about it all. Will have to think on this one...