Unschooling Monday

Scienceworks is a favourite place for my kids to visit.  Museums in general are always fun.

My girl is enjoying being out of school but concedes she is lonely. She would like to relate to those who don't go to school and have someone to hang out with.  She is also becoming more self aware as she becomes a young woman. I am so glad she is at home and able to talk to us and ask questions. She is learning a great deal, despite the worries of well meaning others such as grandparents who want her to go back to school so she wont lose her intelligence or learning. Learning is inevitable.  We had a good chat to Av's sensei who happens to be a life coach. He was amazed by her awareness and intelligence and maturity. Honestly so am I! I am constantly amazed by her and her brothers too.

Our 9 year old is seriously considering homeschooling and I hope that we will be a homeschooling family from next month. I feel that he is ready to embark on this journey. It has been a hard few months with him feeling conflicted. He has been told that he needs school to succeed yet he sees how much his younger brother is learning and doing without school.

Av is so interested in things, asking questions and has such an enthusiastic attitude to all that he pursues. His sensei says that his attitude inspires him. He  can also see through people's arguments and words. I think when you allow your children freedom, choices and a  voice, you learn so much from them and open up relationships where you can understand them as whole people now not just when they have finished growing. I believe that matters. It can be challenging but its all good. Av is enjoying karate and has improved so much in recent weeks. He is willing to talk to adults and children alike.

J is a chatterbox. His vocabulary is growing and his speech is improving. He still has trouble with the k/c sound eg. he used to say 'ar instead of car now he says tar. I wanna tum too (used to be "I wanna 'ome 'oo") I am sure he will get the hang of it soon enough.

Bub is walking, not too confidently yet but still  taking a few steps often during the day at a time.

Thoughts on vaccines

This is not really tongue in cheek, regardless of the way I portray myself as not trusting vaccines, but I am still curious.

So the people who are too sick or weak to get vaccinated are? And are those people, breeding grounds too like that some say my children are? Are my non vaccinated kids making my vaccinated kids sick?

My 6yo is still alive, he has more than survived, that is, he has not had  a so called vaccine preventable disease  despite him never been vaccinated. So I assume he has not passed on any diseases unless he is just a carrier which just doesn't makes sense to me.

This makes me wonder if it matters that the risk of my children getting any of these diseases that vaccines are meant to prevent is important. If the risk in my area is low and my kids are not in childcare and that children  over 5 are not at risk as much and then a child who is breastfed is also protected, not to mention other factors that means our risk is low....? And even if the risk was high, is it fair for the individual family to make that judgement and choice and not the Government and medical profession?

So why vaccinate? In theory to potentially protect other children? Because other children are more important than my worries for my own children. And not to mention my 8yo is not well enough to get any more vaccinations due to what happened to him 7 years ago. I am still worried that could happen to my younger children and why should I risk that?

My eldest child is fully vaccinated for her age, yet she still has had far less needles than what most one year olds have been given these days. She was given breastmilk during each needle except at 12 and 18mths and 4 years since I was no longer breastfeeding at that stage. She was vaccinated by the early childhood nurse .Except for her 4yo needle which I organised because she was enrolling in school and I was not informed I could decline. It was just the done thing right? She yelled and screamed and cried and though embarrassing maybe she was right to fight it. I feel guilty for it. My eldest son was vaccinated at the council building which was just awful, the feeling I got when I took him for his one year of age should have stopped me that day. Children lining up to get their free stabs. Its cringeworthy the more I think about it. I was not informed I could decline. Just do it cos the Government would not offer it it was that risky. I feel guilty for it.

I was so undecided about vaccines for  a while but decided to delay with Av and now he is over 6 and I am less undecided I guess. Two more sons and the youngest is 7months. My two youngest are still breastfed and I feel more comfortable about not vaccinating. I declined and refused to sign when I had Av saying I will delay til I feel more comfortable and then again with my 4th child.   When I had my 4th child, the nurse seemed to be more convinced by what I was saying rather than what was in her book about convincing parents to vaccinate. She told me in an indirect way that I could take the vaccine pages out of the book as they would be useless to us. She gave up by the time I had my 5th and didn't even  ask about vaccines. The woman is so stubborn, she even forgoes the medical profession and births on her own...sovereignty anyone?. Rights and responsibilities need to go hand in hand, support for people to choose for themselves would be nice though.

Maybe I am tempting the idea of someone convincing me to vaccinate but its yet to happen, there is no sense in their argument or logic to my sensibilities. I respect it makes sense to others but not to me. Maybe if ignorance was bliss then life would be easier. But alas ignorance is not.

Summer, did it ever arrive?

Its now Autumn, and I don't remember a Summer. I think we had the occasional hot day but for the most part its been cold! Even being pregnant, hasn't kept me warm.
February saw my daughter turn 11.

 On her birthday, we took her to dinner at Smorgy's, then the next day we took the big kids out of school to take them to the NGV as she was keen to visit an art gallery.

She also was nominated and won the vote to be a SRC at school. This involved preparing and presenting a speech in front of half the school (grade 3 -6 students vote). She aint shy like me. She enjoys being involved and takes great responsibility in her new calling. She isn't doing any other activities at this stage which is her choice.
My 7 year old is enjoying school and likes being the youngest in the older grades. Nothing wrong with my childrens self esteem. Makes me so proud and happy for them when they tell me how good they are at something, realistic too when they don't understand things too, asking questions which I sometimes can't even begin to answer.
Meanwhile, Av has started Karate classes which he adores. He usually attends twice a week. He is learning at home but he doesn't recognise it as homeschooling, just does what he likes to do.
J is teething. Hands shoved in the mouth and slobber has given me the clue that he is getting more teeth, and he then told me. "Teeth" pointing into the back of his mouth. He hasn't been too upset though. He has taken to feeding on me about 3 times a day and for longer periods. Colostrum is available now. Toilet learning regression has been frustrating - not sure why this is happening but we try to take it in our stride and hopefully all works out by the time bub is born. He is still not talking much but says a few words and is able to communicate sufficiently. He now realises there is a "Bae" (baby) in my belly rather than a "Ball"!
I am now in the 32nd week gestation. I love this baby. I didn't feel as strongly with my other babies so its a wonderful feeling. Not in my ribs yet, quite low and compact actually with lots of movement and sensations which I honestly continue to enjoy. One thing that has stood out for me is that I can look at my four children and not think its many kids, someone is missing. I assume its this bub in utero who is keen to meet us and us, him. I say 'him' because I have always thought I would have 4 boys and 1 girl but I could be wrong. I am happy with either gender but honestly having a girl will be a surprise.

I have been busy crafting for baby. Actually getting the hang of embellishing too.

I have enjoyed making quite a few matching sets ie. hats and tops.

Made plenty of woollies too. Most yarns I have been using lately have been from the Back Room at BWM in Bendigo. Noro Taiyo is in there too, love the bonnet especially with the long repeats of colour.

Newborn pair of crocheted overalls using doubled sock yarn. Probably only fit once but I think they are cute.

Completed Kid Blanket for Av. I still found it narrow but still big enough for a 5 year old. It may be slightly heavy for a younger child to carry around.

Now its Autumn and I hope I can make good use of my time as the time draws nearer for me to meet my next baby. There is many things I want to do, need to do. I have been reading a little, having only just finished "Gentle Birth, Gentle Mothering" by Dr Sarah J. Buckley. Her writing about instincts and the references to back up why we should leave birth alone is awe inspiring. Of course, it all makes sense to me but its nice to read about an educated women who had 4 babies at home (the last unassisted), believes in delayed cord clamping (even having lotus births), co-sleeping because its safe and makes breastfeeding much easier which in turns makes for happier families, full term breastfeeding where she speaks of feeding her children to 4 years and beyond. So people can say all they like about "those crazy hippies", but gosh they are smart.

Here are my awesome 4 in our bed, the two youngest are asleep. No room for the parents so the big kids are sent to their rooms and Av carried to bed. J can stay. Over the years we have had musical beds. My daughter loved co-sleeping and stayed mostly with Dad til I had Av when she started sleeping with her 2.5year old brother. Av was not keen on co-sleeping though we still slept in the same room. He liked his own space and slept in the cot. Shortly after he turned 2, he slept with his older siblings. Soon after, my daughter conceded she was too big to share a bed and has since enjoyed sleeping on her own in her room. She still loves to have sleeps with her brothers in the lounge room on the weekends. This is usually when J will not join us at night. Its not that comfortable sharing a queen size bed with a pregnant woman, a big man and a toddler but we manage. And interestingly I haven't had the chronic shoulder/back pain I was suffering with before I became pregnant. I feel quite fortunate, with not feeling any such pains, at least not at this stage. Still with around 10 weeks of pregnancy ahead of me, my best bet is to continue looking after myself. I didn't have any fears with my last pregnancy with J but more have come up in this one but I will process these thoughts as I trudge along. I think my main stress at the moment is how will I manage with 5 children in a small house. Ideally we would move house but its seems like the impossible, with no money to spare, but I do look forward to more space in due time.

Children are still awesome

~Even though you appear nuts, you love your kids and want MORE. Yes, your hands are full. No you can not afford them. Yes, you sometimes mix up their names. This is not actually an indicator that you have trudged too far down the path of insanity. It is just LIFE. And life can be hard, but children are still awesome. You see the beautiful moments, where everybody gets along and where there is just a touch of the divine in your home.

 This made me cry as I totally understand this thinking and it is how I feel.

 A picture by my 7 year old son, neat writing included. Today the children received a box of craft supplies, they were so rapt. All 4 love to draw. J says "'raw?" He especially likes to draw on skin so maybe a future tattooist? I am not very artistic at all but their father is.
Though somewhat rare, seeing the children play together and create together today was divine.