my long post break and wild strawberry picking

I have taken quiet a long break from posting to this blog. This was partly because I have recently welcomed a baby to my home for full time care, and as I’m sure you know if you are a childminder who cares for babies, I’ve been busy! It’s not that I didn’t have a moment to myself, it is more accurate to say that my head was (and still is to a lesser extent) in a different place to that needed for reflective writing.

When a new child starts in my home, it is important to me how that relationship begins and how everyone involved, the baby, my children and myself experiences that transition. In this case, my youngest and the new child are only five months apart. Although in the future this will result in a close friendship for them, for now it creates confusing emotions for a child used to the undivided attention of the primary carer. But I think that we have begun to turn the corner on this and I have in recent days been able to enjoy moments of happy screeching as the babies begin to interact comfortably with each other.

I take the children outside daily and today was the first day in quite some time that we did so in rain. So all wrapped up in rain gear and plastic buggy covers, we set off down the road. We had the happy experience to find that a nearby crop of wild strawberries was ready for picking and small though they are, when we set off for home, we had a good handful for dessert. My daughter led the foraging, informing me that I should ask the grasshopper who was watching us, where the strawberries were hidden. Needless to say, we found the best ones…under some straw and also right down on the bottom of the bushes, near the ground. This was a learning opportunity for me, I needed to get to my daughters height to find the best of the fruit. A lesson in slowness and perspective!

When we came home the children supervised the baking of some meringues which were enjoyed with the fruit after dinner.