Monday, May 30, 2011

Our Virgo Child

For fun this evening, I checked out Sebastian's zodiac forecast and this is what came up:

Sebastian has come to this earth with a mission to carry out. He is here to change the world around him, to help others rethink their priorities - and to make a lasting impression on all who ever meet him. 

He is not here, though, to make a fuss or demand attention. Sebastian has a much subtler way of working. Sebastian likes to interact with people one at a time, quietly and calmly. He likes to befriend them, ask them questions, absorb their point of view... and then discreetly suggest smart little ideas that stop them in their tracks! 

He's not going to wait till he's grown up before he begins this process. He's not even, necessarily going to wait until he can talk. Or walk. He's going to listen carefully and watch intently from the moment he draws his first breath... and he's going to reflect back a kind of quizzical attitude that causes his parents to put aside their ideas about how to bring up children, his teachers to reconsider all they learned at college... and his friends to be very glad that they have found the company of such an interesting and different character. 

Sebastian is rarely going to be antagonistic or confrontational. He works through reason, through trust, through communication and through 'play'. But Sebastian is never going to accept that things are as they are because there's no other way they can be. Gently but firmly, he's going to keep on pushing the envelope, stretching the boundary and coaxing the chaotic world around him to recognise its own shortcomings... and start exploring more sensible alternative policies.


Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Life Cycle

Tonight during dinner Sebastian mentioned, "Mrs. Richardson's life cycle centre is closed."  I asked him what the life centre was about and he mentioned that they are growing beans and oak trees in her life centre.  Jamie then said, "What is a life cycle?", to which Sebastian replied, "It's what happens first, then there's a middle and a last." Sebastian then stated, "First you get a piece of yarn, then you knit with the yarn and in the end, you will have a scarf.  That is a life cycle."

So there you have it, a life cycle according to a 4 year old.

Monday, May 16, 2011

Thank you

Dear Sebastian,

Yesterday I ran my first ever 5km race and it was the most absolutely, awesome-est thing in the whole wide world running down the road towards the finish line and being totally surprised by seeing a man wearing a bright orange jacket (Daddy) and a little boy with his bright little yellow rainboots (you of course!) standing along the side of the road cheering me on.  

And I just wanted to write this to say thank you to you and Daddy for being there for me in the pouring rain and cold to cheer me on.  It was worth every step of the race.

Love,
Mommy xoxoxox....

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Doing Nothing

I love how to a 4 year old spending your day at home playing is considered "doing nothing."  I'm always amazed and thankful that we have a son who can be occupied within the confines of his own home and kept busy enough that we are not constantly having to go out on a daily basis in order to keep ours and his sanity!  Not that we don't like going out, as that's not what I'm trying to say, but it's nice to be able to hang out at home at least one day out of the week and have enough activity that Seb can still be exhausted by the end of the day and in bed and asleep by 7:30 p.m.!

Today, for example, was one of those days.  Like the majority of the week, it's been a pretty overcast and wet day.  We did manage a bike ride through the conservation area and continued to the playground for a bit on Wednesday and managed to get home just in time before the skies opened up,  but today as I'm still fighting a cold, and I'm doing my best to keep Seb from getting my cold, I figured we'd just stick around at home and play.

It wasn't until after lunch and Sebastian was on the floor putting together his second puzzle that it dawned on me how "doing nothing" to a 4 year old is  really quite extensive!  At that point I mentally went through what we have done today and made a mental note that we were actually quite busy doing the following:

-  Blocks.  Our morning started with Sebastian building a city in his bedroom
-  Painting.  Sebastian found a toilet paper roll and decided to use it as a telescope for his Pirate Ship.  I suggested he paint it, which he did.
- Having a tea party.  While the telescope was drying we went downstairs to the basement where I sat back and enjoyed my tea while Seb had his honey water.
-  Sebastian then constructed a ceiling for our basement
-  We then had a picnic on our living room floor of honey water and Easter chocolate.  Yum!
-  I think we then had tv time before lunch, which was my doing as I wanted to see his reaction to the Royal Wedding.  In Seb's words, "I like the music, but church is boring.  Can I watch the Magic School Bus?"  So that is what we did.
-  After lunch Sebastian played independently with his Iron Man and Buzz Lightyear toys.  During moments like this when Sebastian is "lost" in his imagination I have learned that intervening is not a wise choice.  It's nice to sit back and watch him as his imagination takes him to wonderful places.
-  We then constructed a few puzzles and played a board game before sitting at the kitchen table and doing some colouring.

Which of course, brings us to now.  It's 3 p.m. and Sebastian's two favourite shows are on: Diego followed by Wild Kratts.  He gets an hour of tv and when Wild Kratts are done we'll have another hour of "doing nothing" before dinner.  Oh how I can't wait to do nothing!!