It’s been a tough week. Anyone with a 5-year-old (or 4, or 6, or 7….shall I go on?!) might understand. It’s not all fun times and happy days. Some days, some weeks, are hard. This has been one.
Kai’s clearly going through a large development spurt. His mind seems to be working overtime. He can’t switch off at night and is going to sleep around 11pm, after about 15 books per night to help him ‘switch off’ (making for tired and exhausted parents!). He’s sleeping in until after 9am. His temper is easily set off, although he realizes this himself and has actively avoided interaction with other children – which is a great thing, and shows he can read his own emotions and knows he wouldn’t be able to cope with other kids at the moment.
All of which makes me very glad he’s not at school. Imagine having to go in to a class full of other five-year-olds feeling explosive and out-of-control, and having to bury those emotions for fear of getting into trouble. Being forced to go to bed earlier than you are ready; getting up earlier than you want.
At home, we can deal with it together, avoid interactions while he feels he needs to, and work through it until we come out the other side. A week like this also makes me quite glad I only have one child! Not sure how I’d cope with two during a week like this….and have great admiration for all my friends who have 2+ children to negotiate!
But, it hasn’t been all trials and tribulations this week. We’ve also done some fun stuff, and the weather has, on the whole, been quite glorious for winter. We spent most of Monday at our friends house, and the kids played beautifully for 3 hours (this was before the mood change!).
We went to see Kung Fu Panda 2 (which was awesome!), and stopped off at the Australian Geographic shop and bought an experiment tube…we haven’t done the experiments described in it yet (although we already did one previously – the flower/dye one!), but we did make some frothy green goo in the test tube…
We went swimming and Kai’s been helping with dinner every night. Brett made Kai into a human swing…
Which he LOVED, but he’s pretty heavy…so Brett couldn’t do it for too long!!
We buried fossils in the driveway dirt and dug them out again using our dino dig tools…
We decided that *maybe* we could fit a trampoline along the driveway. So Kai and I took the tape measure and figured out what kind of area we can play with….
We figured out we could get up to a 4 M tramp (in the space you can see inside the rocks), which doesn’t sound too shabby! Now just waiting for our tax rebate to arrive…but they are on special at Toys R Us right now! Eek!
And Kai had a play on his trapeze – which has lately become a favourite place for spiders to spin their webs!
If we can fit in a trampoline, I’ll actually be pretty pleased with all the activities we have in our little yard…with the sand barrow, the water play area, trapeze and herb pots, there is plenty to keep us entertained…(sadly the stepping stones/logs have become firewood! But Kai never really played on them anyway!).
So, that’s our week. And it’s already July. How did that happen!?
I hope Kai is feeling better soon! xx
Some week’s are like that, arent they? Sometimes you just wonder whether it may just have been better to stay in bed! I remember Lewi feeling those sorts of things that Kai’s feeling right now, at that age. It’s a tricky age as they grow from becoming little little kidlets to older ones. They still don’t have the self control yet and they forethought but the feelings are big and their emotions are very, very real.
So lovely that you still managed to have some fun. And I’m with you, so glad we don’t have to face school too. How hard would it be for them when they aren’t feeling their best? They are truly blessed kids, I think!!
I appreciate hearing your challenges….some weeks are like that for anyone :-) and it supports us all to share them, thanks
Your week and life also sounding inspiring to me, all the beautiful connection that is in between the challenges