Posted by Joyce
Just to say Happy New Year to anyone passing through....We should have been up North, but turned back as the snow was too bad - Mum said they'd had about 4 inches in a couple of hours. So everyone in bed sleeping, and I am blogging away by myself, cleaning up my hard drive, downloading patches for XP, and wondering how to make a nice meal tomorrow out of the store cupboard and the freezer. Ah well - loads of wine in the caravan:-) .

Posted by Joyce
So, what have we been up to today? Saw Papa, who seemed to be coping OK, though this would have been his 55th wedding anniversary. He wanted me to clear out the rest of granny's things - I had done most of it, but forgot one cupboard, and he was keen to have it done before the New Year, I think. Hannah seems to be getting over it now, though she is still nervous about going upstairs in their house by herself.

In the evening, Hannah wanted a massage, and then she spent ages with the aromatherapy oils making up potions. She very carefully looked up her daddy's athlete's foot in the book (sorry, sweetheart if you are reading this at work - tmi - remember its all education!!), and has made him a tea tree rub for him to use. She has also made up a "sleep potion" for me to put in my bath, with camomile and lavender. It's amazing how she will struggle to read what she needs to know for this, as it interests her, and although she is only allowed to touch the oils under supervision, she is very careful and accurate with them. She has also been gradually working her way through the anatomy colouring book, and loves to quiz me about where the origins and insertions of muscles are (I'm still ahead on that one!), so she did that for a bit and then she gave me a lovely foot massage. Bliss.

Posted by Joyce
Just back from the panto - the local amateur group were doing Cinderella, and I was impressed at what they managed to achieve. Today was very lazy - we rushed around town first thing this morning trying to find a memory card for the PS1 - didn't realise that you needed one, as I assumed it would have some level of working memory, but we couldn't get one anywhere. For £6 though, I don't suppose I can complain, so now I'm trying to find one on line, otherwise it will need to be a trek to Glasgow, which I could do without.

After more hot chocolate in ottakers, we played Cadoo till it was time to go to the panto, and this evening, I'm settling done with a glass on wine, some sandwiches, and Corrie, while Hannah plays with her pressies. I must say that they seem to have been particularly successful this year, although the volume was definitely down a bit, as outside of her dad and I, she got money from other people, and I think that has helped. She got enough to feel that she had some lovely new (to her) things, but not so much she felt overwhelmed. I also don't feel overwhelmed by the "where am I going to put it all" issue that I usually have.

Posted by Joyce
DH working till midnight tonight, so Hannah and I scootered into town this afternoon for hot chocolate at Ottakers- very civilised! Hannah also had some Xmas money which was burning a hole in her pocket somewhat, so she bought 2 microbabies in the Boots sale (reduced to half price), 2 classical children's CDs (Sleeping Beauty and Arabian Nights), and a game for the PS1 I bought in a boot sale a few weeks ago - Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone for £6. I really only bought the PS1 as a) it was very cheap, and I was convinced I'd find a use for it "sometime", and b) I was keen to get her the PS dancemat, as it seemed the best on the market, and there was loads of them on ebay. But I've got mixed feelings about it really. Unlike most HEers I know, I'm not a fan of early computer usage, plus Hannah's dyslexia means that the fast moving graphics can make her feel very travel sick, but she seems to be enjoying this, so I'm reserving judgement. On the whole though, I prefer her to do things in real life, rather than through a cyber or electronic experience. One of her friends changed her mind about coming round to play last week, as her cyberpet was about to have kittens (apparently!), and I felt uncomfortable about it - which may well be a double standard on my part, as I know that Hannah has a very rich fantasy life, and maybe that is no different.

Posted by Joyce
We had a lovely Xmas, despite daddy going back to work on Xmas eve, and not being off again till 2 January. The joys of shifts. All the rest of the family probably pretty hacked off that we haven't been to see them, but the nearest is 100 miles away, and to be honest, if I'm on my on, rather be on my own at home - plus Hannah wanted to see her dad when he came home from work, not stay in someone else's house without him.

So on Xmas day, we had a long walk, and then Hannah wanted to go to church, and in the afternoon we played card games and cooked till Daddy came home, when we had present fest. I can't believe that she suggested not opening anything till her dad came back, and then stuck to it - the only problem was that I was told we couldn't use the living room at all, as she didn't want to see her presents, so we had to sit at the back of the house all day, with no Xmas tree or anything.

I got a bit of an odd present though - someone gave me a star chart, and I keep trying to think that there is a joke here that I'm not getting, but I can't help thinking that the subtle message is that dd needs some behavioural modification. I've never really been keen on things like that, though they are very into them at the local school. I read Punished by Rewards by Alfie Kohn a couple of years ago, and it has really shaped my thinking about external motivators. Sure, I'm only human - I know there must have been occasions when I've said "be good when we do this, and I'll do XX", but they are few and far between. And I really hate it when the local library runs these "read three books and get a sticker" campaigns. Are we really saying that reading is such a worthless activity that kids need bribed by something like a sticker to read them? And apart from that message, I suspect that it only encourages volume, not quality or critical thought. Goodness, getting a bit deep for Xmas!!

She seems delighted with her presents though, and has played really well all day today, but ended up very tearful at bedtime, but I think she was imply exhausted.We went for a long scooter today, me on my kick bike, and her on her scooter.

One of the things she got was Cadoo, and its brilliant. We played it for hours this afternoon, and its one of the few games I've come across that really crosses all the age ranges. Highly recommended!

Posted by Joyce
Haven't posted for ages, as been feeling very stressy, and fighting off various winter bugs. Trying to stay away from the PC as well.

So - what HAVE we been up to? Parties (HE and DH's work), pantos (Pinocchio) crafty things -though no hand drawn cards this year - making 2nd class post with the bought ones was enough of a challenge. Loads of reading, drawing and "thinking!", but nothing formal at all. I'm feeling pleased as I managed to pick up a second hand keyboard (the musical kind). I'm not sure that dd really wants it, but I would like there to be something that we can all plonk away on in the house, so its a sort of communal present. Hannah hates not being good at things, so if she doesn't master it within about two minutes, she gets frustrated. She has amazed me though by suddenly picking up her recorder, which she hasn't played for about a year, and playing it really well (well - better than me, LOL)

Having a bit of a down time with HE, but partly that's because I've been working too hard, and partly because I'm going through one of these phases where I feel everyone is being slightly disapproving, and also because we seem to be on one of those plateaus. But I love having her at home - I just wish there were more of us.

Oh - we have been doing some science type things though - I read an article in HEM about home made chemistry sets, and it sounded great, so I made one using an old plastic tool box, and it included:
cornflour
washing up liquid
very small amount of borax
olive oil
food colouring
salt
baking soda
vinegar
yeast
PVA glue
Fizzy vit C tabs.

I put them all in labelled pots, and added measuring cups, funnels, straws, medicine spoons, set of Ikea beakers for mixing stuff in, lolly slicks, droppers, plus a notebook and set of pens for recording (well, I can dream!!). And set her exploring. She used it for three hours the first day, and needed most of the stuff re-filled, and it was used for well over an hour the second day, and a week later, is still having an outing at least once a day. The recording isn't going so well, but I do think she has discovered lots about chemical reactions, and I am always getting called into the kitchen to witness the latest experiment. So for very little money, I am absolutely delighted with it. I think she is also learning a lot about developing a hypothesis, testing it, and then repeating it to see if the same thing happens, so I feel it is developing a way of "thinking" scientifically. And not a Bunsen burner in sight ;-)

Feeling slightly less stressed when I think about how much education was in that little lot.

Posted by Joyce
Just a quick update, as I don't want to get into the habit of *not* doing it, but not much to say. Everybody got the lurgy - didn't even make HE group yesterday - well embarrassing as it was meant to be at our house, but no one up to it. Hannah has done a bit of reading, a bit of crafting, but nothing xmassy yet. I'm bogged down with work, and its all a bit miserable one way or the other. Hannah's request list now reads "one bottle of red nail varnish if you can manage it, and if not, a surprise would be lovely". Really glad she isn't materialistic, but actually it would be nice to think she really wanted something, and got it. I must be mad. She's been doing a lot of drawing, a bit of writing, but no TV watching. We treated ourselves to a new digital TV, with DVD and VCR, and were assured in the shop that we should plug the aerial in, and make ourselves a cup of tea while it tuned. Two days later, and not even do we not have digital, we don't have analogue either. They took the old set away with them when they delivered it, so we are stuck atm. Not allowed aerials on the roof here, and the loft one that has served us well with our old TV isn't cracking it. More money probably. Not even sure if I like the massive silver thing in the living room, as we were used to a 22 ins in a wooden case. Ah well, probably if it worked, I'd like it more. Hannah therefore spent a bit of time in our room watching the Blue Planet, on the combi potable DVD/TV in there. Going to stop before I depress everyone else with my moaning.