Stuffing

Dancing

For someone who walks about 5km a day, I thought I was in shape until James and I were dancing to Raffi for about 1/2 hour and it winded me. (not him! he wanted to do it again) So I decided that my sedentary 6 or 7 hours at the computer needs to be broken up a bit and this morning I took 20 minutes and danced to James Blunt. I had some training as a dancer before, but hadn't danced since James' birth. After the c-section I couldn't really walk! And then I always felt that my stomach was so tender. I was probably ready to do this ages ago, though, physically. Maybe not mentally.

Children
We talked about children at a Rustle meeting recently. How during a Church service we could try to get the children redirected if they are getting out of hand. I find this challenging for children I don't really know but for Tara or AJ say I wouldn't have a problem talking to them. But I guess the point of community is that you do know the children (or you get to know them!).

An experience related to this: I was talking with another child's father while James was playing with his child. The father was trying to get his kid to go home. I was not listening to what the kids were saying. But the father stopped and said loudly "James, WHAT did you say?". James imediately clammed up because he's not used to being roared at and was probably assuming that what he had said was wrong, if someone would roar at you. James wouldn't say anything more. The father turned to me and said something about James saying something mean. I said I didn't hear it. But it did surprise me the father's handling of it, only because I never roar, I suppose. Unless he's doing something crazy like about to step into traffic!
So then later when it was just James and I and I was getting him ready for bed I asked him what he had said. He clammed up at first. But then he said that he had said something like "It's time for you to go". Now the tone that he said it with may have been bossy, because he can be like that, and that might have been what the father reacted to. I try to catch James when he's being bossy, because he can be a little dictator when he wants to, and try to alert him to his ways!
Children's discipline styles are different. Maybe some children need roaring. But then you push the envelope and have to roar and roar to get them to take you seriously. I am so glad that James is a lamb. If you explain to him why he shouldn't do something, he generally doesn't repeat it.

posted by Aphra @ 2/21/2007 01:35:00 PM