First Letters from My Daughter

Amie has taken to writing me letters – she’s been watching My Neighbor Totoro, in which the oldest girl writes letters to her mother. I can’t come anywhere near her when she is writing. “Don’t look!” she says – not aware, perhaps, that I can hear her perfectly as she sounds out what she is …

The 100-Books-a-Month Challenge

I discovered the Home-Grown Kids 100-books-a-month challenge through Sherry’s blog, and just knew Amie would go for it. We already read about 100 books a month, only they’re often the same ones. (Could it be we sometimes read the same book 100 times? It sure seems that way sometimes!) So our challenge will be to …

Pollan’s Letter to the President-Elect

Sorry I’m a bit late posting this, but this article by one of my heroes Michael Pollan appeared in the New York Times a couple of days ago and it put a chunk in my throat that is still stuck there. It’s a good thing… balance, especially when you’re a pessimist like I am. I …

The Letter Box

Letters A couple of months ago, Amie started showing interest in letters. It was rather unavoidable, as we have wooden alphabet puzzles and alphabet fridge magnets. And she sees us reading, of course, and writing on paper (Mama) and on the computer (Baba and Mama). She now also pretends to read her books,  some of which she knows …

I and You: Mastering Personal Pronouns

I and You Amie is now in the habit of formulating descriptions of what she is doing as follows: “Are you x-ing?” She does this in imitation of our own (incessant) questions about and observations of what she is doing, and because she is struggling with the personal pronouns “you” and “I” and “me”. Once …

My child has a life without me too

First weeks at daycare A dear friend, whose daughter was born a month after Amie and is Amie’s only playdate buddy (I’m not exactly the gregarious type), just survived their first week of daycare. The first week (for some, the second and third, too) of daycare is awash with waves of despair, glimmers of hope, heartwrenching …

Amie drawing @ 20 months and something about this blog

Amie drew this yesterday. Look at those eye-catching lines, whorls and scribbles! The explosion of colors! The harmony between the minuscule and the grand! What I want to do here Aren’t I a proud Mama! I can’t believe I am posting my daughter’s drawings. But I am hoping that it is in keeping with the aims of …