Euna is ALL about Winnie the Pooh at the moment. Specifically the old 70s "The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh" film. I like that it feels calm, has "oldie" music and I love getting nostalgic remembering loving it when I was a kid. It's ideal post nap, coming back in to the world watching.
Anyway, at the end Christopher Robin asks Pooh what does he like doing best in the whole world. Pooh makes some food related response and then Christopher Robin says "...what I like doing best is just doing nothing." Then Pooh asks how do you do nothing and he replies "Well when a grown up asks you what are you going to do, you say 'nothing'. Then you just go out and do it!" Then Christopher Robin alludes to going to school soon and how he won't be able to do "just nothing" anymore. The first time I watched that I must of been a bit sleep deprived or having a hormonal moment but it actually choked me up!
Then a couple of weeks ago we went to a friend's babies' blessing. I was telling another mummy friend how relieved I was that Euna was going to preschool because I was finding it stressful not being able to meet all her development needs with a new baby and how I worry she's not being stimulated enough when I have to sit down and feed all the time etc. She turned around to me and said "oh I don't do any of that stuff. My mum never took me to classes and things when I was a baby. When our Mum's were at home we just hung out at home."
And that kind of stuck. I think back to my memories of being a toddler (few they are but they're there) and all I can remember is being at home. I don't remember feeling bored either. I don't remember feeling frustrated or understimulated. Infact if I think back to being at home with my Mum I remember feeling incredibly calm. I remember watching her cut out metres and metres of fabric to make curtains for people. I remember walking the dog a lot. I remember being in the garden and it being so peaceful. I remember barbecuing apples. I remember learning to hand sew and making pin cushions. I remember having a little sandcastle bucket and picking out staples from old chairs that Mum was upholstering. I remember watching the Grand Prix with my Dad on weekends too.
So we decided to start doing a lot more nothing. Actually since Bow come along we're probably doing the same amount of nothing but I feel much calmer about it. I feel good about it infact. I feel like I have just realised what value there is in just letting life sink in for a child. There's something about it teaching them contentment and settlement. Because if you can't be contented... Especially when you're a toddler when life is all about scoring extra cheese for your pasta, getting thrown on the sofa, reading The Highway Rat and singing "Winne the Rabbit" (which is hilarious to a 2 year old)... When can you be?
A friend on mine posted this on Instagram the other week and it totally crystallised it for me...
“Do not ask your children
to strive for extraordinary lives.
Such striving may seem admirable,
but it is the way of foolishness.
Help them instead to find the wonder
and the marvel of an ordinary life.
Show them the joy of tasting
tomatoes, apples and pears.
Show them how to cry
when pets and people die.
Show them the infinite pleasure
in the touch of a hand.
And make the ordinary come alive for them.
The extraordinary will take care of itself.” William Martin
Lazy nothings... To Easter somethings...
