Summer has come to Canberra, and our weekends have turned into endless series of playdates. This has let me observe the strange rituals of eight year old girls as I shepherded them around town. This weekend Aurora hosted her friends A (daughter of two acupuncturists, vehemently against vaccines and medication, rides a motorcycle) and O (a Harry Potter aficionado, brought a box full of lollies which the girls snuck constantly, she and Aurora cling to each other like old ladies with vertigo and whisper in each other's' ears)
We went to two pools, where the older girls held elaborate jumping competitions while I tried to keep both Sophia (4, life jacket) and Tova (2, floaties) from drowning. Tova also had her first swimming lesson, in which she bravely endured bubble-blowing, flutter-kicking and a face dip for the sake of an ice cream. We have three pairs of goggles, but the blue ones are infinitely more sought-after than the pink or (God help us) purple ones. This leads to frequent Harpy Moments where all three squabble over the single prize.
Aurora and A had a sleepover in our living room, which left us all very tired. First they both got a bit skittish at lights-out, so I had to read chapter after chapter of Penrose the Mathematical Cat. Finally at way past eleven, after covering fractals, irrational numbers, the Fibonacci sequence, polyhedra, multiplication by 11, binary arithmetic and exponential notation, we all fell asleep. Except I'd made the tactical error of mentioning pancakes (the Norwegian kind, no less) so Sophia eagerly came rousing the house at 5:30 a.m. At least we'd had a big fancy breakfast with Nutella, mango and maple syrup by 7:30 a.m.
The most interesting excursion was to the northern wall of the National Library. Some architect decided that hewn stone would spruce up the facade nicely. Except I doubt their conceptual drawings had spread-eagled climbers smearing chalk all over the crenellations. It was a good challenge for the girls, and a bit humbling - they're used to the nice, chunky artificial grips of the climbing gym, and the smooth granite contours of the Library wall were totally different. Sophia lasted half an hour, her stubby little fingers clamped onto tiny fissures, her sinewy arms trembling with the strain, and a big grin that rarely left her flushed face.
The weekend also had a visit to the climbing gym (where they socialised as comfortably dangling 30 feet up as sprawled on the mats), Aurora went to her friend's ballet recital, and we baked and decorated ~100 gingerbread men (including gingerbread alien and gingerbread accident victim) for Sophia's birthday hurrah at the climbing gym tomorrow.
Aurora thrived with her friends, Sophia kept up admirably, and Tova gamely got doted on and sang at the top of her voice every chance she got. A fun weekend with some feisty kids.
We went to two pools, where the older girls held elaborate jumping competitions while I tried to keep both Sophia (4, life jacket) and Tova (2, floaties) from drowning. Tova also had her first swimming lesson, in which she bravely endured bubble-blowing, flutter-kicking and a face dip for the sake of an ice cream. We have three pairs of goggles, but the blue ones are infinitely more sought-after than the pink or (God help us) purple ones. This leads to frequent Harpy Moments where all three squabble over the single prize.
Aurora and A had a sleepover in our living room, which left us all very tired. First they both got a bit skittish at lights-out, so I had to read chapter after chapter of Penrose the Mathematical Cat. Finally at way past eleven, after covering fractals, irrational numbers, the Fibonacci sequence, polyhedra, multiplication by 11, binary arithmetic and exponential notation, we all fell asleep. Except I'd made the tactical error of mentioning pancakes (the Norwegian kind, no less) so Sophia eagerly came rousing the house at 5:30 a.m. At least we'd had a big fancy breakfast with Nutella, mango and maple syrup by 7:30 a.m.
The most interesting excursion was to the northern wall of the National Library. Some architect decided that hewn stone would spruce up the facade nicely. Except I doubt their conceptual drawings had spread-eagled climbers smearing chalk all over the crenellations. It was a good challenge for the girls, and a bit humbling - they're used to the nice, chunky artificial grips of the climbing gym, and the smooth granite contours of the Library wall were totally different. Sophia lasted half an hour, her stubby little fingers clamped onto tiny fissures, her sinewy arms trembling with the strain, and a big grin that rarely left her flushed face.
The weekend also had a visit to the climbing gym (where they socialised as comfortably dangling 30 feet up as sprawled on the mats), Aurora went to her friend's ballet recital, and we baked and decorated ~100 gingerbread men (including gingerbread alien and gingerbread accident victim) for Sophia's birthday hurrah at the climbing gym tomorrow.
Aurora thrived with her friends, Sophia kept up admirably, and Tova gamely got doted on and sang at the top of her voice every chance she got. A fun weekend with some feisty kids.
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| The Library rocks |
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| Bowties by Aurora |
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| The artists at work |
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