So far so good 🙂
Managed to get out of the house before 10am which was quite an achievement – the library carpark was full with a queue so I asked Davies if he thought he could go in there on his own and give the videos back to the librarian while I waited in the car (literally outside) he was qute up for doing it and merrily toddled off. The car park queue then moved forward so I was not directly outside anymore so I got scared and ran it to check on him – he was fine – standing happily in the queue 🙂
I think I probably err on the side of too laid back sometimes – mainly to counterbalance Ady who is the other side of paranoid – despite the fact he could not have come out of the library without me seeing him, it is a very small library anyway which he knows well as we go there most weeks and he is very sensible Ady would have been imagining him being snatched and dragged out of the fire exit round the back. I know bad things happen, I know this is a dangerous world we live in and I’m not about to start sending him out to do the weekly shop alone but I am making a real effort to start getting him to do little things like that – he feels so good about himself afterwards and as he is not going to get that massive one hit of independance in starting school I feel like I should be doing something to work towards him being okay on his own in day to day life gradually.
Which also brings me onto ‘Stranger Danger’ – anyone done anything on this yet with their small people? Davies is not only happy to talk to but actively seeks out adults to talk to, when we went to the Science museum last time he got slighly ‘mislaid’ and was quite capable of finding a lady in uniform and telling her his name, age and my name. I have taught him how to dial 999 and he knows our address – I’m working on our phone number. I sort of feel that dealing with the fact that not every grown up is an OK person is probably the next step, but I know I need to tackle it well – any ideas?
Anyway, we then went to Tescos where we bought food for the week, the first hit of ‘stuff for Melrose’ (which is now nestling in two carrier bags in the newly cleared cupboard under the stairs 🙂 ) of new toothbrushes, shower gel, wipes and nappies and emergency supplies of long life milk. Also got Tarly a couple of tie dye tops that had just been put out so we blend in 😉
And then we had lunch! Davies sitting watching Ice Age again and Scarlett sat on the floor making patterns with the Tesco version of connect 4 I bought.
My grandmother will be here shortly to no doubt continue her cross examination of me about HE which she got interupted on last time and comment about my weight 🙂 Back later!
rofl at the tie dye tops, don’t think we’ve got any atm! What you really need to blend in is a Gamecube under one arm and Draw Write Now under the other 🙂
Haven’t done anything wrt stranger danger here, I’m the most unparanoid person about that particular topic that I know. I figure that it doesn’t actually happen very often, it’s just that we hear more media coverage about it these days. I’d prefer to work on the ‘self’ stuff, iyswim – one’s own self confidence, self awareness, etc., rather than focussing on other people, because you really can’t tell who is an OK person and who isn’t, these days – that (OK-ness, I mean) in itself is subjective and depends entirely on what the circumstances are. Could get very philosophical at this point but I’d better not.
Must must write my Melrose list. How did it go with your grandma?!
Comment by Sarah — 31 January 2005 @ 2:45 pm
Yes, I worry more about what non-strangers might do, than strangers, to be honest, so I encourage the “no-one should do anything to you ever that you don’t feel comfortable about” “if you feel uneasy, you can lie, cheat, do whatever you need to to get out of the situation, and I will back you up later”, and to THINK. Would it be likely that mum would send this person to get me? Would a sensible grown up try to get me into their house/car” etc. What would be the safest thing to do to get out of this situation?
Comment by Joyce — 31 January 2005 @ 2:52 pm
Well that’s us looking like outsiders then! We have neither DWN or a gamecube (or a playstation or an X box for that matter!) 🙂
WRT stangers or otherwise what you both say makes sense, I agree it is more about the child being able to recognise what is and isn’t an OK situation and feeling able to extract themselves from one if they get into it. I just don’t really know how to broach the topic of not everyone who seems nice necessarily is and that although I expect them to be respectful and not rude that they also should not be scared of saying no to an adult if they have to…. hard isn’t it?
Comment by Nic — 31 January 2005 @ 2:59 pm
Yes I am in the don’t trust anyone with your child category. I think it is all to do with my childhood – the ones closest to us hurt us so a stranger isn’t going to think twice, however, strangers have been really helpful to me at times during my life. It really is a difficult thing to judge – with LC not talking it’s even more of a worry and I do fluctuate between never letting her out of my site and having her name, address and telephone number tatooed to her body LOL
Comment by Karen b — 31 January 2005 @ 3:01 pm
Is that the BOGOF ones, in light green, purple and pink? I picked up two today for Hannah with my (ahem) new jeans 🙂
Comment by Joyce — 31 January 2005 @ 3:27 pm
And yes, it is hard to know how to tackle it, as I do want her to be able to intereact with people in a pleasant way. It’s finding the way to encourage her to be alert, make sensible decisions if she has too etc. that’s the challenge.
Comment by Joyce — 31 January 2005 @ 3:31 pm
Its the tinies version (I think the BOGOF sizes started at 4-5!) so it was one for a fiver, two for six quid 🙂
And – new jeans eh? 😉
Comment by Nic — 31 January 2005 @ 3:34 pm
Nope, not a lot of tie dye here (not least because I can never spell it!) either. In fact I was feeling depressingly ordinary at our group today – neither elegant, nor alternative, nor fashionable – rather frumpy in fact. 🙁 And for someone who usually doesn’t care much about appearance, that’s quite an achievement.
Comment by jax — 31 January 2005 @ 5:13 pm
BOGOF? Off to Tesco tomorrow then – will they match the pink cord skirt? 😉
Comment by Sarah — 31 January 2005 @ 6:55 pm
We’re bringing no tie-dye, no DWN, no game cube, bongos, electronic games of any sort. It’s a weird in-between world, isn’t it, feeling conventional at HE groups and a freak in the rest of the world 😉
Comment by Jan — 31 January 2005 @ 7:37 pm
Hannah is one of those weird kids who have only just learned to use a mouse, and th only electronic thing we have is the gamecube, bought for the bongos. And probably played with by Bob more than anyone. He’s already told me I can’t take it to Melrose, as he’ll be using it.
Comment by Joyce — 31 January 2005 @ 8:22 pm