Bananas

 1. Rainy days, 2. Miss Five Nature Journaling, 3. Emerson, 4. Fern, 5. Wallaby love, 6. Kookaburra feather?

There's a show on the ABC, 'Didi and B'. A butterfly puppet, Didi, sings the days of the week, then B mucks about half way thought and shouts, 'Bananas!' and they both have a fit of giggles. It makes my children giggle too. "Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thurs, Bananas!"

We spend a lot of time together exploring, creating and learning. But too often the children end up squabbling and I am left feeling like a referee while the magic of the day is lost. After looking for a shorthand way to get my children's attention when they are fighting, 'bananas' has become our codeword for feeling frustrated or cranky. It has made all the difference to smoother, battle free-ish days now that we are all spending more time together through homeschooling. Using the codeword 'bananas' is both funny and nonsensical, and gently breaks the mood. When the children start to bicker I say, "Are you feeling bananas?" And they can't help but crack a smile, despite trying to keep a straight/cranky face. Rather than saying, "I am feeling frustrated", I say, "I'm feeling bananas". Or, "are you feeling bananas?" The weight seems to lift without blame. Once the tension has eased we can discuss their frustrations, put their big feelings into words, and find solutions.

The children have embraced the term as their own and will acknowledge proudly that it is lunch time, and no one has said the word 'bananas'. Or point out when I am starting to express 'bananas' and try to offer alternatives.

It's sweet that such a simple thing could have such a big impact on our days and help us all be mindful of our reactions and emotions, and the way they affect the family.

Do you have a family code word that helps destress a situation? Or a tactic for improving the relationships between your children? I'd love to hear, for who knows how long 'bananas' will be effective?!

Seed week

Our seed walk collection

Nine fluffy ducklings, oh my

Cicada shells

Unexpected and delightful things happen when you spend time outdoors with children. They play, they learn, they make their own 'fairy playground' from logs, they fall in ponds, they make discoveries, they get swooped by magpies, they meet friendly magpies, and sometimes, semi-wild wallabies allow the children to pat them. All of which happened this week.

We explored the richness and variety of seeds at our local pond, following the Exploring Nature with Children curriculum. We looked at seed dispersal methods and the parts of a seed, made seed art and collected seeds to observe, discuss and draw. Our nature table is now over flowing with all kinds of beautiful, clever seeds and the children are pointing out seeds to me as we go about our days.

Begin afresh

On our nature table

Recent pages from my Nature Journal

Spring is here

Australian Wood Duck

Pinned Tiger Moth

Carpenter Bee found dead on a path at Daisy Hill

Toddler and tree roots of a fallen over tree

Hello, turtle!

Nature Journal from today

The Trees - Philip Larkin

The trees are coming into leaf 
Like something almost being said; 
The recent buds relax and spread, 
Their greenness is a kind of grief. 

Is it that they are born again 
And we grow old? No, they die too, 
Their yearly trick of looking new 
Is written down in rings of grain. 

Yet still the unresting castles thresh 
In fullgrown thickness every May. 
Last year is dead, they seem to say, 
Begin afresh, afresh, afresh.

Welcome Spring! With your warmth and renewal. With butterflies and moths on the wing. With all your promises after Winter. New life to explore. New fruit in season. New vegetables in my garden.

Welcome Spring, let us both begin afresh.