Here we are at the start of another week. And half way through another month. Time is rather rushing past at the moment! But at least the days are growing longer, always a good thing, in my opinion.
Today my weather app was frighteningly exact in its correctness. It told me there was a high percentage chance of rain at 9.00. I fully expected to be back from my run by then and before that there was 0% chance of rain. So I decided to leave my raincoat hanging in the peg. At almost exactly 9.00 I was within a few hundred yards from home when I realised that rain was indeed splashing off the puddles at the side of the path. Yes, as predicted, it was raining. It didn’t last long but it was uncanny how precisely accurate the forecasting was!
By midday there was blue sky and sunshine. I could almost believe spring was beginning.
Yesterday the family came to dinner, as they often do on a Sunday. I had made a cake, as I often do. The small boy was quite indignant because the cake was not decorated and demanded sprinkles, at the very least, to put on his slice of cake. Ideally he would have liked me to ice the cake there and then. We had a little discussion about decorated cakes being for special occasions such as birthdays and the need to remember to make a chocolate cake for the imminent birthday of his older sister, Granddaughter Number Two. (Chocolate cake is her favourite kind.)
This prompted me to ask if the family will be around for the aforementioned birthday as they are off to Houston, Texas for a holiday some time soon. Yes, my daughter assured me, they will still be here. Upon which the small boy declared, ‘I will because I’m here for birthdays of any type’ 😆 Oh, to be four years old and so full of enthusiasm for birthdays and celebrations!
Grandson Number Two is a very articulate four year old, keen to tell you things and eager to boss everyone about. There’s quite a lot of discussion about early years development at the moment and the problem of children unable to express themselves. Many blame it on the isolation of being a baby during the pandemic lockdown. This does not seem to have affected our small boy, despite his having been a very ill baby in the early days of lockdown.
Someone called Janice White, now 81, a former speech teacher, wrote recently about the importance of learning to speak properly, and the importance of actually speaking to and interacting with babies and toddlers. Here’s part of what she had to say:
“In public I often see a parent with child in pushchair, the parent completely engaged on their mobile phone while the child, given a tablet to keep them quiet, taps and swipes distractedly as the screen changes.
In contrast, in a pre-digital age children in prams and pushchairs sat facing their parent as they walked along, able to engage in a lively exchange, the child cooing and gooing in conversation and in so doing developing muscularity in the speech organs.”
I have long argued in favour of pushchairs facing the pram-pusher - so much easier to talk to the baby! I confess to not having thought about the need to “develop muscularity in the speech organs” but I suppose it makes sense. And, as Janice White went on, children who can’t articulate the sounds of the language properly are going to have difficulty learning to read. Make sure children learn nursery rhymes, that’s what I say. Oh, and there’s little wrong with them watching stuff on screens, so long as someone watches with them and talks about it with them. That’s my opinion, anyway!
But here’s a link to some letters in response to what Janice White wrote about children’s screen time and development.
Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!
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