Princess time

I slept in this morning, and apparently that’s not allowed, because there were demands of “Why isn’t Auntie Sonja downstairs for breakfast?” I got up, dressed quickly and was there in time for them to finish eating and distribute hugs before they left for daycare.  They were both fine today, no fevers, no sign of illness, so they had fun “playing on the slide and swings” and doing craft. I’ve been gifted with a craft item of a witch made by my niece.  I don’t think that it will go back to Ottawa with me, but I’ve been appropriately excited and laudatory about it.  My boys are well today.  When I called this morning, Jerry was curled up in a ball on Don’s lap and was sulking at me.  When I talked to him, he just pretended not to listen to me, then tried to push the phone out of Don’s hand.  Silly puppy!  Don has been under heavy puppy surveillance for the last couple of weeks, and is about ready to share that time!  Meanwhile, I’m very much under kiddie supervision, which is entertaining for everyone.  I’m temporarily crowned as a “junior princess” while my niece has decided that she’s the “big princess.”  I’m allowed to balance the tiara on my head for a moment.

Today was the orientation session for the grant review panel on which I’m volunteering next month.  It was an hour-long Zoom call, where we met the other patient reviewers and got an overview of the software that we’ll be using.  It was interesting to meet the others and to hear what’s expected of us.  They’ve explained that we might have a commitment of 35 hours over a month, including a full day teleconference to provide our reports on the applications.  I’ve also applied to participate in another panel, and I’m waiting to hear when — they’ve already replied and accepted my application — so that would mean that I’m going to have a few busy days.  Isn’t that fun?

I’m having fun watching how children develop.  My niece and nephew have demonstrated very different interests, that fall along traditional gender lines, most unusually.  They both get books and “neutral” toys, but she likes dolls, dresses, jewellery, and being a princess, while he usually has a car in each hand, is fascinated by construction items, wants to climb and drum and all those “frogs and snails and puppy dog tails” items!  With my godchildren — 30-ish years ago now — I’d watched as she was drawn to art, painting, drawing, music and eventually makeup, while the elder boy was quiet and liked to play with cars and trucks, while the youngest was very much into sports and climbing.  They also had access to the same toys and books, but their interests were divided from early on.  My elder niece was a reader and artist, who loved both dolls and cars  I know that there are yards of articles talking about shaping their interests and developing gender neutral behaviours, but my experience is that they will be drawn to their own choices independently.  I was told a few times that I’m not entitled to an opinion on children’s development as I have none myself, although it’s generally agreed that I’m good with them and they often trust me enough to share their thoughts and fears.  I ignore the people who have negative comments, because they aren’t useful. I am not suited to being a kindergarten teacher or for arranging camps or anything with more than 3 kids (I’m too outnumbered at that stage!) but I do my best one-on-one.

Tonight I’m playing princess and race driver simultaneously, and being worn down.  I’m delighted to announce that I’ve managed to shelve Frozen for a while, and we’re onto Dr. Seuss (The Sneetches, at the moment) so we’ll see how that goes.  It’s story time now, so I’m off to try and persuade her to sleep after her story.  Good night!