What I learned in Waldorf this week - Warmth and Sleep

bensmommy | Jan 14, 2009 | 0 | Posted in Everything Else

Hello all,

This week we cooked a delicious soup with chestnuts, apples, leeks and celery root.  The children had a great time chopping the vegetables and scooping the insides from the pre-boiled chestnuts.  The result... again, delicious!  My son is in an anti-soup phase but mommy makes sure to eat his share :)

In our discussion we talked about making sure that our children are warm enough and to steer clear of our "democratic parenting" in this situation.  If their hands are cold, their bodies are cold.  My son tends to have a fit if I try to get a thick jacket on and FORGET about having a hat on for more than 5 minutes.  And yes, his hands tend to be cold and when asked he answers "I'm fine.  I'm not cold."  I have started being more forceful and he knows that if it's cold, there will be a jacket!  I am so thankful to be away from that at the moment.  My favorite thing about California is tank-top weeks in January!

In the discussion about sleep, we discussed the importance of having our toddlers in bed at 7pm.  Not only is a good nights sleep essential for the development of children, it is also essential for the relationship of the parents.  Though my son tends to sleep really well from 9pm to 8am, it is true that my wife and I almost never see each other since we ourselves tend to be ready for bed at 10!  We are slowly slowly trying to change our evening routine to get him in bed earlier, especially now while it's dark early.  

And on a random note, in these Waldorf classes, there is a song that goes with most everything - taking off our shoes when we arrive, washing hands, kneading dough, playing, cleaning, coming, going, etc.  I have started using these songs at home and after the first or second word, my son will drop what he's doing and pick up the broom, the sponge, his toothbrush or pretty much anything I sing towards.  What a blessing this has been.  And it keeps me from losing my cool as well.  

Happy Tank-Top January,
Jessie