About Art For Children

I enrolled in a beginners course in painting in acrylics in 2008. I'd never had any formal art training before and wanted to bring my signature style of cartoon-like characters to life on canvass. After ten years of (computer) graphic design, it was time to get my art off the computer and on canvass. In recent months I've held stalls in three markets in the Nelson region - at The Richmond Annual Market Day in December 2008, The Founders Fair in February 2009 and most recently, The Mapua Easter Fair in April 2009. I've sold twelve paintings thus far. At this point my art is for children's bedrooms but I plan to bring some of my cartoons to life on canvass in the near future as well.

When plans go out the window

"New Mum On The Block "
Nelson District Parent Centre Newsletter May/June 2008

Having babies isn't always a simple affair. I don't think any Mums I've spoken to experienced child-birth in quite the way they'd “planned”. With the number of births that occur each day around the globe, it always amazes me that no story is ever the same with childbirth. Things can go wrong or at least, not as planned. It does pay to be semi-prepared for things to go differently to what you might have hoped.

Amelia's entrance into the world was the complete opposite of the birth plan I had carefully considered with my midwife. I'd envisioned using a swiss ball to rock on as contractions passed through my body. I thought I'd spend some time in a bath in a birthing room at Nelson hospital. I was planning on taking minimal pain relief and was looking forward to seeing how I'd cope with a natural childbirth. I attended antenatal Yoga classes and my husband and I endured many sessions of The Pink Kit video which were incredibly intimate so I figured my body was ready in many ways. I was looking forward to experiencing childbirth and felt as prepared as I could possibly be.

Or so I thought!

Turns out the only part of my birth plan that happened was having my daughter in Nelson hospital! My daughter was in foetal distress and so she was delivered by c-section. Even though we had “acted out” a c-section in our antenatal class at the Parent Centre, when it came to the crunch, the reality of having an emergency c-section was quite a shock. It was the first time in my life I'd been on an operating table and I just didn't know what to expect. It all happened so fast so I didn't have a lot of time to digest what was going on.

C-section deliveries are common but what is uncommon is the fact that I had an ovary removed at the same time. That was the part that was definitely unexpected. I had unexplained pain for three weeks before my daughter's arrival and the cause was never found. But because I was five days away from my due date and in obvious pain that seemed to be unrelated to pregnancy, I was admitted to Nelson Hospital via A&E at four in the morning on a Saturday. Amelia was delivered at 11pm on a Sunday night.

I ended up having a general anaesthetic and this really threw me off for weeks, if not months after my daughter's arrival. It certainly threw me off emotionally. Losing an ovary was traumatic so I did seek out the local Post Natal Depression Support group which was very helpful in talking through my experience.

I was forewarned by the obstetrician at Nelson Hospital that I might enter menopause early as a consequence of losing an ovary. She could have been right in her prediction as it has been a painstaking 19 months of trying to conceive a second baby. Next week I am going in for surgery to have a 6.5cm cyst removed that is believed to be affecting my fertility. That is also quite unexpected - I certainly never envisaged having two major operations over a three year period.

I always thought I'd have two children so it has been a hard road enduring secondary infertility. It has been an emotional roller-coaster ride to say the least. Becoming a parent rocked my world big-time in many ways and life has never been the same since! However despite some of the unexpected medical issues that have arisen along the way, I still wouldn't trade my time with Amelia thus far for anything. It has definitely been worth it all.

Feeding small minds

"New Mum On The Block "
Nelson District Parent Centre Newsletter March/April 2008

Education in the formative years is all about play. Luckily I have always been a child at heart so play isn't something I find hard to do. However I realised early on that I wasn't going to be enough to keep my girl stimulated and started taking Amelia to the Playgroup at the Tahunanui Community Centre at the age of six months. She is almost three so has been going for two and a half years, twice a week for up to two hours a time.

It has been the most amazing place for both myself and Amelia. It is an excellent stepping stone to either Kindy or preschool as young tots are exposed to a wide array of play areas (over twenty) to fuel their sponge-like minds as well as the opportunity to socialise with children in the birth to four age range. Amelia will be starting afternoon Kindy this year and I am confident she will be ready as her time at Playgroup has been such a positive time of learning for her.

Amelia has also been going to Tots 'n Tunes at St Stephens church in Tahunanui for two and a half years. It has been incredibly rewarding watching her grow from an anxious six month old to a confident preschooler who now knows many of the songs and actions.

Amelia has also had swimming lessons for over a year. We've also done two terms of gymnastics. Any class with children in it has to be a positive thing. They learn so much from following instruction and taking social cues off other children. Not to mention they have a ball. It is crucial, I would say, that education for the preschooler is centred around fun.

Weekly playdates are also on the agenda and the one-on-one time has been an important aspect of Amelia's social development. Concepts such as sharing and playing nice are able to be taught a little easier with just two children rather than in a group.

All parents have the overwhelming responsibility to make sure our children are stimulated across the spectrum. And us at-home Mums have the added pressure of orchestrating interesting activities for our children often seven days of the week.

Earlier today I created several lists to encourage my husband and myself to shake things up a bit at home. They include “physical fun at home”, “physical adventures outside of the home”, “ideas for socialising”, “indoor quiet play”, and “indoor active play.” Most of the ideas listed have been tried and tested by many a Mum, so aren't highly original. But somehow starting the lists has inspired me to think of some new ideas. It was an affirmation that Amelia is getting her needs met at home but we could certainly do more – and have some fun at the same time!

It is easy to get stuck in the same old patterns and then to wonder why your preschooler is mooching around the house. I've just clicked recently that being an at-home Mum can be as creative a job as I want it to be. So now I have these lists started, I hope to move from average to great Mum status. I want to look back at these precious preschool years and know I really did the best I could with Amelia. It is easy to think that our children can only be stimulated in an educational setting but I don't think that's true. They certainly need to socialise with other children. Yet there is plenty we can do as parents to keep our children fresh and interested – it just involves thinking outside the square a little.

Learned behaviour is big with children and as parents we are modeling life as we know it to our children.

What are we teaching our children about marriage/love, family, nutrition, self-care, self-love? Do we eat well, love ourselves and demonstrate we care deeply about our nearest and dearest? What about finances? Are we living within our means? And our addictions? Are they in front of our children's faces demonstrating that they are acceptable to us and therefore acceptable to them? Do we follow our dreams and live passionate lives or have we given in and settled with our lot?

It's important to teach our children family values. Seated dinners every night have taught Amelia that eating nutritious food together every evening is a time for companionship and fun. We tag-team a lot as parents during the week so I personally love the fact that there is this one time in the day when I know we'll all be together.

There is nothing like the words of an almost three year old coming back at you to confirm that you are on the right – or wrong track. It was so pleasing to hear my daughter politely ask for an icecream the other day “Yes, please mummy” she said when I asked if she wanted one, “Thanks, mummy” when it was handed to her followed by a “delicious” when we sat down in a civilised manner in the icecream palour.

Then there are the words, although not bad, that make me cringe upon hearing them parrotted back such as “for goodness sakes!” whenever it appears I might be frustrated about something. There is no doubt that modeling is the most powerful form of learning for a young child's mind.

What a hard job it is to be a parent with those little watchful eyes taking in everything we do - no-one is perfect. I'm certainly not. I'm well aware my daughter in her short life has been exposed to many of my human flaws. But there's always room for improvement.