Catbus is back!!

Well, frigadoodledoo. I have just discovered that this here blog has remained stagnant and untouched since March. I am ashamed. Yet I still have the excuse of an awful sleep routine, courtesy of Jumping Bean, who has not long had his first birthday..
You would think he would be sleeping better, but no: 3 hour blocks maximum at night, and has a definite boob obsession. Which in itself is knackering.

Anyhooo, back to the subject of blogging and such. So much has happened again I cannot seriously remember half of it. Although there have been many ups and downs as per.

Mad Fairy did eventually return to school in June. This lasted half a term...
Although she made friends and amazed me with the way she took it all in her stride, the crux of it was that she felt completely affronted when told she 'hadn't done enough work' and was up in arms when told to put fingers on lips when finished working. I honestly thought that sort of thing went out with flares. Although, come to think of it, I suppose flares come in and out of fashion, so I expect fingers on lips does too..

I was relieved when she posted her de reg letter and am feeling like the gap she left when not here for lunch, or to witness some Charlie Chaplinesque moves from her younger brothers, has been restored and filled. I feel whole again.

So, what's been going on chez Catbus?

Well, Manga Girl has an upcoming place in an art exhibition..she is working hard towards it and I am so very proud.
Mad Fairy now has a camcorder, so that has been entertaining! Her creativity really comes out there!
Both girls have started Forest School one day a week and absolutely love it.

Shouting Boy is nearly 4 now. Although he is akin to a whirling demolition site, he also has amazing moments of total focus and peace. He is showing me the way with autonomy big style: having done nothing formal with him, he has fantastic number recognition and can whip through a deck of cards telling you what most of them are.
And Jumping Bean is a beautiful, exhausting, toddling mischief, who I  can see is absorbing things daily.

That's me, touching base. There is so much more, but there is only so much you can type with one hand..

Liebster Award

Oh my days. I have been awarded the Liebster Award and I can honestly say I cannot remember when I last received an accolade of any kind. Apart from being Runner Up in a Sindy colouring competition once upon a time. So massive thankyou Rachael, who writes a fantastic blog, The Sixth Element.
I have mah hassive respect for this woman, and love to hear about what she has been up to, which is usually a lot more than me..
over at http://startingover78.blogspot.com/

Being pretty new to this blogging game, I have only just begun to follow people: I am totally inspired by so many of them. So currently, I only have one that stands out, which is mainly due to lack of time to read much these days.

DRUMROLL PLEASE...

And the recipient of Catbus' Liebster Award goes to...(pretend there is now a nauseating / irritating / melodramatic / uncalled for / delete as appropriate, never ending silence).....

http://youvegotyourehandsfull.blogspot.com/

I love this blog! It is candid, funny and something I can really relate to. <duly hands award over in a sombre, theatrical, envious fashion>

Oh I can hear the ripples of applause..Thankyou lovely bloggy people: you never know, I might actually get some followers!!


The Liebster Award is designed to be awarded to ‘small’ blogs with less than 300 subscribers to spread the blog love and get them out to a wider audience. The rules are:
1. Post displaying the award (done), linking back to the person who awarded you (done)
2. Choose your own blog picks (below) and let them know they’re awarded
3. Hope everyone discovers some new favourites
4. Revel in the blog love!

The Stanley Man

Shouting Boy had a fantastic time today.

The Stanley Man came to fix the burner today: Shouting Boy immediately raced upstairs, donning his toolbelt and various irrelevant tools for the job. Stanley Man, luckily, was very accommodating to the Boy's needs: he let him sit close by and talked him through taking the burner apart. The most important part of which involved blowing up his rubber glove, which Shouting Boy took extremely seriously! Now that was a priceless Home Ed 'lesson'. Shouting Boy was very proud of himself, despite Madfairy stifling her giggles at his overly serious behaviour..

A bizarrely peaceful day chez Catbus, with much playing and even more laughter. Manga Girl in stitches watching Shouting Boy 'ON THE PHONE TO GRANDAD SO JUST BE QUIET, TUT, TUT, OKAAAY' in the back yard. She helped him ride his bike. Jumping Bean joined in the fun, boinging about inside and out. Mr Catbus working not far away, which always adds to the vibe.

Spring is springing and it feels good. Catbus is totally in love with her children, especially on a day like today.
Mr Catbus isn't bad either...

Serious case of the wobbles

Well, what can I say? The last few weeks have gone by so fast. Manga Girl had a birthday: one of the guinea pigs died: I wobbled so stupidly, Madfairy was very close to checking out school with a view to going.


Although I am happy to facilitate whatever they want regarding education, I cannot help feel like I steered her that way briefly, due to my own shortcomings or worries.
We discussed it in quite some depth, culminating in writing a list of things she might want to do more of, or make better. Halfway through the list, Madfairy stated that as we had so much on the list, we may as well "cancel the school thing."  She was also not impressed that she would have to write about things, whether they took her fancy or not.


Writing currently takes her fancy when doing a menu for her cafe, at present, or speech bubbles in cartoon pictures. Her reading is amazing, as is her ability to grasp many concepts. Maths seems to float her boat at the moment.


I was fortunate enough to have a long phone call with a woman that is a true HE veteran. She put pay to many of my wobbles, including those about Manga Girl. For a good while, I have been concerned that her obsession/passion for all things manga/anime/Japanese is 'too narrow'.
She is, admittedly, brilliant at drawing, and has gone to the library of late and got herself a Japanese dictionary..It is amazing seeing the font of knowledge she has about all of this, and it is hard sitting on my hands and hoping this is all okay. Despite attempts to further/steer this interest, she will not deviate from the path she clearly knows she's on.


Said veteran said something quite resonating, regarding all of this: 'Imagine if Motzart's Mother would have said to him "Don't do that ALL the time, do this instead, pottery would be more interesting, surely?".'


So I am getting the hang of Autonomous Education, slowly but surely. And getting that I need to have faith in my children.
This truely is a rollercoaster..

Where has the time gone?

I really think I have a problem with my short term memory. I cannot remember for the life of me what specifically we have been doing over the last two weeks. Which I now realise is the point of a blog, especially if it's used daily. On the up side, I can very clearly recall the exact location of the creme eggs in the fridge, so I can't be that bad..

Manga Girl's beloved hamster Lenny died; it was really devastating for her, and I surprised myself at how I empathised with her grief. Mr Catbus went armed with a spade with her and Mad Fairy up a hill to bury Lenny. This must have looked a bit suspect, given it was 10pm..

I have been wobbling chronically, again, about home ed. However, Manga Girl is really coming into her own now: she is taking things in her stride and every day I see her confidence grow, her ability to reason expand and her passion for what she chooses to explore, my heart and my head can have an equilibrium which no words can truely express.

Mad Fairy constantly amazes me with her sponge like brain. Her incessant and relentless chatter is peppered daily with little titbits of random information she has picked up, like a magnet, along the way, when I wasn't even looking.

Shouting Boy has been poorly, which hasn't affected the volume, despite his cough. He has moved on to the next level, bizarrely after having his hair cut at the barbers for the first time. Luckily he seems to have chilled back down a bit and has been fairly tame.

Jumping Bean has been ill too and ever the reason for our evenings evaporating and my eyes rolling with exhaustion. He is so damn gorgeous though, the sleep deprivation is worth it.

I am pledging a 2 month and a bit late New Years Resolution to try to post at least once a week here, Jumping Bean allowing, that is. Then I can fill in all the blanks, as so far this has not been very specific..

Reminding myself why we home ed...

Testing testing..

Catbus calling; is there anybody out there? I am new to this blogging but I am already quite sure we'll get along okay. It's a bit like when I wander around chuntering to myself of a day, never sure whether anybody is actually listening at first. I usually find out that they have taken in most of what I've said, around a fortnight later. And usually find this out in a randomly linked way. Which is why most of the time, I think that we're on the right path. Or somethin or nuffin.

I think I might enjoy this..