Silent Sunday 24/11/13

Barbados April 2012

I've been recently thinking about our holiday last year. Mainly due to BericeBaby going there now.
Last year we stayed in a beautiful hotel called Almond Casurina, in St Lawrence Gap. The Gap as it is otherwise known as is the place to be for nightclubs, rum bars etc. It is not where you would expect a lovely peaceful family hotel, but this is where both the Almond Casurina and Turtle Beach (another lovely family resort) are based. The Almond has since closed and reopened as Couples, an adults only resort. We would have loved to have gone back, I haven't written this blog post before due to the closure of the hotel.

Nate 'reading' in his cot

My grandmother lives in Barbados so I have only stayed in a hotel for 2 visits there and a three day stint another time. So to experience Barbados as a Tourist (can you ever really) was fun although we really didn't need to leave the resort as it was an all inclusive.

One thing I would recommend with any island is check the beaches, if you can't see any locals there is a reason for it, especially Barbados as you cannot own a beach. This beach was not as rough as those on the South-East coast in Barbados (i.e. Sam Lords Castle or The Crane) but it wasn't as serene as the beaches we visit in the rest of Christ Church (Barbados is divided into Parishes a bit like UK is  counties). We didn't swim at the beach here, Nate didn't like the waves and we had access to two pools which he was used to.

It's very hot, I think I need to repeat that again, it is very hot. Nate took an extra nap every day and was exhausted by 6. It was hot and he handled it well but it did exhaust him. Be careful in the sun with little children, their skin is thinner than adults.

This was our balcony, we enjoyed "breakfast in bed" one morning we were there, no where near bed as you can see. Nate loved the birds that would come and steal crumbs. There are lots of animals to watch, this time he loved seeing the lizards. 

Nate spent most of the holiday in as little as possible however, there is a tipping point. It is very hot so when in the sun he was covered up and we spent as little time as possible out in the sun, pre-breakfast swim and post-lunch swim were our main times for being out in the sun and in the pool. 

We took Nate to Harrison's cave, which is a crystallised limestone cavern. He was a little young to enjoy it but I think he enjoyed the coolness of the cave. He'd enjoy it more now he is slightly older and could ask questions but did sit quietly on my lap. I remember growing up I would want to go to The Cave every year but they closed it often to doing work to improve it.

As you can see we really enjoyed our time at the Almond Casurina. It was a lovely resort that had lots of things to do. Since becoming an adults only resort they have recommended the resort next door which is Turtle Beach. We however, didn't stay there but have had a lovely stay at The Crane, which has two sections the original 1887 building and the new buildings. We stayed at the original 1887 building when they were still building the new buildings over 10 years ago and recently stayed in the new building. It is lovely and the views are gorgeous unless you get a room overlooking the building work (we did) but there was still a beautiful view if you ignored the concrete. 

There is plenty to do in Barbados for all ages.

Busy making for Christmas

Just a teaser post :)

Flavourings and icing

These are the ingredients I'm currently using. 

Any ideas what I'm making?  

Free Birds Movie

Last weekend we attended a screening of Free Birds. The film is about Thanksgiving and how one turkey who's very different from the rest decides (with the help of a friend) to get turkey off the Thanksgiving meal. There were lots of bits that made Nate jump and he was a little scared of parts of the film (not that they were traditionally scary).

We saw Free Birds in 3D but I can't really remember much of the 3D, not sure if that means the 3D element was subtle but good or non-existent. Nate as normal watched all but the first few minutes without the 3D glasses.

After the film there was a meal laid out of the new Thanksgiving foods that the turkey's introduced, I have to admit it took me a little while to work this out. There were also a few great activities to do with the children, there were make your own chick, making a turkey, having your picture taken and an entertainer. The entertainer was great she was dressed up as a farmer and had the children spinning plates and other great things, Nate was most interested when she started to make ballon objects (dogs, swords, butterflies etc). He waited patiently right in front of the lady and when she asked who's next he put his little hand up but was one of the last to get a ballon sword. It was great to see him waiting so patiently and involved while being one of the smallest in the room.

"I'm not doing it don't try and make me"

I'd recommend going to see Free Birds, there are lots of mentions of Thanksgiving and the traditions surrounding Thanksgiving at the beginning but it doesn't spoil the film if you know nothing of those traditions. Free Birds is out 29th November, it's great fun.

School Worries

Nate is 2 and a quarter and this time next year I will have chosen his school. He will be one of the youngest in his year and I have started to worry whether he will be 'ready' for school. It is something I have worried about since he was tiny, there were children that will be in his year at school that were walking/eating solids/sleeping through the night before he was even born. Many people have told me there is nothing to worry about however, I'm still concerned about putting a young child in such a formal learning setting where results are all that matters.

Now schools are cracking down on term time holidays, whatever they are for, I am even more concerned. At four, I'm sure Nate will learn more outside of the classroom than inside. I don't mean generally but in the case of a one on one trip to a museum over sitting in a classroom with various different abilities and one teacher (and possibly a Teaching Assistant) he would be far better off in the former situation. However, with the new rules I would not be granted the ability to take my son out in term time for a day, and there maybe school holidays but many of these places are full at these times.

Many of my apprehensions over school are possibly down to my own experience. I was able to read when half of the class couldn't, so I was sat next to someone who couldn't read and who was actively encouraged to just copy my work. That benefitted neither of us, I didn't get the extra work that would have academically stretched me and they didn't get the help they desperately needed. I'm not a Tiger mum but I do want the best for my son and I don't want him to stagnate and my biggest worry is he will not be in the academic middle but somewhere in one of the extremes. Or maybe my biggest worry is he will be so small and not emotionally ready for school.

 Whatever my true worry is, I know I feel uneasy with a (my) four year old being in full time education.

Tiddler Review

Last week Julia Donaldson visited our local bookshop. We have many of her books, What the Ladybird Heard being Nate's favourite at the moment (or was his favourite). Nate had the option of any of her books to buy and get signed, he chose Tiddler.

He loves the sea, and fish so we happily bought him Tiddler. It's a lovely sing song book, with the repetition that Julia Donaldson does so well. There is a surprise guest from a previous Julia Donaldson book (The Gruffalo) which to me illustrates the fun in this book.

Just today alone we have read the book three times, Nate loves it. He loves the refrain and really enjoys giving Tiddlers reasons for being late. And as a sign of his growing, for the first time Nathaniel is joining in with the story. Aided by its repetition, he'll say "Tiddler? Tiddler? Tiddler's late!"

So as with her other books, Tiddler comes highly recommended by Nate. and his Dad and Mum, who have all enjoyed reading it.

Bedtime Story

Sharing

When people talk about sharing and toddlers/children it never ends well. There are some who believe that forcing your child to share isn't really sharing at all but glorified snatching and there are others who think you should encourage children to share. I'm going to get splinters here and announce I'm on the fence. I do think you should encourage taking turns, which sometimes can fall under sharing. However,  we have always encouraged Nate to share by sharing with him. Sounds strange but we share most things with him, if we are eating we don't make an issue of him having some off our plate but welcome it. On the whole he is good with sharing things, he has started to call things "mine" but isn't as possessive as some children with "mine" objects. They are simply his, but mummy, daddy or Joe Bloggs can play with them but remember they are his.

Recently we have started to realise he is insistent that everyone has something. Nate wanted a biscuit so we offered him one and he picked three up (one at a time) we said "only one" his reply was: one for him, one for daddy and one for mummy. Very sweet. Even sweeter he'd finished his biscuit and wanted another so I offered him my one. He started to cry because he didn't want me to not have a biscuit. I love it so much that Nate likes to share with us.