The rhythm within / Amb el ritme al cos

This weekend, we went to a concert. For Martí, it was his first concert. It was a morning session tribute to The Beatles played by a Valencian band, The Blisters.
We had a really good time. As soon as we came in, he went to the first row; and, as soon as the music started, he danced to it shaking his head, waving his arms as if playing the drums and wiggling his body to the rhythm. A hard day's morning.

Aquest cap de setmana vam anar de concert, el primer per a Martí. Va ser una sessió matinal de tribut als Beatles. Tocava una banda valenciana, The Blisters.
Ens ho vam passar genial. Conforme vam entrar, Martí va anar directe a primera fila. I conforme van començar a tocar, va seguir el ritme amb el cap, sacsant els braços com si tocara la bateria i balancejant el seu coset al ritme de la música. A hard day's morning.

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On schooling / Sobre l'escolarització

It's been one year since Aitana first started school. She started school for the first time in her life after Christmas holidays and not in September, due to personal reasons. In any case, it was a day we will never forget...


Ready for her first day

Sergi and I had had our issues regarding the topic of school. Basically, whether or not to school her before 6 (it is not compulsory to school children before 6 in Spain. Homeschooling is a choice, too, but not very widespread).
Once we decided to school her, we searched for the best place we could find. I even considered moving in order to be near of the rather few alternative learning environments that are located in València and Alacant. But the option of moving and leaving so many things behind didn't make much sense to us. We even started a project with some mothers, which didn't progress in the end.
So we decided to take her to a local, public school, near our home. The night before her first day, we could hardly sleep. We had told her what she might expect, we had previously introduced her to her teacher and some of her classmates and everything seemed to go well that morning. She got dressed, we all had breakfast and went to school with her. But, when she was at the door, she started saying she was sleepy and tired, and didn't want to walk in. We knew we had to leave her there, at the door, lining up next to her classmates, and leave. And that's what we did. She was crying, asking me not to leave, her teacher tried to calm her, she took her in her arms, and walk away with her.
I couldn't stop crying during that morning. The four hours she spent there felt like an unbearable eternity. What if she was crying the whole morning? "She will get used to it, I'm sure", said Sergi. "I know, but there's a difference between getting used and resigning to something", I said. Her teacher, Miss S, was kind enough to phone us to tell us that she had calmed down and that she was OK. Still, we didn't know what to do without her around. We put the TV on, as in an attempt to make time pass faster. We even went to the school gates and, without getting out of the car, we "spied" her during the break, while she was at the playground. 

 



Last year's last day of school

When we finally went to pick her up, she looked at us with a look she had never had before. It wasn't resentment, nor anger. She just looked puzzled, as if asking for us to put some sense into what she had lived that morning.
And there was the afternoon, from 3.30 to 5 PM. What shall we do? Shall we take her to school? We decided that Sergi would take her to school. This time, she also cried a bit, but as soon as she lost sight of him, she calmed down.
The next morning there were two options: either she refused to go, or she willingly agreed to go. And it happened the second one. And, since then on, everything has gone quite all right thanks to Aitana and thanks to her caring teacher, who paid special attention to the way she was adapting to school. She is very kind to children, very calmed, patient and loving. When we have a meeting with her, to talk about Aitana, she always tells us about how Aitana feels, if she's happy, what she likes or doesn't like doing and not about her academic achievements (which for us, at this age, are secondary).

This year, her first day was very different

We are happy about our choice. It is a conventional school, with all the drawbacks it may have, especially when children are at primary school: timetables, exams, textbooks (not many, actually), worksheets, homework and so on. But, as I said before, this is the best school we could find for Aitana and, along with these drawbacks, there are many positive things that deserve to be highlighted. It is a project-based school. It is the only school in our city which has a garden where children grow vegetables and study the subject of Natural Sciences. It follows a constructive approach in order to teach children to read and write. Parents are invited to participate in many activities. And we do. And her face beams when she sees us appear in her class in order to read with them, to prepare the Christmas decoration or to do some face painting for Halloween. 


Ha passat un any des d'el primer dia d'escola d'Aitana. Va començar l'escola per primera vegada en sa vida després de les vacances de Nadal i no al setembre , per raons personals . En qualsevol cas, va ser un dia que mai oblidarem ...Sergi i jo havíem tingut les nostres diferències en relació amb el tema de l'escola . Bàsicament , si escolaritzar-la o no abans dels 6 ( no és obligatòria abans dels 6 anys. Homeschooling és una opció també, però no molt estesa ) .
Finalment, vam decidir escolaritzar-la, i vam buscar el millor centre que vam poder trobar . Fins i tot vaig considerar mudar-nos per tal d'estar a prop dels escassos entorns d'aprenentatge alternatius que es troben a València i Alacant . Però l'opció de deixar tantes coses enrere no tenia massa sentit per a nosaltres . Fins i tot vam encetar un projecte amb algunes mares , que no va anar avant al final.
Així que vam decidir portar-la a una escola del poble, pública, a prop de casa . La nit abans del seu primer dia , quasi no vam poder dormir . La havíem dit el que podria esperar-se, l'havíem presentat  a la seva mestra i alguns dels seus companys i companyes de classe i tot semblava anar bé eixe matí . Es va vestir , vam desdejunar i ens vam anar a l'escola amb ella . Però , quan estava a la porta , va començar a dir que tenia son i estava cansada , i no volia entrar. Sabíem que havíem de deixar-la allí, a la porta , fent cua al costat dels seus companys de classe , i anar-nos-en. I això és el que vam fer. Ella es va quedar plorant , demanant-me que no me'n anara , la seva mestra va tractar de calmar-la, la va agafar en els seus braços , i va marxar amb ella .
Jo no podia deixar de plorar en tot el matí . Les quatre hores que va passar allà ens van semblar una eternitat insuportable . I si ella estava plorant tot el matí ? " S'acostumarà , estic segur" , deia Sergi . " Ho sé , però hi ha una diferència entre acostumar-se i resignar-se" , li vaig dir . La seva mestra , la senyoreta S , va tenir l'amabilitat de telefonar-nos per dir-nos que s'havia calmat i que estava bé. Tot i això , no sabíem què fer sense ella. Vam posar la tele , com en un intent de fer que el temps passara més ràpid . Fins i tot vam anar a les portes de l'escola i , sense baixar del cotxe , vam espiar-la durant l'esplai.Quan, finalment, vam anar a recollir-la, ella ens va mirar amb una mirada que mai havia tingut abans . No era ressentiment , ni enuig. Només ens mirava perplexa, com si estigués demanant que donarem una poc de sentit al que havia viscut aquell matí .
I quedava la vespreda, de 3.30 fins a les 5. Què farem ? Anem a portar-la a l' escola ? Vam decidir que Sergi la portaria. Aquesta vegada, també va plorar un poc, però quan va perdre de vista a son pare, es va calmar .
Al matí següent hi havia dues opcions : o bé es negava a anar , o anava de bona gana . I va succeir el segon . I , des d'aleshores, tot ha anat prou bé gràcies a Aitana i gràcies a l'atenció de la seua mestra, a com va estar pendent de la seua adaptació. La senyoreta S és molt amable amb els xiquets , molt pacient i afectuosa . Quan tenim una tutoria amb ella , per parlar d'Aitana , sempre ens parla de com es sent Aitana , si és feliç , el que li agrada o no li agrada fer i no sobre els seus èxits acadèmics ( que per a nosaltres , a aquesta edat , són secundaris ) .Estem contents amb la nostra elecció. És una escola convencional , amb tots els inconvenients que puga tenir, especialment quan comencen l'etapa de primària: horaris , exàmens , llibres de text ( no molts , en realitat) , fitxes, tasques , etc . Però , com he dit abans , aquesta és la millor escola que hem pogut trobar per a Aitana i , juntament amb aquests inconvenients , hi ha moltes coses positives que mereixen ser destacades . És una escola que treballa per projectes . És l'única escola a la nostra ciutat que compta amb un hortet on els xiquets i xiquetes cultiven verdures i estudien l'assignatura de Ciències Naturals . Segueix un enfocament constructivista per a llegir i escriure . Els pares estan convidats a participar en moltes activitats . I ho fem . I la seua cara s'il.lumina quan ens veu entrar la seua classe per tal de llegir amb ells , per preparar la decoració del Nadal o per a pintar-los les cares per a la festa de Halloween .

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Martí. 5 months old / Martí. 5 mesos

The days seem to pass very fast lately. My little angel is almost 5 months old and he's really conquered us all with his smile. I can't believe how he has changed and how many things he has learned. I love it when he plays with his feet. When he looks at me with his mouth wide open , as in wonder. I love to sing to him, because, from time to time, he joins in and starts making noises, as if singing along, hahahah! He has lately learned to roll over and stand on his belly and elbows. It's amazing to see how he draws all the will power to do it. Actually, the first time he did it, that night, he woke up at 3 o'clock in the middle of the night and couldn't go back to sleep. As soon as I put him back in bed to sleep, he rolled over and started making noises. I think he was soooo excited, he couldn't stop practicing. After 2 hours (not entirely devoted to rolling over, thanks God), he (and I) finally went back to sleep. I'm very happy because I know this is a milestone in his path towards crawling. Here's an interesting post on the unadvisable practises which difficult crawling.

Els dies me passen molt ràpid últimament. El meu angelet té quasi 5 mesos i ens té a tots "loquets" amb el seu somriure. No puc creure com ha canviat i la quantitat de coses que ha aprés. M'encanta quan juga amb els seus peus. Quan em mira amb la boca oberta, com si se li haguera aparegut la Verge. M'encanta cantar-li, perquè, de tant en tant, pareix com si cantara amb mi i comença a fer sorolls, hahahah! Últimament a aprés a donar-se la volta i quedar-se cara cap a avall, recolçat en la panxeta i els colzes. És increïble veure com trau la força de voluntat per fer-ho. En realitat, la primera vegada que ho va fer, aquella nit, es va despertar a les 3 de la matinada i no podia tornar a dormir-se de l'emoció. Quan pareixia que estava dormit i ens gitàvem al llit, es girava i començava a fer sorolls. Crec que estava taaaan emocionat, no podia deixar de practicar la seua nova habilitat. Després de 2 hores (no dedicades exclusivament a donar-se volta, gràcies a Déu), ell (i jo), finalment ens vam tornar a dormir. Estic molt contenta perquè sé que això és una fita en el camí cap el gateig. Ací teniu un interessant post sobre les pràctiques que dificulten el gateig.

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Jugant amb la neu / Playing in the snow

La setmana passada va ser la primera vegada que Aitana veia i tocava la neu. No hi havia molta, però li va encantar. “Està fresqueta!”, me deia. Pobreta, mireu quins guants més poc professionals! Ara, cada nit me toca inventar-me una història on ella i Espinete van a la neu.

Last week, it was the first time Aitana ever saw or touched snow. There wasn't much, but she loved it. "It's cool!", she said. Poor thing, look what a pair of unprofessional gloves she was wearing! From then on, every night I have to make up a story about her and Espinete's (a Spanish character from Sesame Street) adventures in the snow. 

 

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I've been wanting to start a blog for a long time and I've finally found a way to do it: JUST BY DOING IT! ...and thanks to my husband's encouragement. I've read lots of blogs, I'm subscribed to many, I've learnt a lot from other moms who are raising their children in a similar way as we are and now it has finally come my turn.I want to share my experiences with other parents around the globe (that's why I'm writing in English), and I also want to share it with people nearby and, above all, with my daughter and family (that's why I'm writing it in Catalan).
So, that's it, I did it... Now I'm exhausted... I'm getting some sleep...

Fa molt de temps que vull encetar un blog i per fí he trobat com fer-ho: POSSANT-ME A LA FAENA! i gràcies als ànims del meu home. He llegit a muntó de blogs, estit subscrita a uns quants, he aprés molt d'altres mares que crien als seus fills de manera similar a la nostra i, per fí, m'ha arribat el moment. Vull compartir les meus vivències amb altres pares d'arràn del món (per això escric en anglés... i també per deformació professional, supose), a més a més, vull compartir aquest blog amb gent propera, sobretot amb la meua filla i la meua família (per això l'escric en valencià)
Ale pues, ja està... I ara me'n vaig a dormir que estic ben cansada...