Let's start the new year right

One minute to midnight

One minute to go

One minute to say goodbye

Before we say hello

Let's start the new year right

Twelve o'clock tonight

When they dim the light 

Let's begin

Kissing the old year out

Kissing the new year in

Let's watch the old year die

With a fond goodbye

And our hopes as high as a kite

How can our love go wrong

If we start the new year right?

                                                                                                                             

                                                                                             [Irving Berlin, Holiday Inn 1942]

I love this song by Irving Berlin - it's the perfect blend of new year hopefulness and melancholy. And I love this picture by Daisy - it's us celebrating the arrival of 2012. With a cat. I suspect Hello Kitty.

Today would have been my mum's birthday. She passed away three years ago, and so I begin the new year thinking of her. Writing Adventures at Home has seen me through a couple of years of tough evenings. This is when I've missed my mum the most because it's when I've had time to myself. It's still comforting to talk about my family here because my mum always loved to know about the brilliant things her grandchildren said, made, did and played. So, even three years on, I guess I'm still just keeping her posted really.

With the children back at school today I have been trying to 'start the new year right' by de-Christmassing the house, and embarking on yet another toy audit - integrating all those new Santa-brought items into our home. I have been quite brave; boxing up and putting out of sight some of the pre-school books and toys that suddenly seem so out of place - including some lovely things bought for the children by my mum. 

I realise, with a tinge of sadness, how my children have changed from toddlers to sophisticated school kids since Grandma died but I am delighted to see they are beginning 2012 with absolute expertise in play. They are still so creative and spontaneous, so amazingly imaginative and energetic; they really do take my breath away sometimes. They still want to make, do, sing, dance, pretend and create and, quite newly, to draw, write and read - and do so with infectious enthusiasm. Long may it continue.

So here's to a brand new year of Adventures at Home. We certainly haven't run out of them yet and so, as I said in my very first post, this blog will be a record of them all. I do hope you will continue to follow our adventures.

I dedicate this first post of the new year to my wonderful mum - Grandma. Thinking of her today and every day.

For Grandma...

Adventures At Home is One year old - Happy Birthday!

My writing here during the past 12 months has been a brilliant and important experience for me. I would like to thank my friend, textile artist and writer - Ruth Singer, who encouraged me to go for it last Spring.

Adventures At Home has given me the opportunity to reflect on my personal endeavours to be a creative mummy to my two darling children, and to share some of my experiences as a professional museum teacher and creative facilitator. It's been great to have a place to put my thoughts and ideas.

Even though I've worked in education in some shape or form for nearly twenty years - oh my goodness, that makes me o.l.d. - I don't want to use Adventures At Home to analyse or theorise. Rather the opposite in fact; I want it to reflect what I wish for my children - a kind of modern-day Milly-Molly-Mandy/Billy Blunt-type existence that cherishes and nurtures the most simple things in childhood and above all, gives them oodles of time to play.

In my professional work I am very fortunate that I, like my children, also often get to simply do lovely (as one of my oldest friends Bronwen once so eloquently and Welshly put it). I get to work on gorgeous projects in museums I absolutely love. I meet the sweetest, cleverest, most enthusiastic children and teachers, carers and parents. This work is taking up an increasing amount of my time as my little ones have grown from babies to tots to children in full time education. The busier I get, the less time I have to write. But this is a good problem to have, I suppose.

I would like to dedicate this first year of Adventures At Home to my wonderful mum who, as those of you who know me personally know, died a couple of years ago.

Adventures At Home has seen me through a year of evenings. This is when I miss my mum the most because it's when I have time to myself; the children are asleep and my husband is usually out working. It has been so comforting to write about all the lovely stuff my family has done, and then realise it's time for bed; an evening has passed with neither tears nor wine. And my mum always loved to know about the brilliant things her grandchildren said, made, did and played. So, I guess I'm just keeping her posted.

We certainly haven't run out of adventures yet and so, as I said a year ago in my very first post, this blog will [continue to] be a record of them all.