Monday, July 29, 2013

Existential Angst

Ember has somehow cottoned onto the idea of playing the 'sympathy card', and when she is trying to distract or delay me, she will often say "Well, Mummy, I'm just a bit sad, because..." and will then quickly make up a reason for her 'sadness'.  Usually this is when I want to brush her hair, or put her to bed, or get her into the bath, or out of the bath or dressed (I know, such a mean mother).

On Sunday, we were driving home from the library in the latish afternoon, when Em pipes up:

Em: Mummy, I'm just a bit sad.
Me: Why are you sad sweetheart?
Em: Because the days are too short.
Me: What do you mean?
Em: Well, I get up and I play for a bit, and then we go somewhere and come home and then it's dinner and nearly time for bed again. The day is too short!  I just wish I didn't have to sleep.
Me: You wouldn't have much energy for playing if you didn't sleep.
Em: Well I just wish I didn't.

It's so hard being nearly five and so short of time for play!

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

What's her name again?

When I dropped Ember off at Preschool yesterday there was a relief teacher we hadn't met before.  Ember was quite taken with her, partly because she had long hair, and Ember (being obsessed with Rapunzel) is desperate to grow hers long too.  I said hello to the teacher, she introduced herself as Pei Chen, and Ember (who demands that I "give [her] to a teacher" before I'm allowed to leave) was happy to give Pei Chen a cuddle as I was leaving.

That evening when we were talking about Ember's day, I said to her:

Me: Did you like the new teacher today?
Em: What teacher?
Me: Pei Chen, the teacher you were with this morning, with the beautiful long hair.
Em: Oh, yes I did. (pause) But Mummy, is it ok if I don't like a teacher's name?
Me: You mean the name Pei Chen?
Em: Mmmm.
Me: It's ok if you don't like someone's name, but you probably shouldn't say it to them.  Her name sounds a bit different to you because it's Chinese.
Em: What is?
Me: Her name is Chinese.
Em: Her name is Chinese?  I thought it was Pei Chen!
Me: (struggling not to laugh) No, her name is Pei Chen, but it's Chinese.  From China.
Em: So I can call her Chinese?
Me: No, because that's not her name.  Her name is Pei Chen.
Em: Then why did you say her name is Chinese?
Me: Because it's from the country China.  Your name, and names like Tamsyn and Cate and Connor are New Zealand names.  If you were from China, your name might be something like Pei Chen or Mei Ling or Xiaojing, and you would probably think "Ember" sounded strange.  Or if you were from Japan you might be called Kaoru or Michiko or Akiko.
Em: Yoshi [another Preschool teacher] is from Japan!
Me: Yes, and Yoshi's name is Japanese.
Em: Oh, I thought it was Yoshi...

I gave up after that!

Sunday, July 21, 2013

Treacle Toffee

I'm currently reading Enid Blyton's The Enchanted Wood to Ember at one or two chapters per night. It's the first chapter book we've tried and she's really enjoying it, and gives me a good recap of where we're up to before we start the new chapter each night. She was particularly intrigued by the description of the treacle toffee Bessie makes for Moon Face, so we decided to make some of our own today.

Ember helped me to measure the ingredients, and was fascinated by the way the thick, gloppy treacle was pouring into the saucepan.

Em: what does it taste like?
Me: it's just kind of sweet and malty. Stick your finger in and taste some if you like.
Em: Ew, no thanks, that looks like a waterfall of yuck!

Sadly I don't have a recipe for pop biscuits :)