Nature v Nurture musings...

Well the weather keeps getting warmer and our outside play time earlier in the day! Looks like the toddler twosome are both teething again so nap times haven't been great....always amazes me how in sync they seem to be with many of the milestones and yet so different in others. The nature v nurture debate is a fascinating one when you are bringing up twins....so much i am still learning about early childhood and just what individuals children are...even when they are being brought up in the same environment and in the same way....although as i write that i do have to question whether we really are treating them the same.

We have already labelled Tara our tomboy and outside girl and Ruby more of the girly girl....how do we notice that at 17 months of age? I'm not sure but i do have to catch myself every now and then when i feel i have already decided that one will like that but the other won't.....but i then think it's actually ok because what is of utmost importance to us is that they are individuals and their personalities, likes and dislikes should be respected...they aren't just 'the twins' and i never want them to be...as special as that is!.

Anyway...just some thoughts i have been having in the last few days...probably because they seem to be growing older before my very eyes!

Some days i experience such a malestrom of emotion as i receive notes from high school to say my eldest has won an award for speech night or i pick her up from her casual job on the weekends (wasn't it only a few years ago i was working in my first job?) and then i turn around and change a dirty nappy or do some craft that i remember very well doing so many years ago with that same child who has just received an academic award and first paypacket!

What i do know for sure is that this is our family now and although the different roles and duties have taken some time getting used to for all of us, i'm grateful to be their Mum!

Earlier in the week the toddler twosome experienced playdough fun for the first time.......

Such excitement when they realised they could drop handfuls down the hole in the wheel table...but why couldn't they get it back??

 Patty pans, leaves and feathers proved exciting tools....

Tara began offering our magpie friend some playdough shortly after i took this photo...we talk to them every morning!

I used a microwave playdough recipe(below) that i made often when working in child care...no burnt saucepans and it works well....not quite as soft as stove cooked playdough but does the job and lasts well if kept in the fridge.

MICROWAVE PLAYDOUGH

2 cups plain flour

2 tbsp oil

2 cups water

1 cup salt

1 tbsp cream of tartar (to help it keep longer)

food colouring or edicol dye

Mix it all together and cook in microwave on medium level for around 5 mins....i like to stir every minute or so so that you can see when it has formed the dough...leave it too long and it will become tough. Of course you can also add glitter or anything else you want really to change textures. Sometimes it's nice to let older children knead the colour in themselves.

We also tried some bubble wrap painting as i had some leftover from a parcel i received last week....this again was to mainly help Ruby grow accustomed to different textures. Very simple.....just stick some bubble wrap to the table and pour paint on...some children will need encouragement to run their fingers over the bubble wrap as it is a new experience. To my suprise Ruby enjoyed this activity just as much as Tara although she was cautious at first......

 Then dived in and seemed very precise about running fingers over the bubbles

 Tara loved stretching toward the middle and at one stage tried to climb up!

If you decide to; they make lovely prints for the kids to look at later ....ours will be going toward the christmas wrapping paper stash! Just lay some paper face down over the paint and press down with the child's hands (then you get bonus handprints!) and peel off carefully....you end up with this....

We finished off the morning with a sit down for some snacks and a drink!

Thanks for joining us!

Jode x

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