Happy Family Times Archives ~ Page 9 of 41 ~ Happy Whimsical Hearts

Waldorf birthday presents for a five year old

Ruby is five!

And such a delight. She truly is. Fairies follow her, while flowers call her name.

Ruby immerses herself in her play so fully, creating whole new worlds {often rearranging the furniture and all manner of nick-nacks in the making!}

So for her fifth birthday ~ in keeping with our gift giving philosophy ~ we gifted her…

Something she wants

We wanted to encourage Ruby’s imaginative play, so thought this sweet little letterbox would be just the thing!

She has delighted in it since. Little letters have been sent back and forth {I am not entirely sure where they are going, but she is happy!}

We’ve popped it on her bedroom wall, just near the doorway. And it is such a sweet little sight.

Something she needs

Ruby has been working on her skipping at her Waldorf kindergarten, so we thought she might like to continue at home. So we picked up this cute little skipping rope with bear handles.

It is a little long yet, so we might need to shorten it somehow, but a good length if her dad and I swing it for her to jump.

Something to wear

We went a bit boring this time on the ‘something to wear’ but she was in need of new socks and knickers! And so that is what she got *smile*

Something to read

I was lucky to purchase a secondhand copy of The Story of the Butterfly Children from the Australian Waldorf Steiner Buy Sell Swap Group {such a great group for finding well priced secondhand Waldorf bits and bobs!}

I knew Ruby would love this sweet and magical tale. And it is so nice to look forward to Spring when in the midst of Winter.

Ruby had such a lovely birthday, and we enjoyed celebrating her

For more inspiration, you can see Teddy’s 2nd birthday gifts here, as well as Max’ 6th birthday party here.

??? And you can see more snippets of our days on Facebook and Instagram ???

Blessings, Kelly

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June 27, 2016 by Kelly

Our low media home

For years I thought about going screen free.

But to be honest, I was scared to do it. Would it mean I *never* got a moment to myself again

{and such moments were few and far between already!}

The start of this year presented a new opportunity though. Ruby was about to start Waldorf preschool and Max was going into Grade 2.

Jason and I talked about how the year was going to go, and I just threw it out there

What if we go screen free? Or at least television free?

And without any need to really discuss why we would do this, Jason said

Let’s do it.

And so we did.

This means that during the week there are no children’s television shows. And there are no movies for the children.

We still watch a family movie on Saturday night ~ movie night! Because this is part of our family time.

We are making memories watching these fun movies together, while we eat popcorn and homemade pizza! {maybe in the other order *wink*}

And Jason and I still watch a show or two after the kids are in bed.

An exception I have found that works for us is when the children are sick.

When they are sick we do allow screen time. I feel like it is almost the only way I can get them to rest! To be still.

And we are comfortable with this compromise {and we know it won’t be right for all families}

So how did the children respond to the change?

I was A-M-A-Z-E-D. They simply accepted it.

I think this shows the value of a clear boundary {mind you, this doesn’t always work!}

Once we told them what our new screen rules were, that was it, that was what we do.

Now I wish we’d tried this years ago.

It makes for a much more peaceful home. The children transition from school to home by having a snack, drawing, looking at books. And playing.

Funny isn’t it.

It wasn’t that long ago that I shared our approach to letting the children watch television.

And now, here we are *grin*

You can read what Steiner said about television here. And about the impact of television on child development here.

??? You can see more snippets of our days on Facebook and Instagram ???

Happy days, Kelly

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June 13, 2016 by Kelly