Living the theory

We went to watch Little’s school Christmas show today. It’s the second Christmas show we’ve seen her in, and as we watched her bouncing around, bright-eyed, over-enthusiastically joining in with all the singing and dancing, we couldn’t help but cast our minds back to this time last year. At the time of her last Christmas show Little had been living with us for around 6 weeks. She’d barely been at her new school a couple of weeks. She’s always been Christmas mad and had made a good effort at learning the songs and joining in, but she was still visibly shell-shocked from the huge changes that had just taken place in her life. We all were. I’m sure the show was good last year, but I can’t say I enjoyed it. I remember feeling anxious and overwhelmed. We were squished into the school hall like sardines, it was hot, Tiny was fidgeting on our laps and constantly trying to squirm away and join his sister on the stage. I didn’t feel like I knew how to be a parent and I was there watching

I fell foul of the health visitors this week. One of the strategies we use to help regulate and calm both of our children is a child carrier. It’s a fairly sturdy one, with padded straps and clips and it provides us with a comfortable way of keeping them close at times when they need it. They both really like being in it, and will often ask to use it if they’re feeling a bit wobbly. We also sometimes use the carrier to transport Tiny. He’s only 3, he can’t walk as far as the adults or his sister, and it’s a more connecting way of getting him around than the buggy. When he’s in the buggy he’s facing away from us, we can’t hear him well and he often completely spaces out. When he’s in the carrier we can interact with him a lot more, with obvious benefits for the attachment we’re still trying to build with him. We’re not the only ones who do this; a quick Google search will find you many other parents who believe there’s a benefit to carrying toddlers and preschoolers, both birth and