Anya has started wiping her own bum. Too much information?
The first time she did it, she struck fear in my heart buy announcing she’d done it herself. It wasn’t as bad as I’d thought 🙂
Anya has always been more keen for independence than Matthew. Second child. Girl. Determined personality. Whatever the reason she has always wanted to do things for herself.
But this does not always tally with her abilities 🙁 She wanted to feed herself with a spoon long before she was capable of getting a spoonful of baby sludge in her mouth. She wanted to brush her teeth way before she could do it without getting toothpaste everywhere. I have a feeling she washes her hands with just liquid soap, no water. Her hair is ‘brushed’ to resemble Worzel Gummidge (interesting array of clips in the photo above). She wants to choose her own outfit for the day with no reference to the weather, brrrrr! (Although looking back I’ve seen photos of Matt with a woolly hat in the height of summer).
Meanwhile, Matthew would still be happy to let me do everything for him. Zach takes after Anya and is insisting on feeding himself finger foods. Matt has got to the stage where he can entertain himself, unless a sibling interferes… School and Beavers have given Matthew a boost in independence but also confidence, which makes me slightly terrified what effect it will have on Anya when she starts in September!
I go with the flow. It’s easier that way. I want the children to not be afraid of trying new things, making mistakes along the way. But for now they have to tolerate me checking up on them to make sure they’ve done it right 🙂 I try to think ahead to what my independence will look like when I am not on mum duty every second. I think I’ll be able to go to the toilet by myself!
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