interested in a waldorf book club of sorts? - Page 3

[AutumnMama]

We're way up north in the panhandle. Sort of near Coeur d'Alene
It's a pretty crunchy area, tempered by areas of extreme conservatism

[pampered_mom]

Count me in - it'll be just enough time for me to request the book from the library!

I've got two little ones - an almost 4 yo ds and a 1 yo dd. We're also new to Waldorf and definitely more Waldorf inspired than anything at this point, but we're definitely interested in incorporating more into our daily lives.

[crookedsprout]

Hi! I'm Mandy. I'm 28 years old, living with my partner Tim and mama to my 10 month old daughter Aoife (eefa).

I am an AP parent, breastfeeding, bed sharer (got the bruises to prove it), food junkie, music loving, book obsessed, and crafty...very crafty. I'm a teacher and love my job when I'm not too stressed out by it. I love traveling and exposing myself to new opportunities. My partner and I WWOOFed in Italy a few years back which was life changing but somehow we still live in a city. Some day I hope to have a little bit of land to live off of.

I've been exposed to the waldorf community for a long time, but have not until recently really started reading into it, so this is a great start for me to be reading this book

[boatbaby]

Cindy checking in here. I live on a sailboat in Annapolis, Maryland where it is WAY colder than it ever gets at the moment. My crew is my sweet husband of too many years to count and my son Zach who is 4.5, still nursing, and it's a good thing we co-sleep because we NEED the body heat on nights like this!

We are home schoolers -- a little unschool-a little Waldorf. We are drawn to the yearly rhythms, nature based, open ended, natural toys, limited media (we don't have a TV), imaginative aspects of Waldorf. It's really me following DS's lead that got me to this place. I was ready to sit him down with workbooks and a Classic curriculum, but I am glad I took a step back and realized that was not his style.

We struggle with daily rhythms, something we're not great about. We spend so much time outdoors (when it's not freezing) that I tend to lose track of the day. And I am craft impaired. I have a great love and respect for crafts, but even the simplest ones seem to flummox me. But we try anyhow.

I am severely underemployed at the moment (I work from home), so I will actually have free time to read!

[mommabeehilly]

just thought i'd pop in and say hello. thanks crookedsprout for the google idea! sheer inventiveness!

it's great meeting everyone too!

gonna go do some :. it's a bit gloomy here, so nice tucking into a warm blanket with a good book day .

[ElizaBird]

I'd love to join!

I'm Eliza, 25, mama to 4y/o twin boys. I'm pretty familiar w/ waldorf- my boys attend a local waldorf nursery 3 mornings a week, and i am about to start an internship w/ a waldorf inspired family center. I'm also an early ed student and a birth junkie.
I love almost everything that i know about waldorf early education philosophies, but we don't follow them 100%. For us its always about finding what works for us and our boys.
We homebirthed, Bfd till 2, coslept (they have their own bed now, but i'm usually in there), and CD.
I've been meaning to dive into this book and the others on the list. seems like the timing is perfect. i better get started!

[counterGOPI]

hi! im nicole,29, mama to my 3 yo dd and 8 month old dd.

i learned about waldorf about 3 years ago when i met my best friend. she is a former waldorf kindi teacher. she has blessed me with lots of info of the years. she introduced me to my other friend who was a waldorf grades school teacher and now runs a waldorf toy shop/mini classroom. she has private classes for those who want them and celebrates every 'waldorf festival' at her shop.
i have some other friends,though not nearby, who have or had kids in waldorf schools. with all their help i'm trying to live a 100% waldorf life,i'm maybe 98% there now but i am always learning and always changing to adjust.

oh and waldorf just naturally fit into our lifestyle, i think thats one of the things that drew me into it. we do all the usual, drug free birth,breastfeed (dd 3 is still going strong), no-vax, veg*n,organic,no tv....umm i know im forgetting a lot but hey i just woke up!
to you all!!!

[mamaUK]

I'd love to join in, I already have the book and read it but I will dig it out and read the first section again.

So here's a bit about me:

-29 years old.
-2 DD, 3 yrs and 9.5 months
- Waldorf inspired family (have been for about 9 months now), definately not purists though, pick and choose what fits our family.
- No plastic toys in house, we just stick to natural/wooden/open ended toys as much as possible. This is more from a health point of view than anything else, I figured I am going to have toys in the living area for the next decade -at least so I what them to look beautiful! I also I found plastic toys broke very easily.
-SAHM (used to be Primary school teacher)
-On a healthy eating kick right now, want to get back to weight I was BEFORE I had two kids
-TV free (well the children are.......I might sneek a bit of TV when they're asleep in the evening, part of me would love to be 100 % TV free but I honestly don't think I could make the change)
-Vegetarian (NEVER eaten meat!)
-Would love to crochet but can't seem to figure it out. Need someone to show me.
-Love my sleep. I have to have at least 9 hours a night or I'm moody.
-Enjoy spending money on my kids, especially beautiful toys, I get pleasure from it. Need to curb this as I don't think too much consumerism is great. Wish getting beautiful toys from my kids didn't make me feel so damn happy then it would be easier to give up.................
-know no other Waldorf families, I only 'meet' people that even know about Waldorf on- line.
-Would love to un-school but it looks like my kids will go to 'regular' school.

[michelleklu]

I just ordered the book, but we live overseas so I won't be getting it for awhile. Oh well, I'll be subbing to see what you all are discussing as well as reading the preview on Google. Hopefully I'll have Beyond the Rainbow Bridge before you all start on that one!

[berrymama]

I'm in, even though I currently have about 4 books in process

My name is Jen, DH and I have been together for almost 9 years and married for almost 3. DS is 13 months old. DH would be of the mainstream-living-is-just-fine-thank-you mindset, but is supportive of my more natural leanings. We live in Verona, WI which is just outside of Madison. I work part-time as a L&D RN. We are a natural birthing, cloth-diapering, delayed/select vax, EBF, etc. family. I love to knit, do other crafty things, and am re-learning to sew. I love making toys for DS and things for our home. We have a house rabbit and a horse named Winston that lives a few miles away at a stable where we get our farm/nature fix since we live in the suburbs. We would like to someday live in the country with our horse, some sheep, and DH wants a duck!

My natural family living searches lead me to Waldorf when I was pregnant with DS, and I read YAMCFT for the first time when I was working nights and snuggling babies in the nursery at work As I read it, I remember feeling as though a weight had been lifted off my shoulders in a way. The idea that I just needed to love and nuture my baby, show him the world, and he would unfold naturally was so reassuring and brought me much peace. Looking forward to reading the discussions!

[jkg]

I'm Jennifer, 35, mom to two boys, 4 and almost 2, and expecting twins in April. When I was in high school, one of my good friends had attended a Waldorf school prior to my school. I loved hearing about her experiences there, and thus began the fascination. Our family is Waldorf-inspired, but definitely not strictly Waldorf (my 4 year-old is making felt finger puppets now, but this is after spending the last hour or so playing with his Star Wars lightsaber ). I am very attracted to the rhythms of Waldorf, and we love to celebrate festivals. We practice AP and strive to live as friendly to Mother Earth as possible. With twins on the way, I crave peacefulness and simplicity in our lifestyle, so I lurk on the Waldorf subforum often. I just ordered my copy of the book and look forward to reading and learning from all of you!

[PabloHoneySF]

I'm Marina, older mom to 3 boys (ages below in my signature). I live in Berkeley, CA which is a wonderfully crunchy place to live and fills our need for an organic life. We started adopting Waldorf principles into our home about a year and a half ago.

Likes: local organic food, chubby cheeks and thighs on babies, blogs that are well written or have beautiful photos or have BOTH, Die Buntspechte wooden figures and kind people

Dislikes: Onions, MY chubby cheeks and thighs, blogs where people just post their "to-do"lists (but feel like I HAVE to read them because I know the people IRL and they may ask me if I've read their blogs), bright pink barbie dollhouses (they make my eyes bleed) and rude people...

Feeling a bit sleep deprived, so my apologies for an abbreviated introduction... but I am very excited to be doing this book club with all of you!

[Hollysmom]

I'm in, even though I am another one with several books on the go

My name is Kristine. I am a WOHM (mainly so I can afford Waldorf tuition for 3 children eventually ) who just went back to work last week after a year of maternity leave. DH and I have been together for 15 years (yikes) and we have three beautiful girls 6, 2.5 and 1 in a couple weeks.

I have been a Waldorf "fan" since dd1 was about 18 months old and we went to Parent & Tot. We did not send dd1 to Waldorf initially, but after taking dd2 to Joyful Beginnings I fell in love with Waldorf all over again. DD1 is currently in Kindergarten at our wonderful Waldorf school and she is thriving there I loved You are your Child's First Teacher when I read it the first time several years ago and I am really looking forward to reading it again with all of you to chat with about it.

[mommabeehilly]

warming up a discussion

wow gals! this is great. i counted....so far there are 24 of us...and we are all over the :! so here we are ready to dig into a book in the hopes of bettering our lives.

here is a quote from the book that i thought would help set the tone for our upcoming discussions....

: "we need to accept who we are and build up the support we need...no matter what you do, you will find you need and deserve support." : -rahima baldwin, you are your child's first teacher


i felt it was my place to get the ball rolling....here are some bits that can get us warmed up.

• on pg. 16 baldwin outlines our tasks as our child's first teacher. "one of our tasks as or children's first teacher is to provide them with impressions of the world that are appropriate for them to copy."
  what impressions are you providing your child(ren)? what do you want them to imitate/copy?

• on pg. 19 baldwin talks about her own "aah-ha!" moment when the lights began to go on for her during her studies of steiner's works. when did the lights go on for you? what was it?

• what did you read in the first chapter (or so) that really had meaning for you? what was your favorite message, idea or quote? what did you read that you found inspiring, enlightening, or made you experience a paradigm shift?

by no means do you have to discuss any/all of these...but i wanted to get the conversation warmed up a bit. so dive on in gals...

let's learn together and from each other!

[wish]

Can I still join????

I think this is wonderful!!! Pretty much everything I read is waldorfy (with the exception of Twilight), so I would love to have a place to discuss it.

I'm Bridget, 32 years old and have a 4 (Izzy) and 1(Violet) year old. My 4 yo attends a waldorf preschool 2 full days a week and LOVES it! I love reading waldorf books, blogs and anything else I can get my hands on. We have lots of wonderful silks and wooden toys and I really enjoy shopping for them.

I'm feeling a bit torn right now between homeschooling and a charter school that is opening soon, it will be a "waldorf methods" school, which means "free":, so I don't know how I could really pass that up.

We are not totally waldorf strict, I do let Izzy watch tv (reading rainbow videos) while Violet naps so she doesn't wake her up. But I am slowly working on a more simple, natural life. I'm a veg, we cosleep, don't vax and all kinds of other things my friends think are weird

Thanks for starting this bookclub!

[mommabeehilly]

Izzysmom...of course!

[mamaUK]

I think the quote that really spoke to me at the beginning of the book was :

"'Quality time' is not the same as the everydayness of being together. Let's neither glorify it nor undervalue it" (Page 25)

I think this really said something to me b/c sometimes I feel undervalued being a SAHM b/c I'm not earning a wage. I constantly feel like I have to justify myself for staying at home to look after my two LO's and give valid reasons as to why I haven't returned to work. Goodness knows what people will say when my two LO's are in a regular full time school and that I am still a SAHM. Then I really will have to justify myself. LOL. If a family is financially able to have a stay at home parent I think it is so valuble for a child to have their first three years and beyond knowing there is aways a primary carer around for hugs/chats/smiles/kisses/stories, somebody who REALLY loves them and cherishes them and this is very important. So I guess it underlined to me that being at home is just as important if not more important to your child's growth then earning a wage (again if your family can afford it, I know alot of families can't) but society today just seems to measure things by £/$ as to a persons worth.

[Hollysmom]

Originally Posted by mamaUK

I think the quote that really spoke to me at the beginning of the book was :

"'Quality time' is not the same as the everydayness of being together. Let's neither glorify it nor undervalue it" (Page 25)

I think this really said something to me b/c sometimes I feel undervalued being a SAHM b/c I'm not earning a wage. I constantly feel like I have to justify myself for staying at home to look after my two LO's and give valid reasons as to why I haven't returned to work. Goodness knows what people will say when my two LO's are in a regular full time school and that I am still a SAHM. Then I really will have to justify myself. LOL. If a family is financially able to have a stay at home parent I think it is so valuble for a child to have their first three years and beyond knowing there is aways a primary carer around for hugs/chats/smiles/kisses/stories, somebody who REALLY loves them and cherishes them and this is very important. So I guess it underlined to me that being at home is just as important if not more important to your child's growth then earning a wage (again if your family can afford it, I know alot of families can't) but society today just seems to measure things by £/$ as to a persons worth.

I am in completely the opposite position. I would love to stay home with my girls, but financially it would be a huge strain. Most of the kids in dd1's class have a parent who stays at home and I feel guilty that we can't do the same. I feel that some people think less of me because I WOH. I am lucky because between my 3 maternity leaves I have been home for a good part of my older girls early years. Unfortunately dd3 will not get the same benefit because she is our last

[mommabeehilly]

mamauk...on the SAHM point, i have a dear friend who just published a book about motherhood. she referenced salary.com for an article they wrote about what mom is worth....
so here is what they came up with, if paid, a SAHM (in 2006) would earn $134, 121. and a working mom would be $85,876 (for their "mom job" plus whatever income earned outside of the home).
i thought it was interesting. it sort of made me feel better...at least to see that there is "worth" in the job that i am doing. but i think you are right, our society measures success by money. so when i remove myself from that type of thinking, i realize what i am doing is actually immeasurable!

[mamaUK]

Originally Posted by HollysMom

I am in completely the opposite position. I would love to stay home with my girls, but financially it would be a huge strain. Most of the kids in dd1's class have a parent who stays at home and I feel guilty that we can't do the same. I feel that some people think less of me because I WOH. I am lucky because between my 3 maternity leaves I have been home for a good part of my older girls early years. Unfortunately dd3 will not get the same benefit because she is our last

I didn't mean to make you feel sad, I'm sorry
I am really aware that not every family can afford for a mum or dad to stay home. We only just manage it, we pay the bills and there's not much left. We've actually chosen not to own a house right now b/c if we had a morgage I would HAVE to work (houses in the UK are pretty damn expensive) I'm not sure what the house prices are like in the USA. So we rent (Its a lovely family home with large garden with veg patch and fruit nets and a wild chicken) oh, but sometimes I would love to own a house and decorate it how we wanted, keep chickens etc It's funny (or maybe not) how we are both made to feel guilty by society. Again i didn't want to make you feel sad, so I'm sorry.