Usually, the living room has a small corner with toys in it. Well, actually, there are usually some on Rosemary’s small table, some on the mantelpiece, some on the sofas…
But, this was after an hour or so of Rosemary’s favourite activity at the moment – acrobatics. Mostly this involves doing lots of forward rolls from the arm of the sofa (on the left) onto the sofa body. It also includes spins, star jumps, triple bounces (yeah, no idea of a remotely technical term), and various kinds of jumps from the sofa onto the duvet. Oh yes, and sometimes double bounces from sofa to sofa.
This was the start of the session, before she’d put duvets everywhere. And that’s just the end of a jump, so it doesn’t give the full effect. Really should have taken some video instead.
I had a brief discussion on Twitter at the time as to whether or not sofa acrobatics are a good thing. The consensus was that it’s an essential part of growing up and I’m generally of that opinion. I think it teaches you a whole bunch of stuff – not least, how to learn from your mistakes, even if those mistakes sometimes mean a broken bone or two. I did it loads as a child and none of my broken bones happened while on the sofa (or even while flying through the air, when using the sofa as a fairground ride). Of course, the whole ‘I did it and I’m fine’ argument’ is not a particularly good one. Most of us rode around in our parents’ cars without seatbelts, plenty of us probably lived in a constant fog of cigarette smoke, most of our mums probably smoked and/or drank while pregnant – doesn’t mean we’re going to do the same, just because we happened to survive.
Chris is more cautious though, for the moment, I’ve (maybe, perhaps) persuaded him that it’s a good thing (or possibly just that it’s OK for the moment). In discussing it, though, and over the next day or two, I looked at our reactions to different dangers and risks and realised that we’re probably both equally cautious/blasé, just about different things. For example, Chris plays with the dog in what, to me, seems far too boisterous a manner and it makes me think Wesley’s going to bite his arm off – which really isn’t going to happen, of course. He was throwing Eleanor up in the air today, which had my heart in my mouth – and probably my eyes bulging out of their sockets in shock. But I’ll happily sit her on my lap and ‘drop’ her through my legs. Things can look worse than they actually are. And, of course, Chris is much more relaxed in and around water. I’m far too scared of the stuff, which is why Rosemary, who had her first swimming lessons with me, has only just got to putting her head underwater and being happy about it.
What about you? Do you and your partner have differing levels of caution, or just different areas of caution? Do you think sofa acrobatics are good or bad? Are you having palpitations seeing the mess and feeling the need to come round and tidy up (feel free, by the way)?
Photos: The photos in this post were taken by the new Kodak Easyshare M580, kindly provided by Kodak. I’m hoping to be able to post a lot more photos now, and may even try a bit of video, though you’re not likely to see me in any of the video.
Yes, I am having palpatations. You must never come to my house, you will feel compelled to break away from its unnatural tidiness by chucking some crap around.
Love the new blog look – very crisp and professional.
Thought you would! I probably wouldn’t dare put the girls down in your house. They are as bad as me (unsurprisingly, really). One day, I will have a tidy, organised house. Nah, who am I kidding?
Thank you. It’s missing some bits and pieces, still. Blogroll, for example – still trying to work out an easy way to pull my Google Reader subscriptions in, rather than manually putting them all in. It was remarkably painless, so if you do decide to make the move let me know, and I’ll talk you through it (or send you the same links I used!).
We play sofa acrobatics all the time here, it involve the girls ripping off all my sofa cushions, lining then up and doing rolls, jumps you name it all over them!! they love it and if it makes them happy then i’m all for it!!
love the new look xxxx
Amy, that sounds fantastic – it must be huge fun for them.
And, thank you.
We a fan of sofa acrobatics here. In fact I call it safe danger because I figure it’s safer than them trying to throw themselves out of trees or something.
The most danger in our house comes from them acrobatting into each other, too many children in a small space!
We have the acrobatting into each other issue already, just with two of them and a small living room. Must be a huge issue with you!
My kids do it all the time and it drives me crazy. I keep trying to teach them cushions are for on sofas not on the floor, under chairs etc. I now sound very anal don’t I? Maybe I ought to relax more…
Mich x
I read in some parenting book that you need to pick your fights. If it really bothers you, then put your foot down about that and let something else go. Personally, the cushions and sofas are less important, but then I’m not exactly house proud!