looking back

Tonight Matt cooked outside. We haven't done it for a while as it's been getting darker earlier and earlier. And it was cool (although last week was very warm).

After dinner we decided to throw some logs on the coals and get a fire going. It was really nice. We all sat out around the fire looking at it like it was a TV. Ella read us some poems, which got us on to singing rounds and teaching the kids Frere Jaques (all of Ella's "poems" are to that tune). Which got us on to singing campfire songs and Matt and I trying to remember songs from our guide and scout days. We used to know so many songs to sing around a fire including the old, very Australian ones.

Matt and I used to regularly sing to Oscar and Remi when they were little as part of their crazy time. They would jump around singing and Matt would play lots of kids songs from the Wiggles and the ABC song book (for those Aussies who grew up with it) on the guitar. But when Kit and Ella were that age we didn't. I don't know why...maybe Matt worked later...maybe because Oscar and Remi were older we played more music that they were into. It's funny. Just one of those things.

But that got us talking about the Wiggles and Bananas in PJs. We were there almost from the beginning of the Wiggles and we knew ALL their songs. The kids had their audio tapes too. Plus Bananas. We knew all the tapes and videos, and still remember a lot of it. And then there was Thomas the tank engine. Oscar could just about recite that tape off by heart when he was 2 or 3. But now, he and Remi can hardly even remember the names of the trains.

It got me thinking about all the things I have had to learn being a parent: all the names of trains and dinosaurs; the songs of the Wiggles and skits from Bananas; the names of Pokemon; all the characters in their stories and games. But the funny thing is that most of it I have retained, whereas they have let it drift out of their minds. Oscar (who never forgets) remembers a lot more than the others, but even he has forgotten.

Anyway, all that got me on to an old tape we have of Oscar talking as a 2 year old and up to about 5 years old (Remi comes in to talk when he's 3). There's not much but Remi, Oscar and I listened too it. The kids have SO MANY photos of themselves and each of them has their own set of albums. They "remember" so much because of the albums, but this little audio bite of them was so much more telling in a way. Remi couldn't believe it was him (he actually asked what planet he came from-something we used to wonder). And they all love to watch the video of themselves that we took when we lived in Queens. Somehow seeing themselves really fascinates them...much more than photos (although they love them too). It makes me wish we'd been more diligent with making tapes and videos...

But we had a great night. Singing was a little rough on my still very strained throat, but it was such an opportunity to just be together as a family. We often have times inside where the kids get up and perform (dance, sing, play charades) or we will sit up with Oscar and play CDs to educate him in music and introduce him to different styles, but it was nice to sit in the dark, and have no real focus apart from the fire. We even explained to the little kids the actual meaning of waltzing Matilda (as we were singing the original version). It makes me realise how kids today just don't get as many opportunities for that kind of experience. Sitting 'round a fire passing on songs and stories seems so central to our existance as humans. Kid's learned so much just from listening and learning to join in. Made me want to do it many more times....