More than mere baby-sitting

This is my challenge to myself: how do I ensure that 'ma-care' is more than 'baby-sitting'. If I were providing child-care for a just any child, I would want to ensure that there was a learning component. Learning that was balanced between the skills, learning that was cumulative rather than repetitive. Learning that was fun; that was bonding; that was cerebral. Just because the child is the child of my child, should impact diddly-squat on the equation.

I find it easy enough to set a programme that includes the physical, the emotional, as well as pre-reading, pre-number, our culture, music, and dance. The difficulty is making the programme cumulative. To enable the child to develop over time.

BTW, you need to know that in the first photograph, Alannah is saying the word 'two'.

So, what did today involve?


Sandpit: We played 'Patty cake Baker's Man' then smashed the cakes down. In between time, we had to fetch buckets of water to keep the sand sufficiently moist.

Water Table: We have two basins, and numerous colourful pouring containers, as well as two colourful watering cans. Alannah had to help me fill the containers, carry one back to the clamshell. Then pour directly or via a mug. The day reached 26C so there was a lot of water play.

Culture Studies: Alannah is learning to identify by sight and sound, vehicles which pass by: car, truck, bus and motor-cycle. She can correctly identify the sound of the last two. She is learning to say 'big blue bus' especially the 'b' sound.

Pre-reading: We read "The Very Busy Spider', 'Roadworks', 'Tough Trucks' and 'The Fire Engine Book'.

Music and dance: we listened to a CD of Scottish fiddle music called 'The Red House' and Alannah loves to dance, moving easily to this infectious beat.

Pre-number: We had sticks, buttons, stones and crayons and sorted them into plastic mugs. Sometimes she picked up many, but more often she picked them up one at a time. She sorted and put (new word to replace toss) buttons into an egg carton, one per slot. An engrossing and not easy task.

Pre-writing: crayons on large drawing sheets. Free style.

Singing: I sung nursery rhymes to her at sleep-time as she snuggled into my shoulder.

Physical: This is a very physical day, but just to top it off, we played chasies from room to room, changing direction to trick the other. She tried to trick me more than I her!

And then, there are the cats ... they are coping really well. They all stayed around today and somehow realised that her enthusiasm was not going to actually hurt them.

The future of the Harold Park site

What are the most important issues that Council should be considering when planning for the renewal of the site?
It is essential that there is no corruption. That the decision is made transparently. The pressure from the Paceway to be compensated for $760m is laughable. They themselves agree that within 5 years they will have no patronage from the public. The area is a valueable geographic area that traces old creeks from Grosse Farm on Petersham Hill down to its entry in the harbour. This should be paramount in the redesign.

How can the Harold Park Site be used, and how can its renewal positively contribute to life in the local area and wider Sydney?
Revert the land as much as possible back to its original shape. Reforest and regrass. The land should be turned over mostly to passive recreation use: no ovals, no apartment blocks, no shopping centres, no parking lots. There could be an amphitheatre serviced by the trams and ferries for the performance of music and drama. There should be an extension of the lite rail over to White Bay and along Wigram Road to Booth Street then Johnson Street. This should be combined with public ferry routes to Glebe Point and The Crescent. The tram sheds should be restored as a historical museum to the working class of early Sydney (1788 - 1939). This should be done by the people from the Loftus Tramway Museum. There should be no apartments built because this would only be afforded by the well-heeled and that is not the heritage of the area.

The Sustainable Sydney 2030 Strategy and the State Government's Draft Subregional Strategies set out some objectives in relation to housing, transport, the environment, community and culture. How do you think the renewal of Harold Park can contribute to these objectives and to Sydney becoming more "Green, Global and Connected"?

Waterfront housing only brings out the greed in us, so it is to be avoided at all costs. Extending the lite rail and the ferries is a green alternative to the car.
Reverting the land to its original shape and reafforesting it is environmentally friendly in the long term. The local community retains a valueable greensward and passive recreation area that slopes down to the harbour. The amphitheatre and the Working Man's Museum pay deference to the culture of the area.