(no subject)

[primroseburrows]

You know what's insane? The fact that I, of all people, got in the mail today a catalogue called The Joyful Child: Essential Montessori for Birth to Three.

My question is WHY? Maybe it's because of the fact that Montessori Education is frequently and quite erroneously associated with Waldorf Education. They're so different it's like night and day, really. So hmm.

So, I'm looking through this catalogue, and find out that Montessori seems to be big on child-led weaning. Well, this sounds like a great idea, until you look at it closer. Here's the blurb for a booklet called How I Weaned Myself:

"Intelligent preparation for weaning begins very early in the first year of life because it is the child who knows when best to be weaned and we must be prepared to follow his lead. If we provide all the elements--chair, table, spoon, glass--he will make this important step of independence at the right (italics theirs) time. We asked a couple who followed this path to weaning to write this up to share with other parents and they recommended reading it early."

I dunno. This sounds waay too regimented for me, and I read on a Montessouri website that someone was using the traditional "weaning chair and table" (small table-and-chair set) when the child was eight months old. Bleh. Yeah, I know that Waldorf encourages weaning at a year, and I don't agree with that either, but. This sounds almost, I dunno, Mao-esque or something. This Is The Way Things Are and all.

*sigh* I know. The sound I hear is all those people mass-defriending me out of boredom (except patchfire, who will actually read this). I know if I asked "what are your five favourite songs", I'd get lots of comments. *g*


So...what ARE your five favourite songs, guys, and why?

Comments

[songdog.livejournal.com]

When Jon was a little baby, and I was a very new mom, I asked his (very cool, La Leche League recommended) pediatrician when I should wean him. His response: "I can't recommend to a nursing mom and baby when weaning is right for them. One of 'my mothers' nurses her babies until they are around five." I got the message he wanted me to get. I was already a committed nursing mom, so I wasn't going to wean to solid food, at 4 weeks, or anything like that. But I needed reassurance that what was right for *us* was ok. When Jon was 4 months old or so, my sister-in-law exclaimed: "Look at this baby! He is so big and healthy, and he's never ever had any *real* food!" I just smiled...she had been taught something about breastfed babies. So any regimented 'rules' about weaning need not apply. It's between the mom and her baby.

In no specific order:
Paul Simon - The Cool, Cool River
It just is. It makes me think.
Elton John - First Episode At Hienton
Again, just is. Makes me swoon.
Simon & Garfunkel (live 1981 version) - American Tune
I loved this solo by Paul, but when I first heard this version, I *died*.
Neil Young - Without Rings
The voice, especially. He recorded this after a long tour, and his voice was shot. But it was wonderful. I hear that he never has done it since, as the voice could never be the same. Though I'm sure I'd love to hear him try!
Led Zepplin - Stairway to Heaven
because, yeah.
You can't pick just 5. There are too many by:
Paul Simon
Beatles
Indigo Girls
Cheryl Wheeler
Greg Brown
Led Zepplin
Dar Williams
Elton John
...

[primroseburrows.livejournal.com]

I can't pick just five, either. Stairway to Heaven comes darn close to the top, and so does Paul's "Further to Fly". And um. Yeah.