ShowOff ShowCase: The One That Should Have Done Better

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I have been completely and utterly overwhelmed by the amazing response to my first ever linky – 34 link-ups! For such a new blogger, it was a fabulous response and I was very pleasantly surprised. We've all got our blog-posts that have turned out well and therefore we want to feel 'the blog-love' again, nothing wrong with a little self-advertisement every now and again. The theme of 'Most Popular Post' seemed to go down very well last!

But what of those posts that weren't at the 'Top of the Pops' for viewings or comments?

What about the ones that you finished writing, sat back and thought "aha, I am a veritable genius! Watch me smash the record for most views ever!", and the only person who read it was either your best twitter-friend out of loyalty or an insomniac who needed something to help them get to sleep? You've read it back several times, you know it was a decent post and still you can't get the viewings on it. Mainly because people have seen it around and assumed they've read it.

Well that's the one that I want you to link up to this Saturday (26th March). The post that was well-written or funny, but no-one appreciated it enough the first time around. Consider it Second-Chance Saturday, if you will.

The One That Should Have Done Better!

 

I'm off to wade through the one-'hit' wonders on my stats counter, how many entries can we have again?

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The linky will go live between 8.00-8.30 on Saturday morning. Please join in again and make my weekend!

Movie Meme: Favourite Actor

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Last week I became very excited by MetalMummy's theme until I realised that it wasn't our favourite actor that she wanted us to write about, but more specifically Leonardo di Caprio. I can't really stand his films, with the exception of Shutter Island, so didn't take part. This week, she's been rather lovely and set a theme which allows me to swoon over the marvellous acting talents of:

John Cusack

I remember first seeing him act in the film Stand By Me and was intrigued then. In that film, it's actually River Phoenix that stands out, but Cusack was an interesting choice as Wil Wheaton's older and much-adored brother.

Hubby introduced me to the wonders of one of my favourite films of all time: Grosse Point Blank. To me, this  film epitomises John Cusack. Clever, witty, suave, a bit of action, a bit of romance, a funny leading lady that compliments his kookiness. The plot involves him playing a highly-trained assassin who returns to his high-school, and the girlfriend that he stranded at the prom, for a reunion. It's hysterical and also stars Dan Ackroyd, Minnie Driver and Hank Azaria.

The other classic has got to be High Fidelity featuring the Top 5 (insert random idea here). Inspired acting from the cast, and also features Jack Black at his acting best too. We watched 2012 about a month ago and I can't shake that from my head either, always a sign of a good film.

May I also recommend:

  • ConAir
  • Pushing Tin
  • Runaway Jury
  • American's Sweethearts (borderline sold-out, but still funny. Don't touch Must Love Dogs with a barge-pole)

Oh and he's also quite dishy!

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Now pop over and check out the other entries in this week's MetalMummy's MovieMeme

Learning Through Play: Water!

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Before I became a primary school teacher, I trained and worked as a nursery nurse. My 'dissertation' equivalent had the rather considerable and earnest title of "The Importance of Play as a Part of a Child's Development". That was written 15 years ago when I conducted a comparative study between the pre-school establishments in Denmark and those in Wales. A group of my fellow students went out to visit a range of nurseries and took a whole load of photographs for me, while I poured over reference books and a fledgling Internet search engine.

What was hugely apparent back then was how the Scandinavians viewed education to be something that evolved through the child's natural curiosity and desire to learn and understand their world. At the time, nursery education in Wales was still incredibly formal and started at three years lasting a year before little Myfanwy or Dafydd entered formal schooling (as is still the case). In Denmark, children don't start formal education until the age of six which allows them time to be infants before the stiff structure of schooling.

The reason that I mention all of this is because The Boy is 21 months old now and I am fortunate that when he starts his formal education, he will enter into The Foundation Phase. This shift in the style of schooling has been heavily influenced by the Scandinavian model, and sees children exploring their world, getting mucky, playing with toys in a guided manner.

So after a wander around my school's nursery last week, I pinched their ideas and came home and set up a water-play area in the garden!

Do you know what that equals? A whole lot of fun!

Our garden is already quite child-friendly; swing, slide, a cube climbing frame and a playhouse. However, I wanted a messy area. Somewhere that he can mess around with water and dig and get dirty, just like children should. Somewhere he can find insects and bugs and learn about nature. I used to adore my garden as a child and I want The Boy to feel the same way.

Therefore on Saturday I decided to get creative with the above equipment. This is the result:

The educationalist in me will point out the scientific development and vocabulary learnt: pour, empty, full, splash, down, up. That's in addition to the mathematical enhancement when he started pointing out the shapes: triangle, square (ok so it was a diamond, but he was trying) and circle.

The mummy in me will highlight the pride when my son learnt that the water he poured into the funnel came out of the tube a metre away. Or when he was pouring water from one can to another.

The big kid in me is too busy splashing in the mud to care!

The next step is to surrender one of my small vegetable patches to a digging area and 'mini-beast' hotel for him!

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This post has been submitted to the Tots100 March Blog Hop.

Country Kids from Coombe Mill Family Farm Holidays Cornwall

ShowOff ShowCase: Most Popular Post

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Welcome to my first ever linky!

I've asked you to link up to your most (statistically) popular post (not competition or review) so that we can all enjoy those little gems all over again. When I checked my own statistics, I wasn't surprised that my top  two posts were competitions (I have had some gems recently: Lucy's Locket Birth Canvas and Personalised Twitter Mug competitions).

My most popular post was my rantings about the delusional pre-conceptions of being pregnant. I didn't realise when I wrote it how I seem to have completely hit the nail on the head for several women! The views on that post went skyhigh that day; triple the amount that I'd had for another post and it saw an increase in followers and blog subscribers, with some amazing comments of support and agreement from so many readers.

I am therefore choosing to link up to: Things They Don't Tell You When You're Pregnant!

I've added it to the linky below and hope you'll add your own too. Go on: celebrate your finest hour! If you'd like to add the button to your post, the code is in the box and then you can point people back here to enjoy little pearls of wisdom.

ShowOff ShowCase

 

Flashback Friday: Family Tree

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When my parents got married, my father planted a cherry tree to commemorate the event. As I was born the same year, I always thought of it as my tree.

Look at the poor little thing so spindly and weak.

My brothers and sister and I spent a great deal of time as children playing in the garden. It was our playground, our pirate ship, our stage, our fantasyland. The tree witnessed all of these squeals of joy and tears of frustration. It was used to tie me to, with my waist-length pigtails, whilst my youngest brother went in for tea! The fairies lived in that tree, you know the tooth-fairy and the ones that helped Santa at Christmas when he flew out of Castell Coch to deliver the presents. (I'm from Cardiff, that's what youngsters are told about the Fairy Castle).

Thirty years after it was first planted, this is what my tree had grown up into. I don't have a full height photograph, quite frankly the tree had grown too large! However, to gauge its growth, in the top photograph the bottom two stories of the block of flats can be seen. In this photo, the dark grey line in the background is the top of the three stories.

Last year, my parents moved out of my childhood home for a smaller, more manageable property. It absolutely broke my heart. I was the last person out of the house on the day that they left. I wandered from room to room; trying to imprint  the  smells into my brain, summoning a wealth of memories and being flooded with emotions. I stood in my bedroom infront of the french windows looking out at the view that had been mine for my formative teenage years. The cherry tree always had the most prominent part of that view, guarding and protecting the infants exploring the world beneath its boughs. Leaving the house, and my tree, behind that day was an absolute wrench like no other.

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Please pop over to the host's blog to view the other posts for this week's Flashback Friday.

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