Notes and Reflections from Rock & Roll Dads this month.
A quiet group today, so lots of space and time for Dads to follow what they need in the rock and roll, the stillness and rest, the watching and sensing. Talk of broken nights sleep, changing patterns, sometimes making sense, sometimes not.
We saw how each baby’s movement and exploration is a reflection of their stage of development – physical, emotional and social. The baby’s changing sphere of exploration. Close to Dad, or out into the space. With themselves, the feel of their hands together, just watching what’s out there. Receiving, taking it all in. Or expressing, exploring out in the space, going further afield.
Noticing what it’s like when a Dad is with their baby, and the baby’s interest is elsewhere, and how that can feel. How it is to be away at work, and coming back to family time. What Dad’s might want in terms of connection, play and togetherness, and what partners and routines might call for.
The needs, desires, draws of the baby, and the needs, desires and draws of the parent. How these interplay together. And being able to sit with, notice enough of what is the adult’s experience, and what is the child’s. The tendency to ‘do to’, or ‘do for’ a baby. The adult offering the toy, when the child is focused elsewhere, more for the adult’s needs, rather than the child’s. And the times when both are together, ‘in’ whatever they are doing. Shared space and time.
So, in these early months, the dialogue and relationship between us is taking shape. It’s a dance. A conversation, that will have its flow and rhythm. Sometimes smooth, sometimes jerky. Some times together, sometimes separate. With all the emotional highs and lows that will continue throughout our lives.
It’s wonderful to witness the beginnings of this relating.
The next Rock & Roll Dads happens on Saturday 2nd July 2016. Details here.
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Read about past sessions in posts on the News page.
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