So I'm going to let you guys in on a little secret, Miss K is still getting up for a midnight feed. Apparently according to my maternal health nurse this is a cardinal sin and makes me the worst parent ever! Well she never said these words exactly, but when I told her that Miss K was still having midnight feeds at 12 months, she told me I had to cut them out straight away. Well naughty me didn't cut them out straight away, because although I am aware that babies that feed at night are at risk of dental caries, I am also aware that babies also usually wean themselves off the midnight feeds by themselves.
Well Miss K is now 16 months old and is showing no signs of weaning herself off the midnight feeds. Occasionally she will sleep through the night, giving me a much needed rest from the disturbed sleep that this can bring, but the break is always short lived, and before long we are back to getting up every single night, at any time between 10 pm and 3 am. So I have decided it's time to give her a helping hand in settling herself back to sleep. Tonight she woke up at 10:00 and I got her up and gave her a bottle of water. I'm not entirely convinced that she isn't hungry when she wakes up. It's been 4 hours since she ate last, so to make sure her stomach is full and she's comfortable, she can have a drink that won't give her tooth decay. Then she was given a new nappy and put straight back into bed. Now given that this isn't how we normally do things Miss K was understandably upset by her new routine and made sure I was well aware of her feelings by standing at the end of her cot and screaming at me. I let her go for ten minutes, then I went back into her room, laid her back down and re-wound up her mobile. Another five minutes and she was fast asleep.
Now I don't know if it is going to be this easy every single night. Maybe tonight she was willing to put up with this as one of mum's crazy phases and is expecting everything to go back to normal again tomorrow night. But I'm determined to make sure these night time activities are born out of need and not out of habit. If Miss K is unwell or thirsty or her nappy is too full to be comfortable, I'm more than happy to care for her, but just getting up because I've allowed it for so long is not good for her, and it's not good for me either. So I'll be doing exactly the same thing again tomorrow night, and the night after, and the night after that. And who knows, soon she may not even bother letting me know that she's awake every single night between 10 pm and 3 am.
I come for the coffee, I stay for the padded walls and straight jackets
Monday, 30 July 2012
Sunday, 29 July 2012
Dear diary the busy beaver edition
So as I predicted I haven't had much time for blogging these past few days. Miss K has been recovering from her virus nicely these past few days, and she is almost back to her normal sunny self finally. But that doesn't mean that the whole family is healthy right now. Two of my sisters have various infections and viruses, and one of my nieces has come out in a rash similar to Miss K's. Gotta love winter for the colds and bugs it spreads.
I have actually managed in between giving Miss K paracetamol and chasing after her to get some of her room redecorated this week, and it is starting to really come together. I've rearranged some of her furniture, taken down all of the decorations from her jungle themed room, and I've almost finished putting up her new wall border. If I can get a spare five minutes tomorrow I can finish that job and find another one that needs doing. I'm very pleased with the results so far, and I cannot wait to share them with you guys once I've taken more photos.
Well I have been a very busy little beaver this weekend, so much so that I now need another weekend just to get over this weekend. Yesterday I went shopping at Spotlight to take advantage of their fabric sales to buy some material for a new nappy stacker for Miss K's bedroom. I realised as I was starting to put the room together that her current pale blue nappy stacker didn't fit in with the rest of the room, so I decided to splurge on some Dr Seuss quilting fabric so I could whip up a new one for her. And whip up I did, with thanks to a free pattern I found online. It took me about 4 hours in total, part of which came from difficult to understand sewing instructions for a beginner like me, but I managed to pull it together in the end and I am ecstatic with the results. I'll have photos up once it's installed in Miss K's bedroom.
Today was also jam packed with activity, I took Miss K to get her photos taken by a professional today, which was an absolute disaster! To start with she was tired because I stupidly agreed to a sitting time that went over nap time, so she wasn't interested in sitting still and behaving herself for five minutes so we could get a nice picture. Then the photographer sat her on a chair that was too tall for her, and when she decided she had had enough of sitting down, she tried to get off the chair by belly flopping to the floor. I'm not certain how Miss K would have reacted if the photographer hadn't screamed when she did this, all of my family have long ago learned to not react to Miss K's tumbles until she does, and we have averted many tears in this way, however when someone new comes in, they don't always know this rule, and they react the way the photographer does, which is always guaranteed to make Miss K cry. That was the end of the photos for us, and just quietly I think the photographer was happy to see us leave. I'll pick the photos up next month, so I'll be interested to see if she was able to get any decent shots from us.
We also went out for tea tonight for my nephew's birthday, and then back to my sister's house for cake afterwards. It was a very enjoyable evening, and when we finally went home at 9 o'clock, I was actually disappointed that the evening had to end. But given that both Miss K and I were ready for bed it was a relief to get home and get into my jammies. My nephew's birthday isn't actually until Tuesday, so we'll actually get to celebrate it twice, and I've held off giving him his new Dr Dreadful set until Tuesday too, and I can't wait to see the look on his face when he realises he is now able to make zombie brains and eat them.
Well that's another week re-capped for now, I'm off to bed finally and glad to be going there too. I'll be back again soon as Miss K is almost completely better so I'll have a little more time on my hands this week. Although I think I will miss the extra cuddles I get from her when she isn't feeling a hundred percent. When she is healthy she is too full of beans to sit still long enough to hug her mother, so I take advantage of any extra affection any chance I can get.
I have actually managed in between giving Miss K paracetamol and chasing after her to get some of her room redecorated this week, and it is starting to really come together. I've rearranged some of her furniture, taken down all of the decorations from her jungle themed room, and I've almost finished putting up her new wall border. If I can get a spare five minutes tomorrow I can finish that job and find another one that needs doing. I'm very pleased with the results so far, and I cannot wait to share them with you guys once I've taken more photos.
Well I have been a very busy little beaver this weekend, so much so that I now need another weekend just to get over this weekend. Yesterday I went shopping at Spotlight to take advantage of their fabric sales to buy some material for a new nappy stacker for Miss K's bedroom. I realised as I was starting to put the room together that her current pale blue nappy stacker didn't fit in with the rest of the room, so I decided to splurge on some Dr Seuss quilting fabric so I could whip up a new one for her. And whip up I did, with thanks to a free pattern I found online. It took me about 4 hours in total, part of which came from difficult to understand sewing instructions for a beginner like me, but I managed to pull it together in the end and I am ecstatic with the results. I'll have photos up once it's installed in Miss K's bedroom.
Today was also jam packed with activity, I took Miss K to get her photos taken by a professional today, which was an absolute disaster! To start with she was tired because I stupidly agreed to a sitting time that went over nap time, so she wasn't interested in sitting still and behaving herself for five minutes so we could get a nice picture. Then the photographer sat her on a chair that was too tall for her, and when she decided she had had enough of sitting down, she tried to get off the chair by belly flopping to the floor. I'm not certain how Miss K would have reacted if the photographer hadn't screamed when she did this, all of my family have long ago learned to not react to Miss K's tumbles until she does, and we have averted many tears in this way, however when someone new comes in, they don't always know this rule, and they react the way the photographer does, which is always guaranteed to make Miss K cry. That was the end of the photos for us, and just quietly I think the photographer was happy to see us leave. I'll pick the photos up next month, so I'll be interested to see if she was able to get any decent shots from us.
We also went out for tea tonight for my nephew's birthday, and then back to my sister's house for cake afterwards. It was a very enjoyable evening, and when we finally went home at 9 o'clock, I was actually disappointed that the evening had to end. But given that both Miss K and I were ready for bed it was a relief to get home and get into my jammies. My nephew's birthday isn't actually until Tuesday, so we'll actually get to celebrate it twice, and I've held off giving him his new Dr Dreadful set until Tuesday too, and I can't wait to see the look on his face when he realises he is now able to make zombie brains and eat them.
Well that's another week re-capped for now, I'm off to bed finally and glad to be going there too. I'll be back again soon as Miss K is almost completely better so I'll have a little more time on my hands this week. Although I think I will miss the extra cuddles I get from her when she isn't feeling a hundred percent. When she is healthy she is too full of beans to sit still long enough to hug her mother, so I take advantage of any extra affection any chance I can get.
Thursday, 26 July 2012
Another bug is doing the rounds
So this is only a short post today because I am absolutely drained and need to get some sleep pronto. This may be the last blogging I do for the next couple of days, we found out today that Miss K has come down with hand foot and mouth disease, and she's pretty miserable with it all, so I'm going to be focusing on her completely for the next couple of days until she comes good.
There is nothing worse than spotting spots on your little one. I was at my big sisters when we noticed that Miss K was doing a pretty good impersonation of a leopard. We were initially worried that her fatigue and general lack of motivation could have been due to a bout of gastro that is making it's rounds through my sister's house at the moment, but once I noticed the spots on her hands matched the ones on her mouth nicely, that's when we realised it was something completely different and called the doctor to see if he could squeeze us in quickly. The doctor was very nice and found a small space for us to come in, and confirmed in about two minutes that it was quite possibly hand foot and mouth disease, and then sent us on our way. The joys of viruses like this is there is no medications available, you just have to ride it out.
So that's what Miss K and I are going to be doing for the next few days. We will be staying in and having a couple of quiet days together until she is mended.
So since I can't promise that I'll be around much for the next few days, here is a picture of Dr Tinycat to tide you over in the meantime. He will bring to this blog the cuteness that I am so lacking given that I'm not 6 inches tall and furry.
There is nothing worse than spotting spots on your little one. I was at my big sisters when we noticed that Miss K was doing a pretty good impersonation of a leopard. We were initially worried that her fatigue and general lack of motivation could have been due to a bout of gastro that is making it's rounds through my sister's house at the moment, but once I noticed the spots on her hands matched the ones on her mouth nicely, that's when we realised it was something completely different and called the doctor to see if he could squeeze us in quickly. The doctor was very nice and found a small space for us to come in, and confirmed in about two minutes that it was quite possibly hand foot and mouth disease, and then sent us on our way. The joys of viruses like this is there is no medications available, you just have to ride it out.
So that's what Miss K and I are going to be doing for the next few days. We will be staying in and having a couple of quiet days together until she is mended.
So since I can't promise that I'll be around much for the next few days, here is a picture of Dr Tinycat to tide you over in the meantime. He will bring to this blog the cuteness that I am so lacking given that I'm not 6 inches tall and furry.
Enjoy
Tuesday, 24 July 2012
Highs and lows
Wanna know what the low point of my day was?? It was a few moments after Miss K saw a mashed up biscuit stuck to the carpet, it was just after she tried to pick it up with her hand to eat it. It was the moment she decided to squat down and try to lick the biscuit off the carpet. It is times like that that I love having cat like reflexes. They come in handy when you have a feral for a daughter.
Do you want to know what the highlight of my day today was? It was a few moments after Miss K woke up from her sleep tonight screaming. It was also after I'd given her paracetamol, then mopped up the paracetamol that she spat out, then given her a chocolate, then paced her bedroom floor for five minutes trying to get her to stop crying, it was after I turned out the lights and sat with her in the rocking chair snuggled up in her new Dr Seuss quilt. It was the moment when she had finally stopped crying, was sitting quietly in my knee listening to music with me, and she looked up at me, then reached up to give me a big wet kiss. It made the almost bursting bladder, and the desperate need for a cigarette worthwhile just for the chance to snuggle with my beautiful little girl who even though she can't say it, just showed me how much she loves me.
Do you want to know what the highlight of my day today was? It was a few moments after Miss K woke up from her sleep tonight screaming. It was also after I'd given her paracetamol, then mopped up the paracetamol that she spat out, then given her a chocolate, then paced her bedroom floor for five minutes trying to get her to stop crying, it was after I turned out the lights and sat with her in the rocking chair snuggled up in her new Dr Seuss quilt. It was the moment when she had finally stopped crying, was sitting quietly in my knee listening to music with me, and she looked up at me, then reached up to give me a big wet kiss. It made the almost bursting bladder, and the desperate need for a cigarette worthwhile just for the chance to snuggle with my beautiful little girl who even though she can't say it, just showed me how much she loves me.
Monday, 23 July 2012
This is why I shouldn't blog late at night
I can't believe it, I was in such a hurry to post my diary entry last night I forgot two of the biggest events of last week. Well it's not too late to let you guys know what's been going on I guess.
The first big thing that happened last week was that Miss K sprouted another two teeth. It explains why she has been so touchy the last week or so, and yet she has still been such a trooper about it. I would have expected a lot worse from someone going through cutting two teeth at the same time. The teeth she's cutting at the moment are her molars, but she hasn't even finished cutting all of her front teeth yet.
The other big thing that happened was another noticeable earth quake. It wasn't as big as the first one we felt, and it didn't go as long, but it definitely gave us all a shock. Apparently there have been over 200 tremors since June, but most of them are so small they pass by without us even noticing, but this is the third one I've felt. It's funny how quickly we've become accustomed to the earth shaking underneath our feet, mum looked up from her ice cream for a few seconds, then resumed eating, and I just walked slowly to Miss K's room once the quake was over to make sure she was OK. I guess we've all just accepted that this is going to be a part of life for the next couple of months, and as long as the house doesn't fall down around our ears, it's all good.
So I was a very busy beaver today, I finally got around to getting my tyre fixed this morning. It turns out I drove over a nail some months ago, and it finally had its evil way with my tyre and blew a hole in it. Luckily it was a quick fix and I'll organise to get it put back on the car tomorrow. I have to say that the tyre shop I went to were wonderful, the repair was surprisingly cheap, and they even rebalanced the tyre for me. I'll definitely be going back to them if I drive over another nail. I also organised to get my glasses picked up in two weeks, so I'm pretty excited that I'll be able to see better very soon. I managed to get to K Mart while I was up the street this morning and bought a cute foam jigsaw puzzle mat for Miss K's room, and we both had a lot of fun setting it up tonight before dinner. While I was there I also bought a new laminator and I'll be firing it up this evening to get the rest of my laminating completed which is pretty exciting.
Well that's me done for another day, this really was just another dear diary, but to mix it up a bit, I'll share a picture that was sent to me this morning on Facebook. I think that this was made just for Miss K, and it speaks volumes about her.
This happens to me several times a day, and it's never pretty.
The first big thing that happened last week was that Miss K sprouted another two teeth. It explains why she has been so touchy the last week or so, and yet she has still been such a trooper about it. I would have expected a lot worse from someone going through cutting two teeth at the same time. The teeth she's cutting at the moment are her molars, but she hasn't even finished cutting all of her front teeth yet.
The other big thing that happened was another noticeable earth quake. It wasn't as big as the first one we felt, and it didn't go as long, but it definitely gave us all a shock. Apparently there have been over 200 tremors since June, but most of them are so small they pass by without us even noticing, but this is the third one I've felt. It's funny how quickly we've become accustomed to the earth shaking underneath our feet, mum looked up from her ice cream for a few seconds, then resumed eating, and I just walked slowly to Miss K's room once the quake was over to make sure she was OK. I guess we've all just accepted that this is going to be a part of life for the next couple of months, and as long as the house doesn't fall down around our ears, it's all good.
So I was a very busy beaver today, I finally got around to getting my tyre fixed this morning. It turns out I drove over a nail some months ago, and it finally had its evil way with my tyre and blew a hole in it. Luckily it was a quick fix and I'll organise to get it put back on the car tomorrow. I have to say that the tyre shop I went to were wonderful, the repair was surprisingly cheap, and they even rebalanced the tyre for me. I'll definitely be going back to them if I drive over another nail. I also organised to get my glasses picked up in two weeks, so I'm pretty excited that I'll be able to see better very soon. I managed to get to K Mart while I was up the street this morning and bought a cute foam jigsaw puzzle mat for Miss K's room, and we both had a lot of fun setting it up tonight before dinner. While I was there I also bought a new laminator and I'll be firing it up this evening to get the rest of my laminating completed which is pretty exciting.
Well that's me done for another day, this really was just another dear diary, but to mix it up a bit, I'll share a picture that was sent to me this morning on Facebook. I think that this was made just for Miss K, and it speaks volumes about her.
Dear Diary The I hate technology edition
Were you guys worried that I wasn't going to do a diary today since I already posted this afternoon? Well fear not my intrepid readers I would never disappoint you. Besides who else will listen to me rant about my week?
It's actually a bit hard to do a diary entry tonight as I've spent a lot of this week telling you what was happening as it was happening, but I'm sure I'll be able to find one or two things I left out. It was my big sister's birthday on Tuesday this week, so I had the opportunity to go and visit her and give her chocolates, which I feel are an absolute must as a birthday present. (Hint hint). Miss K was given the opportunity to learn about moderation and self restraint, as she was given a whole bottle of chocolate milk to herself. But given that she is only 1 and doesn't understand either of these concepts she drank the entire bottle in about five minutes and gave herself a nasty stomach-ache. It took a couple of decent sized burps and a quiet sit down with mum before she was back to her normal self and able to play play-dough with her cousin.
As you have all no doubt read this week I have been madly creating things for Miss K's new bedroom, but things came to a grinding halt this evening when my laminator decided to chew one of my pages. It took mum and me an hour with a screw driver and a knife to pull apart the wretched machine to try and rescue my precious paper. Below is the end result of our work, and neither of us can figure out how to put it back together.
It's actually a bit hard to do a diary entry tonight as I've spent a lot of this week telling you what was happening as it was happening, but I'm sure I'll be able to find one or two things I left out. It was my big sister's birthday on Tuesday this week, so I had the opportunity to go and visit her and give her chocolates, which I feel are an absolute must as a birthday present. (Hint hint). Miss K was given the opportunity to learn about moderation and self restraint, as she was given a whole bottle of chocolate milk to herself. But given that she is only 1 and doesn't understand either of these concepts she drank the entire bottle in about five minutes and gave herself a nasty stomach-ache. It took a couple of decent sized burps and a quiet sit down with mum before she was back to her normal self and able to play play-dough with her cousin.
As you have all no doubt read this week I have been madly creating things for Miss K's new bedroom, but things came to a grinding halt this evening when my laminator decided to chew one of my pages. It took mum and me an hour with a screw driver and a knife to pull apart the wretched machine to try and rescue my precious paper. Below is the end result of our work, and neither of us can figure out how to put it back together.
CURSE YOU TECHNOLOGY!!!!
So tomorrow will be spent buying a new laminator among other things.
Miss K is her usual self, but with extra cheekiness thrown in for good measure. I mentioned in my earlier post that she spends a lot of time pushing my buttons at the moment, but she has learned a few new tricks that aren't as frustrating. For example, she can finally climb onto our couch which is frustrating, but only because she gets up there and jumps and I'm terrified she's going to nose dive into the coffee table one of these days. She has also discovered that when grandma stands in the kitchen and yells my name I get out of bed, so most mornings I am woken up by her yelling my name over and over again. She is still not walking by herself, but we go for walks together every single day, usually when I'm putting her high chair away, so I'm hoping she'll start taking steps by herself soon.
Well that's it for another day, I have to get up early tomorrow morning to buy birthday presents for one niece and one nephew (why couldn't you have your kids more than a month apart big sister??) plus my little sister has a dentists appointment tomorrow (ha ha) and I have to drive her there so I'm going to be a busy beaver tomorrow. Till next time, stay awesome my wonderful readers.
Sunday, 22 July 2012
Like nailing jelly to a wall
This is Miss K's bedroom when it is clean
It's so pretty
And this is Miss K's bedroom ten minutes after I clean it.
AAAARGH!!!!!!
I let her trash her room like this because it gives me ten minutes of peace and quiet to enjoy a cup of coffee, or just have an entire conversation without having to use the word no once. There are times when I don't even know why I bother cleaning it up at the end of the day, as Miss K certainly never seems to appreciate the effort, and it appears that she prefers it dirty anyway. This is just one of the futile fights that Miss K and I have on a regular basis at the moment. We fight a lot at the moment. She questions the absoluteness of my authority over her, and I question her need to push my buttons all the time.
I know this is just the precursor to the terrible twos, but it begs the question, how terrible will the terrible twos get given that we have world war three in our house on a daily basis already. Miss K seems to take the word no as a challenge, and loves it when my back is turned for five seconds, because that is a big enough window to get into a lot of things that she knows she's not meant to. She's not stupid either, she knows she's not allowed to hit the television, or eat pencils, but she does it anyway. And then when I hit the roof and start yelling I'm the monster for not letting her run riot.
I'm becoming an expert on ignoring temper tantrums, but instead of having the desired effect of making her stop screaming, right now it makes her scream even louder, I'm not sure if she thinks I can't hear her properly the first time, but she's determined to let me know she's not happy and I'm meant to be doing something about it. I have on several occasions tried changing tactics and crying with her, but that doesn't work either, and I end up looking just as immature as the baby, but without the adorable chubby face to balance things out.
Luckily for me the tantrums never last long and Miss K is always quick to forgive and forget if given the proper distractions, and then life goes back to normal. It also has the added bonus of making me appreciate the good times even more.
Friday, 20 July 2012
Let the redecorating begin!
I'm so excited, my new Dr Seuss books finally arrived in the mail this morning (at 7:30 in the morning thank you very much Mr Postman) so I can finally get started on redecorating Miss K's bedroom. I spent the past three days making a cartoon sign post for her wall out of coloured paper, and I've taken photos just so I could show it off here.
The stuffed toys suspended to the left of this shot are actually hung from a giant lattice that was already in the room from when it was my little sister's. Sadly I never got a photo of that wall on its own, but all the animals hanging there can be found in the jungle, which is why I picked them. You can't really see it, but in the left corner there is a dark red rocking chair, which I still use to this day for Miss K's midnight feeds. This was originally something my big sister bought when she was pregnant with her first child. She painted and recovered it herself, and even painted and covered a gorgeous toy chest in the same material. I couldn't believe it when she allowed me to borrow it for my baby, and it is by far my favourite piece of furniture in Miss K's bedroom.
Ta Daaaa!
I'm pretty proud of this one, and I think that it will really help set the theme. I figured that before I did a big reveal on here, It would be a good idea to show you what her bedroom is now (or what it was when she was three months old, as that is when these photos were taken).
So when I found out I was pregnant with Miss K, one of the first things I started thinking about was her nursery. Because she was such a little lady in utero and kept her legs crossed at all times, I was never able to get a 100% confirmation that she was indeed a girl, so I needed her room to be gender neutral, but pretty at the same time. I decided on a jungle theme because it could be both masculine and feminine, and it seemed like it would be fairly easy to pull off. Now I can't take any credit for any of the decorations in this room, because it was all done while I was in the hospital giving birth. My little sister very kindly painted the room green for me on the day Miss K was born (as I originally was meant to spend that day painting if I hadn't gone into labour a week early) and my big sister came in a couple of days before I came home and added in the rest of the decor.
My sister hand cut that entire grass border, and it was long enough to cover two walls with some spare. She also hand made the flowers, butterflies and the sun and clouds.
The flowers going up the wall were something that mum had lying around which she graciously donated to the cause, and the monkey was originally a gift I bought for my niece a few years ago, and she also kindly gave it back to me so that Miss K could enjoy it. I don't know how the flowers are attached to the wall, but they are attached good and proper and won't budge an inch, trust me I've tested it.
This was Miss K's play area back when all of her toys would fit into one plastic crate. These days they spread into three crates, a corner in our lounge room and also a small basket. And yet she would still rather play with grandma's newspaper any day of the week.
So there you have it, Miss K's old bedroom, soon to be replaced with something new and hopefully as gorgeous as this one was.
Thursday, 19 July 2012
A blow for the Morality Police everywhere
I know I've been notably absent the past few days, but I have been busy painting and drawing for Miss K's new bedroom. To make it up to all of you wonderfully patient people today, I have a new rant for you.
The latest comedy offering from Britain to hit Australia's televisions is a show called Mrs Brown's Boys. We have only just received the first season down here in the past couple of months, and so far it is proving to be quite popular. Now at the end of each show as they are advertising next week's episodes, they have small grabs of reviews of the show flashing onto the screen, and none of the reviews are flattering at all. One review last night called the show "filthy smut parading as comedy". While most producers would be heartbroken by such harsh criticisms of their show, the makers of Mrs Brown's Boys are celebrating the fact that they are hated by the Morality Police, and are using it as a selling point for the show.
Now the reviews may be technically correct, the show is indeed quite crude and almost amateurish, however it does have some incredibly funny moments in it, and the dialogue can be quite clever. But to call it shocking would be an overstatement, especially in a world where shows like Little Britain and Family Guy are regularly aired on public channels. If the show had come out twenty years ago when swearing was rarely heard on our television screens, then yes this show would have been quite shocking, and the boycotts would have been huge. But in these days of YouTube where nothing is secret any more, I think we've become so desensitised to what used to be considered inappropriate that a show like this is nothing more than mindless entertainment.
So this begs the question, do we really have a need for the morality police any more considering that these days there is no clear cut rules to what is immoral any more? When books like 50 Shades of Grey are being sold openly on the shelves of every book store instead of from under the counter of adult stores only, what right does anyone have to say that something is too shocking to be viewed by the masses? Of course everything I have mentioned here is indeed inappropriate for children, but that is a different subject altogether, and they indeed should be protected from all of this. But that isn't really what bothers the morality police when they get their knickers in a knot over shows like Mrs Brown's Boys. The show is already only screened at an hour when children are long in bed, so there is no risk of young eyes seeing anything they shouldn't. But why do some people still think that adult eyes need to be protected so vigorously? I thought that we had gotten past the shame that we are all human, we've admitted as a whole society that we all go to the toilet, we all have sex, we all like sex and we all have grooming habits that can be quite unattractive. Shows that laugh at all of the base elements of humans, while being incredibly low brow, can still be very funny. And I don't think there is anyone alive who can say with complete honesty that they have never laughed when someone farted in a public place.
Luckily for the people who enjoy shows like Mrs Brown's Boys, it appears that no one listens to the Morality Police any more, and it appears that sometimes they go out of their way to produce shows like this just to piss them off. But in a way this benefits everyone. The Morality Police have something new to bitch about, and the rest of us have something to laugh at. I know which one I prefer.
The latest comedy offering from Britain to hit Australia's televisions is a show called Mrs Brown's Boys. We have only just received the first season down here in the past couple of months, and so far it is proving to be quite popular. Now at the end of each show as they are advertising next week's episodes, they have small grabs of reviews of the show flashing onto the screen, and none of the reviews are flattering at all. One review last night called the show "filthy smut parading as comedy". While most producers would be heartbroken by such harsh criticisms of their show, the makers of Mrs Brown's Boys are celebrating the fact that they are hated by the Morality Police, and are using it as a selling point for the show.
Now the reviews may be technically correct, the show is indeed quite crude and almost amateurish, however it does have some incredibly funny moments in it, and the dialogue can be quite clever. But to call it shocking would be an overstatement, especially in a world where shows like Little Britain and Family Guy are regularly aired on public channels. If the show had come out twenty years ago when swearing was rarely heard on our television screens, then yes this show would have been quite shocking, and the boycotts would have been huge. But in these days of YouTube where nothing is secret any more, I think we've become so desensitised to what used to be considered inappropriate that a show like this is nothing more than mindless entertainment.
So this begs the question, do we really have a need for the morality police any more considering that these days there is no clear cut rules to what is immoral any more? When books like 50 Shades of Grey are being sold openly on the shelves of every book store instead of from under the counter of adult stores only, what right does anyone have to say that something is too shocking to be viewed by the masses? Of course everything I have mentioned here is indeed inappropriate for children, but that is a different subject altogether, and they indeed should be protected from all of this. But that isn't really what bothers the morality police when they get their knickers in a knot over shows like Mrs Brown's Boys. The show is already only screened at an hour when children are long in bed, so there is no risk of young eyes seeing anything they shouldn't. But why do some people still think that adult eyes need to be protected so vigorously? I thought that we had gotten past the shame that we are all human, we've admitted as a whole society that we all go to the toilet, we all have sex, we all like sex and we all have grooming habits that can be quite unattractive. Shows that laugh at all of the base elements of humans, while being incredibly low brow, can still be very funny. And I don't think there is anyone alive who can say with complete honesty that they have never laughed when someone farted in a public place.
Luckily for the people who enjoy shows like Mrs Brown's Boys, it appears that no one listens to the Morality Police any more, and it appears that sometimes they go out of their way to produce shows like this just to piss them off. But in a way this benefits everyone. The Morality Police have something new to bitch about, and the rest of us have something to laugh at. I know which one I prefer.
Tuesday, 17 July 2012
Let stay at home mums stay at home
So yesterday I was reading one of the pull out sections of the weekend newspaper, when I stumbled upon an article by a woman called Wendy Tuohy banging on about the differences between men and women. Don't worry, today's post is not a battle of the sexes one, as that has been done to death everywhere else, and I don't really have anything original to say about it. Now Wendy's article was based on a list some man somewhere had written about the worst and best things about being a guy. She had decided to counteract this by writing the best and worst things about being a woman. However given some of the things on her list, I'm not entirely sure she is an expert on what she was saying.
Towards the end of the article, she said that one of the best things about being a woman was the fact that women could leave work to go off and have a baby, and everyone would be completely understanding if she didn't want to go back to work, and wanted instead to stay home and be a mum. Well the last time I checked, no one is OK with this any more except the mums themselves. The government certainly doesn't want anyone to stay at home and raise their families, they want all of us to be out being productive and making money for them. They have even gone as far as refusing to pay you to be a parent once your child is in school because then you're out of excuses. There is no reason for you to stay at home any more because the school system is now raising your child, so off you go, get a job and start doing something useful.
The only people wanting mums to stay at home and take care of their children are the mums themselves, and even then not all the mums are content with this. Some of them are quite happy to pay professionals to play with their children while they go off and have adult time at work. Now I'm not passing judgement on mums who work. In a couple of years I will have to be a mum that works, but this is not my choice. If I could choose, I would be at home all day waiting for Miss K to come home from school. And it is not because I have an obsession with daytime television either. (especially since all the daytime television I watch these days is aimed at children.) It is because I feel that as Miss K's parent, my job is to take care of her and run her home. I have already discovered as a childless bachelorette that I am terrible at balancing work and running a household. Once upon a time when I was a full time professional person my house was always messy and dishes were done as I needed a new plate and cutlery. Add the extra mess that a child brings to a household and pretty soon you'd be seeing me on an episode of hoarders or how clean is your house.
Given that I am a single parent, and the sole provider of income for my family, I have no choice but to go out to work as soon as I can, in order to make sure that Miss K and I have a comfortable life. I have had to accept this and I'm even taking steps to make myself more employable once that inevitable day comes. But I really resent the fact that my current job isn't appreciated by anyone other than Miss K. Of course you could rationalise that she really is the only person who needs to appreciate it as she is the only one who is affected by it, but given that she isn't the one that determines whether I get paid or not, her appreciation really doesn't mean much in the grand scheme of things. It is because of people forcing mothers to go back to work that we are raising a generation of privileged brats who respect nobody but themselves. And I'm not saying that working mothers are bad parents here, I'm saying that children of working parents are being raised by child care centres who aren't allowed to use the word no, and aren't allowed to discipline a child when they need to be brought into line. Have we all forgotten that these are the people who are going to be choosing our nursing homes? I don't know about you but I'm very afraid.
The real issue that comes with returning to work after a 5 year "vacation" as you raised your child is that the skills you once valued as a worker are probably all a distant memory. Once upon a time I was able to juggle several conversations at once, stare down an entire basket of typing without flinching and manage a to do list as long as my arm. These days I struggle to have one conversation at a time, I wince every time I see another basket of laundry and my to do list stretches to next year, with very little progress ever. Of course being a mum means you can become creative when redoing your resume, as for the past few years you have been an entertainer, chef, personal assistant, nurse, negotiator and maid, but I know very few bosses who really care that you are able to sneak vegetables into your meals on a regular basis, or that you can diffuse a potential temper tantrum in five seconds flat. And very few colleagues appreciate it when you offer to kiss their boo boos better.
Luckily for me I still have a good couple of years left before I have to worry about returning to the adult world, and I'm determined to make the most of it. But I do wish that more recognition was given to the working soldiers whose battlefields are the kitchen sink and kids bedrooms. You may not think so but they work just as hard as you do, and sometimes even harder.
Towards the end of the article, she said that one of the best things about being a woman was the fact that women could leave work to go off and have a baby, and everyone would be completely understanding if she didn't want to go back to work, and wanted instead to stay home and be a mum. Well the last time I checked, no one is OK with this any more except the mums themselves. The government certainly doesn't want anyone to stay at home and raise their families, they want all of us to be out being productive and making money for them. They have even gone as far as refusing to pay you to be a parent once your child is in school because then you're out of excuses. There is no reason for you to stay at home any more because the school system is now raising your child, so off you go, get a job and start doing something useful.
The only people wanting mums to stay at home and take care of their children are the mums themselves, and even then not all the mums are content with this. Some of them are quite happy to pay professionals to play with their children while they go off and have adult time at work. Now I'm not passing judgement on mums who work. In a couple of years I will have to be a mum that works, but this is not my choice. If I could choose, I would be at home all day waiting for Miss K to come home from school. And it is not because I have an obsession with daytime television either. (especially since all the daytime television I watch these days is aimed at children.) It is because I feel that as Miss K's parent, my job is to take care of her and run her home. I have already discovered as a childless bachelorette that I am terrible at balancing work and running a household. Once upon a time when I was a full time professional person my house was always messy and dishes were done as I needed a new plate and cutlery. Add the extra mess that a child brings to a household and pretty soon you'd be seeing me on an episode of hoarders or how clean is your house.
Given that I am a single parent, and the sole provider of income for my family, I have no choice but to go out to work as soon as I can, in order to make sure that Miss K and I have a comfortable life. I have had to accept this and I'm even taking steps to make myself more employable once that inevitable day comes. But I really resent the fact that my current job isn't appreciated by anyone other than Miss K. Of course you could rationalise that she really is the only person who needs to appreciate it as she is the only one who is affected by it, but given that she isn't the one that determines whether I get paid or not, her appreciation really doesn't mean much in the grand scheme of things. It is because of people forcing mothers to go back to work that we are raising a generation of privileged brats who respect nobody but themselves. And I'm not saying that working mothers are bad parents here, I'm saying that children of working parents are being raised by child care centres who aren't allowed to use the word no, and aren't allowed to discipline a child when they need to be brought into line. Have we all forgotten that these are the people who are going to be choosing our nursing homes? I don't know about you but I'm very afraid.
The real issue that comes with returning to work after a 5 year "vacation" as you raised your child is that the skills you once valued as a worker are probably all a distant memory. Once upon a time I was able to juggle several conversations at once, stare down an entire basket of typing without flinching and manage a to do list as long as my arm. These days I struggle to have one conversation at a time, I wince every time I see another basket of laundry and my to do list stretches to next year, with very little progress ever. Of course being a mum means you can become creative when redoing your resume, as for the past few years you have been an entertainer, chef, personal assistant, nurse, negotiator and maid, but I know very few bosses who really care that you are able to sneak vegetables into your meals on a regular basis, or that you can diffuse a potential temper tantrum in five seconds flat. And very few colleagues appreciate it when you offer to kiss their boo boos better.
Luckily for me I still have a good couple of years left before I have to worry about returning to the adult world, and I'm determined to make the most of it. But I do wish that more recognition was given to the working soldiers whose battlefields are the kitchen sink and kids bedrooms. You may not think so but they work just as hard as you do, and sometimes even harder.
Sunday, 15 July 2012
Dear diary the Kerplunk edition
So my soundtrack to today's diary entry is the chorus of groans and clacks of a game of Kerplunk currently being played on the coffee table by mum and the kids. One of the babies has gone home, but the last two are still here waiting for mum and dad to come back from Melbourne (hopefully with junk food).
This week certainly was more eventful than the last few weeks combined, we have had a zoo of children keeping us entertained, I got heaps of decorations completed for Miss K's new bedroom and I even got a hair cut during the week. This was actually a big deal for me because it's been over 12 months since I've had anything done to my hair so there was a lot of hair sitting on top of my head before this week. I had decided that it was getting too long and heavy, and I was getting tired of having to deal with it so I got my little sister to chop off 6 inches of hair. I now have shoulder length hair and I feel about 5 kilos lighter too. I also get out of the shower about five minutes faster these days as I don't have to shampoo and condition so much hair.
Miss K has been gorgeous as always, this week she has started copying words that she hears everyone else say, and as a result she can now say get up, ding dong and no. She also takes great delight in shouting my name at the top of her lungs first thing in the morning to try and get me to come pick her up out of her cot and feed her. Given that I hate mornings, I usually stall her by yelling back at her for as long as I can before she throws a tantrum and I'm forced to get out of bed. She has also discovered that everyone laughs if she blows raspberries whenever we say someone's name, so we spend lots of time just repeating everyone's name so she will razz at whoever we've mentioned. I'm not sure if it's a good thing that we're just as easily amused as the baby is.
I also managed to get my hands on two copies of Dr Seuss' ABC book thanks to eBay, so once I've received them in the mail I can finally get Miss K's bedroom decorated. I know I keep promising that I'll have photos posted, and I have managed so far to take photos of the new quilt, which really doesn't look like much on its own, but here is the fruits of three hours labour.
This week certainly was more eventful than the last few weeks combined, we have had a zoo of children keeping us entertained, I got heaps of decorations completed for Miss K's new bedroom and I even got a hair cut during the week. This was actually a big deal for me because it's been over 12 months since I've had anything done to my hair so there was a lot of hair sitting on top of my head before this week. I had decided that it was getting too long and heavy, and I was getting tired of having to deal with it so I got my little sister to chop off 6 inches of hair. I now have shoulder length hair and I feel about 5 kilos lighter too. I also get out of the shower about five minutes faster these days as I don't have to shampoo and condition so much hair.
Miss K has been gorgeous as always, this week she has started copying words that she hears everyone else say, and as a result she can now say get up, ding dong and no. She also takes great delight in shouting my name at the top of her lungs first thing in the morning to try and get me to come pick her up out of her cot and feed her. Given that I hate mornings, I usually stall her by yelling back at her for as long as I can before she throws a tantrum and I'm forced to get out of bed. She has also discovered that everyone laughs if she blows raspberries whenever we say someone's name, so we spend lots of time just repeating everyone's name so she will razz at whoever we've mentioned. I'm not sure if it's a good thing that we're just as easily amused as the baby is.
I also managed to get my hands on two copies of Dr Seuss' ABC book thanks to eBay, so once I've received them in the mail I can finally get Miss K's bedroom decorated. I know I keep promising that I'll have photos posted, and I have managed so far to take photos of the new quilt, which really doesn't look like much on its own, but here is the fruits of three hours labour.
Miss K's new quilt
My lovely niece was kind enough to be my model for this photo, and you can see her feet peeking out from the bottom of the doona. Unfortunately given that the blanket is almost as tall as her and quite heavy she couldn't hold it for very long so this is the best shot I could get.
Well that's another week summed up for you, Miss K is starting to cry for her dinner so for now I'm outta here, I'll see you next time.
Adventures in baby sitting, baking and sewing
I almost don't want to keep putting posts up here at the moment. You see last night's post was post number 69 for me, and given that that is my favourite number (for obvious reasons) I would love to leave it right there, just so that I can come back and giggle every time I see it. I never said that I was mature, in fact most people who know me would say that I'm the exact opposite.
So it has been an absolute circus at our house today, we had children in every corner of the house since mum and I seem to be the only people in the world who don't like doing things on weekends, we were the only ones who could be pinned down long enough to watch every child in our family. My big sister is very lucky enough to have a wonderful husband who has taken her to Melbourne for the weekend to celebrate her birthday, and my little brother and his wife were spending this weekend moving house, so to make sure their little girl was out of the way she came here and had a play date with all of her cousins. So a child in every corner may have been an over exaggeration, especially given there were only three extra kids in the house, but there were times when it sounded like we had a whole soccer team squashed into our lounge room.
Given that we had such a packed house today, I thought it would be a perfect time to prove that I could be domestic if I wanted to, by sewing a quilt cover for Miss K's new Dr Seuss bedroom, baking banana muffins for dessert, and making sure that Miss K's current bedroom was spotless when she went to bed. (This was no small task since she and her little cousin had spent a good half hour earlier in the day pulling every toy, book and piece of clothing out of it's home and throwing them on the ground.)
Out of all of these tasks, the one that proved the hardest was sewing a quilt cover. You wouldn't think that sewing a piece of fabric into a rectangle shape and attaching some snap buttons on would be so hard, but it actually ended up taking me about 3 hours to do all up. Of course I had lots of little helpers who were very curious as to what I was doing, and took great pleasure in walking and sitting all over the fabric while I was trying to measure and pin it. But the real problem was the fact that I have so very little sewing experience in my life, and I struggle to sew in a straight line. Add in tricky things like snap buttons and hems and I come completely undone. But I managed to get it finished in the end, and it is even big enough to put the quilt in, which is no small accomplishment for me given that I never have enough attention span to follow the old measure twice cut once rule.
So with all the really big jobs completed for Miss K's new bedroom, it won't be long before I will be able to put the whole thing together and watch her enjoy her new space. Of course I'll have photos up here very soon of the progress I've made so far. And given that I've managed to get everything done so far for about $50 I'm even considering going on eBay to buy some Dr Seuss books for the picture border, as I still can't find a second hand store around here that sells his books.
Well I'm off to bed now, as tomorrow is looking to be another busy day and I'll need my beauty hibernation if I'm going to be able to chase around a group of kids for another day. Stay awesome my wonderful readers and I'll be back again soon.
So it has been an absolute circus at our house today, we had children in every corner of the house since mum and I seem to be the only people in the world who don't like doing things on weekends, we were the only ones who could be pinned down long enough to watch every child in our family. My big sister is very lucky enough to have a wonderful husband who has taken her to Melbourne for the weekend to celebrate her birthday, and my little brother and his wife were spending this weekend moving house, so to make sure their little girl was out of the way she came here and had a play date with all of her cousins. So a child in every corner may have been an over exaggeration, especially given there were only three extra kids in the house, but there were times when it sounded like we had a whole soccer team squashed into our lounge room.
Given that we had such a packed house today, I thought it would be a perfect time to prove that I could be domestic if I wanted to, by sewing a quilt cover for Miss K's new Dr Seuss bedroom, baking banana muffins for dessert, and making sure that Miss K's current bedroom was spotless when she went to bed. (This was no small task since she and her little cousin had spent a good half hour earlier in the day pulling every toy, book and piece of clothing out of it's home and throwing them on the ground.)
Out of all of these tasks, the one that proved the hardest was sewing a quilt cover. You wouldn't think that sewing a piece of fabric into a rectangle shape and attaching some snap buttons on would be so hard, but it actually ended up taking me about 3 hours to do all up. Of course I had lots of little helpers who were very curious as to what I was doing, and took great pleasure in walking and sitting all over the fabric while I was trying to measure and pin it. But the real problem was the fact that I have so very little sewing experience in my life, and I struggle to sew in a straight line. Add in tricky things like snap buttons and hems and I come completely undone. But I managed to get it finished in the end, and it is even big enough to put the quilt in, which is no small accomplishment for me given that I never have enough attention span to follow the old measure twice cut once rule.
So with all the really big jobs completed for Miss K's new bedroom, it won't be long before I will be able to put the whole thing together and watch her enjoy her new space. Of course I'll have photos up here very soon of the progress I've made so far. And given that I've managed to get everything done so far for about $50 I'm even considering going on eBay to buy some Dr Seuss books for the picture border, as I still can't find a second hand store around here that sells his books.
Well I'm off to bed now, as tomorrow is looking to be another busy day and I'll need my beauty hibernation if I'm going to be able to chase around a group of kids for another day. Stay awesome my wonderful readers and I'll be back again soon.
Friday, 13 July 2012
Bad parent makes bad decision
So for any of my regular readers who have come here looking for a light and happy post today, I'm very sorry to disappoint you, but today's post is anything but light and cheerful. What I have decided to speak about is a topic that makes me so furious, and is anything but pleasant to think about.
For any of you who live outside of Australia, or who do not read the Melbourne newspapers, you may be unfamiliar with the story of a woman called Melissa Ngati. She has made the news for the worst reasons ever. In November last year, she beat her own daughter so violently, the child will spend the rest of her life with permanent brain damage. Now I would never accept any kind of excuse for this behaviour, especially one as weak as Melissa's. Apparently her child vomited in her bed, and this was the event that warranted hurting her own child. For anyone who wants to see the full details, the article can be found here
Before I gave birth to Miss K, I hated hearing any stories of children who are abused, and found it very hard not to cry whenever I read another story, or saw pictures of victims of child abuse. Now that I am a mum with a beautiful child of my own, it is even harder to hear stories like this, as I could never imagine what kind of person could intentionally cause any harm to an innocent baby, especially one of your own. It is very hard not to get all vigilante when I see another news article detailing violence against children, and anyone within earshot of me usually cops an earful of language that would make a sailor blush.
Ricky Gervais landed himself in very hot water a few years ago when he suggested that bad parents should be sterilized to prevent them from endangering the lives of more children, but I'm not entirely sure his suggestion was a stupid one. Melissa was already a mother to three children when she beat up her daughter, and was pregnant with a fourth one at the time. Who knows how many of those kids had found themselves at the receiving end of her anger, and how could anyone guarantee that she would never do it again? No article anywhere on her details what happened to the rest of her kids, especially since she had a partner, but he is also facing charges as he didn't make her take her child to the hospital until THREE DAYS after the attack. Hopefully she has lost all four of her kids, and will spend the rest of her natural life in jail to prevent her from being given the chance to reproduce again.
I cannot stress enough how angry these stories make me, but given that I cannot go around personally removing the reproductive organs of everyone who hurts their children, this is one subject that leaves me feeling rather powerless. About the only thing I can do, and really everyone can do is not take our anger out on our children. Sure, kids know how to push your buttons better than anyone else can, but nothing in the world makes injuring a kid alright.
For any of you who live outside of Australia, or who do not read the Melbourne newspapers, you may be unfamiliar with the story of a woman called Melissa Ngati. She has made the news for the worst reasons ever. In November last year, she beat her own daughter so violently, the child will spend the rest of her life with permanent brain damage. Now I would never accept any kind of excuse for this behaviour, especially one as weak as Melissa's. Apparently her child vomited in her bed, and this was the event that warranted hurting her own child. For anyone who wants to see the full details, the article can be found here
Before I gave birth to Miss K, I hated hearing any stories of children who are abused, and found it very hard not to cry whenever I read another story, or saw pictures of victims of child abuse. Now that I am a mum with a beautiful child of my own, it is even harder to hear stories like this, as I could never imagine what kind of person could intentionally cause any harm to an innocent baby, especially one of your own. It is very hard not to get all vigilante when I see another news article detailing violence against children, and anyone within earshot of me usually cops an earful of language that would make a sailor blush.
Ricky Gervais landed himself in very hot water a few years ago when he suggested that bad parents should be sterilized to prevent them from endangering the lives of more children, but I'm not entirely sure his suggestion was a stupid one. Melissa was already a mother to three children when she beat up her daughter, and was pregnant with a fourth one at the time. Who knows how many of those kids had found themselves at the receiving end of her anger, and how could anyone guarantee that she would never do it again? No article anywhere on her details what happened to the rest of her kids, especially since she had a partner, but he is also facing charges as he didn't make her take her child to the hospital until THREE DAYS after the attack. Hopefully she has lost all four of her kids, and will spend the rest of her natural life in jail to prevent her from being given the chance to reproduce again.
I cannot stress enough how angry these stories make me, but given that I cannot go around personally removing the reproductive organs of everyone who hurts their children, this is one subject that leaves me feeling rather powerless. About the only thing I can do, and really everyone can do is not take our anger out on our children. Sure, kids know how to push your buttons better than anyone else can, but nothing in the world makes injuring a kid alright.
Wednesday, 11 July 2012
Something in the water
It seems to be baby season at the moment. I have discovered over the past few months that almost every one of my friends who were pregnant at the same time I was with Miss K are all pregnant again. I was very excited to hear that two of my friends gave birth this week, to healthy beautiful children. Another woman I used to go to Mother's Group with is pregnant with twin boys, and the girl I was visiting when I discovered I was pregnant is also pregnant with her third child. It is kind of crazy but I almost felt sad that I was being left out of the pregnancy boom this time around, especially as I loved having so many pregnant women around me when I was up the duff, as it makes it easier to go through the torture of carrying around 10 kilos of child and excess baggage when everyone else is doing it with you.
Of course I still stand firm on my single child policy for now, and although I miss talking about being pregnant, I definitely don't miss being pregnant. Feeling like a beached whale is never fun, especially in the heat of an Australian summer. Although I really can't complain about baby weight too much given that Miss K was happy living next to my spine whilst in utero, which meant that even when I was a week away from giving birth, I still only looked about 7 months pregnant. While this could have been seen as a blessing, I was actually quite disappointed that I didn't look like I was carrying a yoga ball underneath my t-shirt. Of course if I had been any larger I would probably have been complaining about the above yoga ball, and the things it did to my wardrobe. As it was I still had to swap my wardrobe of jeans for leggings, which have now become an essential part of my tiny stack of day wear, especially as they are so forgiving of stretchy post-pregnancy stomachs.
The other consequence of pregnancy that I really want to avoid for now is the inevitable child that comes after the 9 months of discomfort and the agony of labour. While I adore Miss K with all of my heart and would never trade her for anything in the world (not even tickets to a Mika concert), on her own she is able to make the noise of three children and the mess of ten. So while I have her in my life my hands are completely full. Having said that; I probably should make it clear that I love having such a huge handful of child to take care of and there may be a day when I find that I want to increase my little family, but right now my family of two is the perfect size for me. Plus this way Miss K always gets to lick the spoon when someone is baking.
Of course I still stand firm on my single child policy for now, and although I miss talking about being pregnant, I definitely don't miss being pregnant. Feeling like a beached whale is never fun, especially in the heat of an Australian summer. Although I really can't complain about baby weight too much given that Miss K was happy living next to my spine whilst in utero, which meant that even when I was a week away from giving birth, I still only looked about 7 months pregnant. While this could have been seen as a blessing, I was actually quite disappointed that I didn't look like I was carrying a yoga ball underneath my t-shirt. Of course if I had been any larger I would probably have been complaining about the above yoga ball, and the things it did to my wardrobe. As it was I still had to swap my wardrobe of jeans for leggings, which have now become an essential part of my tiny stack of day wear, especially as they are so forgiving of stretchy post-pregnancy stomachs.
The other consequence of pregnancy that I really want to avoid for now is the inevitable child that comes after the 9 months of discomfort and the agony of labour. While I adore Miss K with all of my heart and would never trade her for anything in the world (not even tickets to a Mika concert), on her own she is able to make the noise of three children and the mess of ten. So while I have her in my life my hands are completely full. Having said that; I probably should make it clear that I love having such a huge handful of child to take care of and there may be a day when I find that I want to increase my little family, but right now my family of two is the perfect size for me. Plus this way Miss K always gets to lick the spoon when someone is baking.
The end result of Miss K being allowed to lick the spoon.
Tuesday, 10 July 2012
The best break up mix tape in the world
This week seems to be a lot about music. For anyone out there who hates music I apologise for wasting your time with my obsession with music this week, now please feel free to go back to your little cave in the middle of the ocean.
So tonight I am snooping through my little sister's hard drive to see if she has any music that I don't. Given that she used to own a dance school and her entire job revolved around music, it's usually a pretty safe bet I can get some good tunes from her. During my snooping I have managed to locate a folder called Break Up CD, and not one to be able to resist finding out what a person would listen to if they went through a relationship bust up, I had to click on it and find out its contents. I am surprised to find that I have stumbled on probably the best break up CD in the history of man. The song list is pretty diverse, and includes lots of good break up songs including Fuck You by Lily Allen, Bitches ain't shit by Ben Folds, Love is only a feeling by The Darkness and We used to be by the Dandy Warhols.
Now given that my little sister and her partner have been together for years and years now, and as far as I can tell they have never had a serious break up, I was curious to find out exactly who compiled this list of music for her. The story was not what I expected at all. Apparently when one of her best friends split up from her boyfriend, HE made the CD for her. All of a sudden the song list goes from great angry music to get over a relationship to, to something so much more. (It also begs a huge question, why would he have put on there I touch myself by the Divinyls??) In one fell swoop he has managed to give her a soundtrack to mourn the end of their relationship together, and send her a huge screw you at the same time. With inclusion of songs like Look what you've done by Jet and Heartless by Kanye West, this friendly gesture barely conceals what he really thinks of her for breaking his heart. I'm pretty sure this CD could be the best middle finger to give an ex ever.
Not that I'm one for petty stabs at former partners, but if I ever did go through a break up ever again, I would be sure to have this album in my arsenal, as it sure beats sitting in my room crying alone and writing angry letters to my exes that I'll never send while listening to Eternal Flame by the Bangles for the hundredth time. Of course given that I'm also not a teenager any more, I do tend to deal with the collapse of a relationship a little bit more maturely than I used to. When my last boyfriend just disappeared into thin air after 4 months, without even so much as a "this isn't working, let's just be friends" I just brushed it off and went back to being single, as if the relationship hadn't even happened. Had he done that when we were 18, it would have been a completely different story. I would have spent nights lying in bed dreaming up imaginary conversations with him where I shame him for treating me so poorly and make him want me all the more at the same time. Thank heavens the days of teenage angst are a distant memory for me. I don't think I could handle that much emotion any more.
But if there is one thing that hasn't changed since I was a teenager, it is the ability for music to get me through even the hardest life events. When my first real boyfriend and I broke up, it was sitting on my beanbag in my bedroom listening to The Bangles on my stereo that got me through it. When my half brother died a few years ago, it was sitting in my lounge room listening to The Eels on my computer that got me through it. When mum and Miss K both almost died on the same day, it was sitting on the hospital bed playing Guitar Hero on my DS that got me through it. The technologies and the tunes may have changed over the years, but their healing properties have never gone away. Now if you will please excuse me, Man in the Mirror by Michael Jackson has just come on and I must dance around the lounge room.
So tonight I am snooping through my little sister's hard drive to see if she has any music that I don't. Given that she used to own a dance school and her entire job revolved around music, it's usually a pretty safe bet I can get some good tunes from her. During my snooping I have managed to locate a folder called Break Up CD, and not one to be able to resist finding out what a person would listen to if they went through a relationship bust up, I had to click on it and find out its contents. I am surprised to find that I have stumbled on probably the best break up CD in the history of man. The song list is pretty diverse, and includes lots of good break up songs including Fuck You by Lily Allen, Bitches ain't shit by Ben Folds, Love is only a feeling by The Darkness and We used to be by the Dandy Warhols.
Now given that my little sister and her partner have been together for years and years now, and as far as I can tell they have never had a serious break up, I was curious to find out exactly who compiled this list of music for her. The story was not what I expected at all. Apparently when one of her best friends split up from her boyfriend, HE made the CD for her. All of a sudden the song list goes from great angry music to get over a relationship to, to something so much more. (It also begs a huge question, why would he have put on there I touch myself by the Divinyls??) In one fell swoop he has managed to give her a soundtrack to mourn the end of their relationship together, and send her a huge screw you at the same time. With inclusion of songs like Look what you've done by Jet and Heartless by Kanye West, this friendly gesture barely conceals what he really thinks of her for breaking his heart. I'm pretty sure this CD could be the best middle finger to give an ex ever.
Not that I'm one for petty stabs at former partners, but if I ever did go through a break up ever again, I would be sure to have this album in my arsenal, as it sure beats sitting in my room crying alone and writing angry letters to my exes that I'll never send while listening to Eternal Flame by the Bangles for the hundredth time. Of course given that I'm also not a teenager any more, I do tend to deal with the collapse of a relationship a little bit more maturely than I used to. When my last boyfriend just disappeared into thin air after 4 months, without even so much as a "this isn't working, let's just be friends" I just brushed it off and went back to being single, as if the relationship hadn't even happened. Had he done that when we were 18, it would have been a completely different story. I would have spent nights lying in bed dreaming up imaginary conversations with him where I shame him for treating me so poorly and make him want me all the more at the same time. Thank heavens the days of teenage angst are a distant memory for me. I don't think I could handle that much emotion any more.
But if there is one thing that hasn't changed since I was a teenager, it is the ability for music to get me through even the hardest life events. When my first real boyfriend and I broke up, it was sitting on my beanbag in my bedroom listening to The Bangles on my stereo that got me through it. When my half brother died a few years ago, it was sitting in my lounge room listening to The Eels on my computer that got me through it. When mum and Miss K both almost died on the same day, it was sitting on the hospital bed playing Guitar Hero on my DS that got me through it. The technologies and the tunes may have changed over the years, but their healing properties have never gone away. Now if you will please excuse me, Man in the Mirror by Michael Jackson has just come on and I must dance around the lounge room.
Sunday, 8 July 2012
Dear diary the distracted edition
So I can't promise that this will be a cohesive blog tonight, as I currently have a hyperactive 23 year old sitting in my lounge room hyping up my incredibly active 1 year old, despite the fact that it is 11:30 at night and we should all be in bed.
So another week is over, and it seems that everything exciting is still happening which makes it hard to write about it, as I don't know how it ends. I'm pretty sure it will end in Miss K getting tired and crying until I put her into bed with Elmo. But right now she is sitting on the couch with my little brother and his partner, watching a singing cucumber. I can't even begin to explain this in any way that will make sense, so all I can tell anyone who wants to know more is go to YouTube and type in Silly Songs with Larry. There will be much silliness to be found once you have done this, including a song about teeth, as well as pirates who don't do anything.
Miss K and I went to my big sister's house for dinner last night with mum and one of my little sisters, we had a pleasant evening eating take out food, and all was very enjoyable except for the part when one of my fillings fell out of my tooth making eating slightly difficult. Of course these things always happen on the weekend which means I have to wait until tomorrow to make an appointment with a dentist. Miss K is also getting a cold at the moment, so there are times when she is whingy and clingy, but for the most part she is her usual exuberant self. I pulled out her guitar this week, so any time we go to her bedroom she insists on stopping to play a song for me. I love watching her strum away at the guitar, even though it's too tall for her to even carry around, but she enjoys it anyway.
I mentioned ages ago that I was going to change Miss K's bedroom around and turn it into a Dr Seuss room. Well for anyone who has been dying to hear an update on this (don't hide it, I know you guys too well) I have finally started making her decorations. I have found pictures from the book One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish and am turning them into paintings to hang on her wall. I'm also going to attempt to sew her a new quilt cover in red and white striped material so her bed looks like the Cat in the Hat's hat, and I'm also trying to find old books to tear apart and turn into a picture border for her walls, but for some reason no one ever gives their old Dr Seuss books to second hand stores these days, so this task is proving harder than I thought. I'll have pictures posted up here soon of the works in progress if I ever get around to taking them, and then once the project is finished, I'll be sure that you guys get to see it too. (Just because I know you're all on the edge of your seats wanting to know how it will look.)
Well that's another week's round up completed, it's not much I know, but if I told you absolutely everything I did this week it really would only take up another couple of sentences and would go along the lines of I chased Miss K around the house stopping her from putting everything in her mouth. Then I went to bed. So until next time, I'm going to stop Miss K from putting things in her mouth by putting her to bed. Then I'm going to bed. Stay awesome my wonderful readers and I'll be back again soon.
So another week is over, and it seems that everything exciting is still happening which makes it hard to write about it, as I don't know how it ends. I'm pretty sure it will end in Miss K getting tired and crying until I put her into bed with Elmo. But right now she is sitting on the couch with my little brother and his partner, watching a singing cucumber. I can't even begin to explain this in any way that will make sense, so all I can tell anyone who wants to know more is go to YouTube and type in Silly Songs with Larry. There will be much silliness to be found once you have done this, including a song about teeth, as well as pirates who don't do anything.
Miss K and I went to my big sister's house for dinner last night with mum and one of my little sisters, we had a pleasant evening eating take out food, and all was very enjoyable except for the part when one of my fillings fell out of my tooth making eating slightly difficult. Of course these things always happen on the weekend which means I have to wait until tomorrow to make an appointment with a dentist. Miss K is also getting a cold at the moment, so there are times when she is whingy and clingy, but for the most part she is her usual exuberant self. I pulled out her guitar this week, so any time we go to her bedroom she insists on stopping to play a song for me. I love watching her strum away at the guitar, even though it's too tall for her to even carry around, but she enjoys it anyway.
I mentioned ages ago that I was going to change Miss K's bedroom around and turn it into a Dr Seuss room. Well for anyone who has been dying to hear an update on this (don't hide it, I know you guys too well) I have finally started making her decorations. I have found pictures from the book One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish and am turning them into paintings to hang on her wall. I'm also going to attempt to sew her a new quilt cover in red and white striped material so her bed looks like the Cat in the Hat's hat, and I'm also trying to find old books to tear apart and turn into a picture border for her walls, but for some reason no one ever gives their old Dr Seuss books to second hand stores these days, so this task is proving harder than I thought. I'll have pictures posted up here soon of the works in progress if I ever get around to taking them, and then once the project is finished, I'll be sure that you guys get to see it too. (Just because I know you're all on the edge of your seats wanting to know how it will look.)
Well that's another week's round up completed, it's not much I know, but if I told you absolutely everything I did this week it really would only take up another couple of sentences and would go along the lines of I chased Miss K around the house stopping her from putting everything in her mouth. Then I went to bed. So until next time, I'm going to stop Miss K from putting things in her mouth by putting her to bed. Then I'm going to bed. Stay awesome my wonderful readers and I'll be back again soon.
Saturday, 7 July 2012
Losing touch with what's popular
I mentioned in a post last week that one day I was going to lose touch with modern music. What I didn't realise was that day was going to come a week after that post was written. I have started to play a game on Facebook called SongPop where you battle against your friends to see who knows the most about music of all genres, and I am ashamed to admit that I suck at guessing the top 40 songs.
Having a look at the play lists on my computer, there are some amazing songs on there, by some amazing artists, but very few of them were written in the past 5 years. Occasionally one of my sisters will show me a new song that I absolutely MUST hear, and if I agree with them, I'll go get my own copy of the song for my listening pleasure. But I'm not anywhere near as obsessed with hearing the latest songs as I used to be. Once upon a time I listened to my local radio station every single Sunday so I could hear the new releases and enjoy the other songs that were sharing the popular vote for this week. These days, I am happier sitting in my tiny sheltered cave remembering the artists of yesteryear than bothering to learn any new names.
I know everyone goes through this separation from popular culture, and I probably shouldn't be so surprised that it has finally happened to me, but given how pivotal music has been in my life up to this point, I really thought I'd last longer than this before I got tired of knowing what is cool this week. I mean it's not like I refuse to keep up to date with the latest trends, I know all the current internet memes, I can laugh at the popular jokes, and I even learned that Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes were getting a divorce at the same time everyone else did. I have just gotten to the point where I've stopped jumping on every single bandwagon as it drives past me, partly due to having no more room to learn new bands and new song lyrics, and partly because I've become jaded about musicians these days. Most of them barely seem old enough to be allowed into pubs without fake ID's, and to listen to them singing about things even I don't understand just seems laughable.
And don't even get me started about the music they play in nightclubs these days. You know you're getting too old to go to these places when the music makes you angry. Once upon a time you had to tear me off the dance floor to get me to stop dancing, and every time they started a new song I'd scream OH MY GOD I LOVE THIS SONG!!!! and off I'd run back into the crowd of drunken revellers, jumping around to the music like madmen. These days, the crowds just make me angry, and the floors are sticky and I could be in bed reading my book or playing a sudoku puzzle. Oh my God when did I get so old??
Ah who cares. If getting old means that I no longer get blisters on my feet from the inappropriately tall stilettos I used to wear to the nightclubs, and the bruises on my shins from falling down the stairs drunk, then I'm old and proud of it. I'll start to worry when I get the urge to buy a sports car and start dating boys fresh out of high school. Until then, please enjoy this list of games for old people to play.
1. Sag, You're it.
2. Pin the Toupee on the bald guy.
3. 20 questions shouted into your good ear.
4. Kick the bucket.
5. Red Rover, Red Rover, the nurse says Bend Over.
6. Doc, Doc Goose.
7. Simon says something incoherent.
8. Hide and go pee.
9. Spin the Bottle of Mylanta.
10. Musical recliners.
Having a look at the play lists on my computer, there are some amazing songs on there, by some amazing artists, but very few of them were written in the past 5 years. Occasionally one of my sisters will show me a new song that I absolutely MUST hear, and if I agree with them, I'll go get my own copy of the song for my listening pleasure. But I'm not anywhere near as obsessed with hearing the latest songs as I used to be. Once upon a time I listened to my local radio station every single Sunday so I could hear the new releases and enjoy the other songs that were sharing the popular vote for this week. These days, I am happier sitting in my tiny sheltered cave remembering the artists of yesteryear than bothering to learn any new names.
I know everyone goes through this separation from popular culture, and I probably shouldn't be so surprised that it has finally happened to me, but given how pivotal music has been in my life up to this point, I really thought I'd last longer than this before I got tired of knowing what is cool this week. I mean it's not like I refuse to keep up to date with the latest trends, I know all the current internet memes, I can laugh at the popular jokes, and I even learned that Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes were getting a divorce at the same time everyone else did. I have just gotten to the point where I've stopped jumping on every single bandwagon as it drives past me, partly due to having no more room to learn new bands and new song lyrics, and partly because I've become jaded about musicians these days. Most of them barely seem old enough to be allowed into pubs without fake ID's, and to listen to them singing about things even I don't understand just seems laughable.
And don't even get me started about the music they play in nightclubs these days. You know you're getting too old to go to these places when the music makes you angry. Once upon a time you had to tear me off the dance floor to get me to stop dancing, and every time they started a new song I'd scream OH MY GOD I LOVE THIS SONG!!!! and off I'd run back into the crowd of drunken revellers, jumping around to the music like madmen. These days, the crowds just make me angry, and the floors are sticky and I could be in bed reading my book or playing a sudoku puzzle. Oh my God when did I get so old??
Ah who cares. If getting old means that I no longer get blisters on my feet from the inappropriately tall stilettos I used to wear to the nightclubs, and the bruises on my shins from falling down the stairs drunk, then I'm old and proud of it. I'll start to worry when I get the urge to buy a sports car and start dating boys fresh out of high school. Until then, please enjoy this list of games for old people to play.
1. Sag, You're it.
2. Pin the Toupee on the bald guy.
3. 20 questions shouted into your good ear.
4. Kick the bucket.
5. Red Rover, Red Rover, the nurse says Bend Over.
6. Doc, Doc Goose.
7. Simon says something incoherent.
8. Hide and go pee.
9. Spin the Bottle of Mylanta.
10. Musical recliners.
Friday, 6 July 2012
To wine or to whine
So what do you get when you mix one bored person, a glass of wine and a computer? A blog post!! I'll probably regret this tomorrow morning when my wine buzz has worn off and I have to face the horror that is me when tipsy, but right now, regret be damned, I have wine and a keyboard and I know how to use them both. (not at the same time though, that's how you break electrical items. Learn that one the hard way.) Thisiswhathappenswhenidontusemyspacebar. See?? this is going to be fun.
Now I have had a quick look at my posts this week, and a lot of them were so very overly sweet, so I apologise to any of my regular readers who have come away from my website with diabetes this week. In order to regain some sense of non-sentimentality, allow me to present you with a Spiderman meme.
Now I have had a quick look at my posts this week, and a lot of them were so very overly sweet, so I apologise to any of my regular readers who have come away from my website with diabetes this week. In order to regain some sense of non-sentimentality, allow me to present you with a Spiderman meme.
Urge to vomit rainbows shrinking.
For anyone who doesn't know what a Spiderman meme is, by all means, Google it and prepare to laugh your butt off. I discovered them a few weeks, and now I annoy all of my family with these pictures clogging up their Facebook news feeds any chance I get.
I don't actually get to drink alcohol much these days now that I'm a mum, there is too much pain in a hangover once you've got children, and they very rarely are sympathetic to the end result of your overindulgences, so it's easier to stay sober these days. But once upon a time I could drink a sailor under the table. (Actually I couldn't but I had a friend who once drank someone from the Navy under the table. She was able to match him shot for shot of Vodka, and keep drinking once he had admitted defeat. Is it sad that she was my hero?) The last time I drank to real excess was about 4 years ago now, and I was following an English girl and her American boyfriend around Melbourne for an evening. I managed to drink eleven beers that evening. I also played with a strange man's dreadlocks and watched my friends win $3,000 on the roulette table. Unfortunately the next morning I realised I can't drink the way I used to when I was 18, as the hangover was absolutely monstrous. Since then I've had to watch my partying days drift away from me until they were a small dot in my past, and I now feel really naughty having a glass of wine on a weekday.
Well my lovely readers, thank you for helping me relive my wild and reckless days and sharing in my buzz, but now, my glass is empty and given that these days I'm a responsible mum *yawn* I'm going to pour myself a glass of Coke and go watch some trashy TV. Stay awesome, and remember the wise words of Benjamin Franklin: In wine there is wisdom, in beer there is Freedom, in water there is bacteria.
Thursday, 5 July 2012
4th of July fireworks detonated by God Particle
So a big part of being a blogger is trying to figure out how to get traffic to come to your website. By some random stroke of luck my humble little blog is now one of the thousands of sites you can find by using StumbleUpon. I don't know how this happened, but I have learnt not to question good luck, just to enjoy its rewards. I know that I have been found by StumbleUpon because Blogspot is kind enough to give you stats every day about the websites that refer traffic to you, as well as what people were searching for when they found you. So far I have been found by people looking for baby Barbie bedroom decorating ideas, as well as the pregnancy Barbie, which lead everyone back to the story I did on inappropriate dolls for children here, which makes that post my most lucrative one yet.
So being cheeky, I decided today to look up the most popular searches on Google for today, which is where my title has come from. Of course given I live in Australia, and am a day ahead of a lot of the rest of the world, I had completely forgotten that 4th July was coming up, despite the fact that a lot of the blogs I follow have been posting Independence Day themed blogs for weeks now. So happy Independence Day for all of my American readers, have a wonderful holiday and enjoy the fireworks.
Of course the other big thing to hit the news this week is the possible discovery of the God Particle which has excited the right wing Christians almost as much as it has excited the scientists, but for completely different reasons. I can actually remember the last time the Hadron Collider made the headlines, and how everyone was panicking that the end of the world was coming, and surprise, surprise the anticlimax when nothing happened. As for the God Particle itself, I cannot give an opinion given my lack of understanding, and the way my temples throb whenever I try to read anything about it for more than five minutes, so you'll all have to come up with your own opinions this time, I'm of no help whatsoever.
Now what if anything all of these things have to do with my blog is yet to be seen. This really was just a marketing ploy to see if I can introduce any more people to my writing with the least amount of effort. So if you have stumbled here solely through my clever use of hot topics in my title, stay for a while, make yourself at home, feel free to browse through my movie collection while I put the kettle on. For any of my regular readers who just wanted to know what the hell I was smoking when I decided to stray from my normal rants to write this nonsense, I promise it will be back to normal tomorrow, but you're welcome to stay for the craziness too.
So being cheeky, I decided today to look up the most popular searches on Google for today, which is where my title has come from. Of course given I live in Australia, and am a day ahead of a lot of the rest of the world, I had completely forgotten that 4th July was coming up, despite the fact that a lot of the blogs I follow have been posting Independence Day themed blogs for weeks now. So happy Independence Day for all of my American readers, have a wonderful holiday and enjoy the fireworks.
Of course the other big thing to hit the news this week is the possible discovery of the God Particle which has excited the right wing Christians almost as much as it has excited the scientists, but for completely different reasons. I can actually remember the last time the Hadron Collider made the headlines, and how everyone was panicking that the end of the world was coming, and surprise, surprise the anticlimax when nothing happened. As for the God Particle itself, I cannot give an opinion given my lack of understanding, and the way my temples throb whenever I try to read anything about it for more than five minutes, so you'll all have to come up with your own opinions this time, I'm of no help whatsoever.
Now what if anything all of these things have to do with my blog is yet to be seen. This really was just a marketing ploy to see if I can introduce any more people to my writing with the least amount of effort. So if you have stumbled here solely through my clever use of hot topics in my title, stay for a while, make yourself at home, feel free to browse through my movie collection while I put the kettle on. For any of my regular readers who just wanted to know what the hell I was smoking when I decided to stray from my normal rants to write this nonsense, I promise it will be back to normal tomorrow, but you're welcome to stay for the craziness too.
Wednesday, 4 July 2012
A girl's best friend
Ladies and Gentlemen, for you're reading pleasure, allow me to introduce to you Elmo.
Hi!
Elmo is Miss K's favourite toy. Her father bought it for her from the Sunday Market when she was in hospital with meningitis as a baby, and they have been pretty inseparable since.
Miss K meeting Elmo for the first time
Elmo has been Miss K's bedtime buddy since she was 6 months old, and no bedtime is official until she's got him in her arms
I think they were trying to make a run for it.
I love watching Miss K try to get to sleep, because the first thing she will do is grab Elmo and smush him into her face as hard as she can. Then for some reason there is lots of grunting and groaning sounds before she finally nods off. I don't know how this works, but all I know is it's the best sleep aid she's ever had. Even when we go for overnight visits, Elmo has to come with us, or there will be no sleep.
Miss K and Elmo, asleep in her dad's bed
Lately, Elmo's position has been upgraded from bedtime buddy to daytime play thing. If we ever spend any real time in Miss K's room, she inevitably crawls up to her bed and rescues him from his constant nap to come join her in playing. He even managed to sneak his way into the photos for her birthday party earlier this year.
Weeeeeeeeeee!
Elmo's starting to actually look a little bit sad, despite the baths I give him occasionally to freshen him up and get rid of some of the baby drool Miss K drips all over him at night time, but Miss K adores him anyway, even though he can smell pretty funky after a night with her. I hope she never gets tired of Elmo, but if the day ever does come, he'll be packed away in a box carefully and kept safe because I know even though she'll think she's too big for toys, there is never a more special friend than your first teddy bear.
Tuesday, 3 July 2012
The little things
I have been surprised to find recently how quickly you can forget what it's like to have a tiny baby. There are so many little things that you should really appreciate at the time that usually you're too busy or terrified to enjoy until it's too late and they are gone. I was reminded quite recently of something that I used to take for granted just a short 12 months ago, and that is a child falling asleep in your arms. Miss K hasn't done this since she has been old enough to fight sleep till the bitter end, and if she so much as suspects I'm trying to put her to sleep these days she pushes me away. But a few nights ago she was so tired when she got up for her late night feed that she fell asleep in my arms as soon as she had finished her bottle, and it was so nice to hold a sleeping baby. I hadn't realised until that point how much I missed it. When it was the norm, it used to frustrate me more often than not, because she would fall asleep mid meal, and I would spend the whole time nudging and poking her, trying to get her to wake up and finish her drink so I could put her to bed and enjoy some me time. How stupid I was not to realise that this was a moment so fleeting that I should cherish while I could, before she got old enough to put a stop to it.
But at the end of the day I still wouldn't trade my pint sized terror for anything in the world, I will just treasure our time together more, enjoy our gibberish conversations, learn her each and every ticklish spot, and make sure she knows that no matter who she becomes, she is still my favourite person in the world.
Miss K 4 days old sleeping in my arms, Me 27 years old trying to fight the urge to join her.
Of course with the loss of each old habit or phase comes new and exciting ones, each bringing its own delights or terrors, and I relish each one as it arrives, as it signifies that my baby is growing up. But there are times when I miss the days when her hands were so tiny that they made mine look man sized in comparison.
See?
My favourite pint sized terror. AKA - the fountain head.
Monday, 2 July 2012
Dear Diary EOFY edition
Good evening my lovely readers, we're at that time of week again where I submit another diary entry a day late. I'm not actually going to blog anything about the end of the financial year, especially given I've been a full time mum for almost 16 months now, this is just another week in my calendar instead of what it once was, a fortnight spent panicking hoping I'd given all of my previous and current employers my correct address so I could get all of my group certificates quickly and get me some money. If I was getting a tax return this year, it would be spent on glasses and my car, which has lost all of its guts, and a tyre. Thankfully getting the slow leak which presented itself several weeks ago fixed is hopefully only going to cost me $20 instead of the $80 I originally thought I'd have to fork out.
And amazingly enough, a busted tyre wasn't even the highlight of my week. My little brother and his partner have come down for a short visit this weekend, which was great news for all of us, as these visits can be as far apart as several months, so it's always lovely to see them when they visit. Miss K wasn't as excited as the rest of us to see them, especially as it meant that she woke up from her sleep at 10:00 last night to find two strange men sitting in her living room, which is always a recipe for disaster for Miss K. That's right, she's finally hit that really clingy stage, which means that instead of staring dumbly at strangers who try to talk to her in the supermarket these days, she usually cries and reaches out for me insisting that I pick her up and make the bad people go away. This is a hard phase to deal with, because all of the books say you shouldn't make a big deal of her fears, as that tends to make them last even longer, but it's hard to watch her go through that terror and not want to punch people if it will make her stop sobbing. Of course all was fine this morning when she woke up and they were still here, she even let my brother's partner pick her up and feed her potato chips, which is usually the best way to win Miss K's affections every time.
Still on Miss K, she has developed a few interesting new quirks over the last week or so, which always delights me to see. For one she tries to copy a lot more of what I say, which would be good if I had anything intelligent to say, unfortunately as that is not the case, we instead spend a lot of time saying Iggle Piggle to each other, which helps no one. Another thing she has started doing is pretending to eat imaginary food, either when she sees it in pictures, or if I just hold my empty hand out in front of her. This is an adorable game, and I take great pleasure in showing it off to anyone as soon as they enter the house.
I'm still studying like a mad woman even though we are on term holidays in Australia at the moment, as I'm hoping to get my current unit completed as soon as possible so that I have a huge holiday at the end, as the assignments for this one aren't due until September. Of course I was horrified to discover on Friday that I needed to go back to year 7 maths in order to understand some of the work I was trying to complete, and I even had to call in my big sister to explain negative numbers to me, something which I haven't had to deal with since I was at least 6 inches shorter and quite a bit younger. I'm actually pretty lucky to have a big sister like mine, she was always my go to for maths homework, as my mum hates maths as much as I do and was never able to help me, and going to dad for help always ended in yelling and tears, so it was nice to have someone around who could explain my work to me in a way so that I could sort of understand it. I'm certain I would have failed a lot more maths classes if it wasn't for her.
Well that's me done for another evening, I have a horrible feeling I'm going to be getting a phone call early tomorrow morning asking me to drive my little sister to a dentist's appointment so I better get in now if I want to get my proper beauty hibernation. Stay awesome my lovely readers and I'll be back soon I'm sure.
And amazingly enough, a busted tyre wasn't even the highlight of my week. My little brother and his partner have come down for a short visit this weekend, which was great news for all of us, as these visits can be as far apart as several months, so it's always lovely to see them when they visit. Miss K wasn't as excited as the rest of us to see them, especially as it meant that she woke up from her sleep at 10:00 last night to find two strange men sitting in her living room, which is always a recipe for disaster for Miss K. That's right, she's finally hit that really clingy stage, which means that instead of staring dumbly at strangers who try to talk to her in the supermarket these days, she usually cries and reaches out for me insisting that I pick her up and make the bad people go away. This is a hard phase to deal with, because all of the books say you shouldn't make a big deal of her fears, as that tends to make them last even longer, but it's hard to watch her go through that terror and not want to punch people if it will make her stop sobbing. Of course all was fine this morning when she woke up and they were still here, she even let my brother's partner pick her up and feed her potato chips, which is usually the best way to win Miss K's affections every time.
Still on Miss K, she has developed a few interesting new quirks over the last week or so, which always delights me to see. For one she tries to copy a lot more of what I say, which would be good if I had anything intelligent to say, unfortunately as that is not the case, we instead spend a lot of time saying Iggle Piggle to each other, which helps no one. Another thing she has started doing is pretending to eat imaginary food, either when she sees it in pictures, or if I just hold my empty hand out in front of her. This is an adorable game, and I take great pleasure in showing it off to anyone as soon as they enter the house.
I'm still studying like a mad woman even though we are on term holidays in Australia at the moment, as I'm hoping to get my current unit completed as soon as possible so that I have a huge holiday at the end, as the assignments for this one aren't due until September. Of course I was horrified to discover on Friday that I needed to go back to year 7 maths in order to understand some of the work I was trying to complete, and I even had to call in my big sister to explain negative numbers to me, something which I haven't had to deal with since I was at least 6 inches shorter and quite a bit younger. I'm actually pretty lucky to have a big sister like mine, she was always my go to for maths homework, as my mum hates maths as much as I do and was never able to help me, and going to dad for help always ended in yelling and tears, so it was nice to have someone around who could explain my work to me in a way so that I could sort of understand it. I'm certain I would have failed a lot more maths classes if it wasn't for her.
Well that's me done for another evening, I have a horrible feeling I'm going to be getting a phone call early tomorrow morning asking me to drive my little sister to a dentist's appointment so I better get in now if I want to get my proper beauty hibernation. Stay awesome my lovely readers and I'll be back soon I'm sure.
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