The sweet moments

One of the Little Big Fella's friends begged his mum to come and play here today.  He ended up being here for most of the day.  The boys played really well together and it was so easy!

This friend has been lending us copies of Zac Powers books.  Zac is a young spy who goes on missions and adventures, testing various spy gadgets and fighting against the evil spy agents.  They're chapter books with very few illustrations.

The Little Big Fella really enjoys them!  I was quite surprised when we first started reading them last year, because I didn't really think that the Little Big Fella's attention span was big enough.

Goes to show what I know, hey?

This evening he was quite insistent about me reading some of the new book to him at bedtime.  So we read the first chapter or three.

I noticed he was getting very sleepy and asked if he wanted me to stop but he said no.  And so I read my little boy to sleep.

That's such a little sentence; "I read my little boy to sleep" but it makes me all squishy inside.

It's one of the things that makes me feel like I'm an awesome mum, because it's something he enjoys, it's something that's good for him, and it means I stopped fussing about the busy stuff and made space for my son.

Those are the sweet moments!

And you know what?  I can make more of those!  Just by setting aside the task list and allowing moments of learning, fun and connection with my son.

And my husband, for that matter!  I have the power to do that!  Awesome :-)

Priorities

I've wasted a lot of time looking at Pinterest tonight, but I also came across some wonderful new blogs that I'll read regularly, and have printed out some bits and pieces for the coming week.

A couple of themes have hit me as I've been reading:

1. People are more important than tasks, and 
2. I need to include the Little Big Fella in the tasks that need to be done.

Since Christmas I've noticed that my patience has been rather thin, and I've been grumpy with my Fellas.  And basically it's because I've been focussed on the tasks that need doing (cleaning up messes and "catching up" on the housework that got behind while I was working), rather than the two most important people in my life.

The Little Big Fella has been desperate for someone to play with.  Almost all of his friends have been away on holidays so he's been wanting mine and the Big Fella's attention and energy.

Yeah.  Definitely failed him on that one lately.

I haven't stopped to play games with him, or read him stories, or imagine with him.

So, instead of kicking myself (that won't help anyone!), I've written down a few things I'll do with him over the next few days/week.

And I'm planning a playdate for after the weekend.

I've also realised that the Little Big Fella is about to start school (duh!), and is definitely old enough to be a contributing member of our household.  So instead of putting him aside while I do things like laundry, dishes, meal preparation, and cleaning, I can make extra time now (while we have some!) to teach him how to do them.  Not only will he be learning valuable life skills, I'll be getting the essential tasks done and we'll be spending time together.

And, speaking of school, it's only 18 days until the Little Big Fella starts!  He's SO excited about it.  Every day he asks how long until he goes to school.

So when we were food shopping the other day, I picked up a cheap calendar, which we have hung in his room.  We've highlighted the first day of school (as well as our birthdays later in the year) and have been crossing off the days until school starts.

We did something similar in the countdown to Christmas (this year's version of an advent calendar), so he is starting to understand how far away a week is, and he's getting some great practice at recognising numbers!

Anyway, it's midnight (again) so I'm going to join my husband in bed for the next hour or so before he goes to work.  Goodnight!

My first day

I got a phone call yesterday, just before lunch time.  The HR and security processes are finally complete and when can I start two weeks training, full-time?

I'm sorry, what????

Yep!  After weeks (okay, it's been months, but who's counting???) of waiting, the bank is finally ready for me to start my potentially long career with them.

Of course, I freaked out a little.  Even though I've been semi-prepared for this, the actuality of it has been somewhat overwhelming.  Working out the logistics of caring for the Little Big Fella, and the fact that we only have one car, and the Little Big Fella has a fairly full schedule... well, it's been mildly stressful.

So this morning I left my Fellas home together and returned to the working world for the first time in four years.  I was SO nervous!

Would I be able to get my head back into work mode?

Would I be as good as I think I am?

Would I be overwhelmed by the amount of information I need to learn?

Would I get there on time?

Yeah, I was definitely nervous!

But it was a good first day!  I got the impression that I'll fit in pretty well, I got there on time, and my work brain did switch on.  As did my study brain because I spent an awful lot of time reading information and answering questions!  Which also meant I ended up with a tension headache, which, thankfully is almost gone already.

My body is not used to sitting still for that long, either!  At lunch time I walked up the road to a park and my legs definitely enjoyed the stretch.

Apparently tomorrow I'll be doing some more online learning in the morning, then I'll start learning how to be a teller.  I'm looking forward to the challenge of it, and getting back into a customer interaction role too.

I really want to acknowledge my friends, too.  The Little Big Fella's best friend's mum took him with them (after his final Prep Transition afternoon) to their swimming lesson, then to the park, then home today.  Tomorrow another friend is taking me in to work so that the Fellas can have the car.  Our neighbour is looking after the Little Big Fella on Friday and taking him to the school's swimming carnival.  And a bunch of others have offered to have him over the next two weeks.

I am so grateful.

Those four little words really don't express it well enough though.  I wouldn't be able to accept this job without them because there are no casual childcare options here.  And with the Big Fella's crazy work schedule, it just wouldn't be possible without them.

So thank you to all of you!

And obviously I want to acknowledge the Big Fella too.  He's kind of been thrown into this as well.  So now, as well as working crazy shifts, and attempting to sleep sometimes, he gets to experience the joy of predominant carer.  And he's doing an awesome job of it.

Us mums sometimes get so caught up in the stuff that we think is important, that we don't allow the dads to do important dad-stuff with our kids.  This week my Fellas have been for a drive to the wood mill, visited friends, done yard work, smoked meats and a bunch of other stuff that I would never do with the Little Big Fella.  And seeing the way they relate to each other is enough to melt my tough mummy heart :-)

Anyway, enough rambling.  I need to go get stuff ready for tomorrow, and Saturday's fundraising BBQ, and Christmas.  Okay, that's not all going to happen tonight!  But it's definitely time to get off the computer (actually, I'm on my tablet because the computer died this week) and get moving.

In too deep?

One of the things that's kind of awesome about being an at-home mum is that you have a lot of time.

Sure!  It gets filled with the needs of a child, the messes of a child, the friends and activities of a child, but as the parent of only 1 child I recognise that I have a lot of control over what happens and when in our house.

You may have noticed in reading my blog over the nearly two years I've been writing, that I tend to have periods of intense activity, followed by periods of totally boring domesticity.

With the development of Pinterest and the on-coming Christmas season, now is not a period of totally boring domesticity!

I have a few things on my plate right now and I'm starting to wonder if I'm in a little deep.

I've been Treasurer of our playgroup this year, which is a really easy job.  But we're planning the end-of-year party and there's a few bits and pieces that need doing for that.

The Little Big Fella is starting Prep next year, so he's having Transition afternoons at school over these three weeks.  And after meeting his teacher last week, we've been convinced that the more he knows in terms of letters and numbers, and the more independent he is, the easier starting school will be for him.

So he and the Big Fella have decided that the Little Big Fella can learn to spell his name (and then all the other words Daddy wants to teach him - he already knows the names of the letters but can only write 3 of them), and tie his shoelaces.

Which, of course, means that I'll be involved in support and supplementary teaching ;-)

Christmas is coming and I've been busily making cards, tree decorations, indoor decorations, outdoor decorations, trashing my house in a creative frenzy...

I joined the CWA this year as well and recently found out that our local supermarket offers the facilities to run fundraising BBQs.  After seeing the effects of Typhoon Haiyan on TV, and my family having various connections with the Philippines, I suggested that we run a BBQ to raise funds to send for their recovery.  You guessed it!  I get to organise it.

Just to make it clear, I'm excited about it, and I'm hoping to get a decent turnout so we can make a reasonable donation, but it's another thing on my list.  And, of course, I decided to make it slightly more intense by adding a cake stall, so I have to do a little cooking for it (as well as all the awesome people who've offered to contribute as well.

Then there are the various parties, events and Christmas gatherings over the next five weeks.  And the housework and feeding and entertaining of my Fellas.

Then we need to add a final, and potentially apple-cart upsetting element.  Last week I received an e-mail containing a letter of offer!

Back in March I applied for a 4-day-a-week position as a teller at one of the banks.  I didn't receive it, but was contacted in May, I think, for an alternative position.  Over the past months I've been waiting and going through various processes and have been offered a position as a casual relief teller, both in our closest town, and our closest large town.

Funnily enough, I spoke to the branch manager the next day and she hadn't heard from the Human Resources Department yet.  But once all of those processes have been completed, I will be required for two weeks of full-time training.

Most likely before Christmas.

No doubt at some point in the very near future I will feel completely overwhelmed by all of this, but at this point, I'm actually feeling exhilarated!  I have lots to do and I'm interested in what I'm doing.

All these crafty activities are encouraging to me because I'm good at them and I'm very satisfied with the results.

The organising tasks are exhilarating because I'm pretty good at that too!  Hopefully I keep remembering to delegate - not only to keep from overwhelm, but also to allow others to participate and enjoy these activities, which are often the kinds of things that strengthen friendships.

Oh!  And I finally caught up with the ironing tonight and have relocated the ironing board to the cupboard for the first time all week!

Am I in too deep?  Probably!  But all this activity, right now, makes for a pretty happy stay-at-home mum.

Now to reclaim my dining table from my frenzied craft activities, finish the stockings for the fence, put up the Christmas lights, finish the Christmas cards, make that wreath out of roadside weeds... and make sure I clean my oven before my grandparents get here for Christmas :-D

Attitude and effects

Yesterday the Little Big Fella and I went and did some supermarket shopping to re-stock for the long weekend.  We also stopped in the discount store for a few bits and pieces.

While we were there, another customer happened to have an armful of items and dropped the lot all over the floor.

Know what my Little Big Fella did?  He said, "don't worry, I'll help you pick them up"!  And he did!

In that moment I was super proud of my boy and felt like I'm doing a pretty decent job as his mum.


This weekend our neighbours have family staying over, and the Little Big Fella gets along really well with the kids.  So today he spent the morning playing over there and they spent the afternoon playing over here.

At one point all the kids were here having a splash in our blow-up pool, so their mum came over to help me supervise them all because, according to her, "my children are the spawn of the devil".

I don't really know this woman.  We've met two or three times over the past 6 months, but in that moment I felt my heart break for those children, and that family.

Between that conversation and this post I read this morning over at Single Dad Laughing, I realised that the words we use and the attitudes we have toward our children create who they are!

Surely there are going to be enough people in your child's life to tear them down and make them feel worthless that you don't have to be one of them!

Surely, as their parent, you should be their safe haven and the place they come to for consolation and reassurance that they're okay!

Surely.

I get that kids are wearing.

I get that sometimes you get sick of saying the same thing over and over and over and over and over and over and you feel like you may as well smack your head into a brick wall

I get that there are some things about your kids, and as they get older their decisions that you're not going to like.

I get that.

But one of our roles as parents is to love our kids and make sure they know it!  They need to know how proud we are of them, how brilliant they are, how creative and interesting and beautiful.  They need to hear from their parents that, no matter what happens, they are acceptable to us!

And they need to hear it in our conversations with other adults.

We parents are very human.  But let's not allow that to be an excuse to break our children.

Let's keep trying to improve our communication with our kids, find out all the wonderful things about their personalities and views of the world that we can be proud of and inspired by.

Because our children, no matter who they are or what they do, are beautiful and inspiring and deserve to be loved.  They are, after all, human just like us.

What a sweetie!

Sometimes I feel completely ripped off.

I feel like I was duped into becoming a mother.  Because, somehow, all I ever heard were the good stories about people feeling completely fulfilled by being a mother, and about those moments when your heart completely melts when you look at your child.

Bleuch!

I'm really glad that some people get to have that kind of experience.

And I'm really glad that the first time I laid eyes on the Little Big Fella I completely fell in love.  Because if I hadn't, it's quite possible something drastic may have happened in those first two years.

But today was completely out of the ordinary.  While there have been moments (many, actually) where the Little Big Fella has melted my heart, this afternoon has been one moment after another, which is completely unknown so far in our life together!

The morning had been pretty horrible, after a series of nights of terrible sleep.  Both of us were tired and not responding well.

But when we got back from playgroup, after a little bit of rest, and after I'd adjusted his new Green Lantern costume (thanks Angie!) to fit him, he suddenly became this beautiful, sweet, helpful little boy!

He asked me if he could do anything for me.  (He's never done that before.)

When I couldn't think of anything, he offered to go and clean his room.  (He's never done that before.)  It wasn't even messy!

He wanted to help me make dinner.  (He hasn't done that in a while.)

He told me I looked beautiful and that my new clothes (which came in the mail this morning) looked gorgeous.  (He does that pretty often.)

He ate all of his dinner, including the broccoli, without being asked.  (He's never done that before.)

He happily stopped watching his cartoon to go and have a shower.

And even though at this stage I don't dare to hope that this will continue, except as irregular events perhaps, I am really enjoying this sweet little boy of mine.

Can somebody say, "excited"???

I was feeling the trepidation.

It was kindy pick-up time for the Little Big Fella.  I'd had a really full day and was mildy stressed about not getting other stuff done.

But that wasn't what caused my fear.

You see, the Little Big Fella doesn't like snakes.

At.  All.

He doesn't like bugs or even the rubber snakes that boys stereotypically throw at girls to make them scream.

Guess what came to kindy today.

Yup!  A reptile show.

So, I was feeling nervous.

While getting my hair cut and coloured I was imagining a stressed-out phone call from the kindy teacher telling me I had to come and pick up the Little Big Fella, with blood-curdling screams in the background.

Thankfully the Big Fella was with me for pick-up.  I had moral support!

We made our way from the car, through the child-proof gates, and along the side of the kindy building.

I couldn't hear anything!  No singing, no playing, no stories.

Sh!t!  The guy had an anaconda and ate everyone!!!

But, no!  We got around to the closed doors and the other parents were waiting patiently.  All must have been well.

The teacher opened the doors and the Big Fella walked over to get the Little Big Fella.  Out he came and ran into Daddy's arms.

Okay.  He's alive!  This is good!

The Big Fella motioned that I was there as well and the Little Big Fella pelted over to me and gave me a BIG hug.

And then it started.

The non-stop, high-pitched, high-decibel, excited talk about dragons that don't fly and 7 meter snakes and baby crocodiles and turtles with long tongues and... and... and...

It went on until we got to McDonald's (Daddy needed coffee).

Throughout the rest of the afternoon and evening there were sudden outbursts about various reptiles, generally in the high-pitched, high-speed, excited tones.

We had dinner and the Little Big Fella headed off for his shower.  When he got out I could tell he was tired.  His eyes were practically hanging out of his head.

"Yes!" thought I.  "He'll be asleep in no time!"

Ha!

As soon as I went in to say goodnight (the Big Fella had already headed off to work after dinner) the excited stories began again.  They began with him showing me all of the reptiles and telling me all about them.  Then then turned imaginative.

These snakes (the mummy, the daddy and the babies) each had their own little beds up and down his body.

This dragon can't fly because he doesn't have wings, but he can breathe fire!   And the turtle can breathe ice so that he doesn't burn when the dragon breathes fire at him.

The cage for these crocodiles only opens when I press this button on the wall and click my fingers.

I can magic this cage from over there.

I need a drink of water.  Can you watch my pets so they don't get scared from being along?

And on, and on, and on!  I don't think he took a breath for at least 15 minutes!!!  Eventually I was able to suggest that it was sleeping time.

The Little Big Fella lay down on his pillow and pulled up his covers (for the 100th time since coming in to his room), but the pets needed a story.

"One story" I agreed.

Up he jumped again to choose a book from the shelf!  (Honestly, I wish I had a fraction of his energy at this time of day!!!)

So the story was read and the child calmed enough to potentially sleep.  And I was left with a brilliant sense of my son's imagination and excitement about something I'd thought would bring fear.  I can't wait to see what happens when he goes to school!!!

A Rambling Catch-Up

Obviously I haven't written a post in a while.

But, because it's not "work" for me, I don't have to!  And I find that I get on a roll and want to write about everything sometimes, and other times nothing seems good enough to share, or is just too hard to write down.

However, I do like to provide the opportunity to allow people (especially family in other states) to keep up to date with what's happening with us.

So, what has been happening with us?

Well, we've been for a visit to our old town and hung out with my grandparents, sister and nephews (and briefly saw my brother-in-law - sucks to have to work for a living!).

I've collected the enrollment forms for the Little Big Fella for school.  I just need a few signatures and a copy of his birth certificate and I can drop those off.  Some time next term he'll have a day or two at the school in preparation for next year!  It's all very exciting and a little bit trippy.

The Little Big Fella's best friend had his birthday party.  It was a great day for all the kids and I met some wonderful women too.

Speaking of birthdays, the Big Fella turned 40 last week.  But, being the Big Fella, not a big fuss was made.  He hates cakes and cards and balloons and fuss.

Having said that, we had dinner with his mate the night before, dinner with a great couple on his birthday night, and some friends over for the afternoon/evening a couple of days later.

And the Big Fella and I gave each other rings.  He gave me an eternity ring and I gave him a new wedding ring (his old one has been beaten and chipped and now sits, surprisingly sentimentally, in his drawer).

And although the Big Fella doesn't like fuss, I think ceremony is important.  So, on the day he gave me my eternity ring, I gave him his ring (I'd had it for several weeks) and read out a page I'd written about our lives together so far and how much I love him.  I guess it was our own, private re-commitment ceremony in our car, in the parking lot of a shopping centre.

Which is kind of funny, given that we got engaged in a car, too!  (Just to set the record straight, we'd been out to dinner at a fancy restaurant and had driven up to a lookout but it was raining.)

What else?

Oh!  We got a shipping container delivered.  No, we're not moving.  The Big Fella calls it our drug lab, but it's got all his workshop tools in it.  We now have so much more room under the house!!!

We had a stressful couple of days after the kindy teacher mentioned that the Little Big Fella might be lacking in some social skills, and possibly have sensory issues.  After talking with her, and reflecting ourselves, we decided that he probably needs a bit more direction (most often in the form of play) from us.  We're going to see how he's going in a couple of months and go from there if need be.

The CWA had a special morning tea before Father's Day.  They play a game called "bug" where you roll dice and draw a bug based on what you roll.  It's played in teams of 4 and is very fast-paced, and thus exciting.  It sounds strange and kind of boring, but it really isn't.

The school had a big garage sale and I shared a "stall" with another lady to sell some of the playgroup's extraneous equipment.  And baked some yo-yos (a traditional Christmas treat in my family) for the school's P&C to sell.

And, just this past weekend Australia had an election, so there was all the annoying advertising that goes with it to wade through in an attempt to make an informed decision.  Ha!

Then there's the normal work, play, shop, fix, garden, de-clutter of our lives.  And there you have about a month in a few short paragraphs!

Hopefully that will help me get back on the blogging horse for a while ;-)

Busy at home

Although we live in a town of about 360 people, out in the bush (or maybe the outback, I'm not sure if we qualify for that one?), with little in the way of shops nearby, and few facilities of entertainment, life gets kinda busy!

Here's a few of the things that have been going on since our return from Melbourne almost three weeks ago:

Our new couch arrived!  It is SO comfortable - all three of us have fallen asleep on it at least once!

Unfortunately I forgot to arrange for it to be scotch guarded, so I had to spray it myself.  After three cans of spray, my right pointer finger was pretty much numb.  Surprisingly, it's still numb on the end!  I wonder if that will ever fix itself?

The Big Fella and my new mattress also arrived.  It's taken a little bit of getting used to, because it's a lot softer than our last one, but now we like it very much!

We've been to our closest major town and tried out their cinema for the first time.  There was a cinema running in the next town, but it wasn't very comfortable, and they didn't even do real popcorn!  They did microwave-in-a-bag popcorn!  So the experience really wasn't there.  But the cinema we tried out satisfies the experience, as well as providing the movie, so we'll probably be going back.

The Little Big Fella and I have been for a dental check.  It was his first one ever (I know, I'm a terrible mother! ;-)  ) and he thought it was pretty cool.

Apparently his teeth were lovely and clean (amazing given how he seems to brush them), and I was told off for not flossing.

The Little Big Fella was wearing a path into our grass with his little motorbike, so the Big Fella took the mower across the road and cut a track through the paddock.  The Little Big Fella loves it, but not so much if no one is watching him (I think we may have created a little show off!).

Every time the Little Big Fella came close to the house, the dogs jumped and yelped.  They love chasing the motorbike around!

You may not be able to see, but Daddy is watching from the comfort of our little balcony.

Hmmm, what else has been going on?

Ah yes!  We had a bit of a girl's night out last weekend.  A friend invited us all around and the Big Fella happened to be home so the Little Big Fella stayed home with him and I got to go out on my own!  Ah, the freedom!  We had a few drinks, lots of food and lots of good laughs.  And one of the girls lit a fire - a very impressive fire!  It had to be moved so that it wouldn't accidentally catch on the verandah.

A new cafe/bar/restaurant has opened in the next town and we went and checked it out one afternoon.  It had gone on the "definite" list as a location for a future evening out!  Hmmm, I need to line that up with our babysitter.

The Big Fella had a few things he wanted to do with our camper trailer so we set it up this week.  Of course, the Little Big Fella then wanted to sleep in it.  So he and I had a sleep-out when the Big Fella was on night shift.

It was freezing!!!!

And no, I don't mean Queenslander freezing, I mean generally freezing.  As in, single digits, I believe below 5 degrees.  I spent the whole night with my head inside my sleeping bag - and I never have my head inside my blankets (it's the one experience that makes me feel claustrophobic).

I've also decided that I don't like sleeping bags anymore.  It was warm enough, but I hate how hard it is to turn over.  The result of that particular night was that I didn't turn over much and woke up with sore hips.

But the Little Big Fella was happy, so that's the point, right?

This week was also my 34th birthday.  Now, I have to say that I have some awesome friends and family!

A friend made me a birthday cake (spewing that I didn't take a photo because it looked spectacular, and tasted brilliant!), another friend bought me a birthday cake, I got flowers and presents and hugs...

I got a card from my parents that reminded me of how loved I am.  And you know what?  That's what I loved about this particular birthday!  As an adult, it's not the cards or the cakes or the presents that makes a birthday special for me.  It's the love of friends and family, and the effort they put in to make sure I know I'm appreciated.

How can that not make my day great?

So, as well as all that has been the normal housework, kindy runs, food shopping, cooking, reading, watching a little TV, hanging out with my Fellas, playing at the park, and (just this week) getting back into an exercise routine.

You know, sometimes I wonder how I will ever fit my life in when I go back to work???

Melbourne trip - Last days

Our last two days in Melbourne ended up being pretty busy!  I guess I wanted to squeeze in as many visits with people and activities at the same time as I could.

But, we "squeezed in" a sleep in first :-D

Most of the morning was unplanned so we had a sleep in and did a few domestic duties, then jumped in the car and went to find a motorbike gear shop.

See, since the Little Big Fella has started riding his motorbike by himself, my heart has often been in my throat watching him.  And while that will probably always be the case, safety gear can go a long way to making me feel a bit better about it!

We found the shop and found these funky motorbike pants (with appropriate padding) and a pair of little gloves.

We've since found some elbow pads that fit him, and decided that the gloves are actually too big for him, so found some that fit even better.  For now, we've decided that we're not getting boots.  Partly because they're ridiculously expensive and his feet are growing an an equally ridiculous pace, but mostly because he's riding pretty slowly still and there's no logs or anything where he rides, so covered shoes are okay (for now).

After the motorbike shop, we went to a camping place and found me a new winter jacket.  I'd bought the jacket I had when I first arrived for my year in America - in 1998!  Definitely time for an update.  Sorry, no pics for this one, but it was a bargain $50!!!

We got a call from the Big Fella's sister and partner and agreed to meet at a nearby shopping centre for lunch.  We ended up at a place called Outback Jack's.  There was a big crocodile hanging from the ceiling!

We had a great (BIG) lunch and a good chat then headed into the shopping centre.  While the girls were sorting some stuff out with their phones, the Little Big Fella was entertained on a car ride and by going up and down the escalators a million times.

We picked up some gorgeous pork chops to cook up for dinner then it was time to say goodbye until our next visit to Melbourne.  Obviously the adults wanted this to last just that little bit longer, but the Little Big Fella strongly believes that when we say goodbye, we're actually going.  So he headed up the stairs toward our car!

So we said our goodbyes and had one last hug.  I hate goodbyes :-(

We had a bit of time before needing to be "home", so we dropped in on Cadbury J and her kids for a last play.

You know the saying, "two's company, three's a crowd"?  There was a little bit of that going on for the first while, but thankfully (after a fair bit of frustration) it settled and they played well together again while us mums caught up some more.

Then it was time to say goodbye.  Have I mentioned that I don't like goodbyes?

Sigh.

Back at mum and dad's place, I made dinner, then my sister called to say she'd be coming over.  We ended up watching Origin 3 (kind of like a grand final for rugby league), which is kind of funny given that my family isn't very sporty at all and Victorians don't tend to watch rugby.  Dad totally got into it!

Just for the record, Queensland won, making it 8 years in a row :-)

Afterwards, my sister wasn't really keen on leaving and we ended up talking till pretty late.  Dad also pulled out a bunch of old letters between his parents.

I found out that they lived in a suburb of Melbourne when they first married, and we found the place on the map.  That area is now very hoity toity!

Eventually it was that time again.  Time to say goodbye.  I really hate saying goodbye.  Hanging with my sister (especially at P!nk) was really awesome.

But that's just the reality of life when you live in a different state, isn't it?  Goodbyes just become part of your life.  I guess they're a part of life anyway because even if you stay in the one place, others come and go.

Okay, time to move on again.

The following day, our last in Melbourne, was another friend day.  In the morning the Little Big Fella and I met up with my best friend to see Despicable Me 2 at the cinema.  Definitely a movie that will end up at our house!  It was very funny and entertaining.  Unfortunately, my friend hadn't seen the first movie, so some of it wasn't as fun for her.

After the movie, the Little Big Fella got excited about the games in the foyer and pretended to drive the cars, ride the motorbikes and shoot the guns.  We had a game of air hockey, which was pretty funny because he could only reach the smallest part of the table.  Obviously I tried to make it fun for him and not get the disc in the hole too many times ;-)

Again with the stinking goodbyes!!!

Then it was into the city to meet up with another friend.  K was my best friend for about a year in high school before I moved towns.  We met up last time I was in Melbourne, when the Little Big Fella was 1.

It turned out that the place we decided to meet had some snow for kids to play with/on.  The Little Big Fella would have literally spent the whole afternoon there!!!

Thankfully he got hungry so we went and had some lunch and had a really good catch up.

One thing I found difficult by the end of our time in Melbourne was being constantly in parenting mode.  At home, the Big Fella is there to take some of the weight of parenting, and the Little Big Fella has kindy so I get a break then too.

But in Melbourne I was constantly in parenting mode - thinking about distances and how far the Little Big Fella would be happy to walk, thinking about what kinds of food he'd actually eat when we were out, finding toilets in a hurry, dealing with the fact that he gets bored with stuff I like doing.  It's all part of being a parent, but it got a bit wearing by the end of our trip.

After lunch it was straight back to the snow to play, while K and I chatted some more.  I'd noticed a little earlier that the sky was starting to get quite dark, but hadn't paid that much attention.  All of a sudden it let rip!  The rain came down hard and fast and we ran to find some cover.  Thankfully it settled down a little so we made our way to K's car, because it was closer.  Then she drove us around to our car (although, I was a bit disoriented and we went the wrong way initially).

Then there was another goodbye.  Sigh.

You know, my biggest problem with goodbyes is that I'm a terrible long-distance friend.  I try to keep in touch, but I'm really just not good at it.  Life gets busy and it slips further down the to-do list.  And I'd understand if my friends felt that they weren't important to me.

But I honestly treasure each of you!  At various times in my life you've been the very reason that I love living!  Friends (and family - but they're my friends too) are my favourite thing about life.

So, I'm sorry that I'm such a terrible long-distance friend.  I will try harder to make time to call or write or text or send you a Facebook message.  Because I think you're awesome and I'm incredibly grateful to have had you in my life.

Back to the story ;-)

We managed to head home in peak hour traffic.  Woo hoo!

Okay, another side note.  I don't know how you guys stand driving that far, in those conditions, all the time!  I mean, I only drive a couple of days a week, for about 15 minutes each way, on the highway and it's plenty of car time.  But you guys drive up to an hour each way, often in the dark, with crazy people all around you!  Hats off to you!

The saving grace on this particular drive was the massive double rainbow!

Mum and dad have recently moved and now have a couple living across the road from them that they get along with really well.  So this night we had dinner at their house.

G & K are pretty cool and it was great to finally meet them in person (we would have met them when we were heading back to our old town, the day we had our little roll).  I can see why mum and dad get along with them so well - they're the same kind of crazy, as one poster I read recently put it.

We had a lovely dinner, and the Little Big Fella had a play with their dogs, then we retired to the front room and sat around the fire.  K had bought some American marshmallows and made some awesome little marshmallow toasting sticks.  So the Little Big Fella cooked them up for everyone (he only likes them uncooked) until we all felt kind of sick.

Then it was time to say goodbye and go "home" to finish packing, ready to head home the next day.

Melbourne trip - Part II

Before we came on this trip, I did a bit of research online.  I wanted to make sure that the Little Big Fella would have a great time, and that the whole trip wasn't taken up with me hanging out with my family and friends while he was bored.  I also wanted to have a few ideas of things to do with other people - because sometimes having an unusual experience together is as much or more fun than just catching up.

So our first day in Melbourne included a trip to ScienceWorks with my brother and best friend.  It's a hands-on science musuem where you can learn about all kinds of science-y things by playing with them.

We picked up my brother (and met his housemate), then my friend, then drove to the other side of the city.

When we got there I realised I'd made a silly misjudgment - it was school holidays!!!  There were people everywhere!!!!  We had to park in the overflow parking lot and line up outside to get in!  The air was icy cold (although it was quite lovely in the sun).  And guess who had to use the bathroom right then!!!

Sheesh!  What a great start!!!

Thankfully all was sorted and we got inside (where it was comfortably warm) and started checking the place out.

First stop, electricity!

Then, into the house area.  This photo is where you could watch how sound waves work.

Of course, you have to take photos in wonky mirrors!

This was one of the Little Big Fella's favourite part of the "house".  It's the hose of a giant vacuum cleaner.  You could run through to the other end, where you found yourself inside the main part of a vacuum cleaner.  They had dust and bugs and coins and junk hanging all over the place to make it feel "right" ;-)

Incidentally, his other favourite part of the house was where you could make the fleas jump.  No comment!

We eventually moved from the "house" to the "sports" area.  There was a "sports" sign made of concrete and the Little Big Fella (a.k.a. Batman today) climbed all over it for ages!

Once inside the sports area, the Big Fella and my brother found this exhibit.  The idea was to press the start button (low for kids, high for adults).  The lights on the buttons would then flash and you had to press it as fast as you could.  A different button would then light up.  You had to hit as many as you could in 30 seconds.  We all had a turn, but we had to keep dragging the Little Big Fella away to look at other things!

Like this canoe.

We all tested our grip strength at one station, and how much weight we could pull sitting down with our feet against the wall.  There were a few ball-based skills test, and the Little Big Fella and I raced against Kathy Freeman (unsurprisingly, she won!).

My bro then helped the Little Big Fella have a go on a climbing wall.

We decided it was time for lunch, so we headed outside (brrrr!).  My friend saved us seats in the little amphitheater, because there was a circus show starting soon, while I got food for us and my brother took the Little Big Fella to the playground area to run off a bit more energy.

The circus performers were really good!  The show was informative, funny and very entertaining.  The girl balanced things on her chin - a juggling club, a bottle of wine, a hat stand!  The guy did most of the clown-like roles, but also walked across a bunch of wine bottles without knocking them over.  They both did juggling (together and separately) and some balancing tricks together.

I guess what I enjoyed most about it, was that they really involved the audience - not just by having a dad participate, but they got us engaged with what they were doing; laughing at their jokes, joining in, and following instructions.  Considering that the major portion of the audience were children, they were very clever!

We had a little time to kill so the Little Big Fella had a short play on the playground, then we went into the lightning show.  To be honest, I didn't enjoy this as much as I thought I would.  There were some great demonstrations - creating an instant cloud in a bottle, using static electricity, and making lightning inside the large cage - but it wasn't particularly entertaining and I got rather cold and uncomfortable.

It was getting late-ish in the afternoon, so we decided to skip the upstairs part of the museum (which is a pity, because I'm lead to believe there's a digger up there!).  We took a couple of goofy photos then it was time to head home.

Unfortunately, we hit peak hour traffic so it took a while to get through the city and out to our suburbs.  We were all a bit tired by then so it was great to get "home" and have dinner with my parents (gotta love the slow cooker!), before bathing the Little Big Fella and heading off to bed.

Baths at Nanna and Granddad's became a highlight of each day for the Little Big Fella... but that's a story for another post!  ;-)

A dream childhood

I sometimes wonder if my son, despite (or perhaps even because of) being an only child, is having a dream childhood.

If I were to ask you what a dream childhood for a boy might look like, what would you say?

Maybe riding bikes?  Maybe even motorbikes?  Check, and check!

Maybe fishing with dad?  Check!

Maybe doing all kinds of handyman things with dad?  Check!

Maybe lighting fires (not bushfires, obviously) and learning to play with them (safely)?  Check!

Hmmmm, what else goes into a dream childhood???

Dogs!  For a boy, you'd just about have to say dogs, right?  Check!

Playing in mud and dirt and sand?  Check!

Kicking the football around with dad, maybe even with mum too?  Check!

Lots of food?  Check!  A bit of junk food?  Check!

Dressing up as superheroes probably needs to go in there too, right?  Check!  Oh!  And movies!  Check!

And then there's the stories that I used to be told by my parents about the golden era of their growing up years.  I'm sure you've heard similar ones.  You know!  The story that goes something along the lines of heading out to play with your friends, only coming home to eat or when it gets dark?  Running or riding around, playing, getting into harmless mischief, knowing that any of the mums will tell all of you off if you get into not-so-harmless mischief... you've heard that story, right?

Well, the Little Big Fella will now be able to tell his kids those stories because today, at about 10am he raced into the house desperately trying to find me.  A couple of the people who live in the cul-de-sac behind us only get to have their kids during the school holidays, and the kids were calling out to the Little Big Fella to join them.

Who could say no?

So off he went!  And you know what I felt?  Guilt.  Guilt!  Do you believe it???  I felt guilty because my son wasn't under any single person's direct care.

Are you kidding me???

Thankfully I quickly realised that he was living the dream so I put away my guilt and happily fed him when he came home for lunch, before running out again to play for most of the afternoon.

And when one of his new friends climbed over the fence to play at our place for a while, I fed them jelly (it is school holidays after all), and they played until it was nearly dark and they were called inside for dinner.

At one point, late in the afternoon, myself, my next door neighbour and her backyard neighbour met for a quick chat in the corner of our yards.  And we smiled about the fact that our kids are getting to live this dream childhood.

Oh!  And if you're wondering what I did with my essentially child-free day, I cleaned the office and planned for our trip next week.  Yep!  Livin' the dream :-D