September 2011
3 posts
Lovely man
It’s nice to have a boyfriend who comes over and reads two books to small one (one of which is entirely not age appropriate and therefore frustrating to reader and child), walks up the road with us, plays horses, laughs at karaoke versions of The Ship Song, and tolerates flatulence from small one while on his lap.
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Going potty
Small one has known for some time how to hold on but steadfastly refused to use anything resembling a potty or toilet. I thought this refusal may have been due to the boring potty design, so I bought a Winnie the Pooh toilet seat.
No love there.
So I threw out the five dollar ikea red potty, put aside the Winnie the Pooh toilet seat, and bought a seventy-five dollar contraption that SINGS...
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Extending comfort
Small one, still, goes to bed with several matchbox cars. The recent gifting from his grandparents of a Hot Wheels carrying case, containing 48 said cars, supports the inclination addiction.
This morning, he helped six of his animals - who also share his bed - get to sleep in the sunroom. The sunroom changes from hospital, to library, to dance space, depending on need.
The bears, tigers,...
August 2011
5 posts
Small sweet things
Sleeping in a tent,
back and ears that don’t hurt,
and a child that asks where is everybody?
Sunshine on green grass,
homemade scones and pancakes,
tofu on a barbeque,
following butterfly lamb.
Sitting around the table,
family abounding,
with a man who can swing an axe.
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Grant me the serenity
I work in an academic environment. Where, most of the time, I don’t get too much direction from my boss about what my job is or should be. Sometimes, however, LIKE TODAY, the inner micro-manager comes out.
He comes out and says things like the font on that flyer - it should be sans serif - serifs are those things on times new roman. Because I couldn’t possibly know what sans serif...
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Nice to meet you
Small one and I promenade in the morning and most afternoons too, when we’re not at our respective institutions. On one recent afternoon stroll/bike ride/scoot (I walk, small one rides his balance bike or scooter), a small boy on his scooter turned the corner at the same time as we crossed the road.
Both boys looked at each other and started scooting. The boy was taller than small one but...
Sing to the child
When small one was very very small, I would sing him to sleep, while rocking him with a slight bouncing-walk motion. Those who subscribe to any routine-y method for newborns would gasp in horror there, I guess. My shock was how frequently I would have to sing out loud, often in semi-public places, to get my newborn to be calm.
However, I have always believed that singing is good for kids, and...
July 2011
6 posts
“Can I Speak Mister Dick Please?”
– T-shirts I Have Seen Worn on the Streets of Beijing This Slogan Was On a Man’s Cargo Shorts—Front Pocket, Along the Thigh (via notquitelocal)
Ha! Shouldn’t every man own a pair of these shorts?
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Dry July, day 18
I note that I am over half way. I also note that the clarity gained from not drinking a drop of alcohol, even the odd glass of red with dinner, has been relentless.
At this rate, my mind will be as razor sharp as the ALMOST three year old’s whose birthday we celebrated yesterday. In fine jungle style thanks to his aunt L. With fine food and surrounds thanks to his other aunts and...
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Dry July, day six
The convenient thing about Dry July is that I will be celebrating the completion of a month of sobriety on my birthday. That means that on the 1st of August I shall wake up, crack open a bottle of champagne and eat strawberries.
Incidentally, the first day of August is a Monday: no official work commitments other than clocking on to do small one care. I’m sure he’ll be happy that...
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Dry July, day two
Three years have nearly passed since I had my last bout of absolute abstinence from the alcohol department. That stint was for the love of another creature - small one!
Now, I’m giving it a bash and joining in the sober trend to fundraise for cancer patients in hospitals. Cravings have not yet set in but I’m sure they will. And I will happily withstand them!
I will say no to the...
June 2011
14 posts
1 tag
When we were young
My Dad would bake bread every night. One loaf sultana, one plain. There were ten of us, of course, and at least 70% enjoyed a good breakfast. That meant porridge and two slices of toast. Like a laissez-faire economy, growth was promoted within our double brick walls.
If you were lucky you would be awake when it came out of the oven and get a slice of warm bread with honey and butter. It was...
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Over dinner
Yesterday, boyfriend and his tiny dog came over to visit. Small one was delighted. We walked and they played trains and I cooked dinner. It was spaghettini. When I served the three plates, small one was reluctant to join the table for dinner.
Enticement? Not me asking him to please come have dinner, to join the party. Of course not. Rather, it was boyfriend slurping pasta into his...
Go to Wikipedia and click “random article.” This...
merlin:
“Citation Needed.”
“46th Vanier Cup”: apt, I am a woman.
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Old stamping ground
Back when I was a wild under-and-post-graduate student, I occasionally wrote graffiti on toilet doors. Once, I even responded to a declaration inscribed on a thoroughfare to a major Sydney university. It said:
One man’s power can not destroy another’s destiny.
I suggested
But a woman’s might.
And drew a flower beside it. Poetic, no? My comment was on the sexism of the...
Animal update
The slugs have, largely, disappeared. The dogs are not manically barking as much, thanks to the electronic stop-barking device neighbour now uses.
Now? There are rats in the workplace. I hope the baits OH&S installed work.
Upward trend, yes indeed.
under-the-fig-tree-deactivated2 asked: Hey Jess, I love reading about you and the Small one's happenings, I can't believe how big he's getting! Hope to see you both soon. Love Isabelle xox
A history of modern music: excellent. Thanks to... →
The carers at childcare
[Small one] is a sweet child and caring and interacting with him is a pleasure.
So say the people who look after him twice a week. I feel the same, even when he insists on not wearing a jacket and the wind-chill factor renders the temperature near zero, refuses to put a helmet on, and throws the sandwich I made him on the ground. EVEN then.
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Do you think?
Today, I tried to buy some herbal sleep tablets, to help me get back to sleep once woken by small one in the night. Sometimes I can be awake for one or two hours after he has gone back to sleep.
The woman at the vitamin store surprised me.
Me: Can I please get those sleep vitamins behind the counter there?
She: Sure - this one?
Me: Yes.
She: What are they for?
Me: To help me get back to...
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First days
Small one, not yet three, has started at childcare. First day today. My own first was starting a part-time position at university. It has been exactly eight years since I last worked in a similar position in Melbourne. Since then, a PhD and child have filled my time.
Anyway.
Small one has been extremely excited about starting SCHOOL with the KIDS. We had a new lion blanket delivered, for...
May 2011
22 posts
1 tag
Fernando French: One Book, One Tumblr →
Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey. Best book by an Australian author in the last few years, I believe.
fernandofrench:
Everyone is doing it. Seattleites started the trend in 1998 and Chicagoans followed suit a few years later. It wasn’t long before the idea trickled through to other cities and they started doing it.
Then, a writer from Wired wondered: what if, instead of being bounded by the...
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Give or take
Here are the cars, you can share them with the other kids in the park now! No. I don’t want to. It’s nice to share - that’s why we brought the cars here. NO! Alright. If you don’t want to, we’ll go home. Okay, let’s go.
Small one knows what he wants. Just like every other two year old I know. Universal truths do exist.
One of my lessons learned
fosterhood:
Forget a prenup, I want a pre-custody agreement signed before ever giving birth to someone’s child. In my experience with Jacket, court was a nasty, dirty place where I was voiceless while watching untruths being told. My court attendance was limited, but it gave me a glimpse of what a child custody battle could look like and I never, ever want to experience such a horrible thing.
...
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Tasmania: Day Seven
Events: chairlift up The Nut, lunch at Elizabethtown, arrival of the Tasmanian Tiger.
Driving: tolerable.
The sea was still all morning, and the wind did not roar along either side that forms the peninsula upon which Stanley was built, the last day of our tour around Tasmania.
A and I took the chairlift up the volcanic plug that is the BIG HILL hugging Stanley. A’s folks had small one...
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Tasmania: Day Seven
Events: Cradle Mountain, the Big Tree, a basalt waterfall I can’t remember the name of.
Sleep: GOOD!
Serenity: achieved in Stanley.
We wake and head down to Cradle Mountain. The rain sweeps across Dove Lake and the mist completely obscures the rocky outcrop that resembles a child’s bed.
It does not deter those ranging in age from 23 to 32 from a brisk walk down to the...
An aside
Families are the best. Mine, families of other people close to you. Small one’s circle of carers has exploded with this southern trip. We be lucky.
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Tasmania: Day Six, or the day I inhaled a gas...
Events: bloody long drive, kitchen malfunction.
Sleep: small one fell out of his bed at 3am, resettled soon after.
Sunday marked the first day of the family trek around Tasmania. A convoy of two cars started out from Hobart, heading north to Cradle Mountain.
The car I was in, with A, his parents and small one, turned back not fifteen minutes in to the journey to get some booking information...
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Tasmania: Day Five
Yesterday was, according to schedule, the day of A’s SURPRISE 30th birthday. I had dreaded releasing the secret to him – after being confided in, and made complicit to the plan, by his mother over a month ago. That dread came from a lack of confidence that I actually could keep such a secret. I am not good at keeping secrets on this scale. Especially, I just can’t lie when confronted with a...
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Tasmania: Day Four
Events: drive to Launceston, boyfriend’s hometown. Visit his Pop. Dinner and football at A’s friend’s place. By football, I mean we watched an AFL game.
Sleep: so good it isn’t worth mentioning here.
Small one’s new tricks: the loop, nose-diving off a couch with his new friend.
After waking at 5.40am with a poo-filled nappy, the day could only get better for...
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Tasmania: Day Three
Events: park on western side of Derwent River, coffee and chips at the Raincheck cafe in North Hobart, walk along the eastern side of the river, dinner at restaurant 373.
Weather: cold, still, no rain.
The park visit was a dedicated small one venture. I should have taken a towel as the equipment was all wet, but we managed to play with some supersized musical equipment. Including a tyre that...
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Tasmania: Day Two
Events: A’s birthday. Yay! Museum of New and Old Art (MONA). Dinner at Smolt.
Sleep: all night long, thank freaking goodness.
Turning thirty ought to be celebrated with at least a very good sleep in. Followed by bacon and eggs. And so it was for boyfriend’s morning. A slow and steady start to the day.
It was also the day for MONA. I schooled small one in Craig...
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Tasmania: Day One
Event: Mount Wellington
Sleep: Small one wakes from 3.20am-4.12am, before sleeping until 8.30am.
I am woken at 5.10am by crying small one. Perhaps his internal clock knows we need to wake now, but whatever the reason, waking for a child is easier than an alarm. The getting-ready-to=go is extremely slow with small one eating steady mouthfuls of porridge, at his usual leisurely rate.
The...
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Difficult conditions →
I know many of the challenges I face as a mother in Australia are trivial. Especially compared to the contexts people experience in places like Afghanistan. There, one in five children die before they reach the age of five, the life expectancy of women is 45, and only about 15% of births are attended by people with medical training.
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Swapping notes on tarnished ears
Today the sun shone warmly and we snuck in some time at the park behind our house before the wind came up. Some of small one’s friends were there. They played cars, kicked a ball, went on bear hunts, swung up to the trees.
Talk between carers slips in between running after escapee children and negotiating sharing. I say carers because of the eight children playing there today, two...
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Phlegm as spider webs
Small one has caught whatever the sickness was that persisted with me for nearly two weeks. I know it must be the same because I can hear the crackly sound in his larynx that you can only hear when lying down. It sounds like a rattle in your throat.
Last night at 3am, coughing attacks kept small one awake. One of his insights as to what is happening to him included this question, after a...