Childcare

Nicole linked to these two really thought provoking posts about assessing childcare from a biblical perspective.

I like Jean's ideas about elevating motherhood over having a career, and about the church community pitching in to help struggling mums.

Exciting news today

The RTA has approved our application for exemption from the restricted vehicles rules for P platers - meaning I can drive our car! No need to sell it and buy another...and I can start putting pedal to the metal.

One small, final hurdle - need to get some p plates. We'll do that on the weekend and then I'll be set.

It was sort of surprising that they granted the exemption, but fair I think. Very exciting!

Attention Span (or lack thereof)

My attention span is shot these days. I don't know if it's because I spend too much time on the internet, flicking from screen to screen, or if life with a kid means my brain has to be constantly running three tracks at the one time , but I find it really hard to sit and focus on one thing.

I'm ok with reading, but tv and movies? It's a struggle to last more than 30 minutes without getting bored. And around the house, I get so easily distracted - between trying to get stuff done, chasing after Hamish and the menagerie, and keeping up with emails, voicemail and texts, it's a rarity for my brain to be still.

I need to work on this - only do one thing at a time! And cut back on having to be connected all the time - there's been a few articles on this recently, like this one by Mia Freeman. It's a not healthy habit, but a hard one to break.

One of my favourite bible verses is "Be still, and know that I am God" (Ps 46:10). Perhaps easier said than done, but well worth taking to heart.

Mommy?

This is an interesting rant from Pinky McKay. She writes:

I am feeling sad at seeing so many littlies propped in front of television (sure, it’s helpful to buy a few minutes to get dinner, feed the baby or have a shower but in my humble opinion it is downright neglectful to disengage from a child as he stares mindlessly at a screen for many hours of the day ).

I certainly use the TV with Hamish, but try to make sure it's not on if it doesn't need to be. Otherwise it just becomes background noise - and really, there's only so much in a day that I need to get done while Hamish is safely occupied watching the screen.

We tend to have more enjoyable days when I get on with what I need to do, and let him potter along with me from room to room. It takes patience and slows things down sometimes, but it's more fun than trying to race around, hoping his show will last long enough for me to get through my list.

Watching TV can be funny though - today he danced very enthusiastically to the Home Icecream jingle! Catchy tune that it is...

Update on Ruby

Ruby is home from the vet now - seems to be better but tired. The vet wasn't sure in the end what the problem was, but painkillers and rest fixed her up.

He was leaning towards her having received a blow to the side - not sure how that would have happened unless Saffy landed on her or something, which, let's face it - isn't exactly beyond the realms of possibility!

Media Watch

I've been watching Media Watch since the old Stuart Littlemore days, and I think the current host, Jonathan Holmes, is my favourite. He is entertaining, and fair in his analyses. It's always worth a watch.

Sick Ruby

Ruby the dog is at the vet's tonight. We had to rush her there at lunch time - I heard her throw up a few times, and called her in to see if she was ok - she was shaking a lot and couldn't walk properly.

So I called Adam home from work and we rushed around to the vets. They thought it could be a tick, or some sort of blow to the side that was causing trembling etc because of the level of pain. They weren't really sure, but have given her pain relief and valium, and will monitor her overnight.

She looked terrible, it was very upsetting to see her in so much distress. I'm glad I was home and able to notice it straight away - it seemed to hit her quite suddenly.

I hope she improves overnight.

Rip-off

We've ordered pizza for dinner, from Pizza Hut. Two pizzas are costing us $29!

Of course, if we went and picked them up instead of waiting for delivery, it would be half that amount. We don't have any valid coupons either so no savings there.

They'd better taste nice.

AND - when I rang up to order, I had to listen to a recorded message about their pasta dishes, and then actually say 'yes' or 'no' to a recorded question asking whether I wanted to order one! Talk about pushy.

Product Review #2

Again, this is something I would never have bought myself - the Brainy Baby products promote turning your child into a genius, which I think is an unhelpful and silly philosophy.

But we were given this DVD, and another similar one, and they are fantastic - made for toddlers, they keep Hamish's interest for the full 45 minute running time. There's no story - just a whole lot of little scenes of kids playing with toys and shapes, all on a theme (like the peek-a-boo game). It's strangely relaxing.

I'm so grateful that we received this - it has come in handy so often, when we need to keep Hamish occupied or when he needs to rest and sit quietly. Works every time!

Product Review #1

This is my standout, favourite cleaning product at the moment.

I'm not usually into using many products like this, they seem like a mega waste of money, but Adam got a sample for free from work, and lately it has come into it's own around here. It's extremely useful for, let me see, some totally random examples: Cleaning up cat spew from your kitchen floor; cat pee from the bathroom floor (and your shoes! Gross!); cat POO from the bath (twice); and the pièce de résistance - toddler poo from the loungeroom floor.

These are all situations where you want to grab something quickly - no mucking around! I've been keeping the chux wipes on standby as it seems most days, there's something that they are perfect for.

Chocolate maths!

Give this a go - DON'T CHEAT BY SCROLLING DOWN FIRST!

It takes less than a minute. Work this out as you read.

Be sure you don't read the bottom until you've worked it out!

1. First of all, pick the number of times a week that you would like to have chocolate (more than once but less than 10)

2. Multiply this number by 2 (just to be bold)

3. Add 5

4. Multiply it by 50 -- I'll wait while you get the calculator :)

5. If you have already had your birthday this year add 1759. If you haven't, add 1758.

6. Now subtract the four digit year that you were born. You should have a three digit number.

The first digit of this was your original number (i.e., how many times you want to have chocolate each week).

The next two numbers are...






YOUR AGE!

Grime

Gah - made an error in judgement today - tidied up the bathroom, getting rid of most of the clutter around the bath - and now can see all the grime in its place!

Will now have to clean it up...which needed doing anyway, but was easier to ignore before.

Albums

I've been buying a few albums on iTunes these last few weeks - here are my most recent purchases:

It's always a bit of a risk buying an album - you never know if it will turn out that the songs you liked on the radio (and on the basis of which, you bought the album) are the only ones you like!

But with these three, I haven't had that problem - they are all good albums. They are growing on me each time I listen to them, and all have catchy tunes that stick in my head.

What have you been listening to lately?

Bees

The bees are busy this morning, the garden is full of them collecting pollen. Spring is in the air!

De-cluttering

We spent a few nights away from home this week, visiting Adam's folks. One of the good things about a break away is the chance to reflect on how things are going at home. It sort of gets me out of my rut.

I realised that one thing that is bothering me at the moment is the amount of clutter at home. There is stuff everywhere! And a lot of it is for a small person...and a lot of it is in the loungeroom.

So today, inspired by a website called Terrific Toddler Tips (linked to by Aimee) I bought a couple of plastic tubs, and have filled them with toys and books. There are four containers, and the idea is to use one a week and then rotate to a new tub - meaning that the toys and books a) are more interesting to Hamish (and us!) as he won't get to see them all every day, and b) the clutter in the loungeroom is one quarter of what it was before!

Feels very satisfying. Now to see if the plan actually works....

Ka-boom!

There's this thing in our house - we call it the 'baby bomb'. It comes out each day and tears around like a tornado, knocking books from shelves, spreading small pieces of toys across the floor (right where you want to walk) and generally creating a great big mess. We clean up at the end of the day, shaking our heads at the devastation...only to have it return the following morning and do it all again!

Imagine the looney tunes tassie devil hurtling round your loungeroom...that should give you a fair idea.

Reading, Reading, Reading

About a year ago, I wrote about how I was meant to be reading 3 books a day to Hamish. I wasn't doing it then, but let me tell you - we are making up for lost time now!

Hamish is acting like he's in training for the baby reading olympics or something - he is obsessed with having books read to him. Which is lovely - and something I always looked forward to doing with my kids - but seriously, when you're being asked to read stories at least 30 or 40 times a day, it gets old pretty quickly. That's no exaggeration - it's books books books all day long.

So I read him a story, get to the end - and he flips the book back to the beginning and wants to hear it again! And again, and again. Around the third or fourth reading he usually loses interest, and gets another book or wanders off.

I've taken to hiding the books after two reads through - the last sentence in a lot of stories at the moment is 'and then the book mysteriously disappeared!'

I'm sure this is normal toddler behaviour, and it is quite funny. It does test my patience though.

Toddler Clothes

Hamish's outfit today has 7 pockets. Seriously, what's he going to do with 1 pocket, let alone 7? He doesn't even know what a pocket is! Does look cute though :)