Twelve Days of Panic

School is over for another year - yay! - and everyone is gearing up for Christmas. We are twelve days out from the big day as I write this, just long enough for me to be worried about whether we'll get everything done in time.

I still have presents to buy and wrap, decorations to put up (the tree is done, so that's something) and the house to clean. The 'lived in' look is good, but we don't want our guests tripping over toys and shoes when they walk in the door.

Then there's the lawn to mow, now that we've had a few days of rain and the grass has put on a growth spurt that would put a teenager to shame.

That's all without even considering the food for the day. Everyone contributes, but I still have to organise my part. The great thing about this is that I have help - the Cavegirl loves to create in the kitchen. Not just a mess (although she does that too), but actual food! We just have to do the shopping for the ingredients and she's set to go.

The tricky thing is in organising everything around work commitments. This is a new challenge I'm facing this year. Anyone who has been following my blog knows that being back in the workforce is a fairly new thing for me (I did a little happy dance when I reached the 6 month mark at work a couple of weeks ago!). In previous years, I had so much time to devote to getting Christmas organised and I would usually start well in advance. Putting presents on layby at the shops in October, or ordering gifts online with a month still to go. I would spend weeks 'creating' a personalised calendar on the Big W or Harvey Norman websites for our parents, simply because I had the time to do it. Last year I ordered calendars for four different family members - and each one was different - as well as Christmas cards with a photo of our family on the front to send to everyone.

This year I just haven't had the time. With my work roster, and the Caveman working as well, Christmas really has crept up on us. Neither of us work for companies that close down over the holiday period either, so it is a case of organising things as we get the opportunity. I have no idea what most members of our family would like this Christmas and I haven't even sent all my Christmas cards ... and they're from the shops - no photo this year!

The important thing, as I sit here thinking about all of this, is to appreciate the little things we do have time for. We might not have sat for a family photo, but we are all together. We will have Christmas lunch with extended family on the day and have a fantastic time, as we always do. As with every other year, no matter how well organised it is, or how many presents are under the tree, the most important thing is spending it with the people we love.

That's what will be remembered - and hopefully I'll be forgiven if I have to resort to giving everyone a pair of socks bought the day before!

It's the White Time

I have ignored my blog for a while, mainly because this time of the year gets a bit hectic.

School is finishing up, so there are exams and assorted commitments for the kids, as well as getting organised for Christmas - which is coming up fast!

One of the activities keeping us busy right now is the cricket season. Both my boys, as well as the Caveman, play cricket every Saturday during the warmer months of the year. (Personally I think they should only play in Winter, since it's so hot here, but Cricket Australia haven't put me in charge yet.)

Every Sunday my clothesline is a sea of white, with three sets of long pants and shirts - the 'whites' that they all wear to play cricket.

A lot of people find cricket boring to watch. I know I certainly do sometimes! Although, it doesn't help when our life seems to revolve around it every Summer.

The Caveman asked me once why I don't seem to enjoy cricket as much as I did when we first met. My answer was, 'That was before I married it!"

Of course, now I'm a Cricket Mum as well, so it looks like I really am stuck with the game for the long term.

The thing is, I do mostly enjoy watching cricket. I especially like watching my boys play - I guess motherly pride overcomes boredom! I used to find it difficult to watch my teen play when he was little, worrying about him not doing as well as he'd like, or even getting hurt. It's not so bad now that he's older. He plays in the senior competition with grown men and he's quite capable of matching it with them.

The littlest Caveman is still fairly new to cricket, playing in an under 9's group. He loves it so far and, with the training he gets from his big brother in their backyard games, he's probably going to be very capable too.

I do occasionally suffer from cricket overload, when all the male members of the family play on the weekend and then want to watch it on TV through the week as well (and as any fan will tell you, a cricket match is not a short game!).

Luckily, the Caveman understands that both I and our Cavegirl get sick of cricket at times. He tends to be careful about how much he watches on TV and is teaching the boys to be considerate about it as well. And in return, we will go along and watch their more important games when we can.

After all, every player deserves to have their own personal cheer squad ;-)

Dying for a Clean Up

"I've decided I need to pretend I'm dead," I announced today. Naturally, the Caveman was concerned ... but it's not that I actually wish I was dead, it's just that it will make cleaning the house easier.

Let me explain.

It's Spring Cleaning time, if you go in for that sort of thing. I don't usually, but I feel we are due for another big clean-out right now. I'm not too worried about washing the curtains though, I'm more interested in getting rid of stuff. I wouldn't say we're hoarders, but we tend to be a bit slow about throwing things out that we don't need or can't use anymore. This wouldn't be a problem if there were only one or two of us in the house, but with five? There is always more clutter coming in than there is going out ... not to mention the general untidiness that three kids can create on a daily basis.

It's also a pet peeve of mine to have someone walk in after I've cleaned and announce, 'Wow, this is clean!' It's like saying, 'Wow, this is usually a mess!'. I already know I'm not the world's greatest housekeeper, so having less in the house to start with would be a big help with my everyday cleaning. Very often, simply removing some clutter can make the biggest visual impact.

In recent years, my own Mum has whittled her belongings down to only what she needs. I am always impressed when I visit and her house is so tidy. Of course, she has no children to clean up after anymore (and I remember what a mess we used to make!). Every now and then she has another big clean-out and gets rid of even more stuff. Her theory is that, by doing this, she is saving a lot of work for her children when she dies. It's a sound theory too. When the Caveman's father died a few years ago, we took all of his things into our house - furniture and all. It was crowded. We had an entire room we didn't use for months, because it was full of his stuff. No one could do anything until the Caveman was ready to deal with it, and it can be difficult to sort through belongings that you have grown up with and associated with one person your whole life. Throwing those things away can feel like you're throwing away another part of the person you're already missing so much.

When we finally got to it though, it turned out there was a lot we were prepared to let go of. In fact, it was a great lesson for us - discovering that there was no need to hold onto things to 'remember him by'. Our memories of him were what really mattered, along with photos and just a few little items that are genuinely sentimental to us.

So, my plan is to copy my Mum and do my clean-out accordingly. It will take time, because the Caveman and I are both working now, but it has to be done. We have too much stuff of our own which, if I'm honest, is not going to be special to anyone else in the long run.

Hopefully, by the time I die, the kids will have full houses of their own - in which case, the last thing they will need is more of our crap in their way!

A Lasting Impact

It's time for Literacy Week in Australia ... when primary schools everywhere celebrate books and reading. Today is the day, at our school, that all the students are invited to dress up as a character from a story book.

Now, the littlest Caveman isn't much of a reader, so I really thought it would be difficult for him to settle on a character. I expected him to choose something from a tv show or movie. There tends to be a lot of that on dress up day, plenty of Darth Vaders and Jack Sparrows on the school oval - but that's okay. They are still characters from stories, even if they didn't start out as books.

I started nudging my boy to think about book characters a couple of weeks ago, knowing that it could take a while to come up with a character that he: A. has heard of and B. is prepared to dress up as.

Then, tragedy struck. One of the brightest lights in world entertainment, Robin Williams, passed away. This news came as a huge shock in our house ... the Caveman and I have always been big fans and had made sure our kids knew who he was too. As more details emerged about his death, I was struck by the fact that someone who had brought so much joy to millions of people around the world should have been so troubled in his own life. The media was flooded with stories about Robin and the lives he'd touched, as well as many really important articles regarding depression. If any good can come of his death, maybe it will be more awareness of just how serious depression can be and the importance of losing the stigma associated with mental health issues.

For us, on a 'fan level', we felt the need to immerse ourselves in his work. We watched Dead Poets Society, Good Morning Vietnam and Flubber in quick succession. It was great, as if watching his movies was keeping him alive for us (and we have plenty more to watch yet).

You might wonder what this has to do with Literacy Week? Well, at some point, Peter Pan popped into my head. I suggested it to my little man and got the horrifying response, "Who's that?"  I was mortified. How could he not know Peter Pan? Admittedly, it had been a while since we'd read the story, or watched the movie, so it was clearly time to remedy the situation. Out came the 1953 Disney movie, which we sat and watched together. A true Classic. This then led us to also watch our copy of Hook. It's not a great movie, there is so much about it that could have been done better ... but I don't think anyone one else could have played a grown-up Peter Pan as well as Robin Williams did.

As it turns out, not surprisingly, my boy chose to dress up as Peter Pan for school today (and I think he's put more of the Hook version into his portrayal than the original).

Meanwhile, as for Robin Williams himself, he will always be around. I won't make any pretense of grieving for him, not in the true sense - nobody could possibly be as affected by his death as his own family and friends. He certainly made an impact on the rest of us though, and I will always enjoy watching his work and genuinely hope that he found his peace in the end.

In All His Glory

NOTE: Not actual husband -->  

"Dad, can't you at least wear underwear to bed? I can't believe poor Mum has to sleep beside you while you're naked! If anyone ever tries to sleep naked next to me, they're OUT of the bed!"

This rather adamant protest came from our 13 year old Cavegirl one morning recently. She had run into her dad in the middle of the night when they were both stumbling half-asleep to the bathroom to answer the call of their bladders. He got there first and when he opened the door to come back out our poor girl, waiting in the hallway, saw more of her dad than she ever wanted to.

Yes, the Caveman usually sleeps naked and, unfortunately, doesn't often bother to throw anything on to make the trip to the bathroom in the middle of the night. He is quite comfortable being in the buff and could happily go about his everyday life that way. Sadly for him (but perhaps luckily for the rest of us), that's not really socially acceptable. I can only imagine what the neighbours would say if he started appearing outside the house with no clothes on.

I must point out here that he does make the effort to sleep in shorts (or at least keep them beside the bed) when we have guests, but he always figured that it didn't really matter when it's just us and the kids in the house. I guess he knows better now!

What I loved about my daughter's outburst was her horror that I am forced to sleep beside her dad when he's naked at night. Admittedly, I usually wear a nightie or pyjamas to bed myself, but it doesn't bother me that my husband is wearing nothing in the same bed. I think I would worry about the state of my marriage if his nudity was a problem for me.

What was even funnier was the Cavegirl's comment about kicking out anyone who ever sleeps naked beside HER ... hmm, that's definitely one to remind her of when she's older!

Finding the Balance

What a shame it's always the poor blog that suffers when we get busy.

I have not had the time (or the inclination, if I'm honest) to write my blog for well over a month. I have the best possible reason though ... the TAFE course I did last year has paid off and I have a job at last! I am now working as a Personal Carer in a local aged care facility and loving it.


The learning curve is pretty steep, especially in the first few weeks, but I'm getting the hang of it and settling in well. I enjoy working with the residents and feeling as though I can help to bring a little extra happiness to their days. Aside from any other benefits of working, it's doing wonders for my own sense of self-worth.

While I was settling into my new job, the Caveman took on some unpaid work experience for a few weeks in a busy office (as part of his preparation to re-enter the workforce). He's home full-time again for now, but it really did make for a busy time for the entire household. I know many people would quite rightly say 'most families have both parents working these days, so what's the big deal?' Well, that's fair, but when you haven't been in that situation and suddenly it's all happening at once, it really can be a big adjustment. It did do our personal pride a lot of good to know that we could do it (and yes, be 'like everyone else').

My working does bring with it some extra issues ... I have started to experience the 'mother guilt' we so often hear about. I feel guilty if I'm not at home to help the kids with homework, or listen while they tell me about their problems. It bothers me that I might miss something important that they need to share with me. I still help out in the littlest Caveman's classroom one day a week when it fits in with my work roster, just because I believe it's so important for him to have me involved.

I also worry sometimes that the housework is slipping or that I'm not going to keep up with all the cleaning/washing/ironing that needs doing between my shifts. I feel even worse if I am actually at home but just too tired from work to do the usual chores.

Of course, the Caveman (and the kids!) are capable of taking care of all that stuff, but you know what we Mums can be like! It takes a while to accept that others can do the jobs we've been mostly responsible for.

On the other side of the coin, I am making sure I take the time to do things that relax me as well. I'm reading novels and catching up on some knitting - a fairly typical Winter activity for me. It keeps me sane, stopping me from feeling overwhelmed by 'busyness', and shows the kids that Me Time is important too.

The family is adapting to the new routine and I'm proud that we are all coping pretty well in general. Most of all though, I'm happy to be (finally!) working in a job I love.

Going Retro

Recently my Cavegirl went to an 80’s themed dance party at a friend’s house. She was so reluctant to start with … “I don’t really know much about 80’s music, I’m not even sure I should go’, ‘I don’t mind the frilly skirt and all the layers, but I’m NOT wearing leg warmers’ and ‘no mum, I don’t want my hair teased up THAT high!’, while frantically pulling at it to bring it down a bit.

I decided at that point that I’d obviously not done my duty as a parent … how could I have missed teaching my kids properly about the incredible awesomeness that was the 80’s? The fabulous fashions, which were a study in bright and crazy colours; leg warmers, mesh crop tops, teased hair and neon accessories. Not that I ever really had those things (I was never in the ‘trendy’ crowd), but I could dream. 

The music was my favourite thing though - I adored Cyndi Lauper, INXS and Wham!, although they were quickly forgotten when the ‘big hair’ bands arrived on the scene. Europe, Poison, Whitesnake, Bon Jovi … in fact, my crush on Jon Bon Jovi continues to this day (who knew the man would age so well?). I have fond memories of sitting on the lounge room floor with my sister, watching Countdown with Ian ‘Molly’ Meldrum (and, wow, I honestly believed all the songs were being performed live!). 

We watched A Country Practice every week, Simon Townsend’s Wonder World in the afternoons, and we witnessed the introduction of Neighbours and Home and Away … as well as the meteoric rise of Kylie Minogue and her contemporaries. The cool guys had mullets and wore puffer jackets, while the girls were all about the perms and shoulder pads.

Hmm … okay, reading through my list, some of those trends from the 80s are definitely pretty daggy and best left in the past. But still, it was a great decade in my eyes and it’s kind of back in fashion now (retro!), so I’m happy. I was actually jealous that my daughter was going to an 80’s theme party instead of me.

As for her party experience, after all that reluctance, she came home singing a Belinda Carlisle song and raving about the great music from the 80’s. The Caveman and I have decided to jump on this bandwagon while we have the chance, so we’ve been serenading the kids with our favourite 80’s music and showing them ‘retro’ YouTube clips for days now.

The novelty will wear off fast, but we’re happy to relive a little bit of our youth while we can!

Nelly

Otherwise known as Nell. Or Nelza. Or Nelly Welly, Nell Bell, Smelly Nelly ... even Nelectrolux (when she was a puppy and literally vacuumed up everything in sight). I am writing about our beautiful black (and grey!) Labrador-mix dog, who we bid a teary farewell to this morning.

Nelly came to us in 2003, when she was six months old. She was a giveaway – unwanted by her previous owner after outgrowing the ‘cute puppy’ stage. I had been thinking about getting a dog for the kids so I took them with me to meet her. We all fell for her immediately; then we just had to convince the Caveman (he’s not so much of a dog lover). He came with us that afternoon to meet her and, as soon as she saw us, she made a beeline for him. It was like she already knew she had me and the kids ‘sold’ on her and it was just him she had to convince. It worked. He melted and we took her home with us then. She already had the name Nelly, so we kept it - it saved us trying to come up with a name we could all agree on.

There were some issues over the years … if she got out of the yard she could follow her nose a very long way. Nelly was a wanderer. I lost count of the times we would come outside in the morning to find she’d broken out and vanished. We could only wait, and sure enough, our intrepid explorer would appear at the top of the driveway a little while later feeling very satisfied with her morning run. She would race back toward us with her ears and tongue flapping in the breeze, the happiest expression on her face, wondering why we were all annoyed with her. She wore an expression that said, ’Hey there family, here I am!’, as if she just expected that she would be loved, no matter what she did. In fact, that was the same expression she greeted us with every morning for most of her life.

 

Like most Labs, she was a vocal dog too. Yes, she barked more than she should have and it was a bad habit we never got under control to the extent that we would have liked. But she was vocal in another way, which was designed to get our attention. She would make a long ‘wrooo-wrooo’ sound, almost like a doggy version of 'hello', at us, or to ask for more pats. It was effective – she usually got her pats and we would ‘wrooo-wrooo’ right back at her.

Nelly adored our kids from day one. She always loved running around with them in the backyard, curling up with them for cuddles, going for walks - usually her walking them more than they walked her. She worried over them if she thought they were doing something she considered dangerous, like swimming. Nelly hated the water, so she never understood why the kids would choose to go into it. She would actually whine and paw at me to get them out again! Of course, she got better about it as she got older, but she still worried. It’s not surprising she started going grey at an early age.

She enjoyed good health for most of her life, despite her habit of chewing absolutely everything when she was younger. We lost shoes, books, toys … even the arm of a lounge chair! Eventually she learned that sticks and dog treats were allowed, but nothing else. We also had to watch her sweet tooth; the kids were taught very early about the importance of not giving Nelly any chocolate or other sugary snacks. She had to be tied up if we were having a birthday party – we learned this lesson when one of the kids had a party where they had to burst a piñata. When the lollies hit the ground Nelly was right in there with all the kids, grabbing her share and swallowing them, wrappers and all! 

When a cancerous growth appeared 5 months ago (a recurrence, where a previous one had been removed a year earlier), we decided to let nature take its course and just love her for the time she had left. In the past few weeks though, we'd been noticing signs of her discomfort, and realised yesterday that it was time for that final trip to the Vet.

She was with us for 11 years, and we would have liked a lot longer, but we know we gave her a happy life for the time we did have. We had no false expectations at the end; saying goodbye was every bit as hard as we expected it to be, with floods of tears from everyone. 

We have lots of happy memories of our beautiful Nelly, but the most precious memory is knowing that she loved us with all she had to give. She may not have been a perfect dog, but she was the best dog for us.

When I Feel Like It.

So. This is me today -------->

Procrastinating.  Putting things off.

It's not like I have nothing to do. I can see the dirty floors, the load of clothes in the laundry hamper, the dirty dishes beside the sink. All waiting to be washed. By me, I'm guessing.

It's not only housework either. I also have a couple of letters to write and some sewing projects to start on, among other things.

The problem is, I have no motivation. No energy. No desire to do any of those jobs today. I just don't feel like it.

It's a beautiful day outside. I could easily curl up with a book and a coffee on the back deck and just relax in the cool breeze. That doesn't get my housework done though. It will still be there, staring at me, when I come back inside.

Sometimes I wish I had the power to stop time ... you know, just for a little while.  Maybe an hour or three, to catch up on some sleep when I need it.  Or occasionally even for a whole day, so that I could focus on getting the house clean with absolutely NO interruptions. But then, with no commitments outside the home today - for once - that's kind of how the day should have run for me anyway.

Except that I just don't feel like it. That's a bummer. Having an entire day with nothing else to do and it coincides with a lazy streak a mile wide, that stops me wanting to achieve anything at all. It's ironic really.

You would think that the idea of having a tidy house (a rare thing for us) would be enough to get me off my backside, but it's not. I guess I could invite a friend over. That was a technique I used to use when I was younger ... knowing someone was coming to see me was a guaranteed way to make sure I got things done around the house. But today? Meh. I don't think it would make any difference.

There should be a support group for this sort of thing - a kind of 'Procrastinators Anonymous'. We could all meet somewhere on a set day every ... oh wait, hang on. That won't work. None of us would turn up.

I'm sure I'll have some enthusiasm for getting things done tomorrow. In the meantime, maybe I should grab that book and make that coffee.  In fact, I will ... just as soon as I feel like it.

The Bald and The Beautiful

On the weekend, my Mother in Law lost all her hair. Not through any type of misadventure or ill health, thank goodness ... she simply had her head shaved.

It was done for a good cause, as part of the Leukaemia Foundation's "World's Greatest Shave" fundraiser.

Willing participants are sponsored to have their hair shaved off or coloured, to raise money for research into blood cancers and their treatments.

We are all very proud of Grandma for raising money for such an important cause - and the new 'hairstyle' is pretty terrific too.  Even the kids think it's great. In fact, the Littlest Caveman, who had been insisting lately that he didn't ever want a haircut again, actually asked me yesterday if he could have his head shaved 'like Grandma's'.

Considering the last trim I gave him was a sneaky one while he was asleep (to save arguments), I didn't need a second invitation! I had the hair clippers in my hand and a cape around his neck before he had a chance to change his mind and now his hair matches his big brother's short style. Okay, it's not quite as short as his Grandma's, but he's happy with it.

He even told me this morning, when I complained about the heat, that I should shave my head as well ... 'It's a lot cooler, Mum.'  He then pointed out that, aside from myself and the Cavegirl, most of the family has really short hair now - himself, his Grandma, his brother and father.  I frowned at that comment.  'Your Dad hasn't had his head shaved recently.'

'No,' he answered, in the knowledgeable tone of a six-year-old, 'but Dad had that bunch of hair on top that's never come back.'

My poor Caveman ... if he didn't already feel self conscious about his bald patch, that comment would definitely have done it.

Cut off from the World

After a hectic few weeks, we are finally settled in at our new house and loving it!

I had ideas for my blog running through my head the whole time - every time something amusing happened, or we had a new problem to worry about, I thought 'I could make this into a blog'.

There are lots of funny or stressful moments associated with moving, such as trying to remember where specific items were packed (why were the littlest Caveman's socks NOT packed with the rest of his clothes?), or completing all the relevant paperwork with the real estate agents. Not to mention the fact that life in general doesn't stop just because you happen to be moving house ... school assignments still have to be in on time, appointments need to be attended, bills paid, etc.

Of course, I had no energy to actually sit and complete a blog post anyway, so in the end I decided to leave the whole thing until after the move was over.

I could have posted about how we are now renting a house directly across the road from one that we used to own (and that my husband grew up in!). It is a little unusual, looking out at the neighbour's place and knowing that we were responsible for the colour of the house and what is planted in the gardens. But no, it is someone else's house now, so it doesn't feel right to me to make a big deal out of that.

As it turns out, the funniest part of the whole move for me was when we discovered that the phone line at the new house needed fixing. It's a nuisance when you can't make or receive calls (we had to divert them to our mobile phone), but the funny part came when the older kids discovered that until the phone line was fixed, we had NO internet. No Facebook, or Instagram, or any other form of social media was available to them until further notice. There wasn't even any warning, no chance for them to let people know that they would be offline for a few days. They came home from school one day to be informed that their connection to cyberspace was gone and we didn't know when we would get it back.

I wish I'd thought to have the camera handy to capture the looks on their faces when they were told. I've never seen two jaws drop open so fast. 'Stunned' would not be too strong a word for their expressions. It made me want to laugh. In fact, being the loving Mum that I am, I think I did let out a giggle. It may be why I got sulky looks from them for the rest of that afternoon.

I'm pleased to say I coped better with the situation than my kids did. I didn't miss Facebook, or emails, or reading the news online as much as I expected to. Over the next few days, the bigger kids helped us get some unpacking done and had proper conversations with each other while they were doing it. They even shared jokes - they are 12 and 14, difficult ages where sometimes they can't stand each other, so it was lovely to see them getting along better. Not that I'm blaming technology for their usual relationship - it's fairly typical for them to have issues with each other at their ages, so peace was probably only a temporary state anyway.

We felt a bit disconnected from the world, but it was nice. I would actually recommend it to anyone who has just moved house - cutting yourself off from everything for a bit can be very refreshing and a great way to recover somewhat from the upheaval.

And, while the kids are glad to have their social media back now, I'm sure they enjoyed the break too.

Moving on Up

Here at the Crazy Cave, we are gearing up to take on one of life’s major stresses. Before the end of the month, we will be moving house.

Luckily, we are renting, so we don’t have to deal with the extra hassles associated with house sales, such as contracts, solicitors, settlement … the list goes on. We've done that a couple of times before and, while I would love to own a house again one day, I am so glad that we don’t have to deal with those extra things this time around.

We are also staying in the same region, so we don't have to travel a long way or organise new schools for our kids.

 

No, for this move the stress is all about mundane tasks like decluttering, packing, cleaning, as well as the organisational duties - changing our address with everyone who has our details, arranging for the power and phone to be disconnected here and reconnected at the new place, and letting all our friends know where to find us. 

We are also both not currently working, which you might think makes things easier, but in a lot of ways it doesn't. It’s true we have more time and energy to put into the move – but we also have very little money to put towards it. We can’t afford removalists; we will be doing it ourselves, using our own car and trailer (although we may manage to pay someone to move a couple of the bigger items for us). Of course, the job hunting doesn’t stop while we are doing this either. If one or both of us gets a job in the middle of the move, we’ll just have to take the proverbial spoonful of cement and toughen up, to cope with the extra workload. Not that it would matter too much - we would be so grateful for the job, I think we could handle anything!

Many hands make light work, naturally. Thank goodness the kids are all old enough to be really helpful with this move. We are working as a team to get through all the tasks we need to accomplish in the next two weeks.

We have already started with the decluttering. The other members of my family don’t find it any easier to get rid of ‘stuff’ than I do, but we are all pulling up our big girl (and boy!) panties and getting on with it. We hired a skip bin last year and did a huge clean out, so we don’t have to do much more to really be on top of things. It is amazing though, how much one family can accumulate. In our case, there are a lot of sentimental items like old letters and photos, as well as schoolwork and drawings by the kids. However, there are also plenty of ornaments, toys, clothes and so many books that we just don't need anymore. Not to mention the objects we 'might need one day' or that 'only need to be repaired and it will be useful again'. Then there are other items that take up space just because we like to look at them (yes, Caveman, I’m talking about all those sports trophies!).

I think our local second-hand shops are going to do quite well out of us in the next week or two …

Down Time

Have I said before how much I love the school holidays? It’s my idea of heaven … I love not having to get up early to chase kids out of bed and make sure they get dressed and ready for school. Not having to pack lunches, ensure there is enough fruit for everyone or check that all homework has been completed.

Of course, I would probably find it a nuisance to have to figure out what to do with the little darlings while I’m away for hours every day if I had a job (and hopefully that’s a problem I will be dealing with next holidays) but for now, it’s nice to not have that concern.

The reason I love the holidays is because I love having my children home with me. I get to spend one on one time with each of them, watch movies with them, laugh and relax with them. Of course we do all that as much as possible throughout the school terms too, but then those activities are interspersed with episodes of my nagging. Phrases such as, ‘come on, it’s way past bedtime’, ‘how long has this sandwich been in your school bag?’ and ‘just hurry up and get IN THE CAR!’ are not so much a part of my vocabulary in the holidays.

Not that the routines and expectations are forgotten entirely. It is important for kids to understand that the house still has to be organised. Washing up still needs doing, animals need feeding and rooms DO need to be kept reasonably tidy.

A lot of rules are a little more relaxed though. I don’t chase my teenager out of bed early on the holidays, I let my Cavegirl play with makeup and nail polish a bit more than usual and my littlest Caveman gets to scatter his toys a bit further. They are all allowed to stay up later at night and get more computer time as well. We tend to be pretty strict on all those things during the school terms, so the kids really enjoy the relaxation on the holidays. The rules will tighten up again in the last week or two, in preparation for the new school year, but we will have had a few weeks of just enjoying each other’s company in the meantime.

I know a lot of parents can’t wait for school to go back. Even the Caveman refers to the school term as ‘parent holidays’ (and some days, when the kids are being difficult, I agree with him!). But, for now, I’m happy to enjoy the down time.

Confessions of a First Year Blogger

One year ago today, I published the first entry in my blog. I was new to this whole blogging world (although I was actually late to the scene, with so many people already doing it).

It’s been fun so far, although it has brought with it some challenges.

I have discovered that it’s much harder to blog regularly than I thought.  I assumed it would be no problem for me to sit down once or twice a week and tap out an interesting story on the keyboard. It turns out I am busier than I gave myself credit for!  

It can also be tricky to get an entire blog out of a small event – a lot of funny or unusual things happen in my house that I would love to share with the world, but they can often be described in only a few short sentences and it’s hard to stretch it out into something really worth reading.

On the other hand, sometimes there are subjects I could write an essay on … which I’m pretty certain no-one would bother reading.  I know if I am checking out somebody else’s blog I prefer it to be short and sweet. I don’t have time to sit and read other people’s essays either!

Sometimes it's tricky to know whether I should write about serious subjects, or focus on humour. I have tried to do both, with some entries being more serious and others being just about some random funny moment that I thought was worth sharing.

It has been an interesting exercise in learning how to write so that what I’m saying makes sense. Adding information where necessary and removing words (or even entire sentences) that just clog up the story. Taking the time to proofread what I’ve written and figure out what works and what doesn’t before I click ‘Publish’. I'm sure it is all good practice for when I get around to writing that novel I keep threatening.

I am enjoying blogging and will definitely continue. I'll probably never be one of those bloggers who makes money out of it, or gets famous (who'd want that anyway?), but it's fun.  I love when things happen and I immediately think, 'That would make a great blog'. Of course, there are also plenty of things that I wouldn't blog about - it is important to keep a level of privacy and not fall into the trap of just treating it like a private diary (after all, the internet is forever!).  

Blogging gives a whole new perspective on everyday life and I would encourage anyone to give it a go.

It's also nice to be able to look back over the year and see what I have written about my family and our adventures through the past 12 months.  I can’t wait to see what we get up to in the next 12 ...

New Year's Resolutions

Here we are in 2014, already!

Christmas suddenly seems so 'last year' ...

The sparkly tree and decorations have been taken down, the new calendar is up on the wall and we are ready for the New Year.

Oh, except for making resolutions ... I haven't done that yet.

It's because I haven't decided on one. Maybe I should resolve to be better at making decisions. Or to do less procrastinating (then I might get to my blog more often), or simply to be more well-organised. Now there's something my household could really benefit from!

I could even get really specific, by resolving to vacuum the house more regularly, or be better at planning my meals for the week or paying my bills on time.

To be honest, I don't tend to get too caught up in New Year's resolutions. I'm not a smoker, or much of a drinker, and I am happy with my health, so I can't do the standard 'I'll give up alcohol' or 'I'll go on a diet' resolutions. Anyway, it's been shown that if you place pressure on yourself by making one of those, it makes it harder to stick with it. I guess if you are really committed to achieving those things you'll just do them, regardless of the date.

In the end, I usually pick the same sort of vague resolution every year - to try to be a better person. To be more patient, more kind, more loving, more helpful. To be willing to listen, learn and understand better. To remember that my view of the world is narrow and that there is so much I do not know.

I think, if we all took that resolution, maybe the world really would be a better place.