I spy ... fresh breath!!

I had the funniest game of 'I Spy' with my 6 year old in the car yesterday morning.

It's not unusual for him to want to play I Spy - it's one of his favourite car games. We were on our way to school, just the two of us, and we had fun going through the usual objects.

He went first.  "I spy with my little eye something beginning with G."   "Grass?"  No.  "Gravel?"  No.  Turned out it was Garden. 

My turn.  I chose the letter T.  Tree.  Too easy, he got it first go.  

Although, I don't mind admitting, I will purposely give easy ones if I'm not really in the mood to play.  Also, it's only six minutes to school in our car, so we tend to keep it pretty simple anyway.  

Well, that's the theory.

"I spy with my little eye something beginning with P", came the voice from the back seat.  No worries, I thought.  "Posts?"  No.  "Power poles?"  No.  "Power lines?"  No.  Hmm.

"Is it inside the car or outside the car?"  I asked.  Inside.  I had a quick glance around me, trying to work out what the answer could be, but he was so excited about me having trouble that he jumped in with, "Do you give up, Mum?"  Okay mate, I give up.

With glee, he announced, "It's my Powerful breath!"  What??  At this stage I was thinking maybe I should have checked he'd brushed his teeth before we headed off, until he explained it further.

"Before we left, I had one of your mints and the packet said it would give me Powerful Fresh Breath."

I swear, he said it with Capitals.

It probably did give him really fresh breath too, but how he thought I’d be able to ‘spy’ that (especially with him sitting behind me in the car) I’ll never know.

At least I can be proud that he reads the packaging – and the makers of Eclipse mints would be thrilled to know their labelling has had an impact!

Expanding the Cave

We have been moving house this weekend.

Well, not literally ... we are still in the same house. What has happened is that we have had a major shift in the bedroom situation.

We decided a couple of weeks ago that it was time our boys had separate rooms. Having a teenager sharing a room with a 6 year old is not practical anymore - the older boy wants more privacy and personal space now and the younger one is constantly messing up the space they share with his seemingly endless supply of train tracks and Lego.

In an ideal world we would have a four bedroom home. In this world, however, we don't. Moving to a bigger home is out of the range of our budget right now, so we had to come up with another solution. Luckily, the three bedroom house we currently live in does have a handy family/rumpus room tucked away at one end - big enough to be converted into another bedroom area.

We are renting, so we couldn't just put in another wall, but we were able to pick up some wardrobes at a local second-hand shop - great for partitioning off the area we want. Okay, so the new 'room' has a curtain for a door, but it works just fine.  As an extra bedroom, it's perfect for the Caveman and myself.  It is handy to the living areas, and leaves all the kids with a bedroom each at the other end of the house.

Of course, this has been a very popular move with the kids. They had no trouble deciding which room they would each have (with no arguments, surprisingly) and spent the weekend happily moving various items from one room to another.

I did worry about how our littlest Caveman would cope with being in a room on his own, after all this time with his big brother there for company , but he is doing well so far. The dog spent a night in his room to help with the transition and from there he's been fine - in fact, he's loving having the entire room to himself!

So, in one weekend we have gone from three bedrooms to four ... and found a whole lot of extra clutter. Where do you put everything from the family room when you don't have one anymore? There is a fair bit we can get rid of, but also a lot we would rather keep - and it all has to be sorted out.

No doubt it will give us plenty to do for the next couple of weeks  :-)

The Ghost of Birthdays Past

Tomorrow is the Caveman's birthday - his 41st. If we weren't so busy with studies and, well, life in general, we'd probably do something to celebrate it. It also doesn't help that he is currently on a pretty strict nutrition regime ... which means no cake!

Wondering whether this birthday will still feel special for him made me think of this time last year, when we celebrated him reaching 'the big 4-0'.

We were actually on holiday at Jindabyne in New South Wales. Family holidays are pretty much non-existent on our income, but early last year we won a travel voucher and decided to spend it on a (probably) once-in-a-lifetime trip to the snow.

The Caveman was the only one of us who had ever travelled on a plane before, or seen snow - way back when he was a toddler - so this was a huge family treat. The travel there and back was great (it turns out we all enjoy flying!) and the snow, even better. It was a budget holiday, as snow trips go ... we didn't stay in a resort and we didn't try any skiing.

Although, since certain members of our family are a little accident-prone, putting any of us on skis would have seemed like an invitation for disaster anyway. We did do some tobogganing and that was scary enough!

Staying in Jindabyne meant that it was only a short drive to get to the Perisher or Thredbo ski resorts, but we also managed to fit in other, non-snow activities (such as boating on the massive lake and arranging a horse riding session for our girl). It really was the best of both worlds.

All that, combined with a stopover (and sightseeing!) in Canberra the night before flying home, made for the most amazing family holiday ever. The fact that the Caveman had his birthday while we were at Jindabyne just made it even more special.

So, while this year's birthday will be much more low-key, the memories of last year's will stay with us for a long time.

My own 40th is creeping up quickly now and I will take the opportunity (as I do every year) to gloat about the fact that, for the next six weeks, he is two years older than me instead of just one!

Happy birthday, my darling Caveman xx

My Brain Still Works!

Well, I have had quite a break away from my blog just lately - I do apologise to anyone who might have missed me!

I mentioned when I first started this blog that I was in the process of trying to get back into the workforce.

What has followed has been months of looking for a job, dealing with Centrelink (and we all know that's no fun!) and trying to figure out how to make myself more employable after so many years at home raising my family.

I finally took a huge step and have started a course at the local TAFE college, studying Aged Care. I was very nervous in the lead-up to the course beginning (hey, it's been a long time since I was in a classroom!), but I am really enjoying it so far. In fact, at the three week mark, I can honestly say I am finding the course more interesting and enjoyable than I had ever expected to. My classmates are easygoing, interesting people and the teacher is enthusiastic and supportive.

What more can a student (of any age) ask for?

There is a lot to learn and at times I feel like my brain is being expected to hold a lot more information than it thinks it's capable of .... but I seem to be managing okay so far! The title of this post is no accident - I really am pleased to announce that my brain does still seem to work. The great thing is, I can feel my own self-esteem and self-confidence improving with each day. As an added bonus, the Caveman has gone back to school with me at the same TAFE college (although doing a different course) and I have seen the same changes occurring for him. It is exciting for both of us and, for the first time in years, we feel like we are doing something truly productive toward our future.

Of course, the impact on our kids is significant too .... they have had to get used to all five of us needing to be out the door before 8.30 every morning. There is more expectation on all of them to help out around the house (which they are doing, mostly without complaint!). They seem quite proud of us too, which is lovely.

Naturally, there have been times the adjustment has been difficult. We've had mornings when I didn't think any of us would get to where we needed to be, on time. There have been afternoons I've come home and realised I have to pop back out to do a little shopping and I'm just too tired to think about it. A couple of nights ago I had to do an urgent load of washing and get it dry the next day or the kids would have run out of school uniforms!

We are getting ourselves sorted out though and the routine is smoother every day. We have our study times and relaxation times ... and everyone is generally excited and happy about this new phase in our lives.

Not to mention, it's kind of sweet to drop your kids off in the morning and call out, 'Have a nice day at school,' only to have them turn around and call back, 'You too, Mum!'

Around and around we go ...

Our State's capital city, Brisbane, is home to a number of 'toll road' tunnels and motorways. Not that I'm complaining. To be able to coast easily through the middle of the city (or underneath it) and cut out all those traffic lights is wonderful and I don't mind paying for the privilege.

Naturally it's not cheap - and I'm sure I'd be the first to complain if I was driving those roads and paying the tolls all the time - but for those of us who only visit 'The Big Smoke' occasionally, it's a cost we allow for. We have a toll tag attached to our windscreen, so I just top up the account online before we go and the fees are paid automatically as we pass the toll points.

The only problem is that every now and then a new road or tunnel is built and, for 'occasional' visitors like us, it can be tricky to learn which ones to take and how they all connect to each other.

We visited family in the southern suburbs of Brisbane last weekend. Normally we have two options - either go the long way around on the Gateway Motorway to get to a connecting road which then takes us to the right place, or go through the middle of the city. The Clem 7 tunnel goes right under the middle, cutting a lot of traffic lights (and a fair chunk of time) out of our journey, so it's usually our preferred option.

This time we decided to fit in a visit with family members living out past Ipswich before heading to the usual suburbs. No problem, what a great opportunity to check out the new Airport Link tunnel. We piled the kids, the luggage and the dog into the car, programmed our destination into the GPS (that was our first mistake!) and off we went.

We had no trouble finding the tunnel.  In we went, feeling very clever. Until the GPS, which is usually great, told us to 'take the ramp and keep right at the fork'. The poor thing ... having trouble keeping up with our location, it was giving the instructions a few seconds late. So, since we were almost at the fork, the Caveman assumed it meant for us to take the left turn (admittedly, it could have been mistaken for an exit ramp). A few moments later, it became clear we were heading towards the airport - the exact opposite direction to where we needed to be going!

After this unplanned detour we found a place to turn and head back to the city, toward the Inner City Bypass (which is where the Link Tunnel was supposed to take us in the first place). This was going well, until we were going past Queensland's hallowed ground of sporting events and concerts alike, Suncorp Stadium. It was at this point I turned around to speak to the kids in the back seat, forgetting to warn the Caveman which direction our next turn should be. Unfortunately, we missed it. So, our tour of inner city Brisbane included a another unplanned detour, this time over the river and into a quiet little area behind the State Library.

This was getting frustrating, to say the least. We drove back over the river into the city area on a different bridge, missing another turn into the Bypass, before we found an intersection where we could turn and head back past Suncorp Stadium again. This time we paid attention and went where we were supposed to go. In the end, to our surprise, we arrived at our destination only 15 minutes later than we'd planned to.

The experience hasn't put us off using the tunnels on future trips to Brisbane (although we may choose not to bother with the GPS next time). However, since we had also gone through about double the number of toll points I had been expecting, the first thing I did when I got near a computer again was to top up our toll account!

The Joys of Modern!

Isn't it amazing how ingrained technology is in our lives?  It's not just computers and the internet, but our mobile phones as well.  I commented to the Caveman just a couple of weeks ago that it's almost hard to remember back to when we couldn't just check our in-phone calendar for appointments or to send a quick text to each other with a reminder to pick up a bottle of milk on the way home.

This is a technique he, in particular, is very fond of.  He often adds to my grocery list, even while I'm standing in the supermarket - usually with a text message along the lines of, "also: tomato sauce, dog food, paper towels", or whatever the items might be at the time.

A hundred years ago (or maybe it just feels like it!), before we were married, we had no way of getting these all-important messages to each other. If I was shopping and missed a couple of items, it was just too bad. If he was about to leave work and we needed milk, I couldn't tell him until he had arrived home. I love the fact that we can get messages to each other so quickly and easily now. It saves on petrol (not to mention the grumpy mood that might ensue when somebody realises they have to drive back out for one item!).

I often wonder about the "good old days" ... when people had to make their own bread, do all their laundry by hand, scrub the floors on their hands and knees and wipe their backsides with newspaper. A lot of the nostalgia is usually from the generation who were children then, not the ones who actually had to do the endless cooking and back-breaking chores (speak to one of them - trust me, they love their automatic washing machines and vacuum cleaners!).

Now, I personally don't mind making bread by hand, but I'd get pretty sick of it if it was a daily chore instead of an occasional fun activity.  My washing machine is easily my favourite household appliance, closely followed by the fridge.  As for toilet paper, well, I'm sure no one regrets that little invention!

When I was a teenager we lived for a while in a house where we had a proper "outhouse" - since there was no indoor toilet - as well as an ancient copper tub to have a dip in (that was just for fun, there was actually a bath in the house), an old-fashioned combustion stove to cook on ... and we even had a wringer in the laundry, which we had to use for the washing.  It was an unusual thing for someone of my generation to experience, and was great fun at times, pretending to live in the "olden days", but I'm not sure it was so enjoyable for Mum!

It's nice to be nostalgic about times gone by, but there are plenty of conveniences available now that none of us would be too keen to give up. Indoor toilets, for one thing, are great (it was no fun walking to that outhouse on cold, rainy nights!). I love the fact that, on the weekends, I can put a load in the washing machine, do the floors and then spend time with my family - I'm not tied up with never-ending chores like my own grandmother was when she was raising her seven children.

Getting back to technology, very few of us would be happy to go back to the days before the internet  - having information at my fingertips is still an amazing thing to me. As for mobile phones, I have one, the Caveman has one and our teenager has one. It means he can contact either of us if he needs to be picked up in a different spot after school, or at a different time.  There are people who moan about technology taking over our kids' lives and how "we managed fine without mobiles when we were kids, why can't they?". Of course, the same people comment that it can be dangerous for our kids to walk anywhere alone anymore. As with anything, it's a matter of weighing up the options and deciding what is best for you and your own child. It's all about balance.

As long as we still encourage them to be kids - enjoy their outside activities regularly and have time away from technology where possible (and maybe I'm just blessed, but I don't know many families who don't already do all that) - then this generation will turn out fine.

No doubt, when they are older, they will be reminiscing about their own "good old days"!

... Z Z Z Z Z Z Z ...

I can hear my dog snoring. There is a hallway and a door between us right now, but her rumbling can be heard clearly by all in the house.

I think it's an age thing - as she gets older, her "sleep sounds" are definitely getting louder. It doesn't matter that her bed is outside the back door ... even when the Caveman and I go to our own bed, which puts an extra room and two doors between us, I still hear her.

This makes me think about bedrooms and sleeping arrangements. We are currently living in a three bedroom house, which can be a little too cosy at times. We unfortunately can't afford to upgrade just at the moment, so the two boys have to share a room. Most of the time this works well - it has encouraged a close relationship despite their eight year age gap. Very often, if our littlest Caveman is feeling a bit out of sorts, he'll scramble into his big brother's bed for the night.

The only problem this causes is that, if big brother is away overnight (as is the case tonight), our little guy becomes quite insecure about having the room to himself. He is so used to having someone else in the room that he has trouble settling in there on his own. Luckily, it's usually easy to get around this issue by letting him spend the night in his sister's room - he gets a mattress on her floor and thinks it's a great adventure.

Admittedly, this doesn't actually take away his discomfort about sleeping on his own, but it does make life easier for us.

The funny thing is, our last house had four bedrooms - so he was used to sleeping on his own there. It's just, since we've been in a smaller house for the past couple of years, he has forgotten how comfortable he was with that. Now, however, our older boy is a teenager and would love to have his own personal space again. The plan is for our next house (when we can afford it) to be a four bedroom again, so that all the kids can go back to having a bedroom each ... and our little Caveman will have to adjust.

When I tried to gently explain this to him, his response was, "What if we get a house with five bedrooms?" I told him that we don't need five bedrooms, four would be enough. His reply? "But, if we get five bedrooms, you and Dad can have a bedroom each as well." I laughed and started to say that wouldn't be necessary, when he leaned closer to me and whispered, "Then you won't have to listen to Dad snoring at night time."

Since the dog isn't the only one snoring more loudly with age, I have to admit he has a good point there!