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.

The Silly Season

Christmas 2013 is done and dusted. The money has been spent, tummies were filled and all the rubbish bins were packed to the brim with festive wrappings and toy packaging.

We had a fairly typical Queensland Christmas; a stinking hot day with all the ceiling fans on (we don’t have air conditioning or insulation in our house), plus a couple of extra desk/pedestal fans aimed at the dining table to help keep everyone a bit cooler while they ate.

It was a tight Christmas financially, but in some ways that made it even better. There were just enough presents so that everyone felt spoiled, but not so many that the significance was lost. A lot of people in our town travel an hour away to the coastal strip to shop, but I pride myself on shopping locally for gifts, unless I can find something cheaper online (hey, we are on a budget).

There was less food on the table than in previous years, but then, we had fewer guests this year too. We still had plenty of leftovers, which was a bonus (because, let’s face it, who really feels like cooking in the day or two after Christmas anyway?).

Of course, for the cricketing males in the house, the day after Christmas was important too – with the Boxing Day test match beginning on television.  The littlest Caveman also joined them in the lounge room, simply because it was where he wanted to build with his new Lego. For the Cavegirl and me, it meant a day at the shops for the Boxing Day sales. With still not a lot to spend, we didn't buy very much, but it was fun to have a look.

So now the silly season is all over. Silly is the right word for it too ... with arguments about whether we should say 'merry christmas' or 'happy holidays' (I personally don't care, since both have been around for generations and mean pretty much the same thing).

Then there are the shoppers getting silly about car parks and crowds at the shops - luckily, most people I met this year were fantastic.  We all know we'd rather not be there, but it has to be done. Some things just can't be bought that far in advance.  

It will be easier now to get a car park at the shops, which is handy if you want to buy hot cross buns for Easter … no doubt they’ll have those on the shelves in the next week or two (and people will complain, even though it makes no difference).

Cynicism and silliness aside though, I really do enjoy Christmas. So does the rest of the family. My little Caveman asked if we could just leave our tree up all year because he loves it so much. I must admit, I’m almost tempted. It would save a lot of work and be a good start on being ready for next Christmas.

I sincerely hope everyone had the best Christmas they could have. May you all have memorable times with loved ones and allow yourself to relax and enjoy the little moments that really matter xx

Graduating Primary School

Well, school is over for another year and we are really gearing up for Christmas now. It has been an exciting time for the kids in our Crazy Cave – especially for our middle child, the Cavegirl, who has finished primary school and is moving on to high school in the New Year.

The Caveman and I usually hover around the school at the end of the last day, just to see the celebrations (and tears!) that come from the kids who are leaving. For the kids in younger grades the holidays are something to cheer about, but for those who are leaving primary school forever, it can be quite sad. 

Even some of the parents have tears, especially the ones whose youngest child has finished their primary schooling. I was mostly okay yesterday, watching my daughter hug her friends and shed a couple of tears, but I know I will be a mess when my littlest Caveman finishes primary school in another five years. All of our children have attended the same school (the first starting in 2004) so I expect to feel very emotional the day I walk out that school gate for the last time.

The common joke among the parents is that the kids who are sobbing as if they’ll never see each other again are usually the same ones you will see walking around at the shops together a couple of days later. These days, with mobile phones and social media, it is easy enough for them to arrange to meet up regularly … and, in a town the size of ours, they are likely to run into each other occasionally anyway. 

Some of them, though, won’t see much of each other after that final day of primary school – we have a number of public and private high schools in the area that they can move on to, and many of those kids have friends they won’t be attending school with anymore. 

So, for my Cavegirl, this is the start of a new era. After the holidays she will start at the same high school her older brother goes to and find herself stepping into a whole new world. She is looking forward to high school (with only a little apprehension) and I know she will cope with the changes – and challenges - very well.

In the meantime though, we can relax and forget about routines for a whole SIX weeks. Hooray!

Lessons Learned

This week I finished my Aged Care course. I can't believe it is over already, the past 6 months seemed to fly by! It has been exhausting, but fun and fulfilling at the same time. I have enjoyed being back in the classroom and especially loved my time on ‘Prac’, doing work experience in an aged care facility. There have been new friendships formed and I have learned more than I ever expected … and not just about aged care.

Here are three things I have discovered about myself:

I am better at studying than I gave myself credit for. Now this undoes all the hard work I have put into forming my low self-esteem over all the years since I dropped out of school, convinced I would never be good at anything. It turns out I CAN study and do pretty well at it. I just need to have the right subject matter in front of me. It makes sense really, if you are interested in what you are studying, you’re going to do better at it. I also got great comments from the teacher, which was a new experience - pride in my work is not something I have had a lot of as a student before.

I enjoy helping the elderly. I know, I know, it sounds like something you should be sure of before beginning a course in aged care, but I was a little nervous about whether I would actually like looking after old people. Doing the theory is one thing, putting it into practice can be quite different. Aged care means dealing firsthand with some unromantic issues, like fragile skin, incontinence and unpredictable moods ... sometimes the actual work is harder than you expect (and not just physically). So, even though I went into the course thinking this would be an industry I could see myself in, it was a relief to find that it does suit me as well as I’d hoped.

I like working, more than I realised. This really was a revelation for me. You see, when I was younger and had other jobs – before having children – I thought I hated working. This was embarrassing … it’s not something you can admit to anyone without being labelled a ‘dole bludger’. It gives the impression that you would rather laze around at home all day watching television. I now know that I just didn't have many jobs I enjoyed. After a few weeks of doing Prac, I was sad to leave ... I actually felt lost when I didn't have to go back the following week. Like studying, if the subject matter is interesting, it's more enjoyable.

To balance all these happy discoveries though, there was also the less pleasant realisation that my body and I have different ideas about what constitutes ‘enough’ sleep. For years now I have known that I need 8 hours of sleep every night (probably to make up for all the sleep I missed when the kids were little). When I was doing Prac, I set my alarm for 5 am, to get to work by 6. It has been four weeks since then and I am still waking before 5.30 every day … no matter what time I go to sleep the night before. One night I decided to get a sleep in by going to bed an hour earlier. The next morning I woke up at 4. 

The Caveman also used this opportunity to prove that he IS capable of running the house without me (mostly, anyway). I was like a new mother not wanting to leave her baby, constantly checking when I got home at the end of the day that all the important little tasks had been done. In the end, I realised he really can cope and I can relax a little bit.

Of course, a little bit more practice really would make him perfect, so my getting a job now would give him plenty of opportunity to impress me even more J

Keeping Busy

Well, I am back at last. After more than a month since my last blog entry (I know, I was surprised it's been that long too!), I've finally found some time to share a little with the world again.

It has been a hectic time here in our Crazy Cave - The Caveman and I have both been studying hard (which in my case also included 2 weeks of placement, or 'work experience', in an actual aged care facility). My course finishes in just a couple of weeks and then I am in the scary position of actually having to find a REAL JOB.

Of course, with us being so busy, it was only a matter of time before our kids decided they needed some extra attention.

It started with our littlest Caveman last Monday. He was playing on the school playground at pick-up time (I was actually standing only a couple of metres away from him when it happened).  He decided, like so many other children, that running up the slide would be much more interesting than the more practical option of climbing up the ladder to slide down it on his bottom. Next thing, he'd slipped and fallen on the slide, landing with all his weight on his right hand. He came crying to me, so I gave him a cuddle, checked his fingers and assured him they were just bruised and would be fine.

Oops. It turned out, after X-rays the next morning, that he had a tiny fracture in his pinky finger. No problem, the doctor taped it up and he went off to school. Of course, convincing a six year old to NOT remove the tape through the day because 'it's annoying, Mum!', is a whole other story, but he's getting better at leaving it alone now.

As if one injured child wasn't enough, our teenager fell at cricket training on Thursday night, also causing some concern. He too went off to hospital the next morning, for X-rays on his right knee and left wrist. Luckily, it turned out nothing was broken, although he has done some ligament damage around the knee, which will take quite a while to heal properly.

It was also lucky for his sister that he hadn't broken anything ... as I watched the Caveman driving away to take him to the hospital, I turned to my Cavegirl and said, 'you know, if he's broken something as well, YOU are not going anywhere this weekend!'. Two injured children in one week is quite enough, thanks.

Although, on second thought, maybe the boys are just catching up with their sister. She has already done her time in the local hospital, after falling out of a tree in our backyard a couple of months ago and landing on her back - resulting in numbness and more than a little parental panic. After a ride in the ambulance and a stack of X-rays, she turned out to be suffering bruises and strains, but nothing more.

Maybe it's time I petitioned the hospital to give us our own room ... we do seem to spend a lot of time there!

Holy Bucket, Batman!

A few weeks ago we attended a special day in our littlest Caveman's classroom - it was a celebration of the 'olden days'.

It turns out the olden days were much more recent than I remembered. The kids were focusing mostly on their grandparents ... we're talking people born in the 40's, 50's and 60's. Doesn't seem that 'old' to me! (Of course, when I studied the olden days at school, it was all about my grandparents' generation, who were born before 1930, which I'm sure didn't seem that old to my parents either).

It was all very interesting really. The kids made PowerPoints about their grandparents for everyone to watch, they played some old-fashioned games (like tunnel ball and quoits) and they sang an old song or two, including 'There's a hole in the bucket'. You know the one ... 'there's a hole in the bucket, dear Liza, dear Liza', 'well fix it, dear Henry, dear Henry' ... etc. Not my favourite song, I'll admit.  I find it so long and repetitive, not to mention mildly irritating. My dear husband knows this, so guess what he was humming for the rest of the day? (I'm sure annoying me is one of his most treasured hobbies.)

Thankfully, time has passed and the song has been forgotten. Until today.

Today we decided to wash the car. It's a big deal in our house (our car sees a lot of dust and not enough water to compensate!). The kids were ready with their cloths and sponges, the hose was hooked up to the tap, the car wash solution just had to mixed with water. I went to the laundry to grab a bucket - at which point the Caveman started singing 'there's a hole in the bucket ...".  All the kids laughed and joined in, but I ignored their silly attempt to annoy me by turning the water on harder so I couldn't hear them.

The bucket filled and I turned the tap off, to notice that they'd given up the song (thank goodness!). I carried the bucket through the house, picking up the car wash solution as I went. Once outside, I put the bucket down to turn and go back in for my sunglasses ... only to realise I'd left a trail of water on the floor behind me. All the way from the laundry to the front door.

Yep. There was a hole in the bucket.

I'm sure my family's laughter could be heard by the neighbours at the other end of the street.

Where is my Spring?

It's another hot, sweltering day here in South East Queensland, although it doesn't seem that long ago we were all complaining about how cold it was.

Honestly, this year we seem to have skipped from Winter straight into Summer. We had a beautiful Spring ... it lasted for about a week before the heat set in.

The kids are on holidays from school for two weeks, so the good thing about this weather is that we can justify throwing towels and sunscreen into the car and heading to the beach.

Not that we often do. We don't live that far from the coast really: about an hour's drive, so you wouldn't think it would be that difficult.

Unfortunately, when it's this hot, sometimes it just seems easier to stay at home. Maybe we should make more of an effort to get out though.

My littlest Caveman and I had the house to ourselves this afternoon, as his sister is at a friend's house overnight and his Dad and brother were out playing golf.  My little boy had already spent plenty of time outside, before coming into the house to play Minecraft on the computer (what is it about that game that kids love so much anyway?).

I was sorting out laundry when he got my attention by dramatically slapping his hand to his forehead.

'Oh I'm so silly!' he gasped, 'I've spent all this time inside when I could have been outside.'

'Well, yes,' I responded enthusiastically, glad he'd finally seen the light. 'That's why computers are bad for you.'

'No, Mum,' he said, 'I meant in my computer game I've spent all day in the house I built, when my character could have been outside instead!'

Well. So much for that life lesson.

On the upside, he really hadn't been on the computer long, and then only in the heat of the day when I'd prefer for him to not be out in the sun anyway.

We're still going to the beach these holidays though.