Red as a Tomato

Our youngest child, our 8 year old son, has been in the wars recently.

Earlier this month, he had an entire week off school because of a particularly bad sunburn. It was embarrassing, for me more than him ... one of those 'I'm such a bad mother' moments.

He'd been playing outside and had ignored my reminder about putting on sunscreen. He was out in the sunshine for much longer than I'd realised, in a concrete area - reflective surfaces! - and had taken his shirt off. When I noticed he was still outside, I called him in and noticed his back was pink. 'Oh no, mate,' I said, 'You look like you might be a bit sunburnt.'

A bit? Try a lot! My boy is very pale, so if he gets a sunburn it's quite obvious. It tends to start off pink and the colour darkens over time. By an hour or so after coming into the house, he was red! It was obvious he'd been quite badly burned - and not just his back, but his arms and chest as well. He had a cool shower and we applied the Aloe Vera After Sun gel we always keep in the fridge but, by that evening, it was obvious that this was worse than the average sunburn. To add to his humiliation, his big brother decided that 'Tomato' would be a great nickname for him.

Over the next few days, we tried everything to soothe his discomfort - all the sunburn remedies you can think of. Tea bags, Aloe Vera gel, Burn Aid gel, apple cider vinegar, a ginger compress, tomato slices, papaw ointment, coconut oil, lavender oil. At night, he slept on the lounge with the softest sheet we could find, with two pedestal fans blowing cool air around him. He didn't wear a shirt the entire time, and he walked like C3PO, holding his arms out from his body because it hurt all over. After about three days, blisters appeared. My poor little boy; he was in so much pain and I couldn't even comfort him with a cuddle ... touch was out of the question.

In the end, the only thing that really helped was Soov, an after-sun treatment that I bought at the chemist for $10. It's a spray, so I didn't actually have to touch him, much to his relief! After a week of being confined to the house, not being able to wear a shirt, and putting up with being called Tomato by his siblings, his skin had finally calmed down enough for him to get back to normal.

The funny part came yesterday, two weeks after the sunburn settled down. Our older son, who also knows better, spent the day at the beach with friends and came home ... you guessed it ... sunburnt.

I asked my younger boy if he could think of a nickname for his big brother. His face lit up with joy (or revenge?) and he announced, 'Tomato number two!'

Opening a New Door

My head has been spinning lately. I have just come through an intense week of work and study. Things are changing for me in the workplace and it has involved a very steep learning curve.

After nearly two years of working in the aged care facility, I have now started doing Home and Community Care (HACC) as well. I'm working for the same organisation, but it's run from a different office with different staff, so it actually feels like a completely new job.

I had my orientation a couple of weeks ago - three days of training and joining other workers on their shifts to see what they do. This week, I had to go out and do it by myself.

I should confess, I have never really been that interested in becoming a HACC worker - I always said I'd prefer to work in the facility. I'm not the most outgoing person; I like to be the quiet member of a team and let others do the leading. In keeping with recent changes at work though, I agreed to be brave and learn both roles.

It looks easy enough ... we've all seen the cars in our neighbourhoods, and there are so many different companies doing it - Blue Care (formerly Blue Nurses), Ozcare, RSL Care, Kin Care, etc. The car pulls up, a worker gets out and goes into someone's home, does some cleaning or maybe helps an elderly person with a shower, and then they leave. Simple, right?

I was very nervous driving to the first client on my own (although I was in a company car - much more modern than mine - so that was a nice treat!). It's daunting, going up to someone's door and hoping A) that they know you're coming and B) that they're friendly. I got out of the car, carrying my bag with all the paperwork, went through the gate and rang the doorbell ... and got no answer. Nothing at all. I tried the doorbell again. Still nothing. I walked, cautiously, around the side of the house, the whole time thinking, 'What do I do next?' I had the client's phone number, but wasn't sure whether I should ring it. Then, when I did, there was no answer. I went back to the doorbell and tried it one more time, as well as knocking on the door. Finally, I rang the office for advice.

The scary thing about being a HACC worker, at least to start with, is the feeling that you're out there completely on your own. In a facility, if you have a problem, you can just ring the buzzer in a resident's room and someone else will come to help. You know that there will be a co-worker close by if you need them.

When it comes to visiting people at home, my mobile phone is like my buzzer ... and what a lifeline the office is! In the case of that first client, they kept me on the line while they tried her number as well. Then, when there was still no answer, they rang a contact person who lived nearby to bring a spare key and let me in. They stayed on the line with me the whole time. When we got into the house it turned out the client was still in bed, without her hearing aid, happily sleeping through all the commotion. What a relief! I had begun to worry that my first experience in HACC would be discovering someone had passed away.

So, it was an eventful beginning to my new role at work, and the start of a very busy week - staying on top of all the paperwork, sticking to a timetable that doesn't always allow for jobs running over time or busy traffic periods and trying not to get lost on the way to some of the more rural clients. Between everything I was learning and providing client care (including housework) in some extreme heat, I was pretty exhausted by Friday afternoon. It was good though, and certainly something I'm happy to keep doing.

I have some 'normal' shifts in the facility coming up this week and I am looking forward to them ... it feels like I'm going back to something comfortable. However, I enjoyed Community much more than I expected to and I think, with more experience and confidence, I could come to really enjoy being a HACC worker.

We Need a Holiday from our Holiday

School holidays. I love them, and I'm actually sad that they'll be over this week. I love having my kids home and not worrying about school-related routines.

Apparently though, this holiday has left a bit to be desired. One of my children has been quite vocal about the fact that, 'We haven't done anything exciting, or gone anywhere different ... it doesn't feel like the holidays!"

It's true, we haven't done really done too much out of the ordinary. That would have taken more time than we had available (Hubby and I have still had to work our usual hours), not to mention the money we don't have spare at the moment. I would have loved to do something a bit different as well. I was hoping we could at least go camping these holidays - somewhere with no technology or mobile reception sounds like heaven right now!

On the subject of work .... I have kept my job (yay!), but my role is changing. With the aged care facility I worked in preparing to close down sometime soon, I have been working more in another residential facility owned by the same company. Same job, but different routines, people and building layout. As well as learning the new place, I am also training soon to be a Home and Community Care worker ... so a fair bit of my focus these holidays has been on my own job (and the uncertainty of whether I even still had one was a big concern for a number of weeks). 

Having said that, the holidays weren't all boring for the family. We had a lovely Christmas and New Year. Our Cavegirl had her best friend come to stay for nearly a week. My sister had her 40th birthday celebration, which we hosted at our house. It meant we got to catch up with some family and friends we don't see very often, but they were mostly adults. The kids did some of their own camping in our paddock - still quite close by, because 'There's no WiFi if we go too far from the house!' (you can see why I think a real camping trip would be a good thing). We've also had more trips to the cinema than we usually would, to try to make up for not doing a lot else for the kids lately. The price at our local cinema is excellent, so that's something we CAN manage.

There have been more serious things taking up our time too. The Caveman has a broken finger (another cricket injury!), requiring a number of appointments and an operation so it could be pinned. His mother is also facing a health issue at the moment which has involved a couple of hospital visits, with more to come. 

All in all, we've had quite a busy 'holiday' period ... but I can see why it might not have felt like a whole lot of fun for the kids. Hubby and I enjoy being able to relax at home whenever we have the chance, forgetting that they haven't been as busy as us and would rather go somewhere else for once.

I'd like to think things will settle a bit once school goes back, but I have to admit, I'm not that confident!

The Force Is Strong With Us

We had a big family treat the other night - well, it's a treat if you're a nerdy family like we are.

At last, after months of anticipation, we took the kids to see Star Wars 7 'The Force Awakens' at the cinema.

We lined up with everyone else, handed over our tickets to the lady at the door, filed up into the cinema and took our seats. We waited slightly impatiently through the countless ads, listening to packets rustling and people chatting behind us (we were near the front).

Finally, the lights went out and that first familiar line appeared on screen. 'A long time ago in a galaxy far, far, away....'

In that moment, you could have heard a pin drop. The expectation in the room was something I don't think I've ever experienced in a cinema before. Then, the signature music blared out and I'm pretty sure we all 'sang' along ... something like 'barm barm, ba-ba-ba-baarrm barm, ba-ba-ba-baarrm barm, ba-ba-ba-baaarrrm'.

That whole line would make no sense to anyone who isn't into Star Wars, but for us it was a real fan moment!

From that moment on, everyone was hooked. I'm not into giving away spoilers, so I won't say anything about the plot. I will say that the whole feel of the movie was much closer to the original trilogy (if it had been another one like the 'prequels' I wouldn't have been impressed). It was also nice to see some familiar faces in the cast - although some maybe haven't aged as well as others - and the new characters are all interesting too. There was no one who was instantly irritating (no Jar Jar Binks here!) and the plot twists kept everyone on the edge of their seats.

I sat between my youngest son (aged 8) and my daughter (aged 14) and, at various times during the movie, we would nudge each other excitedly, anticipating what would come next, or lean over and whisper about something that had just happened. I believe my husband and other son, a couple of seats over, were doing similar.

If I could justify the cost of another trip to the cinema, I'm pretty sure we'd have been back there to see it again already. In short, we loved it, and can't wait to see where the story goes from here.

As confirmation, my littlest Caveman turned to me as soon as the end credits began, to announce with a big grin, 'I want to watch Star Wars 8!'

Where did the time go?

'Do you know that feeling where you don't like school and don't want to go any more, but then, when it's holidays, you miss it and want to go there again?'

This was from my 8 year old son last night. School only finished for the year yesterday! I usually love the holidays, but the next 6 weeks could feel like an eternity for all of us if he's missing school already.

He had a great final day of year 3 - they went to the town pool for an hour, then off to a park to play and have pizza for lunch, then back to the school for a movie, topped off with a free ice block to end the day. (That ice block would have been nice, the temperature here got to 37 degrees yesterday!).

Anyway, now that everyone is done with school for the year, we can gear up towards Christmas! The tree and decorations are up and most of the presents have been bought and wrapped, so now it's just organising the actual day and balancing the budget. Of course, it won't be easy this year, with my work situation changing so much - I don't know yet whether I'm working on Christmas day, so we haven't arranged to go anywhere, or for any visitors to come to us. I have no guarantee of still having a job in January and a couple of large bills have just arrived, to throw the finances into chaos as well.

In fact, I think I'll be happy to see the end of 2015. We've had so much going on that the whole year seems to have passed us by like a train - it feels like we're still running along the platform, waving madly, trying to catch up and climb aboard! I only realised a few days ago just how little I've been involved with my youngest boy's school this year. In previous years, I took pride in the fact that I was a dedicated 'school mum', attending all parades/assemblies, helping in the classroom and the tuckshop (canteen). I haven't had time for any of it this year and, in all honesty, I just feel tired.

I will enjoy the time I have with my kids over the holidays though ... we are going to see the new Star Wars movie next week and will plan more activities once I've seen my next roster and can plan around it. If there's one thing we've all learned this year, it's that life can be short and you never know what's around the corner. Family time is something we all need more of and should appreciate while we can make the most of it.

Merry Christmas and happy holidays to all :-)

Extreme Punishment

Sometimes it doesn't just rain, it pours!

We've had so much going on in the past couple of months, we've felt at times like we needed the world to stop spinning so that we could jump off and have a break.

The latest saga here in the Crazy Cave involved our 14 year old daughter's appendix ... or maybe it was her ovaries. Nobody really seems to know for sure. What we do know now is that her appendix will never bother her again and that, when it was removed, the surgeon found evidence of a ruptured ovarian cyst. I've never had issues with my appendix or my ovaries, but they both sound painful.

While she was in hospital, and I stayed with her, the Caveman had to keep the household running for himself and the boys. He was a trouper - he had been the one to be awake most of the night with her when she first went to our local hospital (I was working night shift at the nursing home), then he drove us to the Sunshine Coast the next day to get her admitted to the hospital where they would do the operation. (Our hospital doesn't do them - don't even get me started on the subject of our local area losing the facilities we used to have ... )

One of the jobs he had to do while I was gone was to help our youngest boy complete his homework for the next day. It was a bit of a 'project', not the simple maths and spelling that is usually brought home. With my poor hubby being so tired before even sitting down to help, I did wonder how it would go. Obviously our little man was a bit worried too - and luckily this provided some comic relief for the whole family.

This is the text I received from The Caveman:

He said 'If I don't get this finished, I will get time in the reflection room, which is the third worst punishment in the school behind being suspended or 'executed' from the school!

Execution does seem a little extreme, doesn't it? It certainly gave everyone a giggle, including our poor girl with the sore tummy (which was, of course, made worse by laughter).

It gave his teacher a good chuckle too, when she was told about it the next day ... and no, he was not executed!

Work Changes

Yesterday I had the rather interesting experience of being in a room full of people who were told their workplace is going to be closed down.

That would be MY workplace. The aged care facility I work in.

It's amazing that something we all 'kind of' expected, can still come as such a shock. We've had a few residents pass away recently, which has left us with a number of empty beds ... and it hadn't gone unnoticed by staff that those beds were not being filled with new residents as they normally would be.

So, when we received notice that there would be a meeting for all staff, followed by a meeting for all residents and their families, it was natural that there would be speculation about whether the centre might be closing. It was with some trepidation that we all filed in for the meeting yesterday, and our worst fears were confirmed. The building is over 50 years old and was originally built to provide for residents with 'low care' needs. These days, there are more services provided to help people stay at home for longer before they need to move into a facility. This means that by the time they come to us, they tend to have more 'high care' needs. Long corridors and rooms far away from the nurses' station, along with a lack of the modern equipment that can be found in many other centres, mean that the building is no longer practical for providing aged care. The age of the building also means refurbishment isn't an economical option.

There were a few tears shed at the meeting, naturally. Our jobs are under threat and that is a worry for everyone. Some will be able to transfer to other facilities, which is what I hope to do, or into Home and Community Care, while others will be taking redundancy packages. The main concern for most staff though is the emotional state of the people we provide care for. I am proud to say we are all quite protective of our residents and we are acutely aware that the idea of having to move house will be upsetting to many of them. There is no set date for closure, it will depend entirely on when the residents have all moved out. This could take just a couple of months, or it could be well into next year - we have to wait and see.

I was fine at the meeting, although hearing sniffles around the room made me a little emotional. I was more affected on the drive home afterwards though, when I thought more about the people I will miss when we no longer see each other regularly. The residents will all end up in different places - some may even have to move away to other towns. Our staff group, who make such a great team and are so supportive of one another, will all go in different directions. I will even miss the building itself ... it's unique and quirky, and has the best views in town.

Most of all, I will always remember that this building is the one I re-entered the workforce in. My own confidence has grown so much over the 17 months I've been there and the experience has been invaluable. I don't know how much longer I will have there and it will be sad to see it go, but I will always think of it with pride.