Author: Suzanne Robinson

Categories
3 years and beyond Pre-School

First day at Pre-School

Julia and Lillian - First Day of Pre-School
Julia and Lillian - First Day of Pre-School

The first day at pre-school went really well, although the girls were  bit shy when we got there, hearing about the slippery dip made the girls skip and run out to play without a thought to us.  We then made our leave quickly.  I was a bit sad but also happy that they are at this stage to go to school to learn more. I am also to even happier to getting some time off without the kids, it is a god sent.

This morning it was blue skies, sun and wonderful summer heat. This nice weather was a false alarm and was about to change to our big surprise. We ended up having a huge thunder storm that drenched us in so much water and hail. It was just so intense. The storm lasted over an hour and it seemed to be getting heavier and harder throughout the storm. James was home as he wanted to be here for the girls first day of pre-school was helping me run around the house to see if we were really water tight, and all was o.k. We seemed o.k, but we just watched in amazement at how the hail was failing and how quickly the water was flowing down the street and our driveway.

People here have put out their junk for council clean up and a chair opposite was floating down the street. We cringed as we both thought that it was going to slide into on coming traffic. This was not something we could witness, however it was what we imagined might happen. Also would the driver or the onlooker think, where did the person of the chair go?

Just to give you an idea of how intense the storm was, here are some articles of what happened today. The sports centre in Katoomba has had roof damage and water damage, other stores and houses have damage as well, “Patrons evacuated after roof collapse“, “Thunderstorms hit Blue Mountains“,  and “Blue Mountains lashed by heavy hail“.

I was thinking of how the girls were doing all day, and also thinking of what I could get done in the time I had to myself. I must say. Not much got done. I tidied the kitchen but now it is a mess again, so will do it again tomorrow. I managed to put fresh sheets on all beds, so that is a good thing and nice. However there are a lot more things to do. The plan is to get the place in order to allow myself to do what I want to do with the days the girls are at pre-school. This running around like a mad woman all days that I have off is not going to happen this year. I promise myself I will try and get organised to get things done. I know easier said than done. It will get better once I get some time to get rooms done and sorted. This way it will feel like things are actually happening and there is actual action. Although I do, do things, after cleaning, tidying, playing with kids and then looking at the house, you think it is in the same or worse state than before. I am sure you have all been there.

Daddy's necklace by Lillian
Daddy's necklace by Lillian

Oh well, after the storm and the darkness went more sunshine came out. Cruel weather, just after I had taken all the clothes off the line, yet again. This change was most welcome as we had to go and collect the girls. We made it and were in fact early, which was nice. We waited with the other parents for the doors to open at the end of class. Once the doors opened, the girls saw daddy and I waiting for them. They yelled,”Daddy” and raced over to hug him. He was then told by Lillian that she had made a necklace for him and he must wear it. She was trying to find it in the cardboard folder that had her name on it. All the kids have one and they are stored at the front of the school so that parents can see what the child has been doing and take artwork home but leave the folder at the school. I opened the folder to find that the teacher had put the necklace in her folder. Julia told me that she did not make one. Lillian then put it on daddy. He wore it for the rest of the day.

The girls told us that they painted, played on the slippery dip and slid down on their bellies, met a girl called Mia, and had a great day, and of course Lillian made daddy a necklace, it is a pasta necklace with the end being a pasta whistle. All very clever, and all her design she told me.

Both girls are looking forward to going back tomorrow and I am pleased that they had such a great time and want to go back. Now tomorrow will be action day for me and so will Wednesday. At least it will be well spent organising. I did want to go to aqua aerobics on Wednesday but that is at the aquatic centre that has roof damage from today’s storm, so I guess that is off limits until fixed.  Now off to organise the girls lunch boxes for tomorrow.

How do you manage the time when you child is in care/school do you run around like a mad person trying to get all things done? Is it something that you cherish and the hell with housework? Do you make a comprise and do one room and then give yourself a break? Any ideas or techniques please send my way. This way we can all learn and help each other.

 

Categories
3 years and beyond Pre-School

Pre-School Eve

Finally we are at the day before the girls go to pre-school. One more sleep and they are at school, it is such an exciting time. They are growing up so fast, such little girls. Tonight, the girls, daddy and I helped them decorate their new lunch boxes for school. The boxes came with fun stickers and Julia and Lillian added their own style to them. I made sure that each box had the correct person’s name on it and at least the teachers will know who’s is who’s. Julia has the pink lunch box and Lillian has the green.

I am so excited that this day has come and I am planning great things for my time off, just need to sort out the house and then we are sorted.

Lunches are made, kids are in bed, and finally sounds like they are asleep. Now need to make sure I am up early, showered and have bags packed so that we are on time for school. I am going to go and watch one of my shows to relax and then off to bed.

I hope to pick the girls up from a wonderful first day tomorrow afternoon, hearing great stories of what they got up to.  Will update you tomorrow on how it went.

 

Categories
3 years and beyond Feeling Frumpy

Time off – well just for a bit

I had an appointment for my second microderm and oxygen facial, it went better than last time so that is a plus. The other plus was that I was on my own, so a day to myself, shopping, having lunch, looking at window shopping and able to do whatever I wanted. It was so nice to have this time to myself.

After the facial I popped off to The Good Guys and purchased a juicer. We are now going to give a juice fast a go, I know sounds crazy but it worked for Joe Cross the guy who created the film: Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead. Joe was overweight and suffered from an autoimmune disease and thought that eating vegetables and fruit juiced is the way to go. Joe managed to lose the weight and during the weeks of the fast lowered his drugs for his disease he was taking. By the end of the fast he managed to keep off the weight and not be on any drugs for his condition. It was a very positive film and inspirational. Check IMDB for more info on this film. James and I think that it might help us and who knows, at least having fresh healthy juice has to be a bonus. So we will see.  Cannot start the fast yet as we are booked in for a Valentines dinner, so that will have to happen first.

Now having the juicer in my hot little hands, I headed to the shopping centre to see if I could visit with Auntie Denise, no luck there, it was her day off yet again. Oh well, then I went off to have lunch and to relax for a bit. After lunch I went off to Sussan’s as I had a gift voucher from Christmas and managed to purchase a really nice skirt. Who knew stripes could be so flattering. Managed to see a cheap skirt also in Target and it is more for the cooler weather so just the thing for Katoomba. One thing that I thought was interesting to see in Target was that Dita Von Teese is selling lingere there as well, she has her own label. Interesting. Pity that it all looked small and not for sizes like me. I am a little busty than normal and it is very sad that the sexy feel good underwear is never available in my size. It would be nice if for once these type of things were easily accessible,  in my size, and reasonably priced. Oh well, maybe after the diet and some more exercise I might be skinnier. 🙂

It was nice to have some me time and wish there was more of it.  Only a couple of sleeps until the girls start school, so that is exciting and good for them and me. Now still need to find that battery charger for the camera. Still have had no luck. Might have to take pictures on the camera after all. So project find camera battery tomorrow or think of what to do about it.

Update: After I got home with all my shopping and especially the new juicer. James could not wait and opened and cleaned the bits that you need to. Then he did a test juice. Nice fresh orange juice. YUM!!! It is so quiet compared to others from years ago. Very impressed. Now need to get recipes and vegetables and more fruits to help make our juices.

 

Categories
3 years and beyond

No more yelling!!!!

I must say it is hard dealing with two 3 year olds when they don’t listen, think things are funny when they are in trouble, break things, keep on doing things that you tell them not to do, and test you in every way imaginable. It is also does not help that I cannot just hand them to someone and say, please I need a break, and you deal for a while. However that said I do try and deal with it well, but there are times that I do lose my cool and yell. I know that this is not a good thing to do, but it does happen. I am sure everyone is in the same boat. Lately I have experienced others yelling, and it brought home that I too need to change what I do, and make the house a calmer place to be. My aim is to have a nice calm house, with no yelling.  I know. We will see if it can be done.

Lately I have been trying to see if just explaining nicely in a calm voice will help more than yelling. It seems to be but as I said I do have my moments that I get very angry and frustrated like everyone. I have been trying to tell them that if they act the way they are acting then the visit, or playgroup/play-date will not happen. This seems to be helping as they are very keen to go out and have adventures. They are realising that if they act up they will not get the treat of going out; it is sad that you have to bribe the child to behave themselves.

Below is a quote from an article called, “Yelling at kids – the effects“, that is on Kidspot.com.au

“Talking in anger to your child is likely to affect his emotional development if, as a direct result of what you’ve said, he no longer feels you love him unconditionally or that he is safe and secure. Your child needs to feel your support and guidance, which will help him build the confidence to attempt new things and continue to grow in areas where he is already confident. If he feels anxious about being personally criticised or ridiculed, he will be less willing to takes chances.”

When I was young my father yelled and acted out a lot, when he wanted something done he yelled and screamed and got very angry. This affected me, when teachers would yell or pressure me for answers to questions, my mind went blank. I just could not tell them anything. This made them think that I was not smart. Teachers then did not try to teach me as you were in the dumb class. This is not the case now (getting distinctions at uni), but I am sure if it did not happen, things might have been different.   I am noticing that I don’t want to have the girls in that type of environment or create it either.

It is hard when you are feeling stuck, you are on your own, no help and it is a constant that never lets up. I always thought that work was hard, but now after kids, work is easy, give me a paid job anytime. As the primary care giver it is a tough job and if you have no assistance it is doubly tough. So if the kids are not listening or doing anything that you have told them to do, what is the answer? Here are some links that might help.

What do you do to keep calm in your household? How do you get your kids to listen to you? Are you trying not to yell, what are your techniques?  Send your comments to me and we can all share and learn from each other.

Categories
3 years and beyond Pre-School

Introduction to new school

It was an exciting day today. The girls and I went to their new school, Blue Gum Montessori Children’s House for orientation. Lillian and Julia seemed to love it, they were excited by all the new things that is on offer.  When we first got there they ran around and touched all the new things in the different areas. The school has different areas set up for learning, some areas are for sea shells, blocks, puzzles and the like. The teacher, Carmel, had hats ready to put their names on, if the girls go out they must wear their hats. Once they were named, Julia and Lillian walked over to the pegs where the other hats were and added theirs. It was very nice to be given a school hat for each girl.

Carmel showed the girls around, the toilets, the areas of the school, introduced them to the 2 goldfish. I asked if they had names and Lillian wanted to call them Goldie, however at home Julia said that their names were Gold Gold.  Both girls have a folder for their artwork and a book to draw and create artwork. They were told that they could put 2 stickers on their book and folder. Both girls were very happy about this.

We were also shown the place where the girls will put their bags in the morning, and if their lunch needs to be in the fridge, must give it to staff as the fridge is in the back of the school. I got some paperwork and a book on the school, will fill out and drop off for the first day of school. Orientation lasted about half an hour and it was a very pleasant introduction to the school, it was very nice that they spent time with the girls one on one for the first day and that they let them paint some pictures and run around and get a feel for the place.

The girls were very taken with the sea shells and with the magnifying glass. They kept on going back to the shells and at one point, Julia had the magnifying glass she was holding it up to her eye. I could not help but laugh her eye looked huge and she looked so cute. She was looking at everything with the magnifying glass. She came up to Carmel and I and wanted to look at our eyes, she was amazed at how big things looked.

I think that this will be a great place for the girls to take their next steps towards school and learning.  They seemed happy, excited and relaxed with the school and the teachers there. Carmel and Mary were there to greet us and to show us around. I have been told to bring the girls for a 9.30am start on their first day. Will be keen to see how they go with kids there and a whole day of learning next Monday. I am so excited for my little girls. I am also proud of how well behaved they were.

One thing that I am keen to see if pre-school helps, is independent play rather than relying on each other to play with. Currently they girls are very reliant on each other. They are very close and when one child decides not to play a game with the other, there is a melt down and the child that still wants to play the game tries to drag the other child back to play. This as you can imagine does not end well and there is a lot of tears and carry on. I have been trying to tell them when this does happen, that if you want to do the activity or task, you can do it yourself. You don’t need Julia/Lillian depending on who it was to play with you. The school fosters independence and the hope for me is that it will show the girls that they can happily work away at something if they are interested in it. Then if they want to play together, they can play together. We will see, but it will be interesting to see if the school has any influence over this issue. If you have twins or children close together, is this something that happens to you? What have you done to show your children it is o.k to do a task by themselves?

How has your child enjoyed pre-school or the start of big school (primary), did it go well? What are you giving them for lunch? I need to think about different choices that they get exposed to more foods.  I suppose with 3 days at school this will be interesting regarding lunches and watching them develop.  Let me know what has happened to you and your family.

Categories
3 years and beyond

Tired and a lot to do

Julia and Lillian have had a great day so far, they seem tired but will never admitt it. If I say they are tired, they say, “NO I am not tired!!!!” So they are not tired.  We have all been off to see everyone at playgroup and as the girls start pre-school next week this will be the last Tuesday at playgroup for a while.

After playgroup we went off to the airfield to visit Enid and Rod. Enid said that she was off home tomorrow so wanted to say goodbye until we see her next time. The girls ran around and Onyx the cat came out from hiding to let the girls cuddle, kiss and to pat him.  Very brave of the cat.

Now we are home and watching the recorded play school that was on this morning. Oh the joy and happiness as it was discovered it was Jay and Abi on this show. Abi is Lillian’s favourite and Jay is Julia’s favourite. I make sure to keep the girls favourites as it seems that Abi is not on the new play school any more, just the re runs.

Did not tidy up the whole kitchen as I did yesterday before I left so need to tidy it up a little bit but not like yesterday, so should be o.k. The girls are drinking some milk and after the show will go to their room for a nap well I will hope for, but most likely some loud playing with giggles. Maybe some quiet time if I am lucky.

I will use that quick hour or so to clean and tidy a bit and to sort out what we will have for dinner, plus need to get organised to start the pants project for the girls. If you don’t know I have purchased some material to make some new pants for the girls. Isn’t it always the way it is hard to start a project but once you have started it is easier than you first thought.  Just need to start it.

However after all this activity I am very tired and think I need to rest as well. Maybe a sleep might be in order. I feel terrible having a nap as the things that needed to get done still does not get done and it just gets later to do them.

One thing that James and I need to find is our camera battery charger, for some strange reason it has disappeared. Very annoying as I want to charge the batteries so that I can take first day of school photos of the girls. Pictures on my camera phone don’t seem to do the image any justice. Maybe we just need to get a new charger, however doing that will make the lost one appear.  At least that is a solution, however I need to find it before the 13th of Feb. We have looked everywhere and still have no idea where it has gone.

It is overcast and very wet here again and seems like autumn might be on its way early. I hope not but as we have really not had a summer it may as well.

Categories
3 years and beyond

Visiting and shopping

Today was a day of cleaning, and washing more clothes, until it turned overcast and rained. The girls wanted to visit their friends at childcare. They are not going to childcare this year as next week they start pre-school. Yes I said next week. It is that close. I am getting excited and a bit nervous. I know, the girls are going to school not me, but you would have thought that I was going.  Since they have been asking to visit their mates, I thought why not. We all got ready to leave the house, showered and dressed in all nice outfits.

I put Julia in her dress and she said, “Mummy, I love this dress, I want to keep it on for 100 years.” I said that is nice, I am glad you like it. I did have a chuckle about it. I had this vision of Julia still wearing the same dress in 100 years.  I don’t think that would be a good look.

Julia and Lillian were very happy to see their friends, Zoe, Piper, Zoe and Jed and others. They fit right in again, playing and getting hugged, kissed and kids queing to play with the girls. Glad they have friends. It made me a bit sad that we have taken the girls away from their mates at care, however it was going to happen eventually when they went to school.  They played in the sandpit, on the slippery dip and much more. Ran round like happy little things.  It was just an issue when I had to tell them we should be going, I wanted to go and get some groceries. It took a while but I eventually got the girls out the door and to the shops.

We ended up at Woolworth’s at Leura. Julia wanted to help me push the trolley and Lilian hung off the end of the trolley. Both girls helped me get items and looked out for things we might need. However what they thought we needed and what we really needed was not the same thing. I ended up telling them to put a lot of things back that I ended up feeling very exhausted. They were very happy helping and were proud to tell anyone there that they were my helper.

At the checkout the girls were climbing the trolley to lift out items to put on the checkout. Everyone thought they were doing a very good job at helping. All items were at the register and just waiting to pay. I put the card in to pay and Julia asked to take it out when ready. This is cute, however you need to really let her know when she can take it out as she gets very keen.

Glad that the girls were tired as after dinner, Daddy came home and then off to bed. They must be tired as have not heard a peep out of them since. Both girls are still wanting to share a bed and don’t like to be seperated. This is good and bad, as for activities when one child does not want to play the game anymore, the other child has a melt down and gets angry and tries to make the other play with them. They don’t get that they can do the game/draw/paint themselves without the other. Lillian in the evening moves house, well that is what I am calling it. She takes her pillow and teddies from her bed and puts it on the end of Julia’s bed. They end up sleeping head to toe. They seem happy, however it has a downside, sometimes the girls push the other child out of the bed, and then there is screams “too squishy”, “Don’t, and No”. So from our perspective they need to sleep in their own bed for the space and a better sleep.

Sharing the bed might be a twin thing as they are so close. They do seem to not be able to do anything on their own. I am hoping that school will help with that. I suppose we will see. Do you have kids that do the same thing? Are they twins or just close in age?

Categories
3 years and beyond Swimming lessons

Swimming for all, not just for the lucky 10,000

I was watching the Today show on channel nine this morning, and they mentioned the Uncle Toby’s Swim Kids program. They are trying to raise funds to help 10,000 less fortunate kids to learn to swim, it is called operation 10,000.

In this article about operation 10,000 it states that there has been a decline of kids having swimming lessons. Well I think I know why, it is the cost. That is why kids cannot participate, their parents cannot afford the lessons, so kids miss out and don’t learn the skills. As stated my previous post called, “The extreme cost of activities for kids“, it is due to the high cost of the lessons and the fact that if you have 2 or more children, how do you keep up with the lesson, school payments, and all other extra things that you need to get for your children.

On the Today show, it mentioned that drowning is a problem that happens with young children, and it is preventable. I agree totally. Below is a quote form the Uncle Toby’s website.

“Drowning is a leading cause of preventable death in children aged 0-4 years. More than 50 children between the ages of 0-17 drown in Australia every year, highlighting the importance of swimming and water safety education for all Australian children.”

Uncle Toby’s is lobbying that swimming and water safety be part of the school curriculum. That is a great idea and something that I think will help all kids. It needs to be made into a reality, another thing that needs to be made into a reality is lowering the costs of swimming lessons so that all kids no matter where they live, and what situation the family is in can have swimming lessons.

Also why should we just choose a select 10,000. I do understand that it is cost associated and funding all kids nationally is expensive, but I think that is what we need to do. It is a skill that we all need to have. As you can see from my post on the extreme costs of activities for kids, that we were able to afford lessons for a while, but with kids going to pre-school, and the fact that currently I am not in paid employment we cannot afford to continue with lessons. We will need to try and teach the girls ourselves.

We live on an island surrounded by water, we need to know how to swim to save lives, our life and others. Also swimming is an enjoyable, relaxing thing to do that helps with your health and well being.

I believe that we should fund a program that has cheap or at least free lessons to all kids. This should be a government funded program that is funded with taxes or maybe a corporate sponsor. I am not sure how it would work. I think that the work that Uncle Toby’s is doing and also Grant Hackett is great, however it is just a start. At least it is creating awareness of this issue.

What are your thoughts on this subject?  I am going to contact my local MP and see if something can be done. Also will be seeing what the process is with dealing with Council to see about my questions in my post about extreme costs with kids activities.  Let me know what you have done in your area to help?

Categories
3 years and beyond Family

More sunny adventures

Yes another sunny wonderful day today, I am very proud of myself that I managed to do 2 loads of laundry before we left the house and nearly all was dry when we got home.

As it was sunny, we thought that we would take off to Australia Walkabout Park, we had a Cudo voucher that was going to expire. I bought it thinking that it would be great for the girls to see all different animals in their habitat. I am so glad that the weather was good and we were able to use the voucher before it expired. We raced around, got ready and packed our bag.

Julia was out of sorts all day, and we think it was due to the heat, she was moody, wanting cuddles and everything was an issue. Lillian seemed fine.  My car has no air conditioning and we think it needs to be re gassed, it has to wait currently so we aired the car with the windows down. Not great, but it works, the only annoying part is when you have to stop it gets very hot.

We finally arrived to the wildlife park at about 1pm and all had some lunch. The girls saw an emu or two walking around the eating area, and they were amazed at them. Behind the cafe is the koala enclosure and the girls could not see them moving, as they were fast asleep. After lunch we all went to the talk about the diamond python, who is called Neil, (Neil Diamond, someone at this park has a sense of humour). The girls were not interested in touching the snake, petting it, or have it pretend you were a tree and lounge on you. I was not into it and was happy to look also. There were some brave kids and adults that allowed their body to be a tree for Neil the snake. I just could not do it. This idea got met with “NO, YUCK!” by both the girls. So I take it they feel the way I do and so does daddy about this. Happy to watch.

After this we all went off for a bit of a bush walk and ended up at the Tasmanian Devil talk. These creatures definitely should not be messed with, they have heaps of teeth that seriously could do you some damage. Since the weather was very hot, they were not that keen in coming out from their cool log. There was a brief moment when one came out with the coaxing from the ranger with meat and holding the devil in a position that was not cruel but would not allow the animal to eat the ranger either.

We saw koalas being fed, emus, the girls saw kangaroo’s eating and they patted them and were very taken with them. We made sure that they were safe and was around just in case. All in all it was a good day; it was long and a tiring day, the girls saw and animals and had a great experience. So glad it was hot, a taste of what summer should have been. I wonder if we will get more weather like this.

I have only now checked the weather for the week ahead. What a sad state of affairs, the follow is the predication for the week ahead (weather taken from Sydney Morning Herald Weather):

Monday
Late shower
Min: 15°C Max: 24°C
UV: Extreme

Tuesday
Possible shower
Min: 12°C Max: 18°C
UV: Extreme

Wednesday
Possible shower
Min: 12°C Max: 17°C
UV: Extreme

Thursday
Possible shower
Min: 12°C Max: 16°C
UV: Extreme

Friday
Showers
Min: 10°C Max: 16°C
UV: Extreme

Saturday
Showers
Min: 10°C Max: 16°C
UV:

Sunday
Possible shower
Min: 10°C Max: 17°C
UV: –

How disappointing that the weekend is probably the only sunny warm weather that we might have in a while. Let’s hope that the weather people have got it wrong.

When we came home from the wildlife park, I changed the sheets on our bed and the girls beds. Now the only washing I have to do is the sheets and some clothes from today. So that is good news. Aside from sorting, ironing and putting away.

There are 3 more days until the girls go to pre-school orientation; I am so excited that you would think it is me going to school. I hope it is a fun time at the school, not sure what will be discussed and shown for future students, but keen to find out. Now need to get my finger out and start the sewing project for their pants.

I hope you all had good adventures this weekend and that the weather was good. I hope that the weather is going to be sunny and warm tomorrow, I will hope for it. What did you all get up to this weekend? We managed to find some A3 paper from Officeworks this weekend for the kid’s art, so maybe tomorrow we will paint or draw. What have you got organised?

Categories
3 years and beyond Family

Sunshine, play and an attempt to rest

Today was a miracle it was sunny and hot. What a change from nonstop rain, although the idea of rain was still around with dark clouds forming and threatening that it will stop this joyful moment of some summer sun.

Today we all went off to see and experience the Rydal Show, which of course is located in Rydal. It is a nice town near Lithgow, NSW. The girls got to moo with cows, pat a goat, snort with pigs (very influenced by Peppa Pig, a television show that the girls watch), touched wool, saw sheep, Lillian had her face painted as a purple pussy cat as per usual and the surprise was that Julia had no interest in getting her face painted. Julia is normally a fair doctor (for those that don’t know, a fairy doctor is a doctor to fairies and others in need as well) when she has her face painted. Lately I have been told that she is going to be a fairy doctor when she grows up, so she does not want her face painted as one now. I said maybe she wanted to be something different, for example, a cat, a butterfly or a puppy dog. The answer I received was “Yuck, NO!”  Oh well, just one child had their face painted.

Daddy, Mummy, Julia and Lillian all went on the tea cup ride. Lillian was not sure about it but really liked it. Julia liked it a lot and really did not want to get out. Then we were off to the bouncing castle, which for some strange reason the girls referred to as the “bounce a seum” , it was like they were saying bounce with museum on the end, which was a cute way to describe it. I am trying to think where the kids got this from, maybe it was from one of the shows they watched or they are just creative.

Lately the girls are saying “No, Yuck, or Yuck, NO!!!” to a lot of things. It could either be an activity, something I have asked them to do, or today a very nice lady from Rydal show was trying to see if the girls wanted something and the response was, “No, Yuck!!”. The lady was very nice and polite. I used this example to show that this was not appropriate behaviour but not sure if that has sunk in. I keep on trying and making sure that they realise that they cannot speak to people that way.  I suppose that I just have to solider on and keep on with this issue. If I give up, they will think that they can get away with it. I do think it is a phase and the girls trying to test them and me.

It does get rather exhausting, especially when I thought I would take the opportunity to take a nap while they supposedly rested. Rest time now consists of the girls going to their bedroom and playing, creating a mess, hurting each other or just yelling and giggling. This time they were just terrible to each other. I had to go in twice to see who was hurt and make sure they realised that if it happened again that I would separate one of them. They did not want that, and then it died down to a whisper of giggles and games.

The girls and daddy came in to wake me up and Lillian especially was very naughty, jumping on me, poking and that type of thing. She thought it was very funny. We are trying very hard to make her see that when people yell no, or stop that she needs to stop and it is not funny.

Today Julia is calling herself Fiona, Princess Fiona from Shrek to be precise. Lillian talks to Julia and addresses her as Fiona and sometimes as Tinkerbell. All very odd, especially to daddy when he came home Friday night and in their room he was told he was talking with Fiona and Lillian. He told me it was a directive that came from the cheeky monkeys. In the car today and at the show, Lillian kept on asking Fiona what she wanted and did she want to go and see the cows, or the horses. The girls definitely have a vivid imagination.

I don’t know what happened today, maybe it was the change in the weather, but both girls were hyper, they had no sugar, sweets or anything that I can pinpoint.  They were all over the place. Glad that they are in bed and I will be there soon.  Crossing fingers that the girls are a bit more relaxed tomorrow.

Do your kids get obsessed with shows that they change their names at home? What have you done as soon as you get a sunny day, aside from washing?  I managed to get one load done and hopefully more tomorrow.

Categories
3 years and beyond Katoomba Hospital Swimming lessons

The extreme cost of activities for kids

Why is it that extra activities for kids are so expensive, swimming, tumbling, gym, dancing and much more. I would like to have the girls continue with their swimming lessons and also to be able to do tumbling lessons. This is not going to happen due to the cost.  Just to give you an example of the cost:

  • Swimming lessons for 10 weeks ( a school term) – $140
  • Tumbling lessons for 10 weeks ( a school term) –  $125 plus $32.50 annual gymnastic NSW membership fee

The price above for each activity is for 1 child. So as I have 2 children, I would need to double it. So the costs would be:

  • Swimming lessons for 10 weeks ( a school term) – $280.00
  • Tumbling lessons for 10 weeks ( a school term) –  $315.00

My question is, how does the average family give their children exposure to these sort of activities? With the girls going to pre-school 3 days per week, there is no way we will be able to cough up extra money for anything else. Last year we were able to give the girls about 3 sets of swimming lessons, but I don’t think that will happen this year.

Lillian turns her left foot in a bit when she walks and trips over more, especially when she is tried. Nothing that strengthening the ankle or more sports would help. To do the sports and training you have to pay. I cannot just put one child into sport, I would like to put both in for the experience as well. The physiotherapist at Katoomba Hospital said tumbling classes would really help Lillian, but how do I do this when they are so expensive.

One of my other questions is why is the council pool charging so much to teach kids and babies to swim. This is a skill that can save your life, swimming is essential in Australia as we are surrounded by water and nearly everyone has a pool, goes to the pool or the beach. I believe that swimming allows you to have the ability to exercise, be safe and to participate in a great lifestyle.  Why does the council charge so much? Why cannot the fee be a token to the centre, say $20 or $50 for swimming for your children to learn. It should not be $280 to teach your kids to swim for only 10 weeks. Then after the first 10 weeks you have to pay it all again. How many school terms are there in Australia, well there is 4 terms per year. So that would mean that I would need to pay Katoomba Pool, $1120.00 for a year of tutuion for swimming lessons.

Learning to swim should be free or nearly free. From my conversations in the Blue Mountains, NSW, there are a lot of people and kids that don’t know how to swim. What happens when these kids go to their swimming carnival at school? Is it then the schools job to teach kids to swim? Do schools have a learn to swim programme? I am not sure and have not found out, so if someone knows please let me know.

I grew up in North Queensland, Hervey Bay to be precise and I swam at a young age. We were close to a beach at all times, always on a boat and had to swim.  I think everyone has a right to save their lives and others by knowing how to swim. I love swimming and really enjoy it, I cannot imagine not knowing how.

So this year, I think we will take the kids swimming ourselves and teach them swimming techniques. We also cannot take them to tumbling classes no matter how much I would hope to do it. Julia and Lillian’s balance and ability are so great, that I would like to build on it, and have them do something active that is also healthy. For a society that is worried about weight gain, overweight and obese kids they are definitely not doing anything to help families with easily accessible activities.

Why is it now a matter of how much money you have, if you can learn to swim or not. Money is not the issue, it is making sure that the government/council makes this available at all levels. Learning to swim is something everyone needs to know how to do, rich or poor.

Do you have the same concerns over costs for children’s activities? Do we need to get like minded people together to see if we can lower costs? Should we have an online petition for the council to do something about this? Let me know your thoughts.

Categories
3 years and beyond Sewing

Pants fabric and paper for craft

Sorry have not posted for a couple of days. Have not been feeling the best, stupid sore throat. Hoping to rid my body of it soon.  Yesterday the girls great Aunts Denise and Jean came for a visit, the girls had a great time showing the Aunts things like hopping, counting, dancing and singing.  Wednesday evening Julia said:  “I need to go get my keys so that I can lock my pram” She got the keys. Hit the button and then said, “All done”. I just had to share as it was so funny and clever that she thought to do it. I had to stop myself from falling off my chair laughing.

On Tuesday we all went off to playgroup and they ran, played, painted and had a very active fun time with their mates and were very busy little girls.

Today we were supposed to be going to playgroup again, but I need to sort out some pants that fit the girls better before pre-school starts. As the girls are hard to fit, I have decided to make some new pants. This will be a good thing if my plan works for these pants, I can then do a similar thing to sell for my business idea, my online shop and take them to the markets. We will see. With the time that I have when girls are at school, I hopefully can sew and create more product to sell.

So today I thought we might take off to Spotlight in Penrith to see if we can get some material to make some funky new pants. Also while at Spotlight, I think we might look for some paper for the girls to draw/paint and do collage with. They might have a cheaper way to purchase a bunch of paper for art purposes. You can only hope, using printer paper is getting expensive and annoying, as when you go to print you don’t have that much paper left to print jobs.

I hope to get inspired by pretty colourful fabric that will make the perfect pants and must make sure to get all that I need for the project, elastic and anything else. Now just need to check if I have available money to spend before I go might be a good idea. When the pants are finished I will post a picture of the finished product.

It is raining yet again and just another miserable day, so not a good day to go out. What are you all doing today?  How has the rain and bad weather impacted what you do with the kids or yourself? If it was not for kids, I might still be in bed.

Update: I ended up getting denim and some pattern cotton fabric for the new pants for the girls. Now need to measure them and create a pattern. I am copying a pair of pants that is Lillian’s favourite that I know fits both the girls well. Will add some length and make it a bit roomier. I also need to make them easy to get on and off, as the girls need to be able to take them off quickly to go to the bathroom.

Shopping with kids in a fabric shop has its own challenges. Julia loves pink and Lillian loves purple, so they picked up every fabric with the appropriate colour and tried to bring it to me. Julia was especially keen and got a roll of fabric off the table and tried to carry it to me. Pity that the fabric was too thin that it would not suit my needs for their new pants. I had to tell them that although pretty that we needed something thicker and warmer. This was still greeted with, “Mummy, look at this purple one, Mummy look at this pink one, It is so pretty!”

Also at the shop the girls left their toys and we had to go and save them. Lillian had her 2 dogs from the RSPCA and Julia had her Dugong, once we found them the girls claimed that they were playing hide and seek, they were happy to find them.

I was a bit disappointed that they did not stock any cord fabric yet as that is what I was after, pretty patterns in cord. However the denim will work as it will be tough wearing and also will keep them warmer in cooler weather.  As we live in a cooler climate and we are going into Autumn soon it will be a good thing to have warmer clothes. Going to school in Blackheath will mean also making sure the girls are in warmer clothes. It snows and gets colder there, so should be interesting.

Categories
Recipes

Soup

I make this soup often and it can be done a number of different ways. I look at the vegetables that I have in my fridge and pantry and use what I have, as the ingredients are dependent on what is in the fridge this list below will change depending on what you have in stock. Also if you have more or less of one vegetable, use it and you can alter the soup to what you have. This is a good dinner for last minute and it is healthy.

Ingredients

  • 4 Carrots
  • 1 Capsicum red (can be whatever colour you like, I just happen to have a red one)
  • 1/2 a small Pumpkin or whatever you have left in the fridge
  • 3 Potatoes
  • 1 Cucumber
  • 5 Squash
  • 4  litres of water
  • 1 cup of rice/pasta depending on what you have in the pantry
  • Soy sauce a splash
  • Some Cayenne pepper if you like it spicy, or some black pepper. You could add chillies if you have them in the fridge. Today I don’t.
  • Vegetable/chicken/beef – depends what you would like, and also if you are vegetarian. If you are adding little pieces of fried up salami then a chicken or beef stock will be great, also works well with vegetable.  As this is a soup with heaps of vegetables the veggie stock is wonderful to use if you just have that.
  • Fried salami bits to add texture and some crunch
  • Bread to toast and to serve with the soup.

Method

  1. I add the water to a big pot and start boiling it
  2. I chop up all the vegetables into small sizes that will be bite size
  3. Then put all vegetables into the big pot
  4. Put in the stock, today I am using beef. You might need 2 or 3 stock cubes.
  5. Add the rice, make sure to stir as you don’t want the rice to stick to the bottom of the pot
  6. While it is all bubbling away, fry off the salami bits
  7. Taste the soup. Add the Soy sauce, just a dash and some spices of your choice. I add Cayenne pepper or black pepper.
  8. Keep on stirring, it can bubble away, but you need to come back and check on it every 20mins or more often depending on how fast your stove cooks.
  9. Add the salami bits near the end
  10. If you have cooked this in advance of dinner, take off the stove and reheat before dinner
  11. Just before you serve it toast the bread and butter it. For an extra I sometimes put some tasty cheese on top and add sesame seeds to the cheese toast for the soup. Tastes wonderful.

 

Photo to come soon

 

 

Categories
3 years and beyond Pre-School Teaching and Learning

Learning styles

One of the reasons we chose the Montessori pre-school for the girls was that they look at how different children learn and work with the child’s talents. When I was at school you just had to do as you were told and learn the way all others learnt. This looks like it has changed, it is good that differences are being acknowledged. Today I saw an article about “Your child’s learning style” on Fairfax’s Essential Kids website.

This article on essential kids looks at all different styles, the below list is taken from the article:

1. Visual learner – These children enjoy drawing, colouring, puzzles and creative art. They need to “see” information to learn best.

2. Verbal learner – These children love listening to stories and may learn to talk at an earlier age. They follow verbal instructions easily and love to talk.

3. Tactile learner – These children enjoy getting “a feel” of different materials. They like to be shown how to do things.

4. Kinaesthetic learner – These children, like tactile learners enjoy learning through touch, but they also learn by “movement and sensory interaction”. They may learn better if movement is incorporated into the lesson.

Just thinking about the girls style without study, they are visual and verbal more, I think they have a bit of all of the styles in their learning.  I will need to observe them more during the day and see which one is the more dominant.

There are great links that are mentioned in this article on essential kids. Here are some of them:

What do you think your learning style is? I think I am visual and verbal. I love images and art, this would obviously explain why I ended up creating films and studying film/tv production.  Understanding what your strengths are, can really help doing well with other areas of your life and learning especially.

According to this article schools are teaching in all different styles, making sure children are able to learn to their strengths. I applaud this and hope that it helps kids excel at school and life.

Have you found your learning style for yourself or your child?  Has this led to you or your child getting better results at work or school? Has it been a wonderful discovery? Has it helped if your child, or yourself, have issues learning?  Send in your comments.

Categories
Katoomba and Weather

Rain, Rain go away!!!

Not only has it been raining for weeks on end, today it is cool and very windy. Not good at all. Was hoping to go out to a park with the girls at some point to have them run around, however with this weather this is not a good idea.

This is the worst summer and really more like winter. This makes me feel that winter will be more of the same but even colder. Oh the joys of living in a cold environment.  Currently the weather at 8:06am in the morning is:

  • Current temp: 17.5°C
  • Recorded min: n/a
  • Recorded max: n/a
  • Feels like: 17.5°C
  • Humidity: 95%
  • Rainfall since 9am: 2.4mm
  • Wind: NNW 20km/h
  • Wind gusts: 41km/h

The temperature does not reflect the cool of the wind. I would also like to mention that I have kept wearing my flannel pj’s and had all the blankets and doona on the bed. This is summer we are in and it is normally hot and balmy. This time of year we normally have 1 sheet on the bed and I am in a t-shirt at most with shorts. Well not this year.

I am sure it is not just Katoomba or the Blue Mountains that is having a bad summer. Is anyone else over the wet weather and would like some sunny pleasant days before Autumn and Winter happen. Not sure there is much anyone can do but try and figure out inside activities for yourself and the kids. Looks like we might have to go out and see if we can get some more paper to draw with as we are running out very fast. My little artists are going through so much paper it is hard to keep up. Glad that they are expressing themselves, however I need to find a roll of paper/butchers paper or similar that I can just cut off when needed.  I did go to K-Mart for this and they only sell printer paper, so no luck there.

Will let you all know what we got up to today. One of the tasks is that I want to tidy a bit and have the girls help out. Should be interesting.

Categories
3 years and beyond Swimming lessons

Julia in the wars

This morning Julia hurt herself.  I heard the scream and on opening the door found Julia in tears and so upset. I later found out that they had been climbing the change table (otherwise known as the castle) and Julia had fallen and landed on the edge of the bed, corner side on her cheek. She has a nasty bruise and a red mark that looks very sore. Yesterday she got bitten on the shoulder blade by her sister, it was a very deep bite and still don’t know why this happened. I put Lillian in time out and she then apologised to Julia and was then able to enjoy in our painting in the dining room.

The weather is so bad that it is constantly raining so thinking of things to do is a full time task. I have managed to keep the girls active and interested in things, but it is a challenge and a full time job, bring on pre-school.

Oh well, aside from the injury that Julia yet again suffered, the girls were asking to go to Spingwood Pool again. They desperately wanted to go swimming, we relented and thought that it would be something that would allow the girls to practice their swimming, would be fun and also tire them out.

As we were all at the pool today, James suggested that the girls try the water slide. The girls could not wear their back boards on the slide, they had to go up with James and I was down the bottom to catch them and to put the back board floaty back on. Both girls are very good at swimming, and keeping themselves upright, however they really still need the floatation device on. I was very worried about the whole thing, that they would panic in the slide, they would be stuck or something horrible like have a terrible accident due to not being able to swim without the back board. Basically I was very concerned. James thought that they were ready.

Julia went down first. She loved it. Then Lillian came out. I asked her if she wanted to go again and she screamed, “No”. So that was fine. Julia went up again with Daddy and I stayed down the bottom to catch her and to attach the back board when she was in my arms. The second time was not so lucky, she said that Daddy pushed her. He only pushed her to be in the water to manage to slide down the tube. It was the same thing that happened for the first go, however I think it was more noticeable to her this time. She was upset. I then manged to attack her accidentally with the clips for the back board. I was so upset that I accidentally hurt her and it was not intentional. Poor little Julia bear, as she is called by her Aunty Kay. She has had a bad trot the last day or so.

We were lucky that after that she was happy to be in the pool and playing with her sister. She was pleased that there was going to be no more slide and that playing in the pool and wetting Daddy and Mummy were her primary goal. Julia and Lillian are really enjoying putting their heads under the water, floating on their backs and kicking their legs, both of the girls are really coming along really well with their swimming. Very proud indeed.

After the pool we went off to get some fish and chips to take home. We all must have been hungry as we have never ever finished a family box. Lillian was very good, she ate calamari, crab, chips and fish. Julia ate some fish but only after we bargained with her. Eat the fish and you get more chips.

Have you ever had a day that one child is in the wars more so than usual? Would love to hear your stories.

Categories
3 years and beyond Potty Training

Well done girls and especially Julia

The girls went out and about with Daddy this morning as I am not feeling the best.  The girls were all dressed up and were not in nappies yet again, yeah!  While at the hardware store Julia looked like she needed to go to the toliet, Daddy asked if she needed to go and she said yes. He asked if she could hold on. He explained that he had no nappies, or the potty with him and that she needed to wait if she could. She said she could wait.

They then finished at the hardware store and Daddy wanted to go to the shops to get some food. He asked Julia if she was o.k to go to the shops or should they go home. Julia said that she could wait and they should go to the shops. She was a very good girl and hung on and waited until they all got home to go to the toliet. Very proud of her to have done this, just a great thing to have done.

Julia also on Australia Day told us she needed to go while we were on our way to the airfield, she gave me the look that she could not wait and she needed to go now. It was a very intense look with eyes open wide to express the urgency. We stopped along the road, I raced out of the car and in my haste thought it was Lillian that needed to go. She told me, “Not me mummy”. I then realised and got Julia out and the potty out and all was good.

What great progress we are making and big girls they are becoming. To think I was worried that they would never be potty trained before pre-school. I am so pleased that they are doing so well and ready and on that note that I only have 17 sleeps to go till the girls start pre-school.

Categories
Work

Networking

I met this wonderful couple on Australia Day, they run their own production company. I did not get the details of the company, but from the information that I knew, I goolged and investigated. Found them and now have sent an introduction email to see if there might be any part time roles to help out. Latley, I have been itching to get back into something that I am trained and like to do. Film, media production (I have a background in film/video, media production and the internet) is the thing that I have been dreaming about but also starting my little business from home.

We will see what comes of it. Who knows at least I have met some new people that are lovely, so it does not matter if I get a job just a connection is nice enough. Does anyone have a great story of bumping into just the right person at the right time in their life. Would love to hear of some great inspiration stories.