Today, Julia is not well and home from school. Lillian at first was hysterical and wanted to stay home with mummy and Julia. I was saying to Lilly that she was well enough to go to school and it would be nice for Julia to have time with mummy on her own while she is not well. This as you can imagine was not met well.
What the response was, “I want to be with you! I want to be with sister! I don’t want to be on my own!”
SO I explained that Lillian would not be on her own, that she would be with all her friends. After waiting for ages, she then asked if she was going to school. I told her that I thought she wanted to stay home, and told her that she should go to school as she was well. She told me she wanted to go. So I worked with the change of attitude and got her dressed, bag packed and off we went to drop Lilly at school.
Another win on the independence of the girls. Now they are wanting to go to school when the other cannot go! Yippee!
Did your twins or multiples have issues going to school on their own? When did it happen for them. Maybe four and half years of age is the right time for this to be happening.
Do you have two resumes? One for one type of job and the other for another? Have you been told that you are overqualified? Well in a recent article a woman who is very educated and has been a stay at home mother for a couple of years wishes to get the next job. Yes she wants to regain entry in the land of employment. Nothing wrong with that you say.
Well she is finding it rather difficult. She either has too much experience and qualifications and for other roles she is a bit out of touch due to being at home raising kids. So which is it? You either have the experience or you don’t. One other issue that comes up with this same situation is an age issue. Once you raise the kids, you have the qualifications and then you are considered too old to hire!
In my opinion if you can do the job, are happy to have the job, fit in with the corporate culture or the business no matter how big or small it should not matter.
I do understand that many people that have many qualifications might get bored and seek more opportunity elsewhere, and this might be the major reason for not hiring the person. That said, if you have had a break from the workforce, I think any job that is in your skill base will be fine. It is a good thing to be able to contribute to society, earn some money for you and the family and feel like you are you, rather than someone’s mother.
It is hard to find the right person for the job I do agree, and if you are after experience then hire the person with the qualifications and experience, but don’t then say that the same person lacks experience due to being out of the workforce for a period. We do still have the same experience, but we might have lost currency! It is hard to stay up to date if you are at home with children. The person with more experience will be able to get up to date on changes more easily than someone with less experience.
I have done a course and that might land me in the overqualified arena also. Having a masters might not be helpful but I am sure it will be helpful in the long run. It was good to apply myself, use my brain and finish it. I think if employers would look at these types of things as achievements rather than being better than the role than the person is applying for it would be beneficial. I finished a masters degree while looking after twins, now that is an achievement!
Personally I would love to get in with a good company and grow with them. If it is a job that I have done and have experience with before that is ideal, if not then I can learn new skills and as I am eager to learn and have the ability to pick things up quickly, then I don’t see why people would not read that into your resume if you have a number of qualifications and look overqualified.
I do think it has gone against me as I applied for a weekend job and was not given an interview or looked at. This role (sales assistant in a store – I would have loved the one I applied for as it was in a home-ware/bed linen shop, I adore these shops) I have done before while working my way through my undergraduate degree and I did very well at it (always hit sales targets and managed the shop well), I am happy to do it as I would enjoy time on my own, earning some money, contributing to society and of course succeeding in a job as me not mummy!
Have you had to change your experience to get the job? Has the qualifications helped you or hindered you? Send in your comments.
Why not continue the discussion on our Twitter or Facebook pages.
Today is the 1st of June and is the first day of winter here. Yesterday you would have never guessed winter was around the corner, it was a sunny and warmish day, and there was no wind and it was very pleasant. So how does it know to be colder, windy and just more miserable looking on the first day of winter?
Do you hate winter? I am not a fan, it gets very cold and unpleasant here. I love summer and the warmer months. Maybe that is due to being from Queensland originally? I have a feeling my kids have adapted to the cooler climate and will not like warmer ones to my upset.
Current temperatures are:
Current temp: 10.8°C
Feels like: 8.2°C
Humidity: 81%
Wind: WNW 22km/h
Wind gusts: 39km/
Not freezing and is not too bad but it is definitely getting cooler.
Do you like winter? What is your favourite time of year? I’m glad our winter is nothing like the winter in the Game of Thrones, they keep on saying winter is coming and it sounds scary! Well sometimes I think our winter is scary but not that fierce or snow laden.
It is also amazing that we are nearly half way through the year! Gosh that has happened fast. Best get busy with what I want to achieve or else the year will be over soon.
Why not continue the discussion on our Twitter or Facebook pages.
Today is the 1st of June and is the first day of winter here. Yesterday you would have never guessed winter was around the corner, it was a sunny and warmish day, and there was no wind and it was very pleasant. So how does it know to be colder, windy and just more miserable looking on the first day of winter?
Do you hate winter? I am not a fan, it gets very cold and unpleasant here. I love summer and the warmer months. Maybe that is due to being from Queensland originally? I have a feeling my kids have adapted to the cooler climate and will not like warmer ones to my upset.
Current temperatures are:
Current temp: 10.8°C
Feels like: 8.2°C
Humidity: 81%
Wind: WNW 22km/h
Wind gusts: 39km/
Not freezing and is not too bad but it is definitely getting cooler.
Do you like winter? What is your favourite time of year? I’m glad our winter is nothing like the winter in the Game of Thrones, they keep on saying winter is coming and it sounds scary! Well sometimes I think our winter is scary but not that fierce or snow laden.
It is also amazing that we are nearly half way through the year! Gosh that has happened fast. Best get busy with what I want to achieve or else the year will be over soon.
Why not continue the discussion on our Twitter or Facebook pages.
I found it much easier when the kids still slept during the day, it gave me time to get things done or even have a nap myself. Now the kids are four and soon to be five I find that I am running on empty a lot. This lack of sleeping during the day has not happened for years now, so you can imagine that not much happens at home when kids are here.
Have you found yourself longing for the days of kids sleeping and letting you get back to things you need to get to? Sometimes it is not exciting things, just the housework, laundry or other mundane tasks, however these tasks needs to be done and I find that interruptions don’t help me.
I am the type of person that likes to get a job done not half done, but I do have a house full of half-done tasks. My plan is to tidy up and sort out all rooms so that I will be able to get stuck into more of my hobbies like sewing or building up the blog. Do you find that now you are a parent you have some half-done projects? Going to go mad and de-clutter, I know, I must be sick or could just be over it all! 🙂
Next year will be a different year again. I will have two kids in big school (Kindy at the local primary school), yes my little babies will be big school kids soon, both girls are excited and cannot wait. How grown up they are becoming. Rather than three days of time out next year I will have five days, however they will be school days but that is still great. Five days. I hope that I will use my time wisely! A lady I know had great plans this year as her son has started Kindy also. She has not got to any of her plans and is getting frustrated about the fact that not much has changed.
My girlfriend also shared that there is a lot more involvement at the school and many pieces of paper that come from the school for things to do or be involved with. Gosh, maybe my time will be taken with the school rather than planning for my grand plans and schemes? I’m sure I could help at the school and do a bit for me also. I suppose I will see as it is not happening yet and it is next year so a while away. Have you managed to get more done with kids in Kindy?
The girls are now at the stage where we are getting constant questions about everything! I must say it is exhausting but pleased that they are so curious. I am also finding the fact that they want more one on one time with mummy a bit difficult when I am on my own during the week. I have tried saying that if I give you some time with mummy then the other child will need some one on one time as well. This worked well the other day. One child sat on my lap for cuddles and then the other was on the other lounge and was very content. We swapped hours later and all was well. Let’s hope that this keeps up this way. It does get hard when they fight the other one off as they want mummy for themselves. Does this happen to you?
How do you cope with one on one time when it is just you at home? I do find it hard sometimes. Send in your tips. Are you keen to sort out the house for future projects for you? I will be going through a de-clutter list for all the house and will work room by room. Not sure how long it will take but keen to get started. Most of this work will have to happen while kids are at school, so next week I will go for it! Maybe if the kids would have a nap I could start today, no luck with that and I would have better luck winning the lotto.
Hi all, I have finally got the promised photos of the flyover from Saturday the 25th of May. The day was wonderful on both counts, great action and atmosphere and also brilliant weather. We had three days of rain, fog and just horrible weather and then we woke up to wonderful blue skies and a very warm day for the flyover. Very blessed we were so lucky. The pilots had plans to do things differently if they had bad weather but glad they had a great day to maximise viewing from the ground.
We were all lucky to witness a man jump out of a plane and the kids were amazed. So here are some pictures of this:
Parachuter jumped from a plane for the Blue Mountains FlyoverWhat lovely blue skies.Check out the sunny sun! It was a bright day.Landing at Melrose Park, Katoomba
The girls and mummy @ Melrose Park waiting for the man jumping from the plane to land.
After we saw the man jump and land from the plane we all went off to the Carrington Hotel to see more planes.
The girls waiting to see planesA formation of planesMore of the planesPlanes over buildings @ KatoombaA pigeon does his/her version of the flyoverLillian picked flowers from the gardenJulia also helped remove flowers from the hotels pretty garden.Con trail from the planes
After we came home we all had lunch in the backyard as it was such a lovely day. During lunch the Roulettes flew low over our house twice, once one way and then they whizzed around and came back the other way. We were all screaming with delight. I could also hear the boys next door cheering and yelling. The whole street was alive with sounds and laughter at how amazing it was. Since we were out having lunch I have no pictures of this happening. Why not check out the great pictures the Blue Mountains Gazette captured, they have some excellent ones of the Roulettes.
I hope this helps you to visualize it if you were not there, and hope you enjoyed the pictures.
Why are we still talking about equal pay in 2013. Women are getting underpaid for the same jobs that men do and for some reason employers believe that this inequality is fair. I for one cannot see how underpaying a good staff member makes good business.
No matter what the gender, if you are doing a good job you should get good pay. It should not matter about your sex in payment for a job, as long as you hit your KPI’s (Key Performance Indicators), perform well in the role, have the needed experience, can learn and grow, and a good fit for the team and organisation there should be no issues. Why not pay the good staff member a decent wage so that they stay and grow with your company and not the competition.
Not only do we get underpaid in Australia for being female and under valued, there are some exceptions and I hope to be one.
As a mother who has daughters I would like to make sure that their skills are valued and will be paid well in line with the same role that a boy/man will get in the future. Why are we still thinking women should earn less. Many women have the responsibility to pay for the roof over their heads, food on the table, education for their kids, clothes, and more! If we underpay women it hurts the family and flows on to others as well.
How about we just address the skills for the role that the person does and pay for what they contribute rather than if they are man or a woman. If you are doing the same job pay the same. If the job is different or requires more education or experience, then pay more for the person how has more experience. Easy don’t you think?
In the United States the The Paycheck Fairness Act was recently blocked in the Senate, and this is not news it has happened before. I am not sure why this would be blocked and not accepted as matter of course.Why would the government block fair pay for all? Seems unfair to me. What about you?
I am not an expert but I think that pay should be fair for all if the job is the same. It is a fair ask I think. The only thing that would be different is if you had more experience or higher education than the other person, at least you can get the further education as long as you are prepared to do it.
Last night we went to our friends birthday BBQ. We had a wonderful night and the kids were very well behaved. Afterwards one of my girlfriends, myself and Julia helped wash up all the dishes and utensils used for the meal.
There was a few things to wash up, many people turned up and it was great to see so many friends that we have not seen in a while. Julia wanted to spend time with mummy while Lillian spent time with daddy, this was nice as it gave the girls more one on one time with each parent.
Julia was helping with drying the plates and the forks and spoons. She did an amazing job of helping and was very upset when there was nothing left to clean. She was happy to wash and tidy. Wonder when this will end? I am embracing this joy to tidy and need to find more things for the twins to do that will help mummy and allow them to help and contribute.
What do your kids do around the house?
At one point Julia was nearly in tears due to no more plates to dry so our dear friend thought a couple might need to go back in for a wash. This put a smile on Julia’s face as she had more things to dry!
What things make your kids happy when helping around the house? Have you managed to give them jobs that they do really well? As my girls are four it is getting easier to give them more things to do, however they still need chairs and help sometimes.
Why not continue the discussion on our Twitter or Facebook pages.
My twin girls are very close and always want to be together. This gets very difficult if one wants to do something different from the other. Lately they have been wanting to do separate things and hubby and I have been encouraging this. I love the fact that they are close and best buddies, however I don’t want them to miss out on an opportunity just because the other sister does not want to join in. They are different people and of course their interests differ, however are still very similar.
Lillian helped daddy at the hardware store and Julia wanted to be with mummy. Mummy was not doing anything too exciting and had to tidy the kitchen that day, Julia decided that she wanted to wash up so she helped and did an excellent job. It is hard to separate the kids in the normal work week as hubby works long hours and I’m the only care provider for the twins aside from daddy. We mainly do things on the weekends and I am aiming to do more one on one time with each child.
The kids have had the sniffles and coughs and are now better than they were, however the most amazing thing happened; Julia wanted to go to school without Lillian. I know this does not sound like a major breakthrough but it is. They never want to be apart so when this happened I made sure that she was able to go. I was also impressed with Lillian as she was okay with her sister going off to school and her staying home to get better.
Julia had a fun day on her own at school. She was not really on her own as she has many friends but I meant without her sister. That afternoon she was a bit clingy but it was a massive part of their development and gaining more independence.
Do you have twins? Do they separate to do their own things or are they attached to each other? Do you have ways to encourage your twins to be on their own with their own interests? Send in your comments.
Why not continue the discussion on our Twitter or Facebook pages.
My birthday and celebrations for graduating from my Master’s have been just wonderful, and I was lucky that my mum surprised me to come stay and celebrate with us. I have dropped her at the train station to start her long journey back to where she is house sitting in Victoria. I hope she has a safe trip, it was very nice to have her here to be with me and the twins.
New purse
I was very spoilt and hubby gave me a wonderful bracelet that I have never seen before for my birthday, graduation and of course wedding anniversary which is today actually. Nine years together is a traditional pottery gift and I kept my eyes out today but could not find anything. Mum and I went shopping for her last day here and it was very enjoyable.
Also my gorgeous mother in law gave me a great book for graduation pressie and Pandora bracelets for my birthday, not expected and just simply feeling very special indeed. So a big thanks to her and she is just naughty for spoiling me so. 🙂
I was able to use my gift voucher from family to purchase a new purse, and it is very groovy if I do say so myself. What do you think?
Happy colour inside of purse – how special is this!
While out and about at the shops I made sure to get more flannelette sheets for my wonderful little girls, it is getting colder so once the other set is in the wash they are feeling the cold. Now once washed and dried they will be ready to go on their beds. Not only did I get my wonderful, unique new purse I purchased a gift for me. What is it you ask?
Well it is a book called Happiness. Yes sounds corny but the book works through things like gratitude, time for you, goals and dreams. I have so many things that I wish to achieve I wanted to get my head, body and mind organized to make the most of my time in the future. Now that I have no more study on the horizon I can concentrate on the things I want to achieve and do.
I am willing to give it a go and as per my new colours in my new purse it looks like I have the happiness bug already. The happiness courses are also run by Kikki.K and the payment usually has the journal thrown in, however the time would conflict with me picking up kids so I just got the journal.
Happiness Book, my book mark here was a gift from good friends also for my birthday.Great guides and topics with the Happiness BookHappy saying from the Happiness Book
So I am currently resting up while listening to kids run a mock in their room. Giggles and laughter abound. Why are they not tired. Both have been a little under the weather this week and they stayed home on my birthday, Julia went to school on Tuesday and Lillian stayed home. Today both seemed o.k to go to school so they should by all rights be exhausted, not to be so.
I am off to get a nice glass of red wine and watch Revenge a favourite show of mine and put my feet up for a while. Celebrating has been tiring and a break is needed.
Sorry for all readers of the blog, I have been busy the last couple of days and did not post. The next week or so I will fix this issue and post more often. Hope you all have a great night. I am now off to tell the kids to get into bed and behave and get the long awaited glass of wine.
Tomorrow will be the third busiest day as it is my birthday, and will be a chance to relax and have fun. I will do no housework or very little tomorrow, Tuesday and Wednesday are the days that I will make up for this time off. Last Friday as most of you already know: I graduated from my Master’s in Project Management, and I now have the degree to prove it.
One major surprise was that my mother turned up for my birthday, but I had no idea she was coming. So that was a pleasant shock! She planned all the travel arrangements many months ahead so having graduation so close to my birthday was just a coincidence. Was very nice that my mother got to see me receive my degree, I was very pleased she could attend.
Saturday were celebrations for graduation, my birthday and hubby’s birthday so a big day yesterday. We had lunch and a dinner to celebrate, so very spoilt.
Check out some lovely pictures of my graduation below. I just adore the lovely old buildings and all the history, I could just wander around the grounds for hours taking it all in.
Hubby gave me some lovely bling for my wrist a classy bracelet that was a nice pressie for my birthday, graduation and our wedding anniversary that is next week. Yes May is a big month.
I hope that all will be good for tomorrow and will take myself off for a lunch somewhere, just need to drop kids at school first.
Happy Mother’s Day everyone! Hope you are having a good day, I am. Today we had to be up early due to the twins swimming lessons and after I managed to do an aqua aerobics class. Then we dropped off our stuff at the house and went to a picnic. It was enjoyable but the only downside was when Julia rubbed sunblock in her eyes and was a screaming teary mess in the car. Thank god she was better with some time and tissues.
Once lunch was eaten by all then the kids played on the play equipment at the park. Now we are home and the girls and daddy are working on secret surprises for me. The kids and I have a pressie for daddy as his birthday is tomorrow and he is at work and will be very late home. I thought it would be nice to celebrate his birthday while the kids were home and we can all spend time together.
What have you been up to this Mother’s Day? Did your kids and partner/hubby stick to The Mother’s Day Code? Have you been able to relax or has it been just another day with things to do? Mine is still a normal day. I am off to start a cake for daddy for his birthday and to start the soup for dinner.
Why not continue the discussion on our Twitter or Facebook pages.
Happy Mother’s Day everyone! Hope you are having a good day, I am. Today we had to be up early due to the twins swimming lessons and after I managed to do an aqua aerobics class. Then we dropped off our stuff at the house and went to a picnic. It was enjoyable but the only downside was when Julia rubbed sunblock in her eyes and was a screaming teary mess in the car. Thank god she was better with some time and tissues.
Once lunch was eaten by all then the kids played on the play equipment at the park. Now we are home and the girls and daddy are working on secret surprises for me. The kids and I have a pressie for daddy as his birthday is tomorrow and he is at work and will be very late home. I thought it would be nice to celebrate his birthday while the kids were home and we can all spend time together.
What have you been up to this Mother’s Day? Did your kids and partner/hubby stick to The Mother’s Day Code? Have you been able to relax or has it been just another day with things to do? Mine is still a normal day. I am off to start a cake for daddy for his birthday and to start the soup for dinner.
Why not continue the discussion on our Twitter or Facebook pages.
Why oh why do kids wake up early when you can sleep in? Today is Sunday and the kids woke at 6.30am. Weekdays, I have to wake them to get both kids ready for school. Doesn’t seem fair does it? It was not a total waste, the twins have a 9.30am swimming class. Yes I know annoying on a Sunday morning but it was the only time I could get. So in a way it was a good thing the girls got up when they did and although I wanted to stay in bed, I got up as I did not want to sleep in and then be late for the lesson.
Does this happen to you? One of my friends from school has this happens a lot. Do kids have timers on them, do they know when their parents want to sleep in? Or is it just a case of being excited about going somewhere like swimming.
Why not continue the discussion on our Twitter or Facebook pages.
My wonderful friend that I met through play group is a caring, loving and just a clever lady. She volunteers her time, energy and money to do craft for the kids, help ladies learn to sew, knit and crochet. This special woman is such a wonderful resource and also a good mate.
If you thought that was it, well it is not. This lady also coordinates the local primary’s school entry into the Winter Magic Festival every year, creates the costumes and craft. Just amazing if you ask me.
She has lived in Australia for a while now but is actually from the USA. Her son is retiring from the U.S. Navy after 21 years’ service and of course he would just love his Mom/Mum to be there.
So if you would like to help all you need to do is to donate as little as $10 to the cause so that my mate can be able to fly to the U.S.A to see her son leave the Navy and celebrate with the family.
I wish I had more money but we are in a bind at the moment and we cannot do too much, so what is the next best thing; why not get the word out and write a blog post about how this woman deserves to go and why you should give, so she can celebrate this with her family.
Some words that describe this special person:
Talented
Loving
Kind
Giving
Clever
Wonderful teacher
Patient
Funny
Nothing is a problem and issue.
Please help me spread the word and donate so that my wonderful friend can fly home to celebrate with her son. Just a little donation from many would help. This person is such a community person it would be great if the community banded together to help.
One of my girls made this all by herself. What a big girl she is.
One of my girls seems to be more adventurous with food, not as much as I would like but she is doing well. Lately she has liked more vegetables and wants to have salads and so on. She is also more willing to try the food. Today this child had a Vegemite and honey sandwich and she ate it all. The other child is being a bit harder to convince to try anything other than a cheese sandwich.
It got me thinking, what is the strangest request you have gotten from your child for food? Was it the combination of putting it all together that made you think YUCK! Or no they will not eat it, but the kid surprised you and now it is a firm favourite.
I for one am glad that one child is expanding her diet and taste for new things. I just hope it will rub off on the other child. I’m sure it will in time. Send in your stories of weird concoctions so that we can get inspired and have a laugh.
Why not continue the discussion on our Twitter or Facebook pages.
I personally like nice mature cheese with apple on nice crusty bread. YUM!
Tonight Lillian hugged me and patted me on the head and said “Happy Birthday Mummy”, it was very nice and cute, however it is not my birthday. It will be in another 2 weeks or so. It is close, but not today.
My wonderful little girl then said, “Let’s go to Canada for your birthday Mummy!”, I told her that this would be a wonderful idea. The only issue with this is money. I did explain this and told her that maybe we can do it when we have more. She accepted this but still thinks it might be tomorrow or next week that this will happen.
What a lovely thought for the evening, off to Canada or somewhere as nice. Where do you want to holiday? What country are you desperate to explore and see more of. I would love to see more of Spain, Italy and Europe. I have always wanted to travel to Greece and see the ruins and be where the stories were created in Ancient Times. I loved Ancient History as a student and feel it would be magical to see in in the flesh.
And now more secret surprises: Both girls upon collecting them from pre-school have given me invites to school for Mother’s Day celebrations, they are excited and cannot wait to show me the secret surprises they are working on. I must say as today was the first day back to school for term 2 they got up early. They must have been keen to see their friends, both kids have been inviting everyone around to our house to show off their new sand pit. It is just like the kids when I was little having a swimming pool. This should be interesting.
I’m off to bed to get some rest so that I might tidy the house to allow for guests tomorrow, not sure if people are free but may as well be prepared.
Why not continue the discussion on our Twitter or Facebook pages.
Tonight Lillian hugged me and patted me on the head and said “Happy Birthday Mummy”, it was very nice and cute, however it is not my birthday. It will be in another 2 weeks or so. It is close, but not today.
My wonderful little girl then said, “Let’s go to Canada for your birthday Mummy!”, I told her that this would be a wonderful idea. The only issue with this is money. I did explain this and told her that maybe we can do it when we have more. She accepted this but still thinks it might be tomorrow or next week that this will happen.
What a lovely thought for the evening, off to Canada or somewhere as nice. Where do you want to holiday? What country are you desperate to explore and see more of. I would love to see more of Spain, Italy and Europe. I have always wanted to travel to Greece and see the ruins and be where the stories were created in Ancient Times. I loved Ancient History as a student and feel it would be magical to see in in the flesh.
And now more secret surprises: Both girls upon collecting them from pre-school have given me invites to school for Mother’s Day celebrations, they are excited and cannot wait to show me the secret surprises they are working on. I must say as today was the first day back to school for term 2 they got up early. They must have been keen to see their friends, both kids have been inviting everyone around to our house to show off their new sand pit. It is just like the kids when I was little having a swimming pool. This should be interesting.
I’m off to bed to get some rest so that I might tidy the house to allow for guests tomorrow, not sure if people are free but may as well be prepared.
Why not continue the discussion on our Twitter or Facebook pages.
