Blackberry Mummy

Gratitude Project - Day 7

2012-01-07T12:12:00.000+10:00

Isaac won 7 times in a row - no cheating!

Gratitude Project - Day 6

2012-01-07T12:10:00.001+10:00

Art and craft always makes me smile. Isaac and I will fashion these into a wreath for Easter after making some more. Flowers out of egg cartons - talk about up-cycling.

Gratitude Project - Day 5

2012-01-05T13:17:00.001+10:00

We love blowing bubbles to the wind.

The gratitude project - 4 January 2012

2012-01-04T19:23:00.002+10:00

Today we headed up the coast to my grandparents beach house. I spent many happy summers there as a kid and it hasn't changed one little bit - in fact I don't think it's changed since my mum was a kid. See those acid yellow chairs? That's no retro find or reproduction - they have been there since the early seventies. Isaac had a ball playing with the hose and chasing the dogs with the water - good old fashioned summer fun.

The gratitude project - 3 January 2012

2012-01-04T19:20:00.003+10:00

Isaac had his little friend Alice over for a play.

They had loads of new Christmas presents to play with (which they did) but drawing on the butchers paper and crayons that my sister brought over was even more fun. Love the simple things about childhood that remain the same, no matter which generation you are born into.

The gratitude project - 2 January 2012

2012-01-02T12:31:00.002+10:00

As a kid I always loved the fig trees at New Farm park - we would climb in them for hours. The park now has a playground that weaves in and around the trees. I can't wait until Isaac is old enough for us to climb the trees together.

The gratitude project - 1 January 2012

2012-01-01T19:13:00.005+10:00

A dear friend of mine is starting her gratitude project - taking a photo each day of what she is grateful for. I think this is such a great idea - to reflect each day on what makes us laugh, inspires us and makes us feel special. Little things and big things.

My photo today reflects the new year and the limitless possibilities of a blank canvas. A whole new year, to live and laugh in.

Adventures in Kiddieland

2011-06-18T16:34:00.006+10:00

One of the lovely things about parenting is the liberty it allows you to do all manner of childish things.

Over the last fee weekends I have ice skated, crawled through tunnels at lollipops playland, laughed and cried at Disney movies, riden in a real olden day steam train, rushed around with a towel over my shoulders pretending to be a friendly dragon, played numerous games of chasey, hooned around the verandah on Scooter designed for a two year and blown bubbles into the wind.

There are so many amazing things to do with kids in and around Brisbane.

The steam train ride is part of qld rails steam train Sundays. http://www.theworkshops.qm.qld.gov.au/Events+and+exhibitions/Events+and+Activities/Steam+trains/Steam+train+Sunday

The ice skating was done at the winter festival currenlty in king George square - http://www.winterfestival.com.au/brisbane. I never thought I would be pushing my son around the ice on an outdoor rink in the middle of Brisbane city. But I did and we loved it.

Each library offers it's own versions of rhyme time and the museum, state library, GOMAand art gallery never fail to have the most amazing kids activities free of charge.

Some of the things Isaac loves to do I think are ordinary but through his eyes become extraordinary - a ride on a train or ferry is an adventure within itself. Watching diggers and trucks at building sites is a wonderful way to spend an hour or two. Spotting buses and motor bikes on a car ride leads to squeals of excitement.

This absolute enthusiasm for life is so joyous and contagious. I look forward to each weekend and the new adventures we will embark on together.

Motherhood the Musical

2011-06-12T07:56:00.004+10:00

Last night I saw Motherhood the Musical with a dear friend. Girls' nights out (or girls' nights off being more accurate as a mother) are always fun and this one was particular good.

The musical is full of moments mothers will identify with - both hilarious and touching. The central premise is around four neighbourhood friends, the youngest of which is expecting her first child. She is full of glowing naivety which the others set about to redress during her surprise baby shower. The three women are already mothers falling into the stereo types of: recently divorced mum, stay at home mum and career mum. Through a number of songs and sly comments the musical demonstrates the wonderful, the mundane, the exhaustion and the elation of motherhood and realionshops.

My only critisicm of the musical - the mums were highly stereo-typed. The career mum formula fed, the stay at home mum feels underappreciated and belittled at times, the divorced mum comfort eats.

Despite the career mum being the one I should have identified with, my favourite character was the wise cracking stay at home mum, who got all the best lines and songs. The very funny "mummy, mummy,mummy" - an observation about the fact you wait excitedly for your baby to say "mummy" and after that point sometimes wish they hadn't as they consistently whine for you all day. And the beautiful "Daniel's Mum" which highlights the sacrfices one makes as a mum but the absolute joy that comes with being the "star" in your child's life and experiencing things from thier point if view. She also has a genius line in a song about lack of bladder control - "I leak like Julian Assange".

I identified closley with the expectant mum and her mile long list of (as one song put it) s&@$ she doesn't need. I remember clearly the lists of ridiculous items outlined in magazines (who are clearly paid to sell said items). Yet as a first time mum with time and money on your side you fall for this hook, line and sinker.

Motherhood the musical is a great night out for mums and mums to be.

Playing at the 12th Night Theater, Bowen Hills, 24th May - 14th June.

Potty Training

2011-05-30T19:15:00.004+10:00

Last weekend, I spent three days "intensively" toilet training Isaac.

There are a number of books that advocate this throw-all-nappies-away-and-learn-over-three day approach. My neighbours, who all have kids slightly older than Isaac, put me on to this method (God bless neighours!) They said it was hard work over the three days but definitely worth it because of the results.

So, after some gentle but definite suggestions from daycare that Isaac was "ready" to be toilet trained, we embarked on this adventure. The method I used suggested that 22 months was the ideal time to train - and if you wait until after 30 months you are in for some hard work. At 29 months, Isaac just squeezed through.

During the week I purchased enough underwear to outfit a small army of two year olds, along with numerous bribes and activities to keep us busy over three, stay at home days. For most people the thought of having to clean soiled underwear and dealing with night-time wetting might be the most daunting part of toilet training. For me it was the thought of three days at home.

On Saturday morning Isaac and I cheerfully threw out all his nappies (though I daresay there must still be a few lurking in the backseat of my car). He eagerly wore his new underpants and was generally quite happy with himself. We missed the first accident.

After this, Nathan and I established some rules about who would be watching Isaac like a hawk. Two more accidents were caught and Isaac placed on the potty to finish up. After that, Isaac got what it was all about and let us know when he needed to use the potty. So far so good - and on the afternoon of the first day! At this point Nathan and I were feeling like parental super-stars. That night Isaac was in underwear (all part of the all-in approach) and to my absolute amazement stayed dry all night. At this point I am not sure if Isaac is some kind of toilet training savant or whether this method is the best kept secret in the parenting world.

Of course, by the second day things got a little wobbly - Isaac wasn't letting us know each and every time he needed to use the potty and any patchy attempts to go to the potty were thinly disguised attempts to gain stickers. It was time to bring out the big guns - a number of small plastic dinosaurs. When Isaac went to the potty after asking to go, a dinosaur was given. Cue many trips to the potty with sole purpose of obtaining more dinosaurs. When I told Isaac that the dinosaurs were now only for when he did something really special - like a poo in the potty or staying dry all night, he considered this for a moment before saying "No, I need a dinosaur before I can do a poo". The second night we woke up wet. The third day Isaac improved immensely and we only had one accident.

The fourth day it was off to daycare in underwear. We picked Isaac up that evening with a bag full of wet clothes. So, not quite toilet trained yet. After a couple more nights, he started to stay dry all night again and we have been on a five night streak. The number of plastic bags filled with pants and undies decreased during the week and over this weekend Isaac has gone to the toilet each and every time. I am really proud of him because we were out and about a lot this weekend and he had to use public loos etc.

All in all, I think the training method has really worked and I would recommend it to any parents - just don't think your child is going to be toilet trained beyond any accidents whatsoever after the three days. If you are interested in a quick toilet training method, check out these resources: http://www.3daypottytraining.com/ , http://www.pottytrainingconcepts.com/ISBN-0977905403.html

Fulfilling Carer / Fulfilling Career

2011-04-26T15:33:00.005+10:00

The other day, in that snatched kind of conversation that you only have with other mothers, we were talking about whether it is realistic to have both a truly fulfilling full-time career and a truly fulfilling experience as a mother. In between admonishing our toddlers to share their bikes, move out of the way of other kids coming down the slide, not to scale up the slide, and to eat some fruit along with the gingerbread cookies, we spoke about work and being a mother.

One friend quipped that it was perfectly within reach to have a fulfilling full-time career and still feel herself a fantastic mother - her husband just needed to stay home with their son. When I have suggested that I scale my work down to a few days per week, my husband, who truly does co-parent, says "well, I'd like to do that too." And he has a point - as husbands share the parenting duties, it's only fair that they ask for some of the perks as well.

But it is exhausting to drop Isaac at care, work from 8 - 5, pick up Isaac, get home to frantically make dinner (vegetarian, something a two year old likes to eat and within twenty minutes, thank you very much), put Isaac to bath and bed, catch up on any work that needed to be done but couldn't due to having to leave work at 5pm, fall into bed oneself and repeat. And those are the good days when there is no night waking. Nathan and I share the burden of this routine - one week when he was away for work I literally felt like a robot getting through this on my own and was, as always, amazed by single parents.

This is the price we pay for having it all - there simply isn't time to it all as well as we would like. Isaac is a happy and secure child - very well behaved and only occasionally clingy. His development is on par with his friends and I don't seen any negative behaviors that have emerged as a result of long day care hours. Out of the pair of us - he is doing a-okay!

What I worry about is my own inability to switch off from work mode and into family mode. I find it difficult to compartmentalise and whilst reading Isaac a story, one part of my brain is still solving issues at work. So I feel that Isaac isn't getting the best of me and I am not savoring those precious moments with him. I think this is one of the hardest tricks for parents to learn - to live in those moments with your child.

the things kids say

2011-03-30T21:00:00.005+10:00

My last post was a little on the sad side and may have read self indulgent. That wasn't my intention, and many mums have confided that they have felt the same way from time to time. But onto happier things ... Isaac is now two years, three months and his every increasing vocabulary as well as the way he expresses things never fails to amuse me. We have been enjoying a number of Isaac-isms that I wanted to share:

"Happy Birthday" - no one just has a birthday, everyone has a "happy birthday". Used in a sentence - "it's your happy birthday today". Also fond of singing happy birthday whenever candles appear, whether this be due to an actual birthday cake or because we happen to be in a black-out.

"Noisy" - used as both an adjective and a noun. Used in a sentence - "Motor Bike making a noisy"

We recently purchased the movie Madagascar on DVD and Isaac's favourite bit is the "I like to move it" song. In fact, he likes it so much that he when he requests Madagascar to go on he says "I like to move it, move it" and when he wants to watch any other DVD he says "I don't like to move it, move it"

Whenever he sneezes he now says "Bless You Isaac"

We recently went on a camping trip with friends. Two of Isaac's best mates were there, Finley and Finn. When asked whether he like camping, he replied, "I love Finns"

Right now, I think I will never forget these, but I am sure that time will dull my memory and when Isaac is mono-syllabic teenager, I will be glad I recorded the memories.

Cute things, part two (from that ever present way of updating friends about the cute things your kids say - Faceook):

Isaac is always coming up with gorgeous sayings and my current favourite is "ooh that's a little bit tricky". Used to describe anything he doesn't really want to do - eg. Isaac please eat your peas, "mummy, that's a little bit tricky".
Watching the Victoria Secret parade on Foxtel and asked Isaac if he thought the ladies were pretty - he said "yes", paused and then said "but I am pretty too."

The mean reds

2011-03-01T05:59:00.002+10:00

Every mother I know with young children would tell you that it's the best time of their lives. But it can also be the hardest. Most moments are full of sparkling joy, but there are moments of hardship and sadness. Some of those are obvious - when your child is sick or they hurt themselves or the moment you realise that you cannot protect them from everything. But then there are other moments - harder to define, but no less difficult.

Sunday morning I had one of those moments. What do you do when a feeling more akin to Holly Golightly's mean reds*, rather than the blues, seizes you? My first reaction is guilt. I have a wonderful life filled with people I love. My family is healthy and we are financially secure. There is very little room in my life for complaint. Yet whether the lack of sleep finally caught up with me or Isaac’s neediness finally wore me down, on Sunday morning was inconsolable and struggled to understand why.

And, in a self-destructive way, I turn on my husband in moments like these. Nathan tries to understand, asks "what's wrong" and then offers a host of solutions. With great difficulty I try to articulate a feeling I don't quite understand and fall short. Instead I cite lack of sleep, lack of time to just be still, Isaac being too demanding. Problems with solutions.

The thing is, I know that I should give myself a break at work. I know that I don't have to accept every invitation to every single thing on the weekend. I know that if I did these things, that I would have more time to myself, to rest, to renew. What I don't know is how to be that person. I thrive on pressure at work and time with my friends and family is dear to me. Most of the time, these things are not a problem.

When the mean reds descend, it isn't solutions I want. The fact is that I don't know what I want and that is the crux of the issue. A sadness descends and guilt follows and frustration ices the cake. That Sunday morning I went to a BBQ brunch with a number of my mother’s group friends. As they asked me how I was, I was glad for large dark glasses hiding tears that I couldn’t fight. But at the same time I know that these mums have no doubt had these same feelings, and if anybody is going to understand it would be my dear friends. One of my lovely friends gave me the most helpful advice – Just be kinder to yourself. And perhaps that’s the most important thing to realise – when the mean reds visit, be kind enough to yourself to give yourself a break. If you need to cry, cry. If you need to run, run. If you need to scream, scream. And know that everything is better the next morning.

*Holly Golightly: You know those days when you get the mean reds?
Paul Varjak: The mean reds. You mean like the blues?
Holly Golightly: No. The blues are because you're getting fat, and maybe it's been raining too long. You're just sad, that's all. The mean reds are horrible. Suddenly you're afraid, and you don't know what you're afraid of. Do you ever get that feeling?

Crocodile themed second birthday party

2011-01-23T16:43:00.010+10:00

Before Isaac, Nathan and I would attend our toddler nieces' and nephew's lavish birthday parties. We would look at the number of people, the money invested in balloons and food, the time invested in invitations and decorations, shake our heads and vow that if/when we had kids, we'd keep it simple. Fast forward to Isaac's second birthday and of course I did anything but.

Isaac's actual birthday falls on the 24th December, but the past two years we have had his birthday party mid January to avoid Christmas conflicts. As most of Isaac's friends are born in November, my thoughts turned to birthday season a few months ahead of time. This is a double edged sword - I had plenty of time to prepare and plan but I also based the theme on Isaac's November obsession - crocodiles. Whilst Isaac's obsessions are passionate, they are not necessarily long-lived and by the time December started we had well and truly moved onto trains (in particular Thomas the Tank Engine). Nonetheless, we had planned a pool party around crocodiles and that is what we went with.

Isaac's birthday party date ended up falling smack bang in the middle of the Brisbane flood clean-up weekend. With a fair amount of angst (and failing ice supplies) we decide to go ahead with the party as we thought a bit of joy wouldn't go astray.

For anyone else thinking of a crocodile theme, here are some tips:

A foil crocodile balloon was bought online for $9, and then filled up with helium at the local party store for $6. This is much, much cheaper than buying the whole thing from party stores, which would have been around $25.

I made little crocodile pegs to top brown paper bags. These served as the party treat bags. I simply spray painted wooden pegs green, added googly eyes (they have to be the smallest you can get), added teeth with white out and placed cardboard ridges on top. You could add magnets to the back of the pegs, so that they become fridge magnets to hold artworks etc. Pegs and paper bags are dirt cheap, so this is a really cute cheap way to make party bags.

His gorgeous cake was created by Janelle from Big Cake, Little Cake - . http://www.facebook.com/bigcakelittlecake (Brisbane only)

I made a big crocodile for the centre of the table out of egg cartons, and he held lollies and chocolates.

I also made some little crocodiles out of cardboard to hang and place on the tables.

The invitations were made out of cardboard and in the shape of crocodile, whose mouth you opened to read the details.

My mum and sister made gorgeous little cupcakes, topped with lolly crocodiles swimming on blue icing.

Do I think Isaac and his friends appreciated all of this? Maybe, maybe not - Isaac certainly loved the cake! But at the end of the day, it's nice to indulge in a bit of art and craft and I had a ball making and planning it all. And after all, isn't this kind of thing one of the perks of parenthood?

What I thought would be floods of tears

2011-01-13T21:04:00.003+10:00

I am four days into my first full time working week after two years at home with Isaac. I would have presumed this blog post would about missing my baby or not remembering what five days of work felt like. Instead, I find myself amidst the worst natural disaster Brisbane has seen in three decades. When Isaac was ten months old, I returned to full time work for a couple months during the hurly burly of a move and then a merge. After that, I had a welcome reprieve and the option to work two days a week for a year. I had rather hoped my second return to full time work would be less exciting.

My workstation overlooks the Brisbane River. Over the past few days I have watched that river steadily expand her breadth, swallowing bike paths, then ferry stops and finally onto museums, ferris wheels and city streets. Like every other person I know I have been watching in amazement as helicopters stream footage of a swamped Suncorp Stadium, suburbs submerged and the roofs of flooded buildings that are nowhere near the river. I have been sent emails and seen images on Facebook of friend's houses that were inches away from being swallowed by the relentless tide. Everyone in Brisbane would know a dozen people barely spared and another half dozen who have lost everything. Yet against this devastation the sun has been shining for the first time in weeks, coinciding with an unexpected few days off for many. Looking out on my back yard, shiny and new after weeks of rain, the sun beating down on too-long grass, it is hard to imagine the destruction only a few suburbs away.

As part of an IT team, our job is to ensure continuity of service and for the last few days that's exactly what our team has been trying to achieve. Today I was in the office and the city was a surreal. Even those that were at work were dressed casually - not a suit in sight. Families were cycling, tourists were taking photos, people lined bridges to watch the debris rush by on the wake of a rapidly receding river. The atmosphere was almost rebellious and carnival like. When I picked up Isaac from care, there were families playing at every park I passed. Older kids were riding bikes or playing games on deserted roads. There was a nostalgic kind of joy about people unexpectedly freed up to do nothing but enjoy the sunshine.

Watching the relentless stream of media, which is surely as adamant as the river herself, one would never see this other side of the flood. Instead there seems to be a focus on trying to create the most upsetting headlines. When I was trying to assess whether we would be without power, the Courier Mail's sensational headline "plunging the Brisbane CBD into darkness" was less than helpful. Instead, updates from friends in the know on Facebook were much more useful. In the end of course only portions of the CBD were without power.

Facebook has proved its worth as a communication tool, with the QLD Police providing excellent updates and many businesses (ourselves included) utilising it to communicate with their staff. It has also provided a forum for people to connect quickly with necessary donations and volunteers. The number of my friends on Facebook that have offered their homes and their help is staggering. I, like many others I know, have been cheered by the generosity of so many.

We will gather our strength as a city. We will rebuild her and we will gather around our neighbours and help them back to their feet. But we will do so with a good measure of humour and enjoy the good with the bad. Just take a look at the bronzed Wally Lewis, sporting scuba gear and floaties in front of Suncorp Stadium.

One of my friends once said to me that Brisbanites always consider their city just on the cusp of growing up, but never quite there. This might be what pushes us into adulthood.

Christmas

2010-11-21T13:04:00.003+10:00

I adore Christmas - by far my favourite part of the year. When the retailers start putting out their decorations (in October) I don't tut tut like everyone else, I am five years old again basking in the glitter and wonder.

This Christmas will be especially magical with Isaac two years old and able to grasp some of the concepts and excitement. In addition, I go back to work full time next year so every moment spent with him up until then is absolutely precious. So much of our experience of Christmas is shaped by our childhood memories, and I think it is a privilege to be part of creating that magic for Isaac.

When I think back to Christmas as a kid, I remember:

Baking and decorating butter cookies with my sister, mum and grandmother
Making decorations for the tree and hearing stories about the decorations we had made in years past
The smell of pine needles and Jasmine. As a small child we always had a real tree and the smell lingered on the ornaments for many years after we succumbed to the Brisbane heat and bought a plastic tree. Mum and Dad have had Jasmine flower in Summer for as long as I can remember
The way that Dad decorated our house to rival any department store (and still does!)
Trimming the tree and listening to Ann Murray and Kenny Rogers singing Christmas Carols (so daggy, but I still get teary listening to that CD!)
The way the table was set so beautifully, with the good china, for Christmas Eve dinner. Dad always made it look fantastic and we opened presents afterwards, as is the European tradition.
Going in town on the train to look at the Myer Christmas windows and the big tree
Staying up late to go midnight church services on Christmas eve and the sound of the choir

I will continue many of those traditions with Isaac, and add some of our own new ones:

Looking at the streets filled with Christmas lights (God Bless those people who decorate their houses each year and bring so much joy!)
Buying a gift to place under the K-Mart Christmas wishing tree for a child less fortunate
A Christmas party with his friends
A photo with Santa at the department store (Garden City's set up is truly magical). And yes, it is a little bit traumatic the first couple of years, but am told they think it's hilarious looking back on the photos in years to come
My husband's family celebrate on Christmas Day, so we will have a morning filled with presents and a beautiful breakfast. An afternoon of even more food, with the adults napping and the kids playing with their new toys.

Our mothers group is going to have a morning dedicated to Christmas craft. Always a bit of a challenge with the littlies, but we have come up with a great list (thank goodness for the internet!):

Reindeer collages, made up of a shoe traced for the reindeer head, and the hands traced for antlers. If you do this each year, then you can see how much they have grown. - http://www.allfreecrafts.com/christmas/reindeer-art.shtml
Santa stars - http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/Santastar.shtml
Potato prints on paper for Christmas Wrap
I am going to paint a Christmas Tree outline on a large, long but thin canvass (the kind you can get from dollar dazzler type shops very cheaply). I haven't quite decided if the kids can just glue and paint on the tree, or whether to make ornaments out of felt and place velcro on the tree so that they can "redecorate" to their hearts content. I love the latter idea, but hope I have time.

Toddlers and Sharing

2010-09-16T20:16:00.005+10:00

I have a problem and I am not at all sure how to address it. You see I am part of a wonderful, wonderful mothers group filled with gorgeous kids and lovely ladies that have become good friends.

The issue is that during our recent catch ups Isaac has started grabbing toys. The other kids don't do this so I am the only one wrestling with their toddler. I know it's developmental and I know you can't really expect near 2 year olds to share but it's exhausting and makes me feel like a lacking parent. Particularly because the other children seem to share so beautifully.

It's also hard to know what to do - snatch the toy back and give it to the original claimant? Surely that's the same as hitting a child when they hit another - you are just using the behaviour you are trying to stop. But then can you reason with a 21 month old? "Isaac please give back that toy?" Falls on deaf little ears.

The other issue is what path do you take? Should you be encouraging sharing of the toy when another snatches it? Is that fair to say no snatching on one hand and then when another child snatches their toy to admonish them to share? And in a mothers group situation should you establish some rules and boundaries with the other parents so that everyone is on the same page? How do you address that tactfully? I guess you could blog about it!

At Isaac's day care they had the following on the wall.....

Toddler Rules of Ownership

1. If I like it, it's mine.
2. If it's in my hand, it's mine.
3. If I can take it from you, it's mine.
4. If I had it a little while ago, it's mine.
5. If it's mine, it must never appear to be yours in any way.
6. If I'm doing or building something, all the pieces are mine.
7. If it looks just like mine, it is mine.
8. If I saw it first, it's mine.
9. If you are playing with something and you put it down, it automatically becomes mine.
10. If it's broken, it's yours.
11. If it's broken, but you are having fun playing with the pieces, it's mine again.
12. If there is ANY doubt, it's mine.

Isaac seems to have memorised the list and taken it to heart!

Crafty Kids - Fathers Day

2010-09-04T12:50:00.008+10:00

One of the lovely things about having kids around is creating gifts and cards with them.

When they aren't quite able to grasp the concept of art and craft just yet, that can be a little challenging. Isaac and I have made two fathers day cards this year (one for Opa and one for his Daddy) With a little imagination, the scribblings of a 20 month old can easily be turned into "works of art".

Different coloured card placed on top of each other adds a nice 3-D touch and makes the drawing look special. I used a pair of scalloped scissors to get the edging.

For his daddy's card, Isaac drew with crayon on a sheet of A4 paper and I folded an oragmi shirt from the results. I followed this tutorial on YouTube - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uApUvt-xWJw I added a little tie, cut out from his previous drawing, and I think it looks quite sweet -

Before Isaac was really into colouring, we made Christmas cards out of tracings around his hands. A lovely little reminder of just how small he used to be!

Hand and footprints always make cute cards and wrapping paper and can be achieved by the littlest of tykes (although getting them to sit still can be a challenge!)

For handprints, you can buy "paint stampers" which are an easier way of getting your little one to make their own hand prints without having to brush on paint. I got the below at ArtShed.

I found that Art Shed at West End -http://www.artshedbrisbane.com.au/- is a wealth of kids art and craft ideas and materials. Right nearby is reverse garbage - http://www.reversegarbage.com.au/ - which also has great (and cheap) items to make stuff with (and has the advantage of being green as grass!)

The Working Mother

2010-07-12T14:30:00.002+10:00

I have neglected this blog for sometime now and a kindly comment from a dear friend (you know who you are :) ) prompted me to write again.

The last few months have bore witness to the happiest and most difficult times of my life.

Isaac has fast grown into a little boy - rushing around the place, seeking (and finding!) mischief wherever he goes. Everything is to be wondered at and explored. He comes out with the most hilarious of things and Nathan and I wonder what those without 18 month olds do for entertainment. The other day he pointed at a line he had drawn and said “circle” - everything that is to do with drawing is a “circle” at the moment. “No,” we corrected, “Line.” To which Isaac replied “Roar!” He joins in singing nursery rhymes and his favourite book is “going on a bear hunt” as he can join in on the “Uh-Oh” and “Oh-No” parts of the book. He says “Yes” with such conviction but only shakes his head for no.

The challenging times stemmed from my going back to work. In October, I started back at work intending to work a four day week. As I returned we were in throes of moving buildings. This was incredible well managed by maternity replacement and in the end the move weekend went like clockwork. However, it was still a long weekend with only a few hours of sleep - as I was still breast feeding Isaac at night I returned home each evening and snatched a few hours of sleep before the feeding, driving, working cycle began again.

The next week was spent trouble shooting and putting on minor fires. When people asked me if I missed my little boy and I could honestly say I didn't even have time to think about it. Perhaps I was in denial, but picking him up at the end of a long day and seeing his gorgeous smile quickly became the highlight of my day.

Following the move, we merged with another firm, which brought on a month of long weeks to get the IT systems integrated. If this had happened before Isaac came along I would have relished the opportunity. However, I ended up feeling what thousands of working mothers have felt before me - that I wasn’t giving enough at home and I wasn’t giving enough at work – stretched so thin between the two, I was afraid I would break. In the end, the merge went very well and through support from Nathan and my family, Isaac didn’t suffer. Like having a child itself, being a working mother is one of things that you cannot truly understand until you are doing it. When working is combined with interrupted sleep and (in our case) child care arrangements that need to be made day by day, you begin to realise just how hard it can be. By the end of the month I was an emotional and physical wreck!

CGW is very supportive of families and I was very lucky to be offered a two day, rather than four day, a week role. I grabbed it with both hands and I have finally achieved a sense of balance between my working life and being home with my boy. Isaac is now settled at a terrific day care centre for my two working days. He seems to love it there - they have the kind of staff who make every parent think their child is the favourite.

When I am at work, I am still a mother, and when I am at home, I am still very concerned about my work. However, the days where each and every dream was about work and every thought centered around the current project are behind me now. I am still very committed to my job, but the work-life balance that always eluded me prior to Isaac seems to have been addressed by a gorgeous little fellow whose smile lights up my life.

Crafty Bug - Cloth nappies re-born

2009-08-20T07:14:00.011+10:00

Occassionally I will get an urge to get crafty and generally a succession of craft projects (all with varying degrees of sucess) will ensue. When we were first pregnant I bought and was given quite a large number of cloth nappies. At the time I had intentions of using them as nappies but we have converted to the cult of the disposal diaper. Instead they are used variously as spit-up cloths, breast-feeding privacy screens, washers for feeding time, change mats and so on. But we still have a number that don't get used so I made a change table cover and some bibs out of the neglected.

We generally put something over our plastic change table mat as it's slippery and cold and unpleasant for a little bottom. However, if you put a blanket over the mat it tends to just slip around. I sewed two nappies together and the folded over the ends at the short sides and sewed them down. This then slipped over the change table and hey presto! a cover that stays put. I still put another nappy over this so that it can be cleaned quickly and easily if we have any accidents.

To make the bibs, I found a bib that I liked and used it as a template. You should get two good sized bibs out of a cloth nappy if you are okay with a one-layer bib. If you prefer a thicker bib, sew the two together. Put velcro at the joining ends.

On one bib I appliqued a tie and the other I fronted with some fabric we had left over from Isaac's nursery - inspiration for the tie bib came from http://indietutes.blogspot.com/2009/05/tie-bib.html. Then I used bias binding around the bibs to finish them off. Whilst we can have too many cloth nappies, it seems we can never have enough bibs!

Bubs & Beans - going out for coffee with littlies

2009-08-04T17:16:00.002+10:00

I read a blog on news.com.au the other day discussing taking babies out to cafes - naughty corner blog . Whilst the gist of the blog was discussing cafes with good facilities for children, the comments turned into a debate as to whether babies and small children should be welcomed at cafes at all. I understand that people don't want a side order of screaming child with their latte but some of the comments were surprisingly bitter. From the innocently naive "when I have children I won't be going to cafes with them at all", to the tongue in cheek peppered with a grain of salt "people with children should be locked up at home and not be allowed to come out into general society". However, the comments I found most obnoxious was the suggestion that McCafe was the appropriate place to take children if you want a coffee. Sorry, but drinking sub-standard coffee in an artificially lit, sterile environment, more often than not situated on a main road whilst my child is indoctrinated into the religion of the golden arches is not something I am interested in.

I would never take Isaac to a fancy restaurant but I have taken him to cafes and he has been well behaved. There is obviously a difference between a 7 month old happily playing or dozing in his pram and a two year throwing a tantrum and when we get that far we may need to revise our cafe policy. A number of things need to be given consideration - the comfort and happiness of the child, the need for social interaction (and caffeine!) on the part of the mother, the comfort of other patrons and also the business interests of the owners of the cafe (something not discussed in the article or the comments). Like most things in life tolerance and understanding is needed on all sides. Those that sneer at the approach of a pram and bluster and swear about it's presence meaning they have to take a detour to their table need to show a little more of that tolerance. Parents who let their children run riot and expect the wait staff to act as child minders need to show some respect. One aspect of this discussion that I only realised after taking to a colleague who owns a restaurant is the impact of mothers groups coffees on cafes. The inevitable re-arranging of furniture, the purchase of only a few coffees and then the hours spent sitting in the cafe discussing motherly issues doesn't make for a particularly profitable transaction and other patrons do feel put out. I didn't really see it from this side before but he makes a good point. A good mothers group option is finding a park with a cafe nearby that does take-aways.

Photographing Baby

2009-07-21T15:01:00.006+10:00

One of the things we joke about in our house is just how many photos I take of Isaac. When he was very little, each new outfit or expression was worthy of taking a picture. Eventually I realised that it didn't matter what he was wearing or how he looked I'd think he was the cutest tot out and want to capture every moment. So I have held back a little - perhaps 2 or 3 photos a day rather than 10! I am no fantastic photographer, but I have found that the following tips make for great pictures:

Natural light makes for the best photos - I find that the photos I take in the park are always the nicest
Fill the frame with baby's face - close ups are always gorgeous
If baby is not in a great mood, you can always take very cute photos of feet and hands. I have a series of these hanging in our hallway
To get baby's attention, rattle or toy or some keys near her eye line and then gradually move the key/toys away
Get other people into the pictures (Dad, Mum, Grandparents etc.) I have found that people have naturally lovely expressions when they play with babies.
Convert some photos to black and white or sepia - they instantly look professional!
Get down low when taking photos so that they are not all from above

It's also way too easy to leave 100s of lovely photos on the digital camera and never print them out. The fact is you are more likely to look over an album than photos on your PC, so make sure that you do get them printed out.

I also found this article - http://digital-photography-school.com/mono-with-a-dash-of-colour-photoshop-cs2-tutorial - not so long ago on how to bring colour into photos converted to black and white. I think it's a cute effect.

Normally the person behind the camera is mum - a friend of mine commented "my son is going to look at his baby photos and think his Dad looked after him all the time!" So make sure that you enlist the help of someone else to take some family shots every now and then and occasionally hand the camera over to Dad.

Happy Snapping!

Comparisons

2009-06-21T19:57:00.002+10:00

Mothers groups are wonderful. It's such a pleasure to catch up with other mums who know exactly what you are going through. However there is always the temptation to compare bubs. Isaac is at least a month younger than most of the babies we know, so he is and always will be a little behind in achieving milestones. Adding to that the fact that he was born a month early, I know I have to give him time to get there. However, when everyone pops their baby on their tummy and the other babies raise their heads high on strong arms, Isaac gently lays his cheek against the floor and decides it's as good a time as any for a nap. I start to feel that twinge of mother guilt - what I am doing wrong? Until another mother looks wistfully at Isaac and says "I wish my baby could put himself to sleep like that." At the same time I am thinking "I need to give him more tummy time - he is so behind the other babies". Yet, just shy of 6 months, he decided the other day to roll over. I watched him roll, very precisely, from his back onto his tummy. He played there for a while and then rolled from his tummy to his back. I had been worrying for weeks that he hadn't rolled yet and was very behind on basic milestones.

Isaac has excelled at two things since birth - eating and sleeping (ah he is his father's son). We have had 10 hour stretches of sleep at night since he was around 9 weeks old, for which I am incredibly grateful. I am sure that this was no magic on my part and just an incredible stroke of luck. We have recently started solids and we can't shovel the carrot in fast enough for our little man. One mothers group I was feeding Isaac his favourite carrot when another mother asked "how is doing that? I must be doing something wrong." Mother's groups are wonderful but we need to make sure that we don't assume we are doing something wrong when the babies around us appear to be doing things differently. As I keep reminding myself - by the time they are 3 years old, they will have all caught up to one another. In the meantime I am enjoying my little baby whilst I can.

The great motherhood debate

2009-06-16T10:19:00.001+10:00

A little while ago I picked up a copy of my Child magazine and on the whole considered it a good read. However, I took issue with one of the articles, and it appears quite a few other people did to. Here is the link to the article and to the responses (including mine).

Going Solo

2009-05-31T16:13:00.003+10:00

These past few days have given me a new-found respect for single mums ( & those mums whose partners don't contribute to the household). At touch last week Nathan hurt his ankle. I was busy chatting to Isaac on the sidelines when I heard someone say "I think Nathan's hurt - he's limping." Now, Nathan has a habit of limping after playing most sports so I said "Oh, that's just how he is after a bit of a run." I looked up briefly to see Nathan collapse on the ground, rolling and clinging to his foot. So after gaining a reputation as an uncaring wife, I dutifully found some ice and took Nathan home at half time. A trip to the physio later and we establish that whilst his Achilles tendon is intact, it's undergone a fair bit of trauma and Nathan needs to stay off it as much as possible. These past few days, he has taken residence on the couch, with his ankle iced and elevated. Unfortunately, Isaac has chosen this exact time to go through a clingy "only- mummy-will-do" phase. Balancing a crying baby, whilst making dinner and cleaning with no help has given me a new perspective on both how much Nathan does do around the house as well a small insight into single mum's lives. Nathan is of course terribly frustrated that he cannot settle Isaac at the moment. The other day he was determined to hold him. Isaac cried and looked at me beseechingly through the tears, his chubby little hands reaching out. I looked beseechingly at Nathan to hand him over. "No, he needs to learn that he can't always go to you." Eventually the tears stopped but it does make me wonder how we will manage when I go back to work.