Circus

Copyright Circus Royale

The Circus has come to town! The last time we had a circus in town was 4 or 5 years ago, so this is exciting.

Last night I took the middle two kids to see the circus, we all had a ball. Amber didn’t come because she has just returned from school camp and was exhausted, too many late nights and early mornings. Possum didn’t come because he’s too young, and I didn’t want to have to chase him all around the building. My Mum came, she paid, thank you Mum, you’re a gem.

The circus was great, so much fun, the magic was all there. We loved it. One great thing was they had no exotic animals, just normal domesticated pets or farm animals. First animals we saw were three steers, they walked around the ring a few times, then stepped up onto steps and stared at the audience. I was so glad we didn’t have front row seats, even gladder later on. Then a tiny pony raced in and ran under the steers’ stomachs, rather interesting, round and round then out they all went. Then there was a dancing poodle, seemed to enjoy itself. There were a couple of camels who marched disdainfully around the ring three times, then went back out. Four little ponies who jumped over and through hoops and played tricks by avoiding their turns for jumping. Three lovely silky terriers, who played around and did their best to avoid jumping over and through hoops, the kids really enjoyed it. Lily’s jaw dropped so often we needed to pick it up off the floor. However, she wasn’t overly impressed when the steers and camels pooed on the floor.

The clown was fun, he called a couple of volunteers from the audience, the other reason I was glad not to be in the front row, and made them do funny things. The there was a man who squeezed into a bottle (I think he was the clown), I thought Mum was going to throw up when he did it. They had a juggler who juggled six batons at a time, he also juggled soccer balls, and silk scarves. A lady who balanced on a bike, and juggled at the same time. A young man who did all manner of strength tricks with the juggling guy. A young lady who used Russian silks, then spun around on a hanging hoop. The kids were enthralled, so was I. A young lady who did hoop tricks, her finale was to spin a couple around her and then the others threw hoops at her, until she was spinning so many you could only see her feet and head, everyone was impressed. The finale of the show and most wonderful of all was the ring of death. The dog trainer also did this one, and he walked around and round, and up and down on this wheel as it spun up and down. Then to really stress us out he did it blindfolded.

We loved the circus and the kids want to go back today. Maybe we can organise for Amber to go, but I think she will spend most of the day in bed. The circus is welcome to come back anytime, and we’ll be first in line to see it.

Oh and mustn’t forget the geese. Someone wrangled 6 geese around the ring, up a slide and down the other side. Lots of fun.

It doesn't rain, it pours

Life has suddenly got busy. Possum is three, so I was beginning to get a little bored with full time stay at home mum. I made plans, re-enrolled at Uni, to finish my Grad Dip, I have three units to go, so should be finished in 18 months. I volunteered to help some research at said Uni (filled in and posted off the relevant paperwork), it should be fun, all about supporting breastfeeding mums and the difference good quality, easily available support can make, I’m the good quality support. I increased my commitment to helping train breastfeeding counsellors, I promised to run a unit in July, September and November. Then, just when I thought I would be busy enough, I had a phone call from a new mum in town, and as a result am seriously considering restarting ABA group meetings here in town. Then Mum noticed a job add, so now ….. Well now I have a job opportunity too good to miss. So from having nothing to do except play with Possum, now I’m going to be lucky to have time to play with him. Still we need the money and hubby can shift his work hours to look after Possum for 12 hours a week. Life will be busy, but then hubby is good around the house, at least the house will get some work done while I’m away.

8 posts in 8 days

Well its day 13, and it looks like I only managed 8 posts in 8 days, good thing I didn’t commit myself to it. I knew it would be hard, staying at home with kids keeps you busy, but it doesn’t really inspire extra thought. Maybe if I had done it in July, when I’m going to be so busy, I doubt I’ll have time to sit at the computer and blog. I’ll have to keep you all up to date. I’m so impressed with those who have managed to keep up the post count. Of course I didn’t really commit to it, so maybe I would have done better if I had promised the whole world I would do it, rather than just promising myself that I would give it a go. Big difference.

Just Good Luck

My kids are wonderful, yes I am biased. I was chatting with another mum the other day and we were saying how lucky we were that out kids were so well behaved, and we didn’t know what we had done wrong when they misbehaved, because of course all kids are good and bad. I thought about it for a minute, you can’t have it both ways, well actually mums don’t get it either way. If the kids are good it is luck, if they are bad it is something we have done wrong. It’s a lose lose situation.

My kids are all good looking, now this is really good luck, they have somehow managed to get all the good genes from both of us, well except for teeth, they have lucked out there. So their looks truly are good luck, after all physically it is a bit of a lucky dip. My kids are also really well behaved, most of the time, and I like to think that this is more than just luck. I think it is the result of the time and effort I have put into them over the past 15 years. OK, so I’m lucky I can afford to be a stay at home mum, but then again, we have chosen to live simply so that we can live on one income. We have four kids in a three bedroom house, we don’t have lots of electronic stuff, our TV is small, our car is old. We choose these things so that we can afford to live on one income and I can afford to spend time with the kids. I really do think we are benefiting from all the time I put in, I don’t think it is all down to luck.

So please think about how wonderful your kids are and claim the good as well as the bad. The good isn’t all luck and the bad isn’t all our fault, both are a combination of luck and the way we have brought the kids up.

Climbing Rocks

Today was a public holiday, so no school or work, just family time. My cousin is visiting from interstate so we thought, time for some fun. Today’s fun activity was a picnic at a rock in a nearby town. We live in an area that has lots of granite breakaways, that are great fun to climb. I take the kids rock climbing at least once every holiday time, maybe more often.

Today we introduced my cousin to the joys of climbing rocks, she was impressed, asked if I’m rearing mountain goats, not children. Maybe we are, they were certainly more energetic than I am. End of the day, the kids and I are exhausted, ready for an early night. We had a ball.

Quitting Facebook

Yes, I am a bit behind the times, everyone else quit on the 31st. But thanks to Quit Facebook day I have finally found out how to quit completely. I deactivated my account once, but it just wasn't the same. So this time, I'm going to contact all my friends to get some details, like email addresses and then I'll quit for good. I've wanted to do this for quite some time, and have not been able to work it out. Now with the help of the following I will be able to quit for good: http://www.wikihow.com/Permanently-Delete-a-Facebook-Account

On another note, this is yesterday's post. Doing 30 posts in 30 days is proving to be as hard as I expected. Not sure what I'll post today :)

Knitting with circular needles

I love knitting, it is very relaxing. Recently I discovered the delight of knitting on circular needles. I used to knit beanies flat and seam them at the back, because I could not master double pointed needles, I suspect it is something you have to see in action to comprehend, and I’ve never had that opportunity. So I’ll stick with my circular needles. But then I discovered that circs can be used for more than just circular knitting, they are a lifesaver with flat knitting too. You can’t lose the other needle, its attached to the end of the cable. The other bonus is that your knitting won’t fall off the end of your needle while in your bag, as you simply pull the needle out and the knitting hangs on the cable. Life saving when working on an adult jumper, which just squeezes onto a regular needle, and often used to try jumping off. So yes I love my circs, have you guessed?

So recently I tried a new innovation, the seamless garment. The picture is of a seamless cardi I’m making for Possum. You start at the top and work down. When you get to the underarms, the sleeve parts are put onto holders (or in my case, spare cables) and you just keep on working down. When I finish the back and fronts, I’ll go back and do the sleeves then I’ll pick up stiches and knit the front panel and collar on. So when I cast off for the last time, it will be ready to wear, no sewing involved. Yes, I know it just looks strange, but I’ll update on it when finished.

My other new adventure in knitting is two at a time socks. Yes the circular needles are great here too; I knit my socks from the toe up, so here you see two toes, hanging on the cables. The beauty here is that I don’t have to count rows I just knit until it is big enough, then do the heal then do the rest until I run out of yarn. Again, I’ll update on these socks when I’ve finished them.

The Park

Took Possum to the park this morning. We had lots of fun. He absolutely loves the swing. When he gets a bit fractious at home, its off to the park for a swing. He tolerates the swing in our back yard, but prefers the park. Of course its not only the swing that keeps him happy. He loves the slide and the telescope (well not a real telescope), he loves to make sand castles, but most of all, he just loves to play with any other child who is there. So long as they don’t take his swing.

Its great to get out and enjoy the lovely weather we have been having lately, and its lovely to chat with the other parents at the park. Not so nice to see the High School students sitting around wasting time, and using bad language. Although most of the time behind that teenage bravado they are still the lovely kids I knew a few years back. Pity they are wagging school though. Still the park is a delightful way to while away the morning.

Study

I just bit the bullet, yesterday I contacted my University and asked if I could come back to complete my Grad Dip. I haven’t done any work on it since 2008. While it is great that I passed the Lactation Consultant exam, sadly that isn’t a career path for me out here in the bush. I’ll probably be lucky to make enough money to pay for my professional affiliation, let alone anything to actually spend on the family, so really IBCLC is a hobby for me. I need a career on top of it, and I have just over half a professional qualification, time to finish it, and maybe go back to work when possum is in full time school.

So as of July I’ll be back to studying, three units to go, I aim to finish at the end of 2011, and then maybe get a part time job in my local library and wait for the librarian to decide to move on. I spoke to her the other day, and she certainly doesn’t plan on staying here for ever, she’ll probably move on when her daughter hits High School, so maybe my career will pan out in about 2015. I hope she stays long enough for me to finish the degree and get some experience, so I can do the job.

30 posts in 30 days

A friend, whose blog I follow, is participating in this. I read her blog and thought why not? If she can do it, I can do it, then I thought, maybe not. Still I’m going to try. It’s a bit daunting to produce 30 blogs over the next month, especially as I posted nothing in May. So that means 30 ideas that I want to share with the world, or at least the small part of the world that reads my blog. Challenging, but I think I can do it. Some of these posts will be pretty short, but we’ll see how I go.

Phases

If I had a dollar for every time I’ve heard a parent say “he/she’s just going through a phase” I’d be a rich woman. Children are always changing, growing and developing. Many parents seem to look at every stage as a phase that the child is going through. They are constantly waiting for the child to come out of that phase and become a wonderful person. I find that kind of sad, it seems like they are never quite satisfied with the child they have today, and are always waiting for the mythical improvement that is just around the corner.

I look at my kids and see them, just as they are, the way they are today is the child I love right now. Of course I know they will grow up and I often wonder what they will be like in 5 or 10 years, but I’m not desperately waiting for them to grow out of whatever phase they are in right now. I’m enjoying them where they are at, just the way they are right now.

I’m not sure where this going through a phase idea comes from, but I wonder how helpful it really is. I don’t think parents find it very relaxing waiting for their kids to get through this phase, then the next. I must say I find it enjoyable just watching my kids and enjoying them where they are today. Maybe as parents we need to stop looking forward for a moment, and enjoy the now, just like our little ones do. There is so much pleasure in being in the moment, and I think it might be helpful as parents to be in the moment with our kids, and enjoy them right now in this moment, at this stage.