Showing posts with label home life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label home life. Show all posts

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Has It Really Been 12 Days?

We've had a string of unexpected events over the past 12 days. After each one, it took a day for me to catch up on the things I needed to get done. And then, something else would happen and I'd have to play catch up again. It was tiring and I got lazy at the end of each day.

One of the exciting happenings was this little emergency :


He jumped from one end of a two seater sofa to the other and hit his chin on the padded armrest. Who would have thought that a padded armrest would split a chin? Anyway, we had a dream trip to the hospital - he fell asleep shortly after we arrived, didn't wake up when they pulled and prodded at his chin and then was fresh and compliant when it was time for them to glue his chin back together. 

That little bit of pain hasn't slowed Adrian down at all and he has carried on running, jumping and falling as he has done every other day. Unfortunately, Aaron got a round of his tongue ulcers and that pain had him whining for a day. The good thing that came out of that was that Aaron stayed home from school and the extra attention he got led to the start of a new project that he and I will work on - a huge timeline of the age of dinosaurs. Its going to be massive because we intend to draw most the dinosaurs from each of the Cretaceous, Jurassic and Triassic periods. Wish me luck!

It wasn't all unpleasant events, my parents are back here in Brisbane. Earlier on, my cousin from Malaysia was here for a few days and we did all the touristy things. My brother from Sydney also paid us an unexpected visit earlier in the week. 

Now, I need to get to my sewing machine - winter is here and Adrian needs some long pants!




Sunday, July 17, 2011

Sometimes, Its OK To Be Noisy

Ah, another quiet Sunday lazing in front of the TV.

Oops, that wasn't us. It was our neighbour's Sunday. Except, they didn't exactly have it quiet either. The back of our house looks onto a block of apartments and right into one particular living room. I'm guessing that the noise from our side floats straight in there because they have their doors wide open all the time. What I've started doing is keeping our doors closed in the evenings when we're the noisiest.

Aaron had a friend over today. The other little boy is about half a year older, blond, blue eyes and nearly head and shoulders taller than Aaron. So physically, they look very very different. But they are amazingly in sync in all other ways. The way they talk about dinosaurs, their drawing styles and even the non-dinosaur interests that they have are similar.

Back to the story about the neighbours. Well, Aaron and his friend eventually made their way outdoors to play dinosaurs. They were having a fantastic time roaring and stomping around in their make belief world. Unfortunately, they both have the same shrill scream when they're caught and being devoured.

Personally, I didn't think they were all that noisy. It wasn't really all that annoying a noise. But, after 10 minutes, I hear this shrill "SHUT UP!" coming from their living room. I did feel slightly embarrassed and tried to keep the boys a little more quiet but they just couldn't control themselves and I moved them indoors.

Thinking about it now, I think I should have left them out there. Our house is surrounded on all sides by 3 and 4 storey apartment blocks. They are mostly inhabited by singles or couples without kids. And guess what? They sometimes have parties that last late into the night when little boys are trying to sleeping. They had noisy barbecues when Adrian was a newborn and needing 3 naps a day. I understood and never yelled over to them. They were noisy but not excessive so I dealt with it because I acknowledge that they are at that stage in their lives.

So, today, we were noisy but not excessively and I have been very conscious about the noise level everyday so I know it hasn't been disturbing on other days. I think they should acknowledge that kids being happy and playing without restraint for a little while is valid because that is the stage they are at in life.

Its probably one of those things they won't know until they have some noisy children of their own.

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Fast life or Slow life?

Do you all remember back to the time when I lived in Palembang? I was a really diligent blogger - everyday except for Saturdays. (I probably had a lot more readers then too.) I also used to complain quite a bit about how routine our lives were over there with nothing much to do and nowhere to go. Life moved at a very slow and steady pace.

Its quite the opposite here in Brisbane, especially over the past six weeks. Ordinarily, there are already lots of outings that we plan and don't plan. Its easy to jump in the car and go out somewhere if things were a little slow at home.

Since the end of January, I've had an old friend staying here with us. We've known each other for close to 25 years so she's more like family than a friend. Before she got here, I asked her how long she was staying and her answer was always "Until you kick me out." My response to that was that the noise in this house would drive her away automatically. In any case, she lasted six fun weeks and I think got a good look at what day-to-day motherhood is about.

I had a good time with her around. An extra person in the house to talk to during the day makes a lot of difference. Unfortunately, I wasn't exactly the ideal host to show her a good night out on the town or anything like that. In fact, she only saw Brisbane by night on two occasions during her stay! Instead, we spent a lot of time cooking, sewing and driving Aaron back and forth from school.

It sounds like a very mundane time but it wasn't - not for me anyway. There was only a rough outline of routine to each day. In my mind, its sort of a fusion of her single lifestyle where things can be done on a whim and my life where the aim is usually to stick to the same routine each and every day. All that fun and laughter has just made the past six weeks disappear. Even with her gone, I know that the next few weeks are going to fly by - with or without a solid routine.

So, this is our first Sunday at home in a long time. I've been thinking of how much I hated the routine in Palembang but how tiring it can sometimes get when you don't have a routine to lean on. Life was slow in Palembang but here in Brisbane, time is moving at warp speed. I know that one place isn't better than the other place but I can't help comparing. And I like wondering which one would be the more ideal lifestyle. Slow and steady so you can enjoy each and every second. Or fast moving and unpredictable with the excitement and momentum that makes weeks disappear in seconds?

I don't think there is really a balance to be achieved either because its a little like fast forwarding, then jerking to a pause and then fast forwarding again. I'm also starting to think that I can't slow it down even if I wanted to because there is just so much to do each day. All I can do is make it a little more organized so that its not all crazy, fire fighting madness every day. So, I'm going to do some cooking for the week now.

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Domestic Duties Made Easier

Last month, I mentioned not liking being called a housewife or a homemaker. Bilbo suggested I just call myself a domestic engineer. Well, in true engineering fashion, I do try to do things like improve efficiency and cut down time.

I came across this book, "1001 Little Housekeeping Miracles" and borrowed it for a few laughs. It turned out to be a very helpful book. I knew of a few of the tips but there are probably another 990 that I didn't know about. Here are a few random ones for today's post:

The Kitchen
- Vinegar Descaler: Cover the element of your kettle with a solution of half cold water, half distilled vinegar. Leave for a couple of hours then rinse.

- Stain Free Tupperware: Tupperware stains can be bleached out by strong sunlight. Put containers in the garden and leave for several hours.

The Bathroom
- Cola Cleaner: Toilet bowls come up shiny when cleaned with old flat cola. Pour a can into the bowl then leave at least an hour and flush - lime-scale dissolves easily.

- Mirror miracle: Make up a solution of equal parts of vinegar and water. Wearing rubber gloves use old newspapers to wipe the surface of the mirror with the mix. Add extra shine by rubbing with a clean blackboard eraser.

Children's Rooms
- Bread Line: Although it sounds obvious, most pencil marks can be removed with a white eraser. Alternatively, press a piece of fresh bread into a wall stain to extract it.

- Pristine Prams: Clean buggies and prams with a sprinkling of baking soda on a damp paper towel. Wipe down and rinse with warm water. More persistent marks can be removed with the suds (not water) from a solution of washing up liquid.

Try them out and let me know. The only one I have tried is the Vinegar descaler and the mirror miracle and they worked.

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

My Occupation And A Little More On Air Travel

Ever since I stopped working, I always have trouble filling in the "Occupation" field in forms. Why do people always need to know what you do anyway? Or if you do anything at all? I have a strong dislike for the word "housewife". I don't have an issue with the role but I just don't think its a nice word. So, I usually put down the marginally better "homemaker". Sometimes I'd put "unemployed" just to be different.

I was opening a new bank account today but instead of filling in a paper form, the bank guy was filling out my details on the computer. When it came to the "Occupation" question, I just mumbled off "homemaker" but he said it wasn't an option in his drop down selection. "Housewife" wasn't there either. After looking around, the guy found "Domestic Duties". So they've came up with an alternative to "housewife" and "homemaker" but it wasn't any better. That title could apply to maids and cleaners too. In this day of inflated titles, why did they DE-flate mine? Is it so far fetched to put down "Operations Manager - Home" in that drop down selection?

Anyway, such is life. Now, back to the topic of travel! Take a look at this! The latest addition to Singapore's Changi Airport is a humongous slide. It is supposedly the worlds tallest slide and is targeted at bored adult travelers! Standing four storeys tall, it shoots you down as fast as 6 meters per second.

So, most adults would prefer not to be seated with kids but would perhaps like to play like little kids to relieve their boredom during long transit times. Hmmmmm.....

It sounds like a lot of fun but the article says that it costs $25 for two rides. Thats a bit steep and I'm not sure I'd pay up for those few seconds of fun.

Anyway, I get plenty of entertainment people watching at airports. And back in the good old days where I didn't travel with a constantly chatting little boy, it was also the time I did all my day dreaming. I used to feel guilty sitting around day dreaming in my normal days at work or at home because that would be classified as a waste of time. But at an airport, what else is there to do?

Saturday, March 6, 2010

I Need Ear Plugs

I wish I could borrow a noise level meter from somewhere. I'm sure that there are times during the day when there are enough decibels in this house to cause hearing loss. Even if I don't go deaf, my brain is definitely operating at a reduced capacity with the mess I'm often surrounded by.

Aaron has been noisy from the start. At first he was a super cryer. Then he was a constant gurgle of gibberish. And now he is a constant narrator of whatever he's doing while simultaneously trying to join in with any and all conversations around him. Ever since he figured out the CD player, he also plays his dinosaur CD repeatedly and sings along like a rock star. So, add on the times that he is whiney or demanding and you have 24 hours of non stop noise from one little guy.

Adrian is a much quieter baby and often charms us all with a sweet voice that coos and giggles. Nevertheless, he's still a newborn and they're entitled to their Xhrs of crying each day. So, sleepy time, bath time, nappy change time, need-a-burp time and just-feel-like-it tine are all noisy times that very often coincide with Aaron needing something.

And to top it all off, the birds outside are also in on the job of driving me crazy with noise. Each day, at lunch time, the tree behind our house is full of lorikeets feasting and partying. Have you ever been near a tree full of them?? The noise level is unbelievable! They're as bad as lawn mowers. And they do this everyday from about noon until 5pm.

So, are you getting a picture of the noise levels in this house? Three year old chatterbox with CD Player, two month old that communicates with crying and a tree full of partying birds! The noise sometimes makes me feel so messy inside I can't stay focused on a single thought for long. Thankfully, two of the noise sources are asleep now so all I'm hearing is the cheep-cheep-cheep. No wonder its extra hard to blog these days.