Spy-O-Scope

We're only at the start of autumn over here so the weather in 'sunny' Queensland is still warm on most days. There have been a few sunny days this week but we've also had thunderstorms in the evenings. Today was one of those sunny days but we chose to get frozen in an ice skating rink instead.

I was alone with the two boys in the rink and was worried that I would have to deal with two whiny brats that wanted to go home because they couldn't get the hang of it. My mother came along as backup in case I had to hand one off to her to sit down.

Aaron did very well and was soon skate/walking along without holding on to the sides. Adrian had a frame that he pushed along and he was doing ok too except that he wanted to sit down and have a snack after every loop around. Eventually, he just sat out and spied on us through his Spy-O-Scope. (I asked if it was a telescope and he said "No, its a Spy-O-Scope").

I had a very enjoyable afternoon with the two of them and hopefully, we'll get to go back again soon.

Things We Get Up To During The Holidays

Aaron has been on school holidays this week. This means that I've been on holidays too. I've been sleeping in past 8am on a few mornings, letting the house get messier than usual and we've been having some junky meals. I had plans to take them to the beach but we have had showers every days and it looks like thats going to continue until the end of the holidays.

Aaron's first priority was to get to the library. That was easily done and he has an entire shelf full of 'new' books to read. So, he's more than happy to stay at home. He's not a bookworm for the whole day and the rest of the time, he and Adrian are making lots of noise. Yesterday, they wanted to be pirates and I got a whole day of  'Aaaargh me hearties!' and other similar phrases that they imagined pirates would use. Adrian is a superhero pirate with a cape.

His other request was to go to Orleigh Park in West End and thats where we were this morning. Its a great park with giant sized bugs, worms, frogs and something that looks a little like an eggplant.

So other than the trip to the library and the park, we've been home for a lot of the time. Aaron has also been helping out a lot around the house. Yesterday, he hung up the entire load of laundry, by himself. I was definitely impressed. Today, he helped my father clean up some sugar cane.

I hope we wake up and see some sunshine tomorrow. Then maybe we can try to make it to the beach.

Irrational Fears

I've mentioned before that my days are very hectic and I'm usually on the go from morning to night. You would think that I wouldn't have any time left over to worry about trivial things right? Wrong. I don't know why I do it but I have a constant stream of irrational anxieties. As soon as I put one to bed, I find another one to obsess over. 

Several months ago, I found a couple of grey hairs. I obsessed about this and was constantly looking for more. So of course, there were more. Eventually, I convinced myself that this was the start of me going grey and I would achieve a whole head of them within the next few months.

That crazy notion was taken over by another hair related one. I started using one of those vacuum robots and it picked up a lot of hair around the house. I was now going bald! Once again, the more I looked, the more hairs I saw everywhere. I just looked up the word for the irrational fear of going bald - Phalacrophobia.

So the crazy Phalacrophobia carried on for a few weeks until Aaron, Adrian and Richard went for their 6 monthly dental visits. Richard had to have several treatments and we found out that Adrian has something called hypoplasia which causes his teeth to chip very easily. And he needed fillings too! So in comes my honondasdontiaphobia - fear of losing teeth. From the moment they came home with those issues, I started to think that I needed fillings in my teeth. I rang for an appointment but I wasn't due for another month and the health fund wasn't going to cover the checkup and clean prior to 6 months. I had 4 weeks to wait! I imagined that the cavities in my teeth were growing by the day and by the time I had my visit, the dentist would tell me that I had to have at least two teeth extracted. I'm not kidding when I say I started to feel shooting (mild) pain in my teeth every so often. My tongue was constantly prodding what I thought were holes. 

The dentist finally rang yesterday to say I was due for an appointment so I went in straight away. I actually had butterflies in my stomach as I waited for my turn. Guess what?! Absolutely nothing wrong. They didn't even need to spend a lot of time cleaning my teeth. 

Since the dental appointment, I've had some fleeting thoughts about how my pants seem to be tighter than they used to be but that little worry has been taken over by something else now. This morning, Adrian work up with a cold and now, 6 hours later, I think I feel the start of a sore throat and any minute now, I'm going to need to blow my nose.

Its crazy, and its annoying. Thankfully, I don't annoy anybody else with it. 

Balloon Twisting

This Easter long weekend has turned out to be very enjoyable for everybody. We took Aaron and Adrian to to the Festival of Sails on Friday. This was a sort of carnival that coincides with the Brisbane to Gladstone yacht race. There were countless market stalls there and plenty of activities and rides for the children. On top of all that, it was held by the beach!

I thought the beach would have been the winner but surprisingly, it was this balloon twisting station that caught Aaron's attention. This man was incredible. He could make anything that the children asked for - ninja turtles, butterflies, something called 'Yoshi', anything. Best of all, the council must have paid this guy because we didn't need to pay for any of it. 

Aaron asked for a ninja. 

Three year olds are sometimes hard to please. Adrian asked for a knight's sword and the guy must have thought it was too easy so he decided he'd make this huge one. Size isn't everything and Adrian was not impressed with this huge sword. He couldn't wield it and there was no convincing him that it was easier to fight dragons from a distance. In the end, we had to dismantle it (out of sight of the balloon guy) and he waved the hilt around instead. 

 Aaron was more than happy with his ninja and wanted to participate in the 60 minute workshop on how to twist your own balloons.

Look what he made. The other little boy is one of Aaron's classmates. Richard (seen in the red cap above) was on hand to help the kids out but they did a lot of the work themselves. Aaron even made that yellow sword for Adrian - a very suitably sized one!

Night Time Break In By Two Year Old

Have you all seen this video yet? Its so funny! And, the parents picked a great piece of accompanying music too, In the Hall of the Mountain  King by Grieg.



Adrian has been a bit of a night time 'thief' too although nothing as skilled as that two year old in the video. There are no break ins at our house since we sleep with the doors open but we often wake up to some re-arrangements of pillows or soft toys from one bed to another and its all thanks to him.

I've Had Enough of Half Sized Finger Nails

Aaron has the horrible habit of chewing his nails. It all started when he got the hand, foot, mouth disease nearly three years ago. I have tried sticking bits of tape on his nails, gloves and also the bitter nail polish that is non toxic. In fact, he even chewed his toe nails. Can you imagine that?? That was thankfully short lived. Phew!

I remember that I chewed my nails when I was his age too. Each time that I saw the white bit growing, I had to bite, and tear. It hurt and often bled but I don't remember my mother nagging me to stop but I grew out of the habit by the time I was around ten. Unfortunately, I have no idea how I kicked that habit.

There is a two week break coming up and I think I need to take some drastic action here. I can't wait for Aaron to grow out of it on his own because he might not. There are many ideas out there but many are geared towards adults that have little more will power. So far, I have three new ideas.

1) I put some colored nail polish on his nails. Supposedly this works with girls because they want to keep it looking nice. BUT, he might end up eating a lot of toxic paint.

2) I file some fake nails down and stick them on him. These are completely new to me and I have no idea how it works so, I'd need to do some experimenting here.

3) This is my most drastic strategy. We grow chillis in the garden and maybe I should rub a bit on all his finger tips. It will feel hot for a long time and he'll definitely not want to taste it more than once. The big downside here is that he may rub his eyes. So, this is probably an idea the I shouldn't carry out....even if I think its the most effective. 

So, are there any nail biters out there with some useful tips for children?

Whats blogging again?

Yes, I have become a slack blogger. On the upside, I think I've been a more hard working mother this term. The blogging ideas always come when I'm driving but by the time I sit down at 9pm, they are either forgotten or I'm completely drained of all my will power to do anything more than passive internet surfing. If its going to be chore, then I might as well skip it right?

Adrian turned three in December so he has grown out of the little Montessori class that we both attended together previously. He is old enough to join the first of the pre-school classes but I don't think thats for us yet. I'd like another year with him before I lose him to all his little school friends.

Each morning, after we drop Aaron to school, I aim to make our house into a mini pre-school.

We do a practical life skills, like folding the laundry.

Practice with numbers and using a pencil. Here he is measuring his bugs and 'writing' down the measurement on some dotted numbers.

I sometimes do the counting with his Hot Wheels cars but he's here with the abacus.

He seems to like these alphabets that I've made and he's finally able to spell his own name and some three letter words. I found that having him practice the sounds this way has helped his reading quite a bit.

So, thats what my mornings are usually like. By the time he's ready for his nap, I am too!

After dinner, the evenings are similar to this except that I try to focus a little more on Aaron. There is no bribing or coersion here and we end up having an enjoyable time. Many of the activities I plan are like games so they think its fun.

All that 'educational' play, driving around for school and other stuff, cooking and cleaning has me drained (and lazy) by the end of each day.  Thats why blogging has suffered. However, after a relatively laid back day like today, I feel motivated to try to get into at least alternate day blogging this week. We'll see how I go...