Retail Therapy With The Family

Did you know that there is an explanation of "Retail Therapy" on Wikipedia?


Retail therapy is shopping with the primary purpose of improving the buyer's mood or disposition. Often seen in people during periods of depression or transition, it is normally a short-lived habit. Items purchased during periods of retail therapy are sometimes referred to as "comfort buys".

I wasn't in need of a boost in my mood today, I just wanted to see if I could pick up a few bargains at the stocktake sales. And I did! Those who know me know that I'm usually a terrible shopper. I don't like browsing through the racks and usually only look at things from outside the store - if something is good enough, it'll catch my eye. Today was different, I was a champion shopper. And, I'm in a fantastic mood right now. 


The whole family went along because I had things in mind for everybody. And I succeeded in not only getting these items but getting them at fabulously discounted prices. And yet, they were not overjoyed. 


I shared the parenting duties with Richard. I made sure that they got food, drinks and frequent breaks. And of course, we had the usual time at the toy section - we always go look but never, ever, buy. Don't feel bad for my boys, this is one area that I have been extremely consistent so they don't expect to take anything away from the toy section and there is never any fuss as long as they can browse for as long as they like. 


Maybe guys of all ages are immune to the positive effects of Retail Therapy. Not one of the three of them seemed to leave the mall as happy as I did. We were there for a total of 4 hours so it wasn't extremely long. 


I knew that it would end up that way so I rewarded them all with some time at the park in the afternoon. That cheered everyone up and Richard and I had a relaxing time sitting back. There was even some Brisbane City Council sponsored event for the kids.

Guess what? I've had time to think about what I didn't get time to take a closer look at today and I think there are a few more bargains I should go back for tomorrow.

Brussel Sprouts - A New Obsession

We never had brussel sprouts at our house when I was growing up. In fact, I don't think I tried one until I was twenty two. They were overcooked and didn't leave much of an impression on me. I've had them off and on since then but didn't develop a strong liking for it.

Over the past few weeks, they have come into season and I decided to try them again. Now, I'm obsessed. I keep thinking of that unique taste - sometimes I think it tastes like medicine or some chemical, but other times its sort of sweet. So strange. I've had them three times in the past ten days and I'll be going to get more tomorrow. I wouldn't mind having some as a snack right now.

I never looked them up before and I only had a vague idea that they were a healthy food. In my mind, I thought they grew as tiny little individuals and I imagined rows and rows of them. Imagine my surprise when I went to look for some photos of them.

In this house of four, we have two lovers and two haters of this vegetable. Of course, the kids are the haters but thats too bad, we're having it again tomorrow. Richard likes it but keeps hinting that I should overcook them a little.

So where do you stand? Lover or hater?

Serious Toilet Training

We're on day 4 of serious toilet training. The success rate is a big fat ZERO at the moment.

I have been half heartedly trying to train Adrian for nearly six months now. During the school term, I'm just not brave enough to attempt a nappy free fifteen minute drive to school, fifteen minutes of mucking around while Aaron makes his way to the classroom and then and then fifteen minute drive home. And also, Adrian has his activities on at least two mornings and I usually have to go shopping on one of the other days. Hence, half hearted toilet training where he is only nappy free when we're home. Obviously, it hasn't worked at all, especially since some days, there are really only 3 or 4 training hours.

So, its the holidays now and my plan was for Adrian to be absolutely nappy free except for sleep time. I have caught every pee so far but I'm not counting that as success because he hasn't told me when he needs to go. As for the other stuff, I have caught nothing and it has been everywhere. I spend ages in the bathroom with him reading, singing, telling stories and whatever else but nothing happens. And as soon as we leave the bathroom, EVERYTHING happens. Why? Why? Why?

To relieve the frustration, I've gone in search of some toilet training humour. Here's a funny story...


A young couple was expecting a visit from the pastor of their church. 

They wanted everything to go smoothly, but their two year old son was just getting the hang of potty training.

He was at the stage where he would announce at the top of his voice, "I gotta pee," when he had to go to the bathroom.

His father, worried that this might be embarrassing when the minister came to call, instructed the child, "Don't shout that you've got to pee. Whisper!"

That evening the pastor makes his visit. He's there a very long time while the parents are in the kitchen preparing the meal. The two year old is leaning on one foot and the other.

Finally, the minister asks him, "What's the matter, son?"

The child looks at him and says, "I've gotta whisper!"

The pastor says, "It's all right, child. Whisper in my ear."

Finally, School Holidays!

Hooray! Hooray! Its a Holi-Holi-day!

We've started it off by spending the day at a couple of parks. Unfortunately, the wind was very cold and I didn't find it as relaxing as I was hoping it would be. It was still a great day. We weren't in a rush, didn't need to be anywhere by a specific time and just let the kids do whatever they wanted to while we sat and watched. 

You can't imagine how happy I feel knowing that tomorrow is not a school day. The 10 week term is about as long as I can go without getting some time off from that daily routine of getting people dressed, fed, belted into the car, taken out of the car, in and out, in and out, in and out...

I almost didn't make it to the finish line last week - and I'm the mom! By Wednesday, Aaron came up to me before bedtime and said "Ma, could you please wake up a little earlier tomorrow?" Oops! Yes, I did oversleep two days in a row and then rushed through the whole morning routine. Breakfasts and packed lunches weren't as yummy as they could have been I suppose. And of course, I was grouchy because we were running so late on those days. There was also a day that I uhmm.....resorted to a McDonalds breakfast for Adrian after dropping Aaron at school. 


So you can see that this two week break is very much needed. I don't plan on being lazy and just lounging around all day but I do plan on everybody having breakfast in their pyjamas and taking as long as they like. There will be no rush. I have made a long list of activities that we can choose from each day so that I don't need to waste any of the holiday time thinking of what we should do. A lot of my ideas are centered around the home but , we'll also be making trips to the libraries and maybe having picnic lunches out at a park somewhere. I'm looking forward to be a fun mom again instead of the mom with the imaginary whip.

Slang By Decade

The inevitable has happened. Aaron is starting to speak like his peers. "Like, y'know, like, one of the other doods (?)." I wasn't sure if I should put a question mark at the end of the sentence because he would definitely have spoken it with an upward inflection, but it doesn't necessarily mean he was asking a question. Alright, 'dood' (which by the way is the superior way of spelling 'dude' according to www.urbandictionary.com)  is not the latest slang term but the peers we're referring to here are 6-9 year olds. However, it did get me thinking of the time that he will probably start using words that I don't know about. Or perhaps words that I know, but have different meanings by then.


I was curious about the words I would need to pepper my conversations with if I wanted to appear a little more hmmmm....sweet. My search led me to HowStuffWorks and so for today, I am sharing with you the slang terms from the 1920s to now.

1920s 

1. 23 skiddoo -- to get going; move along; leave; or scram
2. The cat's pajamas -- the best; the height of excellence
3. Gams -- legs
4. The real McCoy -- sincere; genuine; the real thing
5. Hotsy-totsy -- perfect
6. Moll -- a female companion of a gangster
7. Speakeasy -- a place where alcohol was illegally sold and drunk during Prohibition
8. The bee's knees -- excellent; outstanding

1930s 

1. I'll be a monkey's uncle -- sign of disbelief; I don't believe it!
2. Gig -- a job
3. Girl Friday -- a secretary or female assistant
4. Juke joint -- a casual and inexpensive establishment with drinking, dancing, and blues music, typically in the southeastern United States
5. Skivvies -- men's underwear

1940s 

1. Blockbuster -- a huge success
2. Keeping up with the Joneses -- competing to have a lifestyle or socioeconomic status comparable to one's neighbors
3. Cool -- excellent; clever; sophisticated; fashionable; or enjoyable
4. Sitting in the hot seat -- in a highly uncomfortable or embarrassing situation
5. Smooch -- kiss

1950s 

1. Big brother is watching you -- someone of authority is monitoring your actions
2. Boo-boo -- a mistake; a wound
3. Hi-fi -- high fidelity; a record player or turntable
4. Hipster -- an innovative and trendy person

1960s 

1. Daddy-o -- a man; used to address a hipster or beatnik
2. Groovy -- cool; hip; excellent
3. Hippie -- derived from hipster; a young adult who rebelled against established institutions, criticized middle-class values, opposed the Vietnam War, and promoted sexual freedom
4. The Man -- a person of authority; a group in power

1970s 

1. Catch you on the flip side -- see you later
2. Dig it -- to like or understand something
3. Get down/Boogie -- dance
4. Mind-blowing -- unbelievable; originally an expression for the effects of hallucinogenic drugs
5. Pump iron -- lift weights
6. Workaholic -- a person who works too much or is addicted to his or her job

1980s 

1. Bodacious -- beautiful
2. Chillin' -- relaxing
3. Dweeb -- a nerd; someone who is not cool
4. Fly -- cool; very hip
5. Gag me with a spoon -- disgusting
6. Gnarly -- exceptional; very cool
7. Preppy -- one who dresses in designer clothing and has a neat, clean-cut appearance
8. Wicked -- excellent; great
9. Yuppie -- Young Urban Professional; a college-educated person with a well-paying job who lives near a big city; often associated with a materialistic and superficial personality

1990s Slang Terms

1. Diss -- show disrespect
2. Get jiggy -- dance; flirt
3. Homey/Homeboy -- a friend or buddy
4. My bad -- my mistake
5. Phat -- cool or hip; highly attractive; hot
6. Wassup? -- What's up?; How are you?
7. Word -- yes; I agree

2000s 

1. Barney Bag -- a gigantic purse
2. Newbie -- a newcomer; someone who is inexperienced
3. Peeps -- friends; people
4. Rents -- parents
5. Sweet -- beyond cool

After looking through the list, I think my favourites are from the 1920 - the cat's pyjamas and the bee's knees. Hey! I hear vintage is cool too. 

A Foggy Day

We had an interesting drive to school this morning. It was foggy for most of the 15 minute drive. Oh, some of you might feel that this is not blog worthy but it is. Why? Because our usual drive is under a blue sky and blinding sunshine. This strange day even had the boys speaking in soft voices for the entire drive. 

Fog = soft spoken boys! Who would have thought....

I even turned off the radio to make it seem foggier. Here's a photo I took from the car park at around 8.50am (yes, we were late again.)

 This was taken from outside Aaron's classroom.

And this is what it looks like almost every other day of the year!

I'm loving winter! Its around 10 degrees Celsius in the mornings and reaches the low 20s by midday. I wish it would get colder than this in Brisbane.

Sticky Maze

This crazy sticky maze was awesome experience. I don't like the word 'awesome' because its so overused by Aaron but I think its appropriate here because I think I had the same experience that he did. These days, it is rare to have a new and fresh experience that I can fully enjoy - grinning from ear to ear and rubbing my hands with glee type of enjoyment. I honestly felt taken back to the carefree days of my younger years for the thirty minutes we were in there.

The maze was made up of strips of sturdy sticky tape making the backbone of the walls and torn up strips of newspapers stuck on by people going through it. To set the mood, there was some lively gypsy sounding music played by a one man band at the center of the maze. It was crazy sounding!

This sign is a little hard to make out so here's the translation: "Sticky Maze. Walls are walls you can't go through them. Watch out for little children. If it gets too crowded find a quiet corner and wait." Click on the photo to make it bigger -  it just seemed to make the maze more inviting because it looked like work done by a child.

There weren't any high spots that I could get to to take a photo of the entire maze. What a pity! (Yes, there is the ferris wheel in the background but that would cost something like $15 per person)

Here's Aaron looking for empty spots to stick his strips on. If you're wondering how there would be any, the answer lies with kids like Adrian. He walked through pulling strips off instead and many other children were doing that too. 

Sprinkled around the maze were these funny looking people. They must have known that some kids would be be collectors of the strips because this guy's job was to  help sticky tape the newspapers around the little bodies so that their hands could be free to collect more. Unfortunately, Adrian would have none of that tape on him.

The most enjoyable part of this maze experience was the fact that I didn't need to keep an eye on Aaron and Adrian. Aaron led the way with Adrian following him everywhere. I didn't even bother to keep that close an eye on them because they weren't going to be going anywhere.

Too bad this was just a temporary setup and has been taken down already. But then again, the second time through it probably wouldn't be as much crazy fun.