First School Camp

I wonder what Aaron is doing? Did he like his lunch? Did he get room mates that were close friends? Will he know how to keep his stuff organised? Has he thought of me? Or any other member of his family?

Aaron left for a 3 day/2 night school camp this morning. They've gone to the Ewan Maddock Dam, about an hour from Brisbane. Although he transitioned to this class in time for last year's camp, he wasn't ready and didn't go. This year, while I wouldn't say that he has been excited about it, he has been planning for it. We got the packing list a few weeks ago and he was keen to get everything we needed. He started packing his bags last Friday night and was constantly reviewing the checklist. Occasionally, he'd give me a little hint of what worried him but they were all issues that were easily resolved. Things like "What if they don't have rice?" and "What if I can't dry my hair properly?" 

There was no drama or last minute panic this morning. In fact, it was very much like any other school day at home in the morning. We got there at the usual time and after dropping off their bags in front of the bus, the kids went to their classrooms as normal. The teachers tried to tell us that its better if we left so that the children didn't have last minute change of hearts and also so that the children whose parents weren't around, wouldn't feel sad about it. BUT, there were quite a few parents hanging around so, we stayed too. 

Aaron gave us a few enthusiastic waves good bye as the bus pulled away but other than that, he never even looked at us. 

The teachers all had very anxious looks on their faces as they got the children ready. I would too if I had to be responsible for a group of 6-9 year olds over two nights! They were all assigned places on the bus so there was no squabbling over who sat where. I think its going to be the same with the rooms too.

Aaron's class was on the second bus. You can see them in the photo below, watching, as the first bus pulled away. Richard took the photo while I was under the trees in the background of the photo. Some of their little faces looked very serious. I think they suddenly realized that they really were going to go away and there was no turning back now.

Meanwhile, the group of mothers I was standing with were full of mixed feelings. All their 'little babies' going off to be without them for three days. I remember thinking that one day I'll be waving him off at an airport and he'll be gone for much longer than 2 nights.

I don't exactly miss Aaron or worry about him because I trust the teachers. I do wonder if he feels as insecure as I did when I went on my first school camp when I was 11 years old. Maybe going when you're younger means that you have less expectations of yourself and others and don't know how to feel insecure yet. Hopefully, he'll remember enough of what happened so I can get a good idea of what he got up to. 

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?