Friday, July 31, 2009

Broken Heart x 2

While I was out and about on my daily travels (K-Mart and Foodland actually but I have to make it sound a little exciting) I had a near death experience. I was looking through the makeup trying to decide if my skin was light or lighter when I got a sharp stabbing pain in my chest. I got a little nervous and tried to walk it off. Didn't work, still hurt. I started to panic. What would happen to my children? Why did I keep putting off writing my will? Was I too young to have a heart attack or was I going to be one of those anomolies that they would write about in the newspaper? If they did write about me in the newspaper, which photo would they use? Not the one by the Xmas tree; I wasn't wearing my face. I look like a whale in the camping one. OMG would they use my drivers license??? I quickly went home, collapsed on the bed and took my bra off to take some of the pressure off my chest. Instant relief! Why? Because while shopping the underwire had burst out of my bra and stuck itself into my chest. I had a huge deep indent where it had poked into me the whole time. I don't know what embarrasses me more, that I actually thought I was having heart troubles or that it took me so long to realise why it was hurting...

And for broken heart number 2, Mr 6 told me this afternoon that nobody would play with him at lunch. That makes me so sad. He is incredibly loud and bossy so I'm not totally surprised (that sort of behaviour frightens some children) but it still made me really sad. Especially when he said it in his cute adorable voice from his cute freckled face.

Who is protecting our children?

I was reading Angela's blog this morning and she commented on an e-mail that she had received. Read it here

I am quite disgusted by it. I can't believe someone would write that to a child. Talk about a waste of webspace. Angela is doing what she loves and what makes her happy which is what everyone should be doing.

In the last week I have heard about a teenager whose body was dumped in a park about 1km from my house, a man who bashed his toddler son's head into a bunk bed, a woman who quizzed her 14 year old daughter about her sex life live on a radio show despite knowing the girl had been raped and children being held captive in a motel bathroom. Not to mention the alarming amount of suicides that have been going on. And of course, I will never forget the recent case where the mother decapitated her baby, ate his toes and some of his brain and ripped his face off.

And this is just in the last week! I'm sure there are plenty more that I haven't heard about. It makes me sick to my stomach. We are failing these children in the worst way. As a parent, I was always of the understanding we are supposed to love and support our children. I'm not sure how these parents (or other people) are getting it so so wrong.

I know that the e-mail to Angela is not anywhere near as disgusting as the atrocities I have mentioned. But we should be supporting our children, all our children, in big and small ways. Angela could be getting drunk and stoned and causing a ruckus like many other teenages. Instead she is working towards her dreams and she should be commended, not ran down by someone with way too much time on their hands. Keep it up Angela!

'Having children makes you no more a parent than having a piano makes you a pianist' - Michael Levine

So true...

Thursday, July 30, 2009

My Craft-less Realisation

Once again I am unable to sleep so I'm watching some home makeover show and I've just discovered something I never really knew about myself....I really envy crafty people. I am useless at all things craft-like. Give me a knitting needle and a staple gun and I will have 3 or more people in emergency 10 minutes later. They get a drill, snap, snap, snap... look! its a to scale replica of the Eiffel tower that the kids can have sleepovers in. Two dowels and a piece of shade sail and they have an awning that can be opened with one hand. They are the McGyvers of the DIY world.

I always like to think that I am crafty. I have a box with over 50 balls of different coloured wool because I just know I'm going to knit all the kids their own personalised sweaters one day soon. I also have a box full of scrapbooking supplies because those photos can't stay on the camera forever and I want to show them off in the most decorative way possible. I have a sewing machine I don't know how to use and an overlocker I'm not even sure how to thread. I have cake decorating equipment that has never seen the light of day. I even went and bought 5 poles, 90 x 90 x 300 because I actually think that building that dream cubby house for the kids won't be hard at all. I even went so far as to mark the measurements on the poles. Now I just have to cut a 45mm housing. What is a 45mm housing? I am stumped and even You Tube and Google couldn't help me.

Oh well, they are in the driveway right now making great blocks for the tyres so my car doesn't roll out into the street. My driveway isn't sloped in the slightest bit but what else am I going to use them for? To build a cubby house????

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

The Real Housewives of Mosman

Last night Today Tonight showed a bunch of rich housewives from Mosman and Toorak who did nothing but be pampered all day. As if that wasn't bad enough to watch, tonight they had their less-than-well-off counterparts from Penrith who claimed that the Mosman lot weren't really 'housewives' because they weren't hands on. They even got really cliche and asked 'are they really happy?'

What sort of question is that? Yes they're happy! I'm not sure what the Penrith lot were objecting to; the personal chefs? the gardeners? the massages? Maybe it was the nannies, the expensive lunches or the champagne. Whatever it was, apparently they wouldn't swap places with them for all the $10 lunches in the world. They are content to change dirty bums, wipe snotty noses and work the night shift. They are perfectly happy to forgo the primping and the pampering. And God love them for it. If that makes them happy then I couldn't be happier for them. But I would like to take this opportunity to state my intentions to swap places with the Mosman lot if the occasion should ever arise.

Before I go though, as much as I love the finer things in life, I would never marry someone for their money. A string of near-destitute exes will atest to that. Not saying that the Mosman housewives did that, just saying I wouldn't. Also, if I had a nanny I would still spend heaps of time with my kids. They are really fun to hang out with. But it would be nice to not have to worry about bills....

Welcome to my blog!

I am so excited...I have my first follower! I never thought I would get such a warm fuzzy feeling over it but here it is. Thanks for that Kim and I hope I can keep you interested.

I also got 2 comments so I'm going to reply to them how. Firstly to Kim, I am not kissing your butt because you are my first follower, but you are absolutely right. Some people are university people and some people are not. Mr 16 is not. And there's nothing wrong with that. I'm not sure what it's like over there but here in Australia the competition seems to be getting fiercer everyday. People are losing their jobs all over the place and I guess I want my kids to have as much education as possible so they have a leg up in the employment arena. But if Mr 16 did go to university he would probably drop out anyway because he would hate it so much and that would be a bigger waste of money than what I've already spent on his private schooling (I can hear my wallet groaning from here). I wrote the blog about him during exam time when we were both stressed out but I'm calmed down now and I'm sure he'll work it out. At least he'll never be homeless because he'll always have me :)

And in answer to Sobrina's question - schnitzel is like this hard pressed chicken (or beef) that has been crumbed. It doesn't sound appetising does it? I don't eat it but the kids love it. I kind of like when they have different tastes to mine. That's the best thing about having kids...watching their different personalities develop. I call my kids north, south, east and west because they're all totally different and they're all going in opposite directions. Never a dull moment.

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Fasta Pasta

Last night I took the kids out to eat at Fasta Pasta. I always get the main lasagne because I never think the entree size will be enough but then I never finish the main. Another good reason to have kids! Especially 16 year old boys.

Mr 6 barely touched the pizza he ordered but of course scoffed down the peppermint choc chip ice cream he had for dessert.

Both the girls ordered schnitzel and chips (at a pasta place???). It reminded me of the time we went to Sydney for the weekend and went for dinner at the Spaghetti Factory. My step dad and I ordered spaghetti bolognaise and my mum and sisters ate chicken! It's a spaghetti factory!

We had a great time and the kids were very well behaved even if Miss 9 could improve her schnitzel cutting skills.

Saturday, July 4, 2009

I decided to spend the first night of the school holidays playing Monopoly with the kids which is something I haven't done in a really long time. I didn't realise how long it was until I realised we don't have Monopoly anymore because it burnt in a fire a few years ago. So we played Trivial Pursuit, Simpsons Operation and Yahtzee instead.

Trivial Pursuit is a little hard for Mr 6, Miss 9 and Miss 11 so I multiple choiced each question for them. It was funny making up the other choices and even funnier when they still got it wrong! I haven't laughed that much for ages.

Simpsons Operation was a little easier for the kids, not so much for me it seems. Where did my dexterity go? Here's a parenting tip though...don't yell boo when one of your kids is having their turn. Miss 9 didn't appreciate it at all.

We had so much fun we all went out today and bought a new Monopoly. Instead of the orginal Monopoly that we had before we opted for Monopoly City. Normally $65 but we got it for $44 at the K-Mart toy sale. Sweet! It's a bit different from the original but it has industrial buildings and skyscrapers and even the coveted Monopoly tower! We played for 4 hours without even realising it. Good wholesome fun and perfect for a rainy day. It also kept everyone away from the tv and computer. We'll definitely be playing a lot more board games in our house.