Quiet Day in the Sun

Day 2.

We got into Port Macquarie later than expected last night and did most of our setup in the dark.  It was disorientating for the kids (and me) especially after seven hours in the car.  The kids just wanted to run and sleep and we wanted to setup and eat. Therefore within the first hour Jack, who likes home comforts, was asking when we were going home.

Luckily the uber rent-a-tent lived up to its word and was super quick to setup.  It felt to late to cook camp style so we popped into town, had a quick sit down meal and by the time we walked back the kids were well and truly ready for bed.  AB and I then sat on the esky had a glass of wine and went to bed ourselves.

I was worried that the bed setup was going to be  problematic seeing that the kids were on a mattress on the floor and AB and I were sleeping in a bed that needs a step and a grunt to get up into.  Both of the boys are used to sleeping very close to us (if not literally on top of us) but it turned out to be fine because;
 1. Jack slept through the night
 2. Hamish only woke up twice
 3. Mummy learnt how to get in and out of the very high bed while still in her sleeping bag

Morning for us also often turns out to be a challenge seeing that our kids wake very early (between 4.30 and 5.30) but they happily both slept till 6.  AB took them for a walk while mummy had another hour snuggled in her penthouse bed.

Then the day progressed like any caravan park camping trip: 
* 100 trips to use the new and fascinating (to 4 and a 3yr olds) toilets.
* One drive into town to get all the bits you forgot or replace things that turned out not to work. 
* Multiple walks around the park and plays in the playground.
* Two trips to find a decent coffee.
* Three playing along the breakwater.
* Three hours swimming in a pool so cold that made the kids teeth chatter.
* One shower for mummy and the boys.  With mummy grabbing her wet towel every 5 minutes and ducking between showers because dodgy plumbing meant that the showers didn't stay at the optimal 3/4 year old temperature
* Two hours Daddy fishing
* Mummy having her second (and then third) glass of wine for her holiday (that's it I'm stopping the count now, it is. Holiday after all)
* Figuring out the rest of the uber rent-a-tent gizmos so we can cook dinner
* and finally the last walk around the park, kids teeth brushed and asleep and mummy sitting with her technology, blogging.

Now that is finished, I'm going to move to a chair out of the sea breeze, refill my wine glass and read my book, by the uber rent-a-tents built in night light
xx

Time out from the Everyday

It feels like years since I have been on holidays.  In actuality it has only been one.  This time last year we were getting ready to drive up to Bellingen for the Global Carnival.  Today we are already on the road.

Last year was our first year at Global, and I was amazed at how relaxing 4-5 days camping in the heat with 1000 other tents could be.  The atmosphere was chilled, the people were eclectic to say the least, but for the most part lovely and the kids had a ball. To say nothing of the actual music and activities within the carnival.

We will also be doing some extra camping at different places on the way up and back.  I'm hungry for some time out and away from work, technology, politics and schedules and ready to embrace the kids running free, looking at the stars, cooking on a camp stove and no showers for a week or so.  There is nothing like having to deal with your kids pooing in a plastic bag at midnight in the rain to make you feel blessed to have a dilapidated  house with outdoor plumbing in the city.  I'm sure 10 days away and we will come back renewed and refreshed and happy to be home again.

Best Breast Forward

Breasts in the media are always perky and perfect. They sit plumply out from the chest when their owner is standing and they do not try and hide under her arms when she lays down. These are not real breasts. Real breasts move when you walk. They sag. They sag more after breastfeeding. They sag more as we age. Most women could hold a pencil under them, which when I was young was the sign of bad breasts. Unless your really young, most nipples don't point forward, they aren't always perfectly centered, they are different shapes and sizes and placement.

We do not often see these real breasts in mainstream media, we see these young or artificial or photoshopped breasts and it leaves most women feeling insecure or unsure of how their breast fit in the scheme of things.

This site shows lots of different breasts, none of them fake, all of the breast are perfectly imperfect.

Recently Kate Winslet did a film in which she was topless and she showed her amazing slightly used (she breastfed two kids) breasts in the raw. Sad that it had to make the news because it is so uncommon, but good on her ! hopefully more women will take pride in their slightly used saggy boobs :)

PostSecrets

Todays post secret made me cry

Lackadaisical Parenting

This is my youngest son. He has just turned 3 and is sitting on top of our 6ft fence playing with dropping a skipping rope over the edge watching how it dangles.

This is a daily activity, but just then for the first time I had a thought 'what if he falls?'

Now I know most parents would have wondered this one of the first dozen times they saw him doing this.  I have to admit I hadn't.

'What if?' Is rarely one of those things I ask. Either about my children or myself. I seem to have this 'she'll be right mate' attitude to most aspects on my mothering and my life.

I heard the term 'helicopter parenting' for the first time the other day.  It means a parent who hovers around their child in case their child need help. Basically it is the opposite of how I parent.  Neither is right or wrong, I honestly think that I fell into my style of parenting because I am innately lazy and following my children around all the time seems like far to hard work.  Plus I think most accidents would happen whether I am standing next to them or not, I mean you just can't be alert to another humans actions all the time.

So why today of all days did I decide to think 'what if he falls?'

I've been pondering on it a lot. Was it just that he looked especially precarious? Am I loosing a little of my lackadaisical attitude? I guess I'm not sure.

But I didn't get up, so I'm guessing I don't have to worry that I am becoming more of a helicopter parent maybe I'm wanting to play life a bit safer, maybe I'm getting older ... Nah *grin*

Romance

She has a romantic heart
Not flowers and chocolates
The romance of music wafting through the air
The sounds of bird roosting in the evening
Warm spring breezes and cool summer streams

Romance is dying they say
But to her it was barely beginning
The feel of her child hands on her skin
Sipping good wine after a cold day
The way the city ebbs and flows

From the outside her life would seem bland, almost to dull to bear but she so often saw the romance in the world, her heart would fill and tears of love would roll down her cheeks.

Romance is where you see it
And she saw it everywhere

Taking Stalking to a Whole New Level

Well we all know I am a little teensy bit obsessed with Neil Gaimans writing. I was on his Twitter list ... to much random information. I read his blog ... but he tweets instead of blogging mostly. I have read his website ... but really just to find out more about what he has written, but today I saw THIS

Now this is the kind of stuff that I really want to know about Neil, not his awards, not his marriage status but what's on his bookshelves, when so much of mine are dedicated to him. I was pleased to see a lot of books from my own shelves were also on his. Maybe he is my new "who to get stuck sitting next on a plane"

Plus who else's bookshelves can I browse on Shelfari .... hmm the mind boggles and gets its stalking glasses on *grin*

Conversations with a 4.5 year old, on a sunny September day

Lying in the sun seems to be the order of the day today.  The boys are lying in the hammock with some books and I am lying in the sun with my book as well.

Jack just came over to lie with me for a while;

Me: Jack, do you have a happy life?
Jack: Yep!
Me: What's your favourite thing to do?
Jack: Knowing things about dinosaurs
Me: (smiling) And what do you wish we did more?
Jack: (thinking, then leaning over to whisper in my ear) We never make Chinese food!
Me: We can. Would you like us to make chinese food for dinner tonight?
Jack: No I would like to eat in a chinese restaurant.

Got to love that dinner is organised already.  Apparently we are heading to 'Happy Chef' for dinner!!

Imagination

Every night Jack and I play a game at bedtime. We tell each other what we can see when we close our eyes. Its a sweet little game that he always starts, I think it shows what an amazing imagination he has. Maybe all four year olds have the same sort of amazing imagination. Still its incredible to watch this side of him grow. He used to say something very similar to what I had said before, like I would say I can see a tree with a monkey and he would say he can see a tree with a bird ... how far we have come.

Jack: When I close my eyes, I can see a Crocodile, eating a banana.

Me: When I close my eyes, I can see a cave full of bats.

Jack: When I close my eyes, I can see a tennis racket pointing at a penguin.

Me: Oh the penguin has a tennis racket?

Jack: No a man has the tennis racket pointed at a penguin.

Me: When I close my eyes, I can see clouds in the shapes of animals. I can see a turkey shape and a rhinoceros.

Jack: When I close my eyes, I can see a cut down tree with a tree growing in the middle. And if you cut down that tree more and more trees grow.

Me: When I close my eyes, I can see a fairy sleeping on a pillow of duck feathers.

Jack: When I close my eyes, I can see a ....

and thats where my memory lapses. Id love to be able to remember all of the things that he has told me he sees 'when he closes his eyes'