The Facts of Life

When Jack was four he asked me about how babies are made.  And I said something along the lines of;

"Daddy put a seed inside of mummy, and like a plant does, it grew into a baby"

When Jack was around five he asked me how daddy's get the seed inside the mummy's.  And I said something along the lines of;

"You know how mummy's have an egg inside them, well to grow they need some of daddy's sperm to make them into a baby.  So when a mummy and a daddy love each other and want to make a family, daddy puts his penis inside of mummy.  Actually I have this great book, would you like us to read it?"

This lead to some very detailed and interesting questions and answers that lasted a few weeks.

Last week Jack asked me "Mum if Ella has two mum's how was she made, cause she doesn't have a daddy to put sperm in anyone?"

How do you explain single gender parents to a six year old?

Let's just say that after a slight pause on my behalf the answer went something along the lines of;

"Well, umm, ahh, some mummy's need sperm if they don't have a husband that has any sperm.  So they can get it from the doctor.  So Ella's mummy's got some sperm from the doctor and the doctor put it into her vagina, just like a daddy's penis puts it into a mummy's vagina.  Then the same way as the daddy's sperm finds the mummy's egg, the sperm from the syringe that the doctor uses finds its way to the egg and the baby grows"

PHEW!!

Today Jack asked if someone on TV was a man/woman, like those man/woman's we sometimes see?

This whole raising an aware and open child is fantastic, but I have to tell you that I don't quite feel ready to talk to my child about transvestites and alternate gender identification just yet, so I said something along the lines of;

"Maybe ... are you hungry?"

New Spaces

Art and craft has always been a huge part our the boys play. From very young they would spend at least part of the day doing something with pencils or playdough or sticky tape.
Until recently it has been done on the little table in our lounge room (this is also the table where they eat). But recently we have become keenly aware that the space was no longer big enough.
For months, art has started taking over the house. They have either been working at the huzby's and my desk (getting kicked off when we needed out own spaces back) or on the lounge room floor (not optimal for comfort, or the fact that my lounge gets covered with pencils, scissors and little bits of paper).
Today we moved some furniture around and, thanks to a divine neighbor, got a gorgeous new (old) table. We grabbed some old chairs from our shed, otherwise known as the furniture TARDIS. And ta-da they have an art/homework/creative corner all of their own.
Now for some cork boards covered in material to hang their favorite pieces, some comfy cushions on the chairs and some more effective pencil holders but until the last pieces fall into place at least we wont have to bargain for desk space or tread on pencils as we walk through the lounge room.

Today's Haul (6) aka the Book Extravaganza

It's been a while between 'Haul' posts. Mainly that's because I really haven't been secondhand (or firsthand) shopping much for months.

But today as it was a rainy looking day, Andrew was working from home and I had two happy but energetic children at home I thought a little second hand browsing was just what the doctor ordered.

We only went to two different op shops, but I have the bug now and think we may have to browse a bit tomorrow as well.

So the haul included (at the whopping price of $22)

- 17 books (five of which aren't included in the photo as three were for the little girl we had over for a play and two have gone to bed with Hamish)

- A magic 8 ball with a little less fluid inside than is optimal but still works if your happy to wait for the bubbles to pop before you get your answer. And if your wondering the first few questions were
Q. Is mummy the best mummy ever?
A. Yes definitely :)
Q. Can I go through this door?
A. Don't count on it
Q. Will mummy let me buy this ball?
A. Ask again later (followed by without a doubt)

- A junior scattergories game without the mission cards. But for $2 it has the 26 sided letter dice and we have made our own way to play and the writing pads, egg timer and pencils.

- A 'Jack Lives Here' keyring. If he knew what it really means it's not exactly child appropriate but seeing as he doesn't it's completely Jack appropriate.

- A spangly bracelet for the friend.

God I love second hand shopping. It fills two opposing parts of my personality. The part that loves beautiful things and wants beautiful things. And the part that doesn't like spending a lot of money. Today's little expedition has fulfilled both perfectly.

Quiet on the Blog Front

It's been very quiet on the blog these last few weeks.  Firstly we had the pox, and now it's school holiday's.  All in all life hasn't put much in my path that I feel is blogworthy.  I mean realistically I have been almost completely stuck in the house with various amounts of kids for about 6 weeks now (and yes I'm feeling every moment of it but no I haven't gone insane yet).

I have talked with Jack about making a movie quite a lot in the last few months but haven't been able to 1. Get him motivated to start (mostly due to 2.) 2. Haven't been able to come up with a good way to start or do it.

Then yesterday one of the neighbours started talking about making a movie with the kids, stop motion style, using playdough.  The group of 6 kids didn't have the focus to complete (or even really start) the process but Jack was keen when he got home to give it a go.  And so we played with many ideas last night.

Today we had a little friend over for the day, and about 20 minutes before we had to drop her home they started taking photos for a stop motion picture.  It was done in quite a half hearted way and so the photos and clay work were a little rushed.  But after she left I whipped them together and Jack picked out a sound effect. 

He marveled at the outcome and I realised he really didn't understand what the process was going to achieve.  Now he does, he is talking about putting together a longer film and has very specific ideas about the sound effects we should use.

So I thought I would show you their little effort and then hopefully sometime soon I can show you the larger idea that Jack is working on.  Or like so many six year olds he could well loose interest .... only time will tell.

The Dreaded Pox

You know the funny thing about chicken pox? .... Nothing! The truth is that the kids survived their bouts of chicken pox with relatively few issues, but then I got them.

Yes, I have had them before (well at least my blood test during pregnancy said I had had them) but apparently cuddling my pox covered child morning noon and night was more than my immunity could cope with.

So the Sunday before last as I lay in the bath, I noticed a few little spots, I asked the huzby if he thought it was the dreaded pox and he reminded me that I often came up in little red anonymous spots and not to worry. That night as I cuddled pox riddled child number 2 I felt like I had prickly heat. My entire body was prickly but I put it down to my overactive imagination.

Monday morning arrived and I heard AB about to leave for work, I rushed downstairs to have a look at my bod in the full length mirror (figuring if it wasn't my imagination he was going to need to stay home) and sure enough, there were a lot more spots.

Cut to mid afternoon, and picture me walking around the house crying as my whole body felt like a combination of being on fire and like I was laying on a cactus. This went on for about 72 hours until finally the antihistamines kicked in enough to let me sleep and I woke up feeling sore and sick but much less itchy.

Now like everyone I have a certain amount of vanity and the next three days I was thankfully still in quarantine because my entire body including my face was covered in red stingy pustules. I looked as though I had severe acne and everything hurt.

This Monday was my first day officially out of quarantine. All up from Hamish's first spots till my last, we have been in quarantine for a month. It's been a long road. There were actually a lot of fun times with the three of us being stuck in the house but I'm glad for the freedom of children at school and me being able to do small things like run out to get some milk or talk to people on the street.

So the blog has been quiet for a while, but I'm back in the land of the living and feeling like a trooper for having survived the most physically painful thing I have ever had to endure. Now finger, toes and anything else you can think of crossed that AB doesn't get it (he has passed the usual incubation time)!!

Watching - Some new movies, Black Swan (liked it a lot), Skyline (pretty great special effects, ordinary storyline), The Box (worst movie I've seen in a long time) and for the kids, Tangled and Diary of a Wimpy Kid (Tangled wins)

Listening - The Gossip, Lamb, Joan a Policewoman

Reading - About two pages of Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell a night. I'm tried and trying to heal so reading isn't high on the agenda

State of mind - Tried, slightly traumatized and so glad that life is headed back to normality.