Tag: kids

Family & Parenting, Pets and Other Wildlife6 Comments

*Takes a deep breath*

mimbles

*in* *out* *in* *out* Calm… Today was going so well till this evening. I’d got the kids to school on time (instead of our usual by the skin of the teeth thing). I’d been to work and done useful things, picked the kids up and then come home for the kids to change clothes and to let the dog out for a bit. We’d done a quick dash down to Marsfield to visit Great Grandma and made it back to Caitlin’s dance class on time thanks to an incredible run of green lights all the way along Pennant Hills Road … Continue reading *Takes a deep breath*

Family & Parenting8 Comments

Hell NO!

mimbles

Thomas is being asked to do his homework. He is not happy about this and has come up with a novel and very scary solution to the problem. “Muuuum, I don’t want to go to school anymore. I want to do homeschool instead.” “No way!” “Oh pleeeeease?” David interjects, “She was serious when she said no, Tom.” “But Muuuum, I really want to do homeschool.” “Not happening, Tom. Do your homework now please.” Sulking, “No. I want to do homeschool.” Beginning to get irritated, “Fine, then I’ll make you do 2 lots of maths and spelling every week.” Perks up, … Continue reading Hell NO!

Family & Parenting, Pets and Other Wildlife4 Comments

My hands are still cold

mimbles

I spent nearly half an hour standing outside in the cold from 9pm tonight talking to one of Dave’s teachers (who is made of awesome) after the School Council meeting. I was explaining to her why Dave had come home this afternoon from their 2 day excursion to Bathurst, got in the car with me and alternated between telling me how much fun he’d had doing gold-panning and meeting farm animals and fighting back tears as he told me about the bullying that he and his friends had endured at the hands of a certain group of extremely unpleasant children. … Continue reading My hands are still cold

Family & Parenting, Fat Acceptance, Food Glorious Food, Historical reenactment, Pets and Other Wildlife1 Comment

It’s been a long day

mimbles

You know how I said I might try ice-skating today? Well, I did. I was really apprehensive because I had memories from the last time I tried, years ago, of being so distressed that all I wanted to do was hide somewhere and cry. I remembered that my feet had been in agony but I couldn’t remember what it had been like on the ice. Was I still able to skate (I used to go regularly for sport in high-school and had taken lessons when I lived in the US) or was it just an exercise in frustration and humiliation? … Continue reading It’s been a long day

Family & Parenting9 Comments

As if it wasn’t bad enough already

mimbles

Today Caitlin tells me that another of her so-called friends (keep in mind there are only 3 kids Caitlin calls friend) told Caitlin that she wasn’t allowed to invite Caitlin to her birthday party because her mother said Caitlin was rude and inconsiderate. I feel ill. Caitlin has only been to this friend’s house once and as far as I know there was no problem on that occasion and seeing as every other report I’ve ever had of Caitlin’s behaviour at other people’s homes has been unfailingly positive I’m at a loss to understand where this comes from. Unless the … Continue reading As if it wasn’t bad enough already

Family & Parenting7 Comments

Sometimes life really isn’t fair

mimbles

I’m sitting here with tears in my eyes and an aching heart. I’ve just driven Caitlin to her dance lesson and on the way she started to talk to me about some stuff that’s been going on with a couple of her friends. Caitlin doesn’t have a large group of friends, when I told her she can ask whoever she wants to her birthday party she only came up with 3 names, so this is not a small problem. Friend 1, for no readily apparent reason, has taken to telling friend 2 that if F2 wants to spend time with … Continue reading Sometimes life really isn’t fair

Family & Parenting, Food Glorious Food, Historical reenactment, Stuff About Me3 Comments

Good day

mimbles

The beginning of my day: Adam has been making me awesome breakfasts for almost 20 years, this morning I said I was craving pancakes and bacon and eggs. I got up, had my shower, got dressed…et voilà! The middle of my day: I took Caitlin shopping. She ended up with FOUR pairs of shoes. They were: school shoes which cost a bloody fortune, long black boots at 25% off bought slightly big in the hope they’ll be good for next winter and 2 pairs of crappy flats from Kmart which cost $5.60 a pair and will probably do horrible things … Continue reading Good day

Family & Parenting, Keeping the Masses Entertained, Stuff About Me8 Comments

It doesn’t take much to make me happy

mimbles

Caitlin has not had a particularly easy learning to read experience. Although she does love to have books read to her and will happily browse through non-novel type books of various types I’ve rarely seen her settle down with one and read for a significant length of time and she has read very few chapter books. This afternoon Caitlin came out of class clutching a book and began enthusiastically telling me all about it. The book in question was The Magic Faraway Tree. I asked where she’d got it as it didn’t look like a library book, turns out it’s … Continue reading It doesn’t take much to make me happy

Family & Parenting, Food Glorious Food, Historical reenactment, Pets and Other Wildlife3 Comments

Huscarls hillside camp

mimbles

We went camping with the Huscarls on the weekend and to be perfectly honest I didn’t have much fun. I don’t mind roughing it a bit but I object very strongly to not having any flat ground to sleep on – sliding feet first off my bed multiple times through the night does not make me happy. There were other problems too but I don’t really feel like going into them here. Suffice to say I’ve had better weekends. Which isn’t to say there was nothing good about the weekend. The kids certainly had fun. The weather was good. Clara … Continue reading Huscarls hillside camp

Family & Parenting, Things We Should Talk About at the Dinner Table7 Comments

Well, there’s nothing wrong with that

mimbles

I had a long conversation with my daughter recently which was sparked off by a couple of things that had come up at school. It started with her recounting a conversation that took place when the word “gay” was used an insult by one one of the boys to one of Caitlin’s friends, the friend responded by asking him if he knew what gay meant and he replied “Yeah, it means happy”. Caitlin’s friend said “No, it’s when 2 boys or 2 girls love each other” and Caitlin chimed in with “Well, there’s nothing wrong with that”. Then Caitlin’s friend … Continue reading Well, there’s nothing wrong with that