Lest We Forget

It was a cold Anzac Day here. We skipped the Dawn Service, but made it to the march.

 

The Last Post brought me very close to tears. The bagpipes warmed my heart. We tried to explain to Sophia. We paused to remember.



Hi Ho, Hi Ho

It's off to work I go.

I recently received an email from an old work colleague. I knew that she had started her own business a while back. A bridal shop. She wanted to know if I was interested in some dressmaking work. I wasn't sure. When she rang me I said no, sorry, can't do it, my kids need me. I argued with Mr Pixies. He said he could have the kids on Wednesdays. I still wasn't sure. Did I really want to go back into the world of the Bride. An often unpredictable creature. Anyway, I called in to see her about three weeks ago and told her I was available on Wednesdays if she still needed me. She said she would get back to me. I thought I wouldn't hear from her, going into winter is usually a quite time in bridal for obvious reasons. She phoned me last Thursday and said she needed me. Slight freak out moment. I wasn't expecting it. I tried not to think about it too much in an attempt to hold the nerves at bay.
Anyway!! Long Story Short...I left the kids in the capable hands of their father and headed off to work :) and...

I LOVED IT!

It was peaceful, it felt good, it felt productive, I had some adult conversation, and I felt needed...in a different way.

So I guess I am officially a "working mother". Ugh! I hate that distinction.
I have very strong opinions on this! I don't see the point of dropping the kids off at daycare and going to work all day, then picking them up, bathing them, feeding them and kissing them goodnight only to do it all over again the next day.
I want to raise my  children, I want to be there for them, I want to teach them their core values, I don't want them lost amongst 20 other kids at such a young age.
The ONLY reason I took this job is because it is one day, and their Dad will be caring for them, NOT a stranger.

I will admit that after experiencing a day away from them at work I felt a great temptation to look into some daycare for them, just for one other day in the week.
 I think people imagine full time parenting as a pretty cruisey existence...well it isn't. The demands are constant, you need to be mediator, nurse, counsellor, climbing frame, cook, cleaner, taxi driver, teacher, source of food, and above all patient and nurturing...I'm the first to admit that I don't always do a great job at parenting, it's tedious and frustrating, but I chose to have children, and I choose to raise them. The rewards for me in raising my children are immeasurable. There are the obvious rewards...the hugs and kisses, the love, the pride in their achievements. There are also less tangible rewards, the knowledge that you are making a difference, moulding them for their future lives, trying to ensure they are valuable and valued members of society.
To all those people who tell me I'm not a valuable member of society, I would like to ask...Why is raising the next generation of future employees, employers, leaders, not something to be valued? Some of the MOST important jobs are undervalued in this society. Teachers, nurses, carers and stay at home mums amongst them. I don't like where many of the values in our current society lie, we have become a nation of selfish, self serving, money driven individuals. I happily sacrifice not having the latest and best car, house, television to stay at home with my children. We live within our means.

Wow!! That wasn't meant to turn into a rant, but it feels good to get that out! Just my opinion, if you don't like it...well that's your business :)

On a less serious note...I tried to take some photos of the middle child during the week. She's a difficult one. Not so keen on the modelling. She is so different looking, very angular...no rounded edges :)

Oh! and in case anyone actually noticed, I didn't post a self portrait for March!! Because I forgot to take one...Oops.
Aprils will be coming up very soon, It will be done :)

The Very Latest Fashion?

I guess that's what you have to endure when you have two big sisters...future hairstylists to the stars?? I think NOT!

Hoping to be back with more to say in the not too distant future.

Cindy..

Happy 14 Months Little Guy

Where oh where does the time go?

Darcy turned fourteen months today, boy is he growing up fast. Much to my chagrin he is becoming more independent each day and getting up to more mischief every day. I have to keep a constant eye on him...a total change from the girls...he climbs. Onto the table, onto the couch and into the window, he pulls all my pots and pans and cookbooks out, we moved the DVDs months ago, he loves to get into the bottom of the pantry if I forget to put the child lock on and pull out all the tins of food, he eats crayons if the girls leave them anywhere within reach, he pulls all the clothes out of their cupboards, he stands up on his ride on truck that Pa made him and rides it like a skateboard (heart attack material).

He screams in frustration when he can't achieve his goal.

On the encouraging side, he is beginning to sleep better. I think (fingers crossed) that we have turned a corner. He only woke at midnight and five last night...oh blessed sleep. He is consistently sleeping a two hour nap during the day also...except for today, of course with Charlotte at Kinder and Sophia at School, the best thing to do would be have a 40 minute nap and then wake up screaming inconsolably!! All my efforts to resettle him failed and I spent a miserable 30 minutes trying to console him.

He was being so silly, I just couldn't resist taking these photos.

He isn't the type to have a mild hissy fit. This boy has a "throw himself on the floor with no regard to personal injury" type of tantrum...arms and legs flailing, headbutting the floorboards, screaming the house down.

He doesn't do it very often, but when he does, look out.

He is normally such a sweet natured little guy, with plenty of kisses and cuddles for almost everyone.

He runs around the house non stop, and loves to cuddle the cats. His big sisters torment him by including him in their games, but making him sit in the dolls cot to watch.  

He certainly keeps me busy.

Cindy..

Hmm!

I felt an overwhelming compulsion to blog...and then I realised that I didn't really have much to say.

We have been steadily plodding along here, doing nothing exceptional, getting into a good routine for school and kinder.

Sophia is doing amazingly well at school, we are very proud of her. She is picking up her reading skills very quickly and is enjoying it at the same time. Yesterday she received a gift from a boy in her class, apparently they are going to "have babies together". Hmm!! bit early for that sort of talk.

Charlotte is LOVING Kinder. She asks EVERY SINGLE DAY if she can go to Kinder today...*sigh*. It makes for a very long week. I am bringing home a glut of artwork, lots of paintings of people.

Darcy is slowly improving in his quality of sleep, I consider it a good night when he only wakes 4 times, and an exceptional night when he only wakes twice. Last night was Exceptional.

He is a gorgeous boy, this morning I woke up to masses of kisses from him, they may be open mouthed and sloppy, but they are still beautiful.

I am having a little trouble getting motivated to take photos of my children, which makes me sad because I don't like looking back on my "to edit" folder and finding almost empty months. I want to have photos of the every day, their acheivements, their tantrums, their beautiful faces.

In fact I am having a little trouble getting motivated to do anything. I have a list of sewing projects and craft projects I would like to tackle, I also have a list of "me stuff" that I would like to do now that Darcy is a bit older and more predictable in his routine. As usual the "me" stuff get shoved to the very bottom of the list, and then disappears into the ether. That pesky thing called HOUSEWORK keeps taking up my time. I have thouroughly cleaned out my linen closet and the cupboards in my Laundry. I think I have given about 10 bags of linens and clothes to charity in the past two weeks. WOW!! Declutter central. This is something that makes me feel good and bad at the same time. I am glad to be rid of stuff we no longer need, but I feel bad at all the money it must have cost me at some stage. Our small house is definatley better off for it though.

Well, considering I didn't have much to say I have managed to ramble on quite a bit. Hopefully it wont be so long between blog posts next time.

Cindy..