Boys and School Camp

I said to my oldest boy, ok mate can you please take out the clothes that you wore at camp and put them next to the washing machine for me. So I go to the washing machine and there is two pairs of board shorts, 1 shirt and two pairs of undies. I called out to Jack and said I asked for all the dirty clothes darl. He comes back with that's them. I nearly died! (This is a boy that I argue with every morning to get out of the shower after his 4 minutes.)

Two days before he went to school camp I was washing, ironing, folding. I wanted him to pack his bag for camp so that he knew where everything was and what he had. I put on his bed to pack 3 pairs of track suit pants, two sets of pj's, 5 t-shirts, 2 jumpers, 3 pair of board shorts, a handful of undies, 3 singlet's, gloves, a rain coat.

I flew into 1 million questions, what about all the clothes that we packed,(he shrugged) did you have a shower (yes, it was really hot and I loved it), did you clean your teeth, (smiles and shows me his teeth), why didn't you change your clothes, ( I was so busy I didn't have time), did you have fun - yeah and my gorgeous boy goes, into a massive conversation about the fun, the activities that they did, the challenges, the self confidence that was built, the new friendships formed, the meals that they ate, the amount they laughed.

My husband and I were so proud of our 8 year old for going on camp and learning to become more independent, get out of his comfort zone in the activities that they had to do, the trust and the team that they had to build with his class mates and the challenges they completed. (eg. blind folded, tied together, walking thru bush, following markers to get to a designated spot. Possum pull where they have to trust that there team/ class mates will pull them up with a rope without dropping them).

For everything that he learned, it doesn't matter that he only changed his clothes, twice.

Grandparents Day

I have always believed that it takes a village to raise a child. So when my boys came home and said that the school was having Grandparents day I was so excited for them. My boys asked my mum and my Grandparents - their Great Grandparents. It is so important for children to have relationships with oldies and also for the older generations to keep in touch with children.


Mum and Grandma and Papa were so excited to be able to go into the class room to have a look at what the kids do. My boys go to a Montessori School so, our school is such a far cry from the way that they were taught, they were amazed at what the children learn, how they learn it and how the class room is set up. They have all of wonderful materials and activities, that are maths or language related, I had to laugh at Mum she was worried that she was going to have to do some sort of maths.
It was so lovely the response that the school received from all of the Grandparents, almost all of the children had a Grandparent with them on there journey around the class room.

My favourite part of the day was when my youngest boy was showing my Grandma how to sew. He had to thread wool into a needle, and then sew around the border of a piece of cardboard with holes punched in to it. The concentration on his face and the way that my Grandma was trying to help him was priceless. Of course tears were welling in my eyes.

my youngest showing Great Grandma how to sew.

My mum made her way around my oldest boys class room while I helped to change over the school take home readers, when she was finished she came and found me. WELL she was balling, she was so proud of her boy, she loved the class room, she loved the teacher, she loved the kids in the class.

A great day had by all, few tears from Grandparents who were so proud and lots of smiles from the kids so proud to show around there Grandparents.

Miessence

I have joined Miessence, it is a Certified Organic, Australian business, that sells beautiful, ethical, sustainable cosmetics, hair and skin care range, health and well being, mother and baby products, and some cleaning products. I joined after reading a blog and found out that the lady that was writing the blog sold Miessence.

I looked into it, went over the website about 1000 times, I kept going back and forth not knowing if this is what I wanted to do, love the products, but unsure on the sales bit.

Anway joined up and Fillipa (the lady with the blog) became my sponsor.

I am so excited with the decision that I made not just because it is a business, but I am loving the education that I am getting from learning all about the products and the garbage that we all put into our bodies. There is a healthier, cleaner, more ethical way to live and to have and income as well.

I am wanting to share what I am learning about these products with everyone, not just so they will by them and I make money, but because they are so good for our bodies, and they are so beautiful and you know that you are not putting chemicals where they shouldn’t be.

A bit about the products
Imagine the pleasure of using personal care products where every single ingredient is beneficial to your health. With every ingredient safe and even EDIBLE, each doing something great for your skin and hair – right down tho the preservatives and antioxidants.
So full of natural goodness that the ingredients list reads like something delicious, you can actually feel their energy and vitality feeding your skin.

Lessons from the Beach

The boys had five days off last week, (including the weekend). So woke up Monday morning after working all weekend and had the biggest need, craving, desire to go to the beach and suck in some beautiful sea air, get sand between my toes and chill out on the beach with my husband and kids.

So the weather starts to change and there is a cool breeze in the air the rain starts to lightly sprinkle. The boys are happy to stay at home and vege out in front of the play station. I DON’T THINK SO.

So by the time that we get there the sun is out and it is turning into a gorgeous day. I get a coffee the boys and my husband get a milkshake. We take them down to the beach and well the whinging starts...... It’s cold, I have sand in my shoes, its to windy. THEY ARE DRIVNG ME NUTS. How can you complain about being at the beach.

I decide to sit quietly sipping my coffee looking out over the water, the boats, the people fishing, watching the people walk up and down the beach. I was amazed at how my family all changed their attitude from me just sitting. They started comparing boats and which one would go faster and which one was better for fishing, they were wondering if there was any fish in the water.

I finished my coffee and laid on the beach, by now the boys were having running races on the beach, digging holes at the shore line to see how much water would go in to it.

I really took notice of how one person’s attitude, sense of calm, changed the mood so dramatically. I am so glad that we stayed and had a beautiful morning together. Instead of me throwing up my hands and telling them to get in the car and we would go home, because of the complaining. Loved it, fabulous day, fabulous lesson learned.

I have a book in the back of the cupboard, and it is about creative writing. So flicking through it and found an exercise at the back. There are 150 questions, topics, words to choose from and then you are supposed to write non stop for 20 minutes about the one that you have chosen. You are supposed to pick a number not a question. This makes it harder.

So I picked number 72. My children/friends/family will remember me for............

The first thing that comes to mind of course you want them to remember you as a happy, gorgeous kind, generous mother, friend, sister and daughter.

Ha, what if they remember only the bad stuff, how impatient I can be after a night shift at work with no sleep the next day cause I need to be there for my kids. What if my kids say I remember when she used to make us get our own morning tea for school. (this is so kids can make good food choices.) Or what if they remember me making them go to bed early on a school night because we are all tied and cranky and it is for our sanity. Instead of letting them stay up and watch TV.

I want especially my children to remember that everything that I did/ do for them whether they like it or not is for there own, growth, independence and so that they are prepared to face any situation with courage and belief in themselves. This is why I have chosen Montessori Education for my kids and why I try and be a good Montessori mum.

Well my friends and family will probably remember me for, endless cups of tea, coffee and the occasional wine. Always up for a chat, the support that I always try to show, even if I don’t agree, they will probably remember me for the gorgeous things that I love, getting my hair done, gorgeous jewellery, alternative medicine, always seeking out fresh, healthy food choices. Text messages just to say hi. Some of my closer friends and family will probably remember me for the emotional, spiritual, mental and physical journey that I have been on and that they have shared. Some friends will remember working with me on night duty and how I crave chocolate, get opinionated at about 2.00am and how I hit a brick wall of tiredness at 5.30am .

My family will also remember some of the great Christmases and parties that we held out our house, cause we had more room. I would love for them to remember the Christmas of 2009. We had everyone here, lots of kids, great presents, fabulous food, shots of tequila, laughs that were endless.

Yep that is how I wouldn’t mind being remembered.

The pride of a Mum

As of next term, I am going to have two beautiful boys as the local Montessori School . My youngest is currently as the children’s house but is old enough from next term to be able to start school.

He is my baby, he is my gorgeous, gentle, helpful , kind boy that is now off to school. He had his interview with the principal at the end of last week. I was blown away by how he conducted himself, how he answered her questions, the questions that he asked her. My heart literally swelled with pride, I was so happy for him, so overwhelmed by how prepared he is to start school.

He has been at the childrens house since 2.5yrs old. The three days that he goes I ask him how, it was and what he did and he shrugs and says not much. At home I try and do writing, sounds, reading with him and he shows NO interest. Well at the interview he was able to EASILY read three letter words, he was able to identify written numbers up to in the 20’s, he knew his letters phonetically. It completely floored me and my husband.

The way that he conducted himself in the interview was amazing for a 5 year old. He sat quietly and still he was polite and answered questions beautifully and he also asked very relevant questions to the principal.

I am so grateful, so passionate, so overwhelmed by the Montessori system and I through my experience with my children, am appreciative of how it prepares children for every situation, it gives them confidence, a great understanding of subjects, grace and courtesy.

“And so we discovered that education is not something which the teacher does, but that it is a natural process which develops spontaneously in the human being.” Maria Montessori

Start of my Journey

I wanted to write this because I feel like I am in a week of recovery. I will start at the beginning.
Husband and I had swapped roles so to speak , at the beginning of the year. He was stay at home Dad and I went back to work 4 days a week. Up until the end of last year he was a roof plumber earning fabulous money and working great hours. Some days he was home at lunch time and still earning great, money. So we stashed money away in our house loan, always had money to do whatever, bought new cars, boats. So at the beginning of this year we agreed that he would stay at home with our boys and look for a new job, because he didn’t want to roof anymore.

That was when my journey began....... I have always had abundance issues. Never enough, always wanting more and so I am great at stashing away for a rainy day. This is what enabled us for my husband to stay at home and me to work 4 days.
So he applied and applied for literally hundreds of jobs, but because he has no experience he was not getting anywhere. Mean while I am starting to get a little stressed about our financial situation.

I had all of these lessons that I needed to learn obviously because, I felt like I was being tested all the time.

For starters I thought that it was the terrible hours that I was doing at work and that I was tired and stressed and was a bit annoyed that he hadn’t found a job as easy as we had thought. I was missing my kids, I was missing being at home all the time with them and missing our friends, I was working a lot of weekends and was not enjoying it as I thought that I would.

I was also missing the money, the lesson that I was beginning to learn was that I had taken so much for granted before and now I was learning to appreciate everything that we have and appreciate the things that we weren’t having anymore.

I have found it amazing how creative that I got when we were on one wage. I found baking again ( i have always baked, but now I bake almost every day) and the kids love it. We have a huge back yard and the Saturday afternoons, spent in the back yard playing cricket, watching the kids play in the sand pit, picking up sticks for our fire place. It has really made us slow down and get back to what it important.

I hit an all time low a couple of weeks ago, when my husband got his first pay and I got mine and also had my shifts at work cut. I realised that we were not earning nearly enough. I was terrible, I couldn’t eat, sleep, my brain felt like it was going 100 miles an hour. I was resenting my husband, I was annoyed with myself. I didn’t want to see anyone or talk to anyone. I went and had coffee with a girlfriend and felt like I was going to throw up the whole time.

I went and saw my kineseologist and she helped me focus and gave me a couple of affirmations to say some breathing exercises’. I was also reading a book at the time called “Think” by Edward De Bono. There was one line in there that seemed to snap me out of what I was in. “You need to think your way out of depression and out of boredom.” I don’t know if that was what I was experiencing but it seemed to snap me out of it. I kept reading the book, I started to make a conscious effort to think positive and realize that we will work it out.

This week I feel as though I have new energy, I have been so much more positive, I am able to see ways that we will be ok and my mind has opened up again.

I wanted to write this because I have spoken to a few mums, since this and a couple of them have said that same thing. Sometimes you do go through those terrible weeks and you feel alone, and you feel dark and negative. Mum’s seem to keep a lot to themselves and don’t let down the mask that everything is great, I have a great family life. I have realised now that I need to talk more and perhaps don’t have that perfect mask on, tell people your story and you will see new ways to solve problems.

Senses

I wanted to write an entry on the senses. I was reading a mum blog and this mum writes about the 5 senses each friday. I found it very interesting reading back in her blog how each week is so different.

I am at work on night duty, 1100pm-700am, in a hospital Emergency Deparment. So this is my experiment to see how much I change each week. What a great experiement to make yourself slow down for 5 minutes to actually take notice of your 5 beautiful senses, and appreciate them.

See - I am looking out at the sky slowly becoming lighter, it really is pretty sight, pink,purple, light blue.

Taste - I have been drinking to much tea and coffee tonight that I have a residue taste of instant coffee and herbal tea mixed togther (can not wait to get home and brush my teeth.)

Touch - I am sitting on an office chair, that at the moment is way to comfy oh what I would give to sit back and go to sleep.

Smell. - I am smelling hospital air conditioning. A mixture of cleaning products and patients. (don't want to describe that smell.)

Hear - Nurses talking to patients, wardsmen replacing garbage bags, dora on the tv.

So that is my friday senses, really it is saturday morning, I was way to busy last night to write.

I look forward to next friday to find out where my senses are then.

Day of Firsts

So this is my first time blogging.
This morning was quiet eventful. I worked Monday afternoon, after finishing night duty on ANZAC day (lest we forget). So get home at midnight, Scott’s alarm goes at 5.30am . It is the first day of his new job.( He has been a Mr Mum since, December.) Well I feel like my eyes have been rubbed in sand, I feel unbelievably nauseas, my brain is screaming at me to roll over and go back to sleep AND THEN - The boys wake as well it is the start of a new school week and Tom (my 4 year old) is off to the Montessori Childrens house for the first time in 10 days, he has just recovered from the chicken pox.
Jack(my 7 year old) is not impressed at all that I printed out information for his first talk topic for the end of the week and asked him to start researching “The Rosetta Stone”. He goes to a Montessori School and each term they have to present 3 talk topics to the class, this term it is on language and how it originated. He has chosen The Rosetta Stone.
Eventful for me is that this is my first blog. Very cleansing.
Lesson that I have learnt this morning.
That kids are kids and that when you have had about 5hrs of terrbile sleep, everything is exaggerated.