social commentary Sunday . . . 'how to get the best behaviour from your children on Father's Day'

Greetings all,

My husband & i have been doing this parent thing for a while & celebrated many Mothers' & Fathers' Days (i've spent 10 without my husband to coordinate the children to do nice things for me, yet the military seems to have husbands home for Father's Day, go figure??)  Anyway . . . last Sunday was Father's Day & without even discussing it, we had both planned to take the children out for a picnic lunch, Questacon (science centre) & make the day all about them . . . cue the most perfectly-behaved-happy children a Daddy is proud to call his own on Father's Day.

We have an annual membership to Questacon & go frequently + it's been renovated recently with new attractions.  The free fall is always a hit, even better when the centre is practically empty & your children are told to leave their jump suits on & keep free falling!!

There are so many cool things to see & do from experiencing earth quakes & watching lightening, making Tsunamis & clouds . . .

or go blind staring at 3D puzzles, spirals & lights.

 Most of the science geeks on the floor are senior high school & University students, i actually find many a bit pushy & in your face.  I did science for 6 years at Uni, so i know a thing or two, but they leap in with their own unsolicited explanation, hmmm.

Cap that off with letting the children run loose on the foreshore of Lake Burley Griffen, some shopping in Kingston (where the beautiful people live) & hot chips in a park, then a remedial massage for my broken soldier . . . everyone is happy!! 

So, want to avoid saying "can't you children even behave on this ONE day of the year" & avoid disappointment, do something they will love . . . outdoors, food, adventure & geeky, on a full belly from a delicious cooked breakfast with freshly squeezed juice . . . win win i say.  Personally i dismiss the hype & retail hysteria around these forced occasions, we celebrate being parents EVERYDAY, however, my husband did rather love the Lindsay&Edmunds organic chocolates, Le Creuset salt pig & fancy KitchenAid 4 slice toaster which does crumpets, muffins & super thick toast without getting stuck as his gifts!!  Plus the children made crafty things at school, so happy to let them celebrate their wonderful Daddy . . . any extra chance to spoil him (+ Grandad & Grandpa interstate.)
Happy Father's Day handsome soldier, we love you so much.  Love Posie

i'm grateful for . . . 'little changes making a huge impact'

Greetings all,

Spring is a great time to turn-out-your-life & turn-over-new-leaves . . . warmer weather is inspirational, that said, it snowed at the supermarket yesterday!!  I loathe the expression 'busy mum' & 'juggling family' as it sounds like you're too busy for life because of your children or you're on the brink of dropping someone.  If you schedule & make time, you can do everything, truly.  I was a full time working mother back in the 90s with a husband overseas, i did it all for 2 years, everyone was happy . . . cloth nappies, breastfeeding, homemade puree food, exercise . . . . i wanted it, so i dedicated myself to making it happen.  Fast forward 11 years of being a housewife . . . running my family is my full time job & i cherish the opportunity, so i do it with gusto - we make our own pasta, juice, herbs, vegetables, chickens laying eggs & i maintain the house.  Above all, my family comes first no matter how much time they need, which is why i tear around during the day ticking off my chores, errands & exercise so i'm available in the afternoons/ evenings/ weekends.  Having my husband home for these 6 months is making life SO manageable with 4 children, as he cooks the weeknight dinners, yay!!

High school is the business end of parenting, you have to be undistracted & dedicated.  I love the time i'm alone with my daughter, often in the car, to gauge where she's at.  Teenage moods can change like the wind, no warning, we've had smooth sailing, yet are prepared for the outbursts & inexplicable drama sparks.  Over-reacting because i'm too busy, is the worst way to handle them.  I thank her for being so normal & easy, to remember she is loved, it makes such a difference in how much she communicates & responds to my advice.  I couldn't resist this LOVE cushion for at TYPO this week, i told her she can scream, punch or cuddle it, depending on how she feels.  She rolled her eyes, that means "thanks mum, i love you too."

 On the 12 Week Body Transformation programme, the pasta suggested is wholemeal, so i tried my hand at making some - 350gm wholemeal flour & 4 fresh eggs, fantastic results.  I bake with wholemeal flour & we always make our own pasta . . . so why hadn't i combined the two & made wholemeal pasta before??  Delicious!! 

 A lot of my girlfriends are turning 40 & finding hormones & age = diet disaster so they're trying various diet & exercise programmes.  I went into the 12WBT with a calm mindset, i don't feel like i'm denying myself anything, like baking these goodies for my children's recess, i actually feel like i'm feeding my body & soul better with thoughtful nutrition.  I'm ready for this, it's working & i will stick with this mindset approaching my 40s. 

 I would often treat myself with sushi, treat??  Honestly, the calories in one sushi roll are almost an entire meal, i was eating 2 for a snack or lunch on the go??!!  I figure the money i save on sushi, i can treat myself to a pedicure every other month.  I went with OPI Greenwich Village polish, not quite the rich apple green colour i had hoped for, it will be orange in October!!  FYI the pleasure of a relaxing pedicure lasts way longer than a sushi roll!!  The chicks peck at my toes if i don't wear gum boots in the coop.

 My middle daughter would have to be our easiest child, under the radar, perfect school reports/ sports results/ class captain/ beautiful behaviour/ lovely friends/ incredible hair . . . i'm very careful not to be so grateful that i ignore her . . . the invisible child who doesn't cause any grief.  We pair up & do her favourite things together, like braiding her hair.  Sounds so old fashioned but with requests like this swirling hair do, we're braiding for an hour or so.  We talk, we tickle, it's fun & she knows she's special.

Next week i will be grateful for my next two darling children, they both have tonnes of personality!!  For more Gratefuls, check out Village Voices, love Posie

my creative space . . .'the art of giving'

Greetings all,

I'm really desperate to get back into the art of handmade, making gifts from the heart with fabrics i know the recipient will love.  As Christmas looms, so does my deadline to think up new ideas & use up my ever increasing fabric stash.  Just because i haven't been sewing for a year because of wrist pain & surgery, doesn't mean i haven't been purchasing glorious fabrics for future use!!  Gone are the days when handmade = a purple crochet toilet roll cover from Great Auntie Merle . . . something created from your own two hands is hip, with incredible fabric prints available & people happy to pay for it.  I should know, i was in a handmade craft business for over 12 years, it's very acceptable to make your gifts, ensure you execute them beautifully.

I love giving, being generous is one of my favourite personality traits.  When i met up with Tania McCartney to go to the theatre, i couldn't possibly arrive empty handed, so bundled up some freshly laid eggs in a mock carton with a tissue ball on top, just like a rooster's comb.  She cherished them & dreamed up googy egg breakfast ideas, something money can't buy - true friendship.  

Had the cutest trip out to the Christmas Barn with my twins a weekend ago, hints that the silly season is approaching.  We drove way down south to Bredbo, with a visit to the Bredbo Village Fair, then chatted about our purchases in the slow snow traffic home.  I think this year we might go silver & white, i'm loving the huge silver glitter sequin ball we picked up.

If you're in Canberra today, i'm doing a little market stall (rain & wind permitting) at Brindabella Business Park near the airport, 11a.m. to 2p.m. come along & check out the goodies on sale.  If you're on line, check out the creativity at Village Voices.  Love Posie

the first Wednesday in September . . .

Greetings all,

Did you know the first Wednesday every September in Australia is The Battle For Australia ceremony at the War Memorial??  We've been involved in this since we moved to Canberra, a heart warming memorial to commemorate all the battles which helped defend Australia from the WWII enemies after the fall of Singapore in 1942, like the Battle of the Coral Sea & the Kokoda Track.  Today was the 70th anniversary & many gorgeous old soldiers, sailors & airmen were in attendance, their faces tell a million stories.  My father & husband have been to many wars between them, however, in relatively modern conditions, nothing could possibly be as harsh as jungle warfare with unsuitable equipment, against a ruthless enemy on that damned Kokoda Track.

 While dignitaries laid these beautiful wreaths . . . 

 high school students (children of military parents) placed bunches of wattle into a huge wreath to represent the future generations of Australians who are grateful for the sacrifices made in WWII to protect Australia.  It was particularly heart breaking to see the Canberra Grammar boys, as they lost a former student last week in Afghanistan, they laid the wreath on behalf of all the students.  This year my 3 daughters were involved, i was incredibly proud.

I entered the Lego Festival of Play in August & my message won the opportunity to go up on the giant Built Board in King George Square, Brisbane.  It was to read Welcome Home Handsome Soldier, however, in light of losing 5 soldiers last week, they were sensitive to the families & requested i change it, so we just made it Welcome Home Daddy, being Father's Day on the day they built the message.   

It's days like this when i think even more deeply about our military & making the most of my life, as i'm free & live in this amazing country.  Most importanly, every member in my family who has served, has come home safe, from Gallipoli to Afghanistan.  Love Posie

keeping happy & zoo pass giveaway winner

Greetings all,

The more i try to relax & take charge of day time at home, the busier i am with events at school.  I am sticking to my eating plan & exercise nonetheless, while thinking of all the calm things in my world.  I keep a magazine or two in the car for when i'm 'between' errands or school runs & look for the beauty in mundane chores . . . glorious blue skies over Canberra while i hang out washing & noticing a love heart in the washing up sink.  It was perfectly formed, i had the camera ready, then my teenager poked her finger into the bubbles, i just smiled, the heart fought back for a blogging opportunity.  It's not time wasting, day dreaming is healthy, relaxing, calm.

Today we start rehoming some of our Hamburg hens.  Our darling first chick, Viola, started to crow on the weekend & confirm his rooster status, he's off to a farm (instead of roast chicken - it was close!!)  So i will load up my car with some hens & rooster Violo, for a school car park delivery.  From the 10 beautiful hens we 'inherited' from a mum at school, we have been able to spread 5 around 4 other families.  Of course we'll have a dip in egg production here, but we're sharing the love & genetic diversity.  It feels really great, everyone is happy, they are all free, laying & lovely non-fussy happy hens, i know they'll all settle in well.  It will be sad to farewell our first ever new born baby chick, now a magnificent rooster - just not fit for suburbia.  

Very happy to announce random pick # 20 Tahnee from Food Loopy (she doesn't have a blog yet) as the winner of the Taronga Western Plains Zoo family pass, congratulations!!  Your family will have an absolute ball there in Dubbo.  Thank you everyone for entering & do consider visiting this amazing zoo one day. 

How do you keep happy??  Eating right, exercising, noticing all the happy circumstances around your world??  Love Posie

social commentary Sunday . . . 'child models, actors, athletes & stars'

Greetings all,

I find child beauty pageants wrong . . . the hair, make up, costumes & ridiculously inappropriate poses . . . what is childish about any of that??  What is with judging & competitions of children beauty full stop??  Even more alarming are the parents, living vicariously through their children, you see them on the side lines, reminding their child to "smile."  Surely if the child was having a good time, they'd be smiling, but there is nothing natural about child beauty pageants.

I have had strong views on child models too.  When we were living in Sydney 10 years ago, i was approached at shopping centres several times, asking if my 3 daughters would like to be models . . . very interested in my twins.  I went along to one agent to check it out, i wasn't serious but with a Hollywood actress cousin, i thought it might be interesting to see inside her world.  Twins are awesome for modelling, a single child can only 'work' 20 minutes an hour (or something like that) but twins, you can switch out & get 40 minutes 'work' each hour.  The basic story was that you pay a large up front fee for them to photograph your children & be on the books for when a brand needs models or actors to audition.  Immediately i felt really uneasy, especially as they kept insisting the twins could play a baby on a number of television shows, even though they are not identical, they weren't listening to me, they had dollars in their own eyes.  A childhood of dragging babies & toddlers around ALL DAY for a 5 minute audition without any guarantee of success sounded ridiculous.  Making money from my babies didn't sit right with me.  

Fast forward to teens . . . my eldest is being talent spotted at athletics.  I know the coaches have sport on the mind, but how young is too young to let your child travel interstate for sports, alone??  Last year she made the national finals for high school athletics, we were so thrilled but sending her to Queensland, to stay at a Uni campus & wander the grandstands for 3 days of competition, aged 12, supervised by who??  No darling, you can't go & bless her heart, she accepted that completely.  If my husband was in Australia & available to accompany her exclusively, we might have said yes.  
I heard supermodel Megan Gale recently say she believes 13 is far too young for a girl to be exposed to modelling (it's an adult world, high pressure + there is nudity/ dress changes - in front of who??)  I agree.  Do you know that cute children in the department store catalogues modelling swimwear, underwear & regular clothes - those catalogues have to be removed from the newspapers before they are handed to prisoners, for reasons i don't even want to mention.  
I'm not a fan of singing shows, so i cringed when Young Talent Time relaunched this year (after a couple of decades) & wondered how they would handle the over sexualisation of children these days & current/ modern song lyrics.  They confirmed it for me when a cast member aged 16 girl sang Jessie J's "i'm feeling sexy & free" & a talent hopeful sang Ella Fitzgerald's "at last my love has come along."  Ok, so Hi-5, Disney & Wiggles songs possibly aren't what children are listening to, but how one earth can an 8 year old be praised for singing sensual love songs when A Little Mermaid song can equally showcase her singing talent??  Who makes these inappropriate decisions??  Ditto X Factor/ Idol/ The Voice/ Got Talent auditions & competitions which include young teens . . . do they even understand the lyrics??   
Finally, last night flicking channels, i saw a sweet little 11 year old from the Blue Mountains, touted as wholesome & sweet by the interviewer, scored the role playing the young Pamela Travers (who wrote Mary Poppins) in a new Hollywood movie about Mary Poppins . . . & what did this little beaming face say "i want to be famous."  Ick.  All this after the Prince Harry naked photo scandals & everyone knows celebrities have zero privacy . . . who on EARTH would want to be famous??  Worse, her parents were standing there smiling.  Who on EARTH would want their child to be famous??  Give up their childhood, for what??  "Child star" is like curse.  FYI this young lady has had an agent since she was 5, so hardly plucked from obscurity to land the role.  Enough said.  Each to their own, not my child.
Watching the early news today, Australia is finally in line with other developed countries: one in five children is sexually abused, what a horrible record to achieve.  I know i have given my children every opportunity to avoid such an awful situation.  Missed opportunities, sure, if they are that beautiful, talented & athletic, those opportunities will still be there when they are 18.  Above all, not one of my children has ever shown the desire to be famous, or even rich, just to do their personal best & impress themselves.  My husband & i are so proud, thank goodness they have that mind set.  
Am i the only one who feels like this??  I appreciate children need to be cast in child roles, but who is protecting them??  Love Posie

the silver linings of Spring - it's all about timing

Greetings all,

What a mixed week of high highs & low lows.  Thank you for the supportive comments on the last post where i had accidentally uploaded an entire new blog look which didn't take my fancy, however, prompted me for fresh changes & i'm liking this new style (after i left my blog for a couple of days i was able to fix it calmly!!)  It was all put into perspective as we lost 5 Australian soldiers in Afghanistan.  My heart breaks & my husband has been very quiet, he couldn't have planned a fishing trip away with our son at a better time.  They didn't end up camping outdoors, yet they bonded over Swiss Army knives, lamb stew, toasted marshmallows & the one that got away.  

Saturdays are chicken coop/ run cleaning days & i was impressed one chicken laid an egg overnight at -8C.  It was still -6C when i was raking up straw, all taps & water feeders frozen solid.  My handsome soldier will return to a bounty of chicken-poo-mulch for the garden.  The children want to experiment with new chicken breeds, top of the list are Araucanas & Frizzles, however, we have to lose 4 hens first (Daddy's Rules) . . . yesterday at a school luncheon, i rehomed 3 laying hens, brilliant.

 I picked up the new DVD release The Hunger Games, we read the books first (i think it's really important to read what your children are reading!!) & the movie wasn't half bad at the cinema.  I was running early for school so popped the movie in the car & couldn't get it to play.  Thankfully an 8 year old rescued me . . . press 'select' not 'play' to play discs??!!  By the afternoon our new car has been snowed on then a light hail storm.  Later that night on the way home from a party, i was pulled over by the police for running an amber traffic light.  Cue the most forgiving Federal Policeman . . . because i was friendly & genuinely thought it was Ok/ i was in a new car/ it had been snowing/ the roads were wet/ i thought i would be more dangerous to stop . . . he let me go.  Then we talked chickens (he knows the policeman who hatches our chicks) & i thanked the kind small town mentality of our nation's capital!!  FYI amber means prepare to stop, you can get booked for running an amber light!!   

 Seasons in Australia commence on the 1st of every 3rd month (September, December, March, June) not moon timings . . . today is the first day of Spring.  The sun has moved so much since i planted the chicken-day-house-roof-top-lettuce-garden they will really start to flourish.  It was so cold last night i had to have a hot shower to warm up & pinch a child from her bed to stay warm, brrr, coldest night i can remember all Winter - talk about a last hurrah!!

 It's athletics season & time for school carnivals - my primary schoolers brought home a bunch of ribbons & have already attended the regionals, this week - my high schooler had her sports day.  She entered every event possible while i was sun/ rain/ wind burnt . . . she won age champion (out of 200 girls!!)  As always, her school does fancy dress (our house theme was 'pink') so the entertainment factor was high as my husband & i watched inflatable horses, builders, fruit, 1950's housewives, Braveheart, natives & SciFi costumes run, jump & throw all day.       

 In poorly timed mishaps this week . . . 

i have driven a huge splinter down my finger nail & another into my finger tip; 

late to a school assembly as my husband changed the oil on his car & took my car to the hardware store, then left me with an empty fuel tank;  

i had to run volleyball kneepads to school, due to snow i was late & my daughter froze while waiting; 
our German Shepherd broke a snow dome with his tail, sob, those things really smash;

i paid for 3 different school excursions & events late;

i was so stiff from my Michelle Bridges workout i missed my son's 2nd origami creative club class (i don't think one boy was sorry, he was so loud, i threatened to sit next to him next class!!); 

while waiting for my husband outside his building for a lunch date, the police tapped on my window to see if i was dodgy; 

i left the Father's Day gifts for my Daddy & father-in-law a day late, hope they arrive on time;

i turned up to Costco an hour before it opened;

& my least favourite - the 9p.m. midweek volleyball match, yawn. 

A great Australian saying in such dismay . . . "she'll be apples" & at $1/kg these juicing apples from the Farmer's Market do indeed make everything alright.  

Surprisingly we're expecting a 24C day, that's inland living folks, 30C temperature variations & hallelujah for clothes line washing.  Happy Father's Day, i'm so excited with the gifts we've chosen, i even organised a giant Lego message to be built in Brisbane for my handsome soldier, perfect timing for the best father my children could possibly dream for.  Sunshine people, SUNSHINE, love Posie
PS last chance to win a family pass to Taronga Western Plains Zoo, ends Sunday midnight.