Monday Memories - Week 2

Like Ellie, I am actually lying when I say this weeks photo has a memory attached to it. It seems neither myself or my dear parents can actually remember anything related to the interesting item in this photo (which IS NOT my Holly Hobby undies, just in case you are wondering). Friends and neighbours, I'd like you to focus on my footwear...

The first three or so years of my life, I wore correctional shoes. Apparently. Can anyone remember why I wore these Gump-esque appliances? No, they cannot. Did anyone think to retain them for sentimental purposes, along with the staggering collection of 1970's baby clothes that simply had to live on? No, they did not.

You will be pleased to know they did however carefully save every one of my big brother's baby teeth. Second Child Syndrome, do you think?

Somebody is 33 today...

Happy Birthday, you old dog. We love you - mwah!

Monday memories - Week 1

Starting Grade 8 - 1990

It has been suggested by the lovely Ellie we liven up the pages a bit by subjecting ourselves to some humiliation. The next few Mondays will feature a photo and blurb of a moment/object that we remember well and share some details about it. In honour of our boys recently starting school for the first time I have chosen a photo of me about to trot off to boarding school at the ripe old age of 12.

Firstly, this photo was staged by my mother. It isn't actually the day I was going off to school but one of the days leading up to it. It was taken at my Nan's house, in front of her frangipani tree. (The tree itself holds a special place in my heart but I'll talk more about another day.) I remember being enormously excited about venturing off to school - for months I had been packing and repacking my stuff in giddy anticipation of the big event. I can't rightly recall why I was so excited, after all I was moving thousands of kilometres away from my family, my home and my friends but I suspect it had a lot to do with feeling very grown up and embarking on a big adventure.

My first day/night went well. I went from having all my life only one older brother to play with suddenly having 30 other 12 year old girls with me morning and night. Playmates on tap - I was in heaven. I only remember one afternoon of tears about 3 weeks in to the term when the enormity (and probably permanence) of the situation hit me other than that, I was hooked. Boarding school rocked. Good thing too because I had another 4 years of it to get through... ;)

For Cylie

Blurred photo but trust me, it's completed. I have RSI to prove it.

A shit of an afternoon...

...literally.

So I go to pick Matthew up from school. In my haste to get from the school to the car in the pouring rain I have not paid much attention to my offspring. I bundle them in the car and set off to do some shopping. *Sniff* - wtf is that smell? Ahhh, turns out Ryan has stepped in dogshit on the way back to the car. Okay, not a big problem but the fact that he has his be-shitted shoes resting on the back of the seat in front of him is concerning me a little. Thankfully I have wipes in the car so the crisis is temporarily averted.

25 minutes later, wandering around Target I can still smell it. And what's worse, it appears that I am cause of the stench. Yes, Ryan shared the love and wiped his shoes all over my legs as I was putting him in his carseat.

Total number of shops I visited before this fact dawned on me: 4.

Vandalism

So, what do you think the chances are of him seeing his third birthday?

Prep - the big day

Matthew started Prep today. I've been imagining this day for
so many years but when it finally arrived I think I was more terrified than he was. He was so brave; there were no tears at all but a little bit of clingy-ness and the need to be reassured that I was actually going to come back for him at the end of the day (which I did, just for the record... ;) )


At going home time I got there early enough to spy through the window without him seeing me and he looked happy as a lark, sitting on the floor with the rest of the class listening to a story. He very excitedly told me he had a great day and was even going to go back tomorrow so a success all round, I thought. I am yet to actually determine what he did on his first day or who he played with but I'm sure I'll get used to hearing that very same thing over the next 12 years...

Ladywhatzits

Right, I've officially given up attempting to conceal my identity. B1 = Matthew & B2 = Ryan. There. I feel so much better now... Just promise not to stalk me, okay?

~ ~ ~

Ryan & I were laying on the floor in his bedroom this morning, chatting about the meaning of life etc etc when the conversation flowed to the patterns on our doona covers:-

Ryan: Matty got boats? What I got?

Me: Jungle animals this week.

Ryan: What Mummy got?

Me: umm, flowers, I think...

Ryan: Noooo!

Me: Well, what's on mine then?

Ryan: (Looking at his insect stickers on his window) You got...Ladybuggles!!

I can't bring myself to correct him.

Sunday

Finally, after nearly 3 weeks of rain, we had a weekend of sunshine. Desperate as I was to crank the airconditioning and throw on a dvd while eating all manner of atrocities, I suggested a trip to the pool to while away the hours. Our local pool, while modest and frightfully expensive to enter, caters quite well for the littlies. B1 is particularly thrilled with with the waterslide and enjoys toying with his mothers nerves by shooting down headfirst, or backward and at one particularly hair-raising moment, with his little brother. B2 hasn't gone near it since...Thank God...

Later on Sunday the boys and I went down to the river to feed wild and rather moody ducks that reside there. Late afternoons are always always popular with the local folk so the ducks were obviously well fed by the time we got there and kept their distance. The boys instead amused themselves with a quick dip and gallop around the playground.

So there you go, a fairly unadventurous weekend but at least it got us all out of the house and in to the humidity for a while.

Technically not a child related post...

...but indulge me here anyway. I have been sewing and although I vowed not to turn this in to another bloody sewing blog, I am compelled to show off anyway. For your viewing pleasure, I present B2's winter jacket:-

He loves it. It turned out (well, so far) better than I anticipated and low and behold, actually looks like fitting him. Can't ask for more than that.

~ ~ ~

Today was my first day back at work after the wonderful Christmas Break. I was abused by an absolute arsehole on the phone so that really made my day. On a more positive not, B1 was thrilled to be getting back to Kindy so he could see his little girlfriend again and B2 spent his first day in the Pre-Kindy room with his 3 mates who had graduated to that room a couple of months ago. They both had a brilliant day - I think the short break did them a world of good. B1 is heading off to Prep in 4 short weeks (eek!). Time certainly does fly...