Hi all… It’s Me and Mister C!

Well, hi there… The rain has come, and is very welcome; well needed for all of our dry gardens, tanks and grounds at present. I checked the rain-water gauge on the side of the shed this morning, when I fed our sweet girls (chooks); it read thirty-five mls of rain over the last few days (so far) for our neck of the woods (yay!). Hoping the bi-annual Poultry Auction will be on sometime soon; we need some new girls (chooks) to brighten up our day and chook area. Mister C and Flossy love the white Silky-Bantam chooks, the ones with the cute fluffy heads and feet (me too!) …

As you may have heard and or read, the NSW Dept of Education (Government) has decided to send all children back to school full-time starting from Monday! There has been much media interest, on this tricky topic for the past few days; it is a difficult one for us, and for every family in our community and beyond, right now. Do we send our children every day? Or do we keep them home a day here and there (to make sure they stay well, rested and germ free?) … For our family, we have been sending Mister C and the girls on the days I have been working; next week I will keep the kids home one day and send them for four days. The following week (not really sure), but most likely they will go each day as required; or obviously not, if unwell with a cough or cold (heaven forbid!). Flossy has her check-up X-ray next week; so, hopefully she will have her back-slab removed and not put back on; we can then go back to some kind of normality.

I wanted to send our warm thoughts and wishes to our dear Sister in Law, Brother and family (hi S & D. L and girls); sadly, we lost our Sister in Law’s dear Dad on Friday (D.C- dearly loved and missed). We are so very sorry he has lost his very long battle (but a triumphant one at that!), and know he is at peace now. Our thoughts are with you and the family, over this difficult and sad time. We love you very much! ❤

Its Husbands birthday coming up next week (getting a little closer to the big five-zero dear one!). Husband will always be older than me; I take great comfort knowing this each birthday year (and I tell him so). We all get a year older (is unavoidable really); while we both draw closer to the big five-zero too! I have always found men very difficult to buy for (as we don’t think like them- naturally!). I asked Husband what we wanted for his birthday; the usual answer, “Oh, I don’t know, love”, was his reply (no help there!). Funnily, Husband said he was going to the shops yesterday morning to get some groceries; I piped up and said, “Best get a sympathy card for dear S.L and family; and while you’re there, get a birthday card for yourself too!” I looked at him, thinking he didn’t get my joke and said, “Don’t worry about the card for you, I’ll get one next week.” Husband looked blankly at me, and said, “Yes, will do.” Off he then went to the shops; an hour or so later he returned, laden with grocery goodies. He presented the card for S.L and family on the kitchen table, there was a big card underneath it. I said, “Who’s this card for love?” Husband replied, smiling, “It’s the birthday card for me, you wanted me to get!”…

Righto… moving on, back to 2016… We made it back from our wonderful trip to Tassie (and horrid drive home) to recover in our place and special own comfy beds. We looked forward to one day going back to Tassie and exploring the East to West coast (perhaps when the kids were a bit older?). Poor Flossy had to wait a week for her teddy hanky, to arrive express post from Davenport (thanks again!); we had to substitute another toy for her to have in bed. It ended up being about five soft toys from Mister C and Widy’s rooms; I didn’t think she would fit in the bed too, with all the extra soft bodies…

With Husband’s annual leave for two weeks, we have a (mostly) happy and sunny January (school hols); enjoying some bike rides and picnics in our charming local parks. Husband recalls, “Mister C is in some ways better and some ways worse; he keeps chucking tantrums. Never let me forget the nonsense like this: Mister C has insisted, lights are left on in his room overnight (three mind you!); while cleaning up all the ‘Lego’, Mister C tips it all over the floor again! He giggles, then throws food around the dining area (cheeky boy!). Maybe I am focusing on just bad things, he is more often sweet, kind and well behaved.” Disciplining our children is a difficult topic, particularly between parents, past family morals and upbringings (I’ll never the forget the time- many years ago, my mother ‘used’ the big wooden spoon; she went to hit my backside and the spoon snapped in half!). For us, redirection and distraction are the key (particularly with unwanted tantrums); while taking responsibility for actions is important. However, for a lively three-year old, this can be hard to achieve! As parents, we would rarely ‘smack’ our children; an occasional tap on the hand, or stern voice would usually stop our child from continuing the ‘unwanted’ behaviour. Praising the good behaviour, while ignoring the bad, is (and was) a good motto that worked mostly for us; but can also be hard to achieve some days (particularly with boys).

Through the ongoing tantrums, Mister C had many days of being ‘dry’ all day! This was wonderful and Mister C was very proud (us were too) of himself (to say the least!). No accidents or wet pull-ups through many days, and was dry at night for many weeks; we could now say Mister C was fully toilet trained- day and night (whoa-yeah!). A good milestone for everyone (toilet-training has it’s ups and downs). Lots of praise when due (new ‘Bat-man’ (Butman) undies really helped I think!). Next was to tackle the light situation ongoing at night in Mister C’s bedroom…

My New Grad year commenced at the end of January for the twelve months; a very exciting, but also a nerve-racking time (not to mention very busy!). I was as ready as ever, allowed to work four days per week- most grateful (due to family commitments and Husband commuting for work); while looking forward to my first rotation, for three months on a medical ward. I was now ready, to put all I had learnt into safe-professional nursing practice! (Get your skates on Husband and kids, it’s going to be a busy year!). Husband comments, “Wife has been worried about her upcoming RN start. I think it’s normal for women to need to ‘complain’; they often are just venting, and don’t necessarily want solutions. I love her, but she can be difficult to say the least!” On reading those comments, I felt some dismay; but at the same time, I understood Husband’s frustration; who wanted to find a solution (sometimes there aren’t any!). A good chat is usually all us ladies need sometimes (and a bear hug too of course)…

A word from Mister C…

“Stay calm, wash your hands and wear your thick pyjamas, to spy lots of creatures in the garden.”…

Mister C and Flossy, were outside on the patio eating cupcakes; in between the cold rainy day. Mister C looked up at the sky and said, “You know, all creatures are beautiful. “Yes!”, smiled Flossy… “There are five creatures I really like”, stated Mister C. “I like owls, kookaburras, lizards, dogs and our chook girls.” … “Yeah, me too”, said Flossy. “I like our birdy friends, that come down to visit each day; you know, ‘Jack and Diane’, ‘Gilbert’ and his girlfriend ‘Gloria’, the cute one with half her beak missing!”… “Yeah”, nodded Mister C. I kind a like foxes, because their faces are pretty cool; but not the one who took our chook girls! Some animals live in outer space, didn’t you know?” They both looked up at the sky for a long minute, pondering the universe (and another cupcake to eat) …🤔

Stay tuned…

More silly stories with Mister C and our family; my car gets damaged at the work car-park (arrgh!); did we make the right choice to move into our new property, after all?!…

Another ‘Flossy Funny’… Looking at her new mobile phone (hand me down) for her b’day. Flossy said, “So, when did you get your first mobile phone, Mum?” … “Oh, I was a lot older; mobiles didn’t really come out until the Nineties”, I said, smiling… “Oh, you had no electricity back then, did you Mum?!”… 😏