Hi there… It’s Me and Mister C…

Hiya! What glorious weather we have been having lately; along with a nice bit of Spring rain too. First week back to school (NSW term four); always mixed feelings in our household. On one hand, the kids are happy to see their friends; but on the other hand, are unhappy to leave their comfy pyjamas and beds, to go to school! Sadly, another one of our (Isa brown) chook girls is unwell. We lost our chook ‘Flossy’ just over two weeks ago; now another sister is unwell (there are three). ‘Coco’ has a swollen lower body area and was not walking well. I checked her over, then realised she may be ‘egg bound’? I picked her up carefully and ran up to the house; calling out to Husband (who was working at home that day), to google ‘egg bound chooks’ for a swift remedy. He came back into the laundry, where I had put ‘Coco’ in a warm bath; to help relax the egg laying muscles. Husband quickly went to the shops the find some Epson salts (the swift remedy). She did, however, pass an egg or two the next day; but is still very swollen in the ‘nether’ region. Mister C commented, “Maybe she has a tumour, Mummy?!”… Only time will tell unfortunately; I asked Husband to remind me, not to purchase any more Isa brown chooks. I was told years ago, “They lay eggs like there’s no tomorrow and don’t live very long!” (Too much pet sadness for our hearts).

Mister C had one of his best mates from school (in the same class) over in the hols. It was wonderful to see Mister C so excited; he waited patiently for his friend to arrive. I had to laugh; his friend didn’t turn up at the agreed timeframe. I left it for an hour; then texted the friend’s Mum (Mister C asking every five minutes when his friend was coming over). I then had a bit of a frazzled phone call from the friend’s Mum, saying she had forgotten the playdate! We all had a laugh; the playdate was able to still go ahead; I know Mister C would have been so disappointed… After the playdate was over; I asked Mister C, “What’s the best thing about having your friend over?” … Mister C replied, “I love my friend coming over to play, Mummy. ‘Cause we can play and have fun together. We think alike; it’s COOL to have my friend over to our house!”…

Mister C had complained through the week, many of his clothes were too tight and small. I looked at what he was wearing that day, then sorted out his wardrobe. I did realise many of the items WERE too small; with size five and some size four! (terrible Mum I know, considering he’s nearly eight!) Having written this, Mister C loved his superhero t-shirts, and most comfy pyjamas; there was no way, a few months back, was he going to part with any of them!… I texted his best mate’s Mother, to see if she would like the clothes for her younger sons (is always good to give away to another home) and she said, “Yes, please!” Three large bags later, we said goodbye to the old Mister C clothes. Later in the week, I asked Husband to dash to K-Mart to get a few pairs of shorts, t-shirts and pyjamas (must have those) for Mister C to wear; how quickly children DO grow!

Okay, back to 2017 (nearly there-I hope?) Now Mid-June, I can report our joint housewarming and Husband’s birthday gathering was a big success! Husband reports, “Wonderful party on Saturday, great BBQ; about forty-five people at one stage. I stuck to beer, even mid-strength beer for the first few hours (on my request!). Great food, thanks Wife; party went through about six bottles of wine and five bottles of champs!” Having a long deck at the back (top story) of the house, we were pleased to be able to entertain many family and friends on the day. Husband did however notice and mentioned to me later the next day; the deck did look heavy under the weight, of our visitors later in the evening!…

In our family world, happy times often preceded not so happy times. We enjoyed some wonderful memories with the party and Husband’s birthday; with our forever home, along with three sweet growing chooks, getting along well with our five older girls. Mister C (then four and a half years old) unfortunately, began demonstrating some unwanted, disruptive, and difficult behaviour, at home and at day-care. I recalled over the past weeks, Mister C had been ‘naughty’ (never liked this word) and disruptive at day-care, which was quite worrying. As we all know, Mister C has always been a busy, talkative, and unique child; with a big personality, huge imagination, and an even bigger heart (hence why I started our blog in the first place!). We loved him dearly (just like the girls and of course we still do today) but knew in our hearts something wasn’t quite right. I talked with Husband about some of the issues; his view was quite different to mine (of course- he’s a man!). Half the battle was both agreeing on what the issues for Mister C really were to begin with!

To this day, I will never forget the exact moment, where Mister C was displaying some difficult behaviour in the carpark, outside the girls’ school (early July). I clearly recall the dread I felt, as Mister C pulled his body away from mine (after having the sixth tantrum that day); turned and stuck his tongue out at me and began to run across the road. He did not look where he was going, his mind and engine (body) were all running very fast; he then proceeded to run in front of a moving white car. The car was going faster than the expected 20kmph speed limit; however, Mister C put the shock in all of us, as the car screeched to a halt, only missing his little body by less than quarter of a metre… It took my breath away; as only seconds before, I was still thinking about the latest tantrum he had displayed in the car, not more than fifteen minutes earlier; with him not wanting to put his shoes on, to go pick up the girls.

Husband recalls, “So over the last ten days or so, Wife has this obsession about dealing with Mister C’s behaviour. Maybe I am in denial, or just look at these things like an average bloke. I see Mister C as being quirky, stubborn, and just a four-year-old boy- he is throwing less tantrums than before! Wife thinks he has all sorts of behavioural issues, that need professional dealing with!”… Husband and Mister C were a lot alike (still are today), and is evident in this story, Husband told me during this time. Husband recalled, “Mister C and I were driving down Cowper St, towards a roundabout to cross Auburn St; when he asked which way, we were going to day-care. I replied, ‘the new and exciting way, my son!’ Mister C laughed and said ‘are you kidding me’; I found him saying that so funny, because he had found the way in which I said ‘new and exciting’ so funny. We laughed together raucously for a good while, lots of big belly laughing…”

After numerous chats (sorry Husband) I arranged a GP review and then a referral, to one of our town’s specialist Paediatricians. Mind you, the appointment was over four months away; the Occupational Therapist was even longer at a hefty ten months waiting time- what were we going to do?

Amongst all of this, we were enduring a terribly cold Winter, and had encountered our first (and perhaps worst ever) hail and windstorm later that week, at our new property. The house suffered significant rain and hail damage (thank goodness for insurance!); with water flooding damage to the front of the house, garden shed, and chook shed. Along with damage to most of the garden, washing away metres of precious topsoil and fallen branches (can’t quite recall how many mls of rain we had- most likely well over 100mls that day!) …

A Word from Mister C…

In the car yesterday with Dad, Mister C was watching a watching a game on Dad’s phone. “I feel like this has happened before, Daddy,” Mister C said, as he looked up and out of the car; Dad was just pulling up into our driveway. “Yes, my son; it’s called ‘Deja-vu’!” … “Oh, yes; Daddy,” Mister C said smiling. “Sometimes, ‘Deja-vu’ is SO strong; you can almost tell what’s going to happen next.” … “That’s amazing, my son! Did I say that in the past? It’s what I feel many times too.” … “Yes, Daddy; I think you did. We must be ‘Deja-vu’ twins then!” …

Stay tuned…

I have about ten more illustrations to complete for our first book. I have found a great new format designer here in the ACT; it’s very exciting and I look forward to working with this local company. Stay tuned for the end of 2017; will Mister C make it through the Kindy orientation program? …🤔🤨