First Day of Kindy

Preface: To almost everyone who reads this, the term Kindergarten is going to have a different connotation. So, where we live, there is a short 'activity' session/s called 3y.o. Kinder, then there is 4 y.o. Kinder which is school preparation, then there is the first year of Primary School, which is called Prep (as in Preparatory year).

Tom is eligible for 3y.o. Kinder even though he isn't three yet, but because of being in a small town and a shortage of facilities he didn't get into the Kinder sessions for this area. Until last Tuesday. I'm in the car and get a call from the local Children's Activity Organiser asking me if I was still interested in Tom attending Kinder. Mind you, I'm on the way to work and she needs to know 'now', so that she can be sure she has enough numbers for the session to go ahead on Thursday - yes, two days later. So after a couple of emails to Jim we decide that a three hour session once a week will be a good thing for him and I accept the position. So Wednesday was spent finding a 'Kinder' bag and then Thursday after a very short lunchtime nap, my little boy was ready for his first Kinder day. He was so tired but so excited, it was cute. So after a little, "I want to stay in bed" tantrum, as I'm trying to put on his shorts and shoes, a fair bit of bribery from Mum, a quick snap to commemorate the day and a dash in the car, I think we made it only 10 minutes late with a very excited little boy.
He loved it, I knew he would. New toys, new teacher to impress and show off to, new songs and dances to learn and a new playground to play in. Couldn't be better.
I was a proud mama, to say the least. Anyway, he's going to do this for two years, otherwise he would be starting school very young, but next year, he might get into two sessions which will be great.
Go with the flow...........

Fire Storm

A note to all my OS friends who may have heard about the fires in Victoria. They are worse than what you may be hearing on the news. They aren't anywhere near us and at the moment I'm not aware of anyone I know being involved but I have a few contacts to check up on. Fingers crossed and prayers being said. This wasn't a case of silly people doing stupid things and getting caught in a fire. Victorians especially are bush fire aware and especially those who live in rural areas are given much education about how to maintain their properties and how to act in a bush fire. Very much like Mid-westerners in the US and hurricanes, people are prepared. This fire was horrific. The media was going on and on about how Saturdays weather conditions were to be the worst ever and honestly, I thought it was a media beat-up on Friday. I had my English neighbours asking me advice on how worried they should be and I gave them some tips but told them that they would be fine. If the fires had been in our area, we may not have been fine. We were just fortunate that no-one flicked a cigarette butt out the window of their car in this regions, because that's all it would have took. We were very worried about Jim's parents farm, but thank god, nothing happened in their area. It was so hot and dry and windy here on Saturday that I hung a load of soaking wet washing out and no more than 15 minutes later I collected it off the washing line and it was crispy dry.
The people caught in the fire, were packing up to leave the area, or were fully prepared to save their property and knew how to do it, but were just overwhelmed. Normally a fire front travels at the speed that you may have minutes to react if you are in the area, people are reporting that they had seconds. That their hoses and water pumps were just doing nothing, they had no hope.
Children have been lost, parents, brothers and sisters. Men and women volunteers are doing 24hr shifts fighting these fires because they just don't have enough resources. This fire front is 80km or 50 miles wide. So while Jim and I and the boys were enjoying an ice-cream on the beach taking a photo to commemorate the hottest day on record in our area, people were losing everything they owned and even their lives (unbeknown to us at the time of course).
So the fire is a really bad one and those who did escape literally have the shirt on their backs, but that's more than those who got caught out. It's not out yet but it's not directly threatening any towns right at the moment, but it's still windy and anything could happen.
I just wanted to let all our friends know that we're all good, but it's not a very good situation at all.

Speaking of.....

Talking about kids growing up too fast, here is a photo of Angus.
He just pulled himself up on the couch for the very first time.
His motivation? The remote control. He didn't know I was watching, and he had to put in a lot of effort to get his little bum off the ground, but he was pretty pleased with himself once he did it. Now the fun starts, he is going to be getting into everything I can just tell! What he did next was the worst of it though, he proceeded to point the remote at the T.V. and started pushing buttons. He's 9 mths old! It's frightening how much they take in from such an early age. Anyway, just wanted to share a positive thought to balance out the last blog.
Cheers!

Blessed be

The start of February has come and gone and the year is pelting along again all too quickly. Our family is safe and well and for that I am so grateful. I am very distracted at the moment by something that happened in Melbourne last week. On the first day of school, a father was driving his two sons and his four y.o. daughter to school and as he was crossing the largest bridge in the area - one that is very tall to allow for shipping vessels, he pulled over to the side of the bridge, grabbed his daughter from the car and threw her off the bridge. Witnesses say it literally happened in seconds. She was rescued, but later died. And every time I think of it, it just breaks my heart. I can't help but think of what happened in the car to cause him to snap, what was he saying to her as he grabbed her, was she pleading, "Daddy, no"? I know this is really somber but it is just the most tragic thing I have heard of in a long time.
I wonder whether she was just being an annoying four y.o. (as they are) and not listening to her dad, or singing loudly or telling him to change the music on the radio, or asking for McDonalds or.......... what could a 4 y.o. do that is so bad?
And it makes me wonder whether in an age where our kids are exposed to so much more information and learn a lot at an early age, are our expectations of them too high, are we just forgetting that they are just kids? When I see in mag.s all this bullshit about designer kidswear and 'spa dates' for 6 y.o. birthday parties it just makes me angry, because it is so hollow and doesn't give kids what they need in the stage of life when they are just lapping up every thing they see and here. And I wonder whether parents now have unrealistic expectations of their kids behaviour just because they dress like 13 year olds? Are they expecting them to sit quietly in a cafe, or go and play on their own without parental interaction for long periods of time? Maybe too many parents just want their kids to sit quietly in front of the T.V. or computer so they aren't bothered by them or their noise, or have to put in too much time or effort. I know in this case it was an extreme and the man is now under psychiatric care (unfortunately too late), but being in the midst of having a toddler and all their 'special' behaviour and being out and about in public and amongst other mothers and their opinions, I just can't help wondering if we have it all turned about.
Do you know that at the moment in a magazine, there is an advertisement for an 'ecologically friendly, recyclable cubby house' for $80.00. It's a fucking cardboard box! I'm serious, it's a cardboard box that has been cut out with a roof and a chimney and little windows and amazingly(!) - kids can decorate it themselves (i.e. scribble all over it with crayons).
I have actually cut the advertisement out to keep because it spins me out so much. Look at Jim's and Tom's creation a while ago, including lookout, all for nothing....
Anyway, I'm sorry for the sad news today, but it is really bothering me that this sort of thing can happen in a country like Australia where there is Child Protection services and all sorts of departments that are supposed to be in place to prevent this sort of thing, and then I just think of that little girl and how scared she must have been and I get upset all over again.
Will have some happy news next time I write...........