School Holidays are here again!

Big blogging break has been had.  I just couldn't blog, there was too much happening.  I know some people blog their best in times of crisis.  I had no inclination to blog at all.

And now, Term One is done.

It has been an interesting time.

The Little Man started Year One.  He has a great class and a wonderful, calm and gentle teacher.  He started Karate.  He loves it.  We have seen an amazing transformation in him.  He has really matured and is finally focussed on something he loves.  I cannot recommend Karate enough!

Yellow Belt Grading - Now he gets to wear the suit.  He 's stoked!!

The Workaholic has spent the last five months living away from us while working in Wagga Wagga.  It was the only job he could get.  It took 11 months, but he finally got a job.  It was tough on him, he is such a home body.  He coped pretty well.  We gave Skype a workout and he knows the drive to and from Wagga like the back of his hand!  Now he is back home because he starts a real job in Sydney at the end of this month!

The boys and I stayed home and got on with life as normal as possible.  Single parenting is tough, I really appreciate that now.  The up side though was that housekeeping is so much easier when it's just the boys and I.  The Workaholic is such a messy bugger.  Don't get me started on the washing...

I started a part time job in November and it has reminded me how much I love training.  It made me decide to upgrade all of my qualifications and go after a real training job.  It also reminded me why we chose for me to be a stay at home Mum while the kids were little!! It's tough fitting kids and their activities around work.

The Munchkin adores pre school and asks everyday if it is a pre school day!  He is hilarious.  Such a delightful little personality!!  He's recently discovered that he can curl his tongue.  It is his go to pose for photos now.

The Munchkin and the tongue.  He finally watched the Wizard of Oz
with me and now knows why he is called the Munchkin.

We are enjoying the down time of the school holidays and getting back to some form of normal in Term Two.  Fingers crossed anyway.

So that's us in a teeny tiny nutshell.  How are you going?

Wordless Wednesday

The Munchkin had a Birthday!

and a party!

Father's Day was quiet and relaxing.

Linking up with Trish @ My Little Drummer Boys for Wordless Wednesday.

The Sky is Falling

Today I am running around like Chicken Little, totally sure the sky is falling.

Out my front window...

Maybe it isn't, but just maybe it is.

Things are still tough in the House of O.  No work on the horizon. No contract payout agreement in the offing.

I've started applying for jobs, I'm selling on eBay and we are revisiting the idea of an interstate move.

The last six years of knocks has left me battered and bruised and completely unable to rise above the crap and well, quite frankly be my usual sunny self.  I knew it would get to me sometime.  My Mum says she can't believe I've made it this far without cracking.

The Little Man is reacting to the tension and getting into trouble at school.  He's grumpy, he's teary, he's a monster, he's a sad little boy.  It's so frustrating that his first year of school has been marred by all this drama.  The me I wish I could find, would say "It will all work out, this crap happens for a reason."  The me who is here right now says "When will we get a break, I just can't take any more drama or bad news."

It's not even the money worries that have pushed me to the brink today.  It's the fact that The Workaholics Dad went into hospital last Monday and for six days none of his FOUR siblings (or his Dad for that matter), bothered to tell him.  He found out on Saturday morning because he phoned his Dad because he hadn't heard from him and he answered his mobile from his hospital bed.  His family just do my head in.

I don't have anything clever to say.

I just thought writing this down and posting it would be cathartic and explain in some way why I am still absent.

I hope you are all doing it a bit easier than me!

Patches of Blue Sky

Things are tough in the House of O at the moment.

I was starting to think our horrible 2012 was finally turning around in July.  It was not to be though.

No sooner had the Workaholic settled into his new office, phone number and email when more drama reared its ugly head. It was with foreboding and horror I listened to him tell me about the fraud he had uncovered in his new employers Queensland operations.  I knew right then and there we were in for more crap.

The Workaholic spent six weeks investigating, collating and explaining the issues to his new boss.  Six weeks of 6am till about midnight, including weekends and his boss lost the plot.  He trashed the office and told the Workaholic to leave.  He's not ready to deal with it.  It's so much money that he's going through mourning.  We understand this because we've been there but we were already at the end of our resilience.  We just cant wait for his sanity to return.  We thought we'd be OK because the Workaholic had a contract.  We are still waiting for him to pay it out.  It may go legal and to be honest I'm not up for it and therefore keeping as far away from the drama as I can now!

It's the Munchkin's third birthday this coming Thursday.  Luckily I have his gifts and the party we are having for him this Saturday is just family and friends, so I have minimal preparation to do.  I don't think I could cope if we had planned a big bash for him this year.  I'm so amazed by this little guy.  He is such a joy in the midst of the daily drama we have been living this year.

On another positive note, my studio is almost finished (even though I have lost a corner to the Workaholics office) and I'm selling my excess bits and bobs on eBay.  I'm pretty excited to get my studio back up and running.  I'm in the process of going through my old shop stock and organising my workspace.  I picked up some fab chairs on eBay so I can teach in there too! Watch this space for some geee-orgeous jewellery creations coming soon.

I am also really excited by the progress the Little Man is making at school.  He has jumped three reading grades in a couple of weeks and his Occupational Therapist is thinking he will be ready to stop seeing her by the end of the term.  This weekend he got a merit award and was given the class mascot monkey for the weekend.  He's really blossoming.  A big tick for our choice of school.  It's totally worth the fees we have managed to scrape together in these difficult times!

'Bobo'
The class mascot spent the weekend with us again this weekend.

At this point, I am trying to concentrate on the positives (this is Living Life Playing the Glad Game after all!!) but it has been really hard with all of the obstacles I keep running into, but most days I think I am winning.  I still have the Plan.  I'm just moving a bit slower that I wanted to.


Small patches of blue sky amongst the grey is what I am focusing on!

Running in Gale Force Winds

Yesterday the Little Man competed in his first school athletics carnival.

It was one of the windiest days I can remember.  Locally, there were tree branches coming down everywhere.  It's a very tree heavy area.  The SES was in high demand.  Because it is held on the school oval they decided to brave it.

The parents arrived bundled up against the wind and watching the clouds out of the corners of their eyes.

It was a well organised event, just as pretty much every event at his school is.  We were asked to be seated track side by 12:15 for a 12:30 start and were to take our weary competitors home at 2:30 after the presentation of trophies.  We were out of there at 2:30 on the dot.

At first I could not find the Little Man in the program, he was pointed out to me by another Mum n Division A of his races.  I had not looked there, who knew he could run? He's not the most athletic of kids!!

They ran into the wind.  They all ran in their tracksuits!  It was a freezing wind.

It was great fun and both the parents and the kids had a wonderful afternoon.

We did have a little hiccup.  The Workaholic had told the Little Man he would be there but about an hour late.  So when I called out to him as he marched out to say I was there, the Workaholic standing next to me.  He had actually arrived early and had saved me a seat.  After watching the Little Man's 2 races, he headed home out of the wind to finish some work.

The problem was that the Little Man had not seen him at all.  So when his teacher handed him over to me at the end of the presentation, he burst into tears and sobbed because "Daddy had not come like he had promised".  It broke my heart.  Myself and two teachers all tried to convince him he had seen his races, but he did not calm down until he got home and saw the photos and video that the Workaholic had taken.  Thank goodness I made him do that!!!

How he missed seeing his Dad when he ran by posing like this, I have no idea

I still do not understand the way the Workaholic's brain works.  Why couldn't he just stay like the other parents?

Apparently though, I am chopped liver.  My attendance was not required.  I should have just stayed home out of the wind!

It drives me a bit crazy to be the parent who does everything but gets passed over for the absent parent at every opportunity.

Best Intentions Scuttled by a Crazy Week

Last week I was so excited and renewed.  I had great plans for blogging, organising and generally moving on from the horrid start to 2012.

I fell victim to a crazy week.

Today I am renewing my commitment to getting on with the Plan. (I'm giving it a capital P from now on - it's that important!!)

It's been two weeks of The Workaholic leaving before 6am and getting home around midnight, so single parenting time again.

Although my personal stress really started on Thursday when I had to make cupcakes for The Little Man's 100 Days of School party on Friday.  I could have done without the extra task on Thursday evening.  Of course my child free Friday was hi jacked by the party at 12 till 1pm, mind you.  With pick up at 2:45 (meaning I need to be parked by about 2:20 - the traffic issues continue), my day was pretty well out of my hands.

Saturday was the usual Soccer for The Little Man with the added bonus of The Munchkin's presence.  He hates being there, making it a bit of a nightmare for me.  The rest of the day was spent referee their many scuffles and doing the washing.  No relaxation for me in there!

I worked all day Sunday, till very late, helping an Event Manager friend prepare for her biggest annual conference.  It was physically hard but brainless labour.  I spent most of my day with my ear buds in listening to Adele, Florence + the Machine, Carly Simon and Heather Nova (I sense a theme).  It was a welcome break from my kids and house to be honest!  The bad bit was that The Workaholic decided at lunchtime that he really needed to work (I only gave him two weeks notice) so he let the boys run wild.  They got EVERY toy out of the boxes sealed up and ready for the bin or the Salvos, from my epic toy cull a few weeks ago.  He still does not understand why I got angry when I came in the door at 9.30 to discover said toys strewn throughout the house.

Just a taste of the mess I came home to.

Anyway, that was nothing.  Monday was a write off because the Munchkin had been so overindulged by Daddy on Sunday (think soft drink, lollies and MacDonald's for dinner) that I could not inflict him on the rest of his Gymbaroo class.  Luckily I made this decision early, because by lunchtime I was unable to keep my eyes open or stop vomiting.  Not a good day.

Tuesday, I briefly considered doing a make up Gymbaroo class but decided on a trip to the park pre day sleep so he could burn off some of the remaining energy before My friend N dropped off two of her kids for a few hours babysitting after school.  Magically all four kids behaved wonderfully and ate their dinner quietly.  I made it through the day!

Yesterday and today I have to pick up, feed and look after my Event Manager friend's two kids.   I've been looking after them a fair bit this year so we have a good routine and it's not too taxing for me, on a regular week.

This week is not regular.  I'm hanging by a thread!

It's the start of a new month.  I've realised that this is a big mental factor for my ability cope.  We've had such a run of months where we did not have the rent, insurance etc on time, that its like my brain shuts down.  This month should not have been stressful.  The pay should be in, bills should be paid.  It's not and as a consequence, they are not.

I was not expecting the pay to be late.  It was not part of the Plan.  I did a run to Medicare to claim outstanding money.  I feel better with that cash in my wallet.  I even spent $10 on some orange PJ's for my orange loving Munchkin and $15 in the $2 shop on assorted items for his birthday at the end of the month.  Retail therapy really does help.

Tomorrow is Friday.  I have no commitments outside of the promise I made the Little Man this morning of some quality Mummy time after school tomorrow while the Munchkin is still in daycare.  It sounds like heaven.

So I am writing this, tidying up and resetting my attitude. Yet again.  Back to the Plan!!

I used to deal with being busy and broke so much better than I do now.

So how's your week been?

July, You Rock!!

It's about 6 weeks since I posted anything on here.

I've been busy.

Busy freaking out that the Workaholic's casual job was coming to an end and there was still no work in sight.

Busy deciding what to do about my study.

Busy trying to decide if we should break our lease and look for a cheaper house.

Busy rearranging my house so that I could get my studio space as I had planned when we moved in here 12 months ago.

Busy culling the millions of toys we have accumulated over the last six years.

Busy with three weeks of school holidays.

Busy arguing about the two embryos in the freezer at IVF Australia.

Busy babysitting my God Daughters twice a week.

Busy trying to ignore the fact that my 21 year old cat is on the way out.

Busy feeling sorry for myself.

Slowly things are resolving themselves.

The credit card we've been living on, went over its limit and a day later the Workaholic was offered a job. Totally out of the blue.  The same day I sold something on Ebay for a massive and unexpected profit and out of nowhere I received an email that I had won the June prize on www.productreview.com.au!  Good things come in threes too it seems!

July, You Rock!!

Things started looking up and with it our moods and motivation.

And this Ab Fab Olympic torch photo just cracks me up

The house has been almost sorted out to a level I can live with.  I decided what to do with my studies and my studio is almost up and running.

The most wonderful thing about this horrible year is that The Little Man is loving school.  The struggle to pay the fees during this crappy time has been totally worth it.  I cannot imagine him anywhere else.  Today his class are having a 100 days of school party.  The Mums and the boys are supposed to dress as superheroes.  He's going as Batman and I am going to wear his Super A cape that my Mum made him.

It will take us months to recover from six months of practical unemployment but we have a plan.  A plan is something I can live with.



So, how has 2012 been treating you?





Linking up with Maxabella and Kidspot for 52 Weeks of Grateful, because this week I'm grateful for all the good stuff that July is bringing.

The Letter of the Week

This weeks letter of the week was V.

It was a hard one because he was not interested in taking a van which I figured was the easiest option.  We put out a call for ideas and got, Vienna, vitals, vitamins, volcano, venison, vikings, viper, vomit, and venus fly trap.

It turns out someone had spent the long weekend making a volcano ala The Brady Bunch episode so that was out.  I thought vitamins was the way to go but as usual, The Little Man had other ideas.

He took a Visa Card.  I always give the kids the empty Visa rewards/gift cards for their shop and he had decided they were perfect.

I obliged with the usual sheet to accompany them.

Last week was a treasure week.  He took an old print of Captain Cook declaring NSW a part of the British Empire, that he got for a baptism present from his God Mother.  I was surprised by the choice, but it turns out they had been looking at a similar picture in class.

Next week was supposed to be E, but following on with the pirate theme of term 2 (tomorrow they are going to Pirate school at the Maritime Museum, dressed as pirates -aaargh!), it is another treasure week.  This time something that the Workaholic or I have that is old and we treasure. 

I have no idea...

Wordless Wednesday

Adventures with Bobo, the KM Mascot

Linking up with Trish from My Little Drummer Boys for Wordless Wednesday.  Check it out!

The Letter of the Week

This weeks letter of the week was B.

As the Little Man had been to a birthday party on the weekend and one of the prizes he had come home with was a pair of binoculars, it was a pretty easy week for me.  We did not even discuss options, but I suppose we could have done, bat, ball, bull dozer, bionicle, Batman, bugs or a bear.

I do love an easy week!  Next week is another treasure week thanks to the Pirate theme they have this term.  He has to take something that he treasures that he has had for a long time.  It should be interesting!!

The Letter of the Week

This weeks letter of the week was N.

There were plenty of ideas for this week.  We thought about necklace, noodles, newspaper and nectarine.  We had decided on nickel.  Not the metal but a US 5cent coin.  The problem was, the jar with all the unchanged money from a variety of overseas trips was not unpacked at this house.  It is somewhere in an unpacked box.  So The Little Man and I decided it was down to nest or nut, as in nuts and bolts as his school is nut free.

In the end he took both.  The nest is in a local car park and the baby birds had hatched and we were all enjoying watching Mummy and Daddy finches looking after them.  The bolt the Workaholic dragged out of his hardware cupboard was a monster and too cool for a boy not to take for news!!

These are the sheets he took in for the news table.

Next week it is the letter B.

The Letter of The Week

This weeks letter of the week was C.

With my new Mixer arriving as a Mother's Day gift, news starting with C was a no brainer. Cupcakes!!

They were delicious and iced with electric blue icing.

This weeks News sheet (note my new red baby)

There was no letter of the week last week as it was supposed to be Umbrella but instead it was a special week where they had to take in something very precious to them and talk about why they treasure it.  This is to tie in with this terms Pirate theme that they have going.  I'm guessing the teachers did not want to listen to 16 separate news presentations on Umbrellas!

My Little Man took in a Mickey Mouse necklace that he got when her was about 18months old and remains a favourite.  He is such a Mickey Mouse boy.

Being a Soccer Mum

This year I have become a soccer Mum.

It has been interesting.

There are some really great things that have come out of the Little Man playing soccer and some stuff I could really do without.

So what does it involve being a Mum of an under 6 novice soccer player?  Well let me take you back to registration.

When two of his little pre-school friends told him that they were joining the same soccer team, the Little Man was immediately enamoured by the idea.  It was less about the soccer and more about playing with the two friends he misses from pre-school.  They go to three different schools.  In theory I thought it was a nice idea, but the logistics made my head spin and lets face it, he's not a very co-ordinated child and he had never even watched a soccer game let alone kicked a ball!

He spent a week asking me "Can I play soccer with my friends Mum, Puhleeeease". Over and over again.  This culminated on the Thursday with "So Mum when does Soccer start?".  The Workaholic and I discussed it.  We have a long standing deal that when his schools compulsory Saturday sport kicks in in third grade, that the Workaholic will be responsible for taking him, but at the moment he is still working Saturdays, so it was up to me.  I gave in and logged onto the clubs site and filled in the forms and paid my $196, knowing full well I would fork out much more.

The team in action.

At the first training session he was puffed out by the mid point and spent the last part sitting on the edge of a hockey goal.  I thought, "Oh No! This is not going to happen and I've just bought shorts, socks, shin pads and ordered a jacket and training shirt, personalised with his name.  There's a $100 bucks I'll not get back."

Anyway we persevered and I noticed he started to like the training and by the first game was raring to go.  By the third game he had found his place in the team and makes it his mission to get the ball back from the other team and pass it on to one of the goal scorers.  He LOVES it.  I hate it.  It helps that they have won every single game by miles.  Last weeks score was 30-1!  They were regraded this week but still won 10-4.  I've been chatting to other Mums on the opposing sides, it turns out we are one of the few clubs who have a Kick-start coach as part of the program.  The results are obvious.  Training sessions are 15 minute blocks of different drills.  It's fast paced and fun for these little guys.  They love it.

He is benefiting from it a lot.  His self esteem is sky rocketing.  His gross motor skills have improved and with it his confidence to have a go at new physical activities.  His school teacher and occupational therapist have noticed a marked improvement.  I'm really pleased about this aspect.  It's a real bonus I had not really considered.

Now here's my side.

I do not enjoy being a soccer Mum.

Firstly, training is on a Thursday afternoon 4.30 till 5.30.  Thursday is one of my child free study days, so the Munchkin is at pre-school, so it starts out a good day, then afternoon soccer chaos kicks in.  I go and pick up the Little Man from school at 2.45, jump back in the car and drive 15 minutes away to pick up my God Daughters from their school by 3pm.  We then come home for him to dress for training (consisting of me stressing out and him dawdling) and if possible do readers (not often, it feels like a miracle when we do them).  Then we go to training.  I sit in the cold with my Kindle, somehow, reading, watching the training and still keeping an eye on the playground where the girls play.  We then sprint to the car the minute the post training meeting is over, struggle with seat belts because two boosters and a car seat do not fit easily into a Subaru Outback (in case you were wondering) and brave the traffic to get to the Pre-school  to get the Munchkin.  Thursday has become MacDonald's night, for obvious reasons.

Then Saturday mornings, I have to get up the same time as week days to get him to meet his team by 8.10am for the 8.30am game.  We have the same dawdling and me stressing about getting dressed.  The weather is mental.  Every week it is a drama.  It's either so hot we are all standing on the sidelines in gumboots and t-shirts with our jackets and cardigans strewn across the wet grass on the sidelines or like today, it looked warm.  It was warm.  Until we got onto the field where there was an icy wind blasting us.  Not enough clothing on today and of course the Munchkin sat in a puddle of water.  This clothing issue sounds like such a small thing, but I am finding it infuriating!!

On top of this weather, I am dealing with a bored 2 1/2 year old.  I sit him on a picnic rug and bribe him with muffins or cakes or anything to keep him seated and quiet.  He still whines for the entire time and hangs off me like a limpet.  It is exasperating!  Last week he wound my cardigan around me so tightly, it ripped!  I'm always so relieved when it is over and we are in the car on the way home!!

Munchkin with cupcake bribe.

Today was extra stressful as I knew I had an assessment task waiting for me at home (which I am now ignoring to write this post...).

So are you a soccer Mum?  Is it like this for you?

Grateful for Friday

Today I am so grateful it is Friday.  Grateful may not be quite the right word, but man I am thanking the Lord it is!  Everyone in the House of O is exhausted.  The end of the term cannot come fast enough for my Little Man.  He is on a tired and emotional roller coaster ride.  I got called back to school this morning because he burst into tears and needed a hug.  This was after captain obnoxious had been present for the entire hour beforehand!  Unfortunately his first Soccer game is tomorrow morning, but after the that a lazy, restful weekend is planned.  He just needs to make it through to Thursday...

I am super grateful that my exam for my current unit is untimed and available online for 10 whole days.  I have already logged on and printed that sucker out.  Odds are good that I will submit my answers on the last day with a record breaking attempt that lasted 240 hours!  I need this assistance.  This topic is killing me, it is so intense.  The convener was so kind to allow this little loophole!  It will never happen again and I so making the most of it.

Even though I have had a private grumble and multiple daily showers, I am also grateful for this unseasonally warm, but humid weather.  How nice is Autumn this year in Sydney?  I may even see a rare sunny day for my birthday this year.  It has not occurred many times in my lifetime, I usually get rain.  Fingers crossed!



Take yourselves over to Maxabella Loves... or Kidspot for a bigger dose of Grateful.  It is very good for the soul!!

The Letter of the Week, R

I was worried that with this weeks letter being R, I would be pressured into buying a rabbit.  I'm burnt out, I would so easily have caved in.

Luckily he did not even mention it, not even when we were checking out the bunnies in the pets hop this week.

This week he procrastinated.  He did suggest that I should bring his brother in as his name starts with R, but I explained that was not something Mrs M, his teacher would approve of.

So he left it until Tuesday evening.  He then decided he would do R is for Rocket and he would make one out of Lego (at bed time).

Anyway,  I made him his sheet with the word on it and some images found on the Internet and he told me what we was planning to say.

His points were:

• Referring to an image on the back of his sheet of Saturn 5, he has going to tell the class that this type of rocket went into space before his Mum was born (nice) and that those rockets could be unmanned or manned but the rocket did not come back to earth because it burned up in the atmosphere, the men came back in capsule that dropped into the sea.
• The next thing was that rockets put satellites in space and he made a Lego satellite to go with his rocket.
• The final point he had was about building rockets with Lego.  I'm not sure exactly what he had planned for that!!

Anyway, I dodged a bullet and did not purchase a new bunny for the House of O!  I am sure there is one in my future though...

Next week it is the letter, O.   That could be interesting.

End of Term Burnout

I am completely burnt out, so are my kids.  This week has been just mad.  I have not cleaned my house beyond the bare minimum of the kitchen.  That is a major indicator of where my head is.  I like my house clean and tidy, I can't cope if it is not.  And man I am so not coping at the moment.

It's OK, We have a Fire Engine, we can put out the fire.

It has been such a busy week and being so close to the end of the term we are all really tired and very tetchy (great word, I love it).

I'll give you an example:

Today I dropped the boys off by 8am and normally that would see me heading home via a coffee purchase, for a quick tidy and a day of study, especially as I have an online test opening tomorrow and I am nowhere near ready to do it.  Today that is not going to happen.  Today I have to go and get weird stationery items for a project that I am involved in but have no interest in, then I have to wrap up my donations for the school gala day Tombola so I can take them to the school where I am meeting The Little Man's new OT for his mini assessment before he starts with her next term.  Once that is over I need to go and pick up the winter uniforms that I ordered online (and already know I need to change some items thanks to feedback from other parents) and try to find a secondhand jumper in the uniform shop because they are out of stock of new ones.  By the time this is over I should just have enough time to run into the pet supply store for kitty litter, cat food and a heater for Freddy, the fighting fish before I head back to the school to pick up The Little Man and take him to Soccer training.  Finally I will whizz over to the pre-school to get the Munchkin just before they close and have to get my very tired boys fed, bathed and into bed.

Where is my study day??

Tomorrow I will have to study my butt off.

Saturday will be soccer and I am supposed to be having my scrapbooking workshop in the afternoon, but I am already thinking that it would be best to drop my boys at Mum's as if I were still going and head home to clean and organise the house and get caught up on my study.  I definitely think that would be the best move for my family.  I don't think any of us can take the stress of this week all over again in week 10 of the term.  Which reminds me I need to buy Easter Eggs...

These are all such first world problems.  I am really struggling with my time management this year.  I used to be so good at it, now I stress out by just listing the stuff I need to get through and am almost incapacitated by the weight of it.  I think a massage, facial and Mani/pedi is required. STAT!  I wonder if I can fit it in to my weekend.  It might be the thing that saves us from total chaos next week!

I always wondered about this phenomena of end of term burnout people talked about.  Now I am living it and I am in shock at how badly it is kicking my usually, happy butt.  Just another wonderful thing about your kids starting school that you have to live to fully understand!

How is the end of Term 1 treating you?

Wordless Wednesday

Post Haircut Cafe Break

Linking up with Trish from My Little Drummer Boys for Aussie Wordless Wednesday.



Soccer, a Test of Parenting

The Little Man had his first grading/training session for his soccer club on Sunday.  He is playing soccer with two pre-school friends that have gone off to other schools.  They are very excited to see each other twice a week for soccer.

The Little Man in Goal

It was quite a day.

As first timers, the under sixes, get a ball, a drink bottle and shin pads as part of their registration.  I then forked out for shorts, socks, a training shirt and a polar fleece pull over.  Expensive this organised sport thing, isn't it?

The actually training session is run by Kickstart and was well managed and the kids had a lot of fun.  The Little Man was exhausted by the time his team got to the last station and pretty much just sat it out.  Seeing this my Mummy instinct kicked in and I planned to get us into the car and home ASAP to avoid tired issues.

The Workaholic had different plans.

While the Little Man was training, he had been kicking a ball around with the Munchkin, for an entire hour.  It is pretty safe to say that the Munchkin was also exhausted.

Anyway, instead of following my lead and heading directly for the car, the Workaholic decides to get into the sausage line and then the soft drink line, all the while the Little Man has started emotionally collapsing.  He cried because they had to line up, he cried because his sausage was not straight, he cried be3cause the Workaholic did not get sauce on his sausage, he basically was so tired he was no longer in control of his emotions.

When he decided not to listen and got into the first line, I decided that I would take the Munchkin to the car.  He then decided to start screaming, like only a two year old can.  My gut said, "get him to the car", the Workaholic made me stay with him and the bawling five year old.  I was fuming.

By the time we left for the car, the Munchkin was out of control and I had to carry him kicking and screaming the 800 metres to the car.  The Little Man was crying to be carried by Dad because he was too tired to walk and I was still silently fuming.

Once in the car, I was still quiet.  Somehow I managed to control my temper even with the screaming and tears in the back seat.  I lost it though, when the Workaholic decided to jump out of the car while I was doing a three point turn.  I drove away.  I left him 5km from home in an area without public transport.  He walked home.

I am now worried that this has set the mood for soccer for us in the House of O.

The Workaholic came home and admitted to me that he was being juvenile getting out of the car (duh) and that he really should defer to me when it comes to these parenting situations because I am the full time parent (duh again).

Does your part time parent get you into these awful situations?

Growing Feet are Expensive Feet!

On Friday while the Munchkin was still at pre-school, The Workaholic and I took the Little Man to buy his soccer boots.

My plan was to spend $30.   Extra wide feet foiled that little plan, as usual.

Of course they had to be blue...

So we walked out of the shop with $70 soccer boots, for a five year old.   I guess my winter wardrobe from last year will make it through another season...

The worst part of the entire experience was the discovery that the shoes we needed to purchase are one and a half sizes larger that his school shoes and school runners.  Yep.  His school shoes are too small and I bought them one and half sizes too big.  At least I know  why he keeps telling me they are too small!  They ARE!


It is the end of week 8 of Term 1!  Not even a whole term out of them.


There is definitely no new winter wardrobe in my 2012.  All my money will go on replacing school shoes!!

Heading into the end of Term 1, how are your kids school shoes holding up?

The Letter of the Week, D

D turned out to be an easy one.

The Little Man decided last Friday that he would take Dominos.

So I had an easy week. I produced this:

I made sure it and the Dominos were in his school bag on Wednesday morning.

That was it!

Next week it is R. Let's hope he does not decide he must take a rabbit and spend the entire week pestering me for one!!