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Oh Tannenbaum!

05
Dec 2010
By

Every year around this time I think it would be really nice to have lovely Christmas decorations like the kind you see in home decorating magazines. But then it gets hot and the days get busy and the bank balance gets depleted and the shopping centres get crowded and I think “Bah phooey to that!” and drag out the old tree and the old ornaments and we slap them on all haphazard and sit back and drink a beer and feel much better. Phew!

Which is why my tree doesn’t look like this –>Tree-Christmas-Faux-GTL1205-de

Instead we have a nice mish mash of old ornaments, individual ones that I have come across or been given (like the adorable Sister Mary Christmas decoration from Nun of a Kind – nothing says Christmas like a floating nun’s head) and schoolmade creations.

As the kids get older the calibre of their contributions improves somewhat, and I no longer have to keep a straight face while decking it out in all manner of paddle pop sticks, CDs covered in tinsel and my personal favourite: the paper-mache green alien poo: P1000813

The white paper has the artist’s name on it, in case he ever tries to deny making this awesome feat of decorating genius.



What does your Christmas tree look like?

Category: Thinking with my Heart  2 Comments  Tags: , ,

Bedtime Stories

08
Nov 2010
By

397px-William-Adolphe_Bouguereau_(1825-1905)_-_The_Difficult_Lesson_(1884)When my daughter was a wee one she hated going to sleep. We had a great bedtime routine, and she always went off to bed happily, but just couldn’t make that step from awake to lying quietly to asleep.  We always had a story in the routine, but I found that picture books just kept her sitting up and awake and turning pages. For a while I would read a couple of picture books and then sing to her until she started nodding. They had to be long songs too. No cute little lullabies, or she would just end up demanding “MORE!” We’re talking Stairway to Heaven and American Pie here. To my surprise she has turned out quite musical. I would have thought only someone completely tone deaf could tolerate my singing for any length of time. As an aside – my son, who is really not into music at all, would cover my mouth when I tried to warble to him. I think “Don’t sing Mummy!” may have been his first complete sentence.

Finally after about a year of dubious renditions of rock ballads, I decided enough was enough, and hit upon the idea of reading some novels aloud to my daughter. We started with some Blyton, but they were a little too interesting and not conducive to sleep.  I delved further back into the classics and we read Little Women together, quickly followed by Anne of Green Gables. The beauty of the older stories is that they have a lot of descriptive passages. What better way to nod off than by listening to the Anne-girl waxing lyrical about the countryside around Avonlea.

It was also a lovely way to share books that I thought may not appeal to her by the time she was old enough to read them by herself. Together we read Black Beauty, The Secret Garden, Peter Pan and even R.M. Ballantyne’s The Coral Island. As she got older, we continued with modern tales like Harry Potter and Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events. Now she is twelve, we are enjoying teen fiction with themes we can discuss together.  We recently finished The Hunger Games and have started Tomorrow When the War Began, and have come full circle – once again she is sitting up excited, wanting to hear “just a little bit more”.

For parents who want to kindle a love of reading in their children beyond the picture book age, I suggest taking some time to read novels together.  There’s a real sense of intimacy when sharing a story. Even on the nights when I just want to send them off to bed while I curl up with a glass of wine, to look up and see their eyes mirroring my own tears as I read a poignant scene, or smiling with delight at a hero’s moment of glory makes it all worth it.

Which of your favourite books are you looking forward to sharing with your kids? Which have you shared already?

Category: Booky Thinks  7 Comments  Tags: , , , ,

Phase One Complete!

17
Oct 2010
By

Things are slowly starting to fall into place with our home improvements. After two solid days of painting we downed brushes at 6pm last night and surveyed our work. The verdict? Not bad.  Hardly the work of professionals – there are lots of dips and daubs along skirting boards and cornices, but we have done our best. It’s a bit like a Monet* – best viewed from far away to get the full effect. Or you can squint and just turn your head slightly to one side. Here – take a look.

DSC02915DSC02995

DSC02994photo 2

*Yes I am aware I just compared my painting skills to one of the best artists of all time. What of it???

The colour I chose for the lounge room was darker than that of the hallways and dining room.  I also added it to the wall near the stairs to the dining room to be an accent. However in some lights it seems to be exactly the same, thanks to the twists and turns of our walls causing all kinds of hocus pocus with the shadows. So my ‘feature’ wall’s most astonishing feature seems to be that it matches all the other walls. Ah well.

Add in some new lights and new floors (being done as I type!) and it is all starting to look schmick as. Can’t wait to spend next weekend just sitting and admiring it.  My arms and legs are far too tired to do anything else.

Category: Domestic Thinks  3 Comments  Tags: , ,

We Need to Talk About Reading

11
Oct 2010
By

WNTTAKevinI lost my reading mojo recently. It has happened before. Generally life gets busy and my brain can only focus enough to take in smaller or lighter reading – websites, articles, blogs. Sometimes even 140 character tweets can seem a little too long-winded or brain taxing. Then I simply got out of the habit of reading. I’ve never been one for a set “read a chapter before bed” reading regime. I tend to immerse myself in a book for hours on end when possible,  grabbing brief snippets whenever I can in between daily chores.

These school holidays just gone, I got my brain back into gear.  Weekends were mostly taken up with the endless painting and I kept the weekdays deliberately empty to be able to do things with the kids. Of course now the kids are both in double figures, “doing things” involves throwing food in the general direction of the room or yard where they are holed up with their friends all day, so I had plenty of opportunities to read.

And read I did. As if school holidays aren’t alarming enough, with the constant pantry stocking and food tossing, I had to choose two of what are probably some of the most unsettling books I have read – We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver, and Room by Emma Donoghue (which I will write about another time).  I’m no stranger to reading about the darker sides of humanity. For a while there I couldn’t get enough of Thomas Harris and other writers of tales of serial killing and murder. Neither of these books compares directly with these particular types of stories though, being more about the emotional and psychological effects of human darkness on families, on children and the world.

I came into We Need To Talk About Kevin with rave reviews in my ears ( along the lines of “You need to read We Need To Talk About Kevin because we need to talk about We Need to Talk About Kevin”). Hype can ruin a book or a movie for me, but in this case I think the book lived up to my expectations – nearly. Incredibly well-written, Shriver’s story about a school shooting is narrated by the young murderer’s mother through a series of letters to her absent husband. This first person narrative gives the reader an incredible insight into how complex the relationship can be between a parent and a child, particularly when the child is as disturbed as Kevin, and the novel raises many questions on the nature-vs-nurture debate.  Shriver never takes the easy option of clarifying precisely why Kevin becomes a mass murderer of his classmates, instead leaving the reader to draw their own conclusions, the most unsettling of which is that there quite simply is no answer.

I admit, I was disappointed that a revealing moment of the story was flagged enough in the introduction to this particular edition that I could predict in advance what could possibly have been a shocking twist. This did let the story down a little for me. Hardly the fault of the author though, and the book still stands as one of the best I have read in quite a while.

What books have you read lately? Has there been a book that everyone said you “had to” read? Did that change your perception of the book  at all?

Category: Booky Thinks  3 Comments  Tags: ,

Painting the Silver Screen

10
Oct 2010
By

interior-paintingI have recently come to the sad realisation that nothing in life is like how it is in the movies. Late in life to work this out, I know, but there you have it. Most folk can guess that indulging in light stalking of a bloke in Seattle will probably get you an AVO not a romance. Smart people know that small children left home alone will probably not foil would-be burglars. And yes, someone who spends most of their time “whispering” horses probably stinks like manure.

I did hope however that some things would be a little more like their celluloid depictions. Painting for example. For the last few weekends my husband and I have been painting several deceptively large rooms in our house.  On Saturday I stood brush in hand in our semi-demolished dining room while the penny dropped. These weeks of inhaling paint fumes, climbing ladders, stretching, grunting and cursing were nothing at all like how loving couple paint in the movies.

Being a loving wife, I called him on it. “If this were a movie, we would not be spending our time moaning about the other’s lack of proficiency at ‘cutting in’ and the state of commercial radio playlists. You would reach down from your ladder and lovingly wipe a smudge  of paint from my cheek and I would playfully swipe a daub onto your nose. Then we would laugh and kiss and sigh among our artfully draped matching dropcloths.”

“Ah,” my husband replied pragmatically. “But then the bad guys would swoop in and shoot up our house, and you would die in my arms, and I’d be recruited by a government agency to track down the evil scum and avenge your death.”

“What?”

“Come on, whenever they show a couple painting a room, usually for a new baby, the wife always dies and the husband has to avenge her death. I’d probably hook up with some hot scientist or government agent though, so there would still be a happy ending. For me, at least.”

“Right… Hey,  you’ve splashed some paint on the cornices! And I can’t believe they’re playing freaking Nickelback again!”

OK – so maybe it’s a good thing that life isn’t like the movies. But a girl can dream. What part of life would you like to be more like in the movies?

Category: Deep Thinks  5 Comments  Tags: , , ,

Retro-styled

21
Sep 2010
By

My Dad has recently had a bit of a clear out at home, and decided it was time to trawl through the boxes and boxes of slides he had in the cupboard. We have had a lovely few weeks of going through them all and culled them down to about a hundred that we would like to have on CD for posterity. Mostly family snaps from when my brother and I were little ones. Apart from awwwing over how much our children resemble our youthful selves, a particular highlight has been checking out the fashions of the day.

The early 1970s were a fabulous time for style, as this photo of my mother shows:Grgas079

Seriously chic, right? Just the right amount of colour, awesome paisley and other shots show that the dress was very fashionably mini.

So how did the daughter of someone with such taste and eye for beauty manage to end up in this ensemble? Grgas052 Terry towelling pants, rabbits knitted into jumper pattern and oh yes, I appear to be wearing a handknitted bonnet of some kind. All in the brightest of red and white. I was a massive St George fan (or the brainwashed child of a St George fan) so it is highly likely that I selected these clothes myself. If so, it seems the apple fell far far from the tree.

Oh wait – here’s a shot of Dad around the same time: Grgas088

Genetics: they never work quite the way you want them to…(sorry Dad, but that photo is too good not to share with a wider audience.)

I can’t be the only one with such a brightly hued skeleton in her closet, so I’m laying down a challenge. What was the worst fashion faux pas of your childhood? Post it on your blog and link it here! Come on! Don’t leave me (and Henry the VIIIth in fishnets) here on our own!

Category: Thinking with my Heart  9 Comments  Tags: ,

It is Decidedly So.

19
Sep 2010
By

After several years of putting up with scungy old shagpile carpet, dull chipped paint and the world’s ugliest light fittings, we have finally started to renovate our nest. Now anyone who knows us will wonder what I mean by ‘started’, because we appear to have started many times. The most recent of which  involved tearing up the carpets and staring at the bare boards and concrete and wondering what on earth we were going to do.

We stared and stared at those boards for a few months. “One can’t rush these things!” I declared.  “There are many options to consider.” This was true. Sand and stain the existing boards and carpet the rest? Lay floating boards? Carpet the lot? Which would be most durable? Cheapest? Warmest? Coolest?  And so we pondered. We fluctuated. We vacillated. We hemmed and hawed. There may have even been some shilly shallying. We came out decisively in favour of one idea, and the next day were decidedly in the camp of another. Australia lost and gained a PM, ran an election, then formed a minority government from a hung parliament in less time. Compared to us Windsor and Kattar are rash and impulsive. I have stared at colour charts in Bunnings for longer than Rob Oakeshott can talk.

These tools were in vogue when we began this project...

These tools were in vogue when we began this project...

At last though I am happy to say that the deed has been done. A decision has been reached. Quotes have been obtained, materials purchased and experts booked. Our home will begin its transformation from 70s reject to wonder of the new millennium. Just don’t ask me which millennium that is.

Have you renovated? Any tips or advice for us?

And if you really want a laugh – check out the Bathroom the 70s Forgot. This is what I’m working with, people!

Category: Domestic Thinks  8 Comments  Tags: ,

Just runnin’ down the road’s her idea of having fun

08
Sep 2010
By

norm

I  love sport.  But it’s about time that I faced up to the fact that my sporting regime of kicking back with a cold beer and watching some cricket/soccer/rugby isn’t quite keeping me as fit as I would like. In fact, I’m starting to resemble Norm from the Life. Be In It campaigns of the 80s. And I’m a woman.

So with the change of season, I have decided to put a spring in my step (HAW!HAW!) and have started the Couch to 5K that I have heard so much about. It works around a 9 week series of podcasts that slowly build you from mostly walking to mostly running. So far (OK I have done it twice, but I only started this week!) I have found the podcasts very cool. I wasn’t sure if it would be someone yammering inspirational messages in my ear the whole way, but the chatter is kept to a minimum. Just basic instructions really with some good rhythmic music to accompany them. Best of all, it takes less than half an hour which is easy for me to fit in to my morning.

road runnerI am not the hardest taskmaster on myself when it comes to staying motivated, so I have brought along my own personal drill sergeant to keep me on the straight and narrow. She’s full of energy and enthusiasm and excellent at nagging. She’s also better at working the iPod, like most twelve year olds. It’s also a nice mother-daughter bonding time. Well it would be, if I could stop puffing so much to hold an actual conversation. That’s next week’s goal.

Category: Deep Thinks  8 Comments  Tags: , ,

Superfriends

29
Aug 2010
By

SuperfriendsMy daughter has been having some friend problems lately. To be honest, I think we are lucky to have come right through to Year 6 with this being our first real issue. It is nothing major (although I’m sure it seems that way to her) and she is mostly a happy resilient kid, so I am not marching out to champion her cause. Not yet, anyway.

What I am doing is listening. Listening to her feelings, hugging her while she cries, listening to the things she isn’t saying, but is showing. I’m trying not to do too much talking, because she needs to come to some realisations herself. But one thing I did have to let her know. Next year – at high school -  it all changes. I think we focus so much on the negatives of the high school years and our own experiences, that we feed into the fears that kids have. “It’s so big.” “The teachers aren’t as patient.” “The work is hard.” “We’ll be the youngest kids instead of the oldest.” What I wanted my daughter to understand going in to high school, is that next year is an opportunity to make wonderful friendships. Yes, there are a lot more kids, but that increases your chance of finding the few true friends who you just click with. She seemed a little skeptical, so I told her my own story.

I walked into the local catholic high school with only two other kids from my public primary school, neither of whom I knew particularly well and ended up in a class where I knew nobody. So I stuck with my primary school acquaintances for a while, making the odd new friend here and there, but never really anyone that I clicked with. Slowly over the first few months I got to know more of my classmates and as we got to know each other better, particular girls began to stand out. Girls who always lifted me up and never let me down. Girls who I understood and who understood me.  Then I named three names to my daughter.  Three women who she knows so well because they are like family to her. She has heard me sit and laugh for hours with each of them whenever we get together – whether it is once a week, once a month or once a year. I saw her eyes widen, as she realised how long we have been friends.  And I think she got it. She was certainly a lot more confident and hopeful about her own problems.

So once again my friends have come to my aid. This time without even knowing. Thanks guys! (You know who you are.)

Category: Deep Thinks, Thinking with my Heart  5 Comments  Tags: , , ,

Snapshot

02
Aug 2010
By

filmstripIf somebody took a photo of you right now, right this second, and then showed it to a complete stranger, what assumptions do you think they would make? What judgements could they form based on this one moment in time that they see you?

Forgive me if I get a little philosophical again, but it is something that has been on my mind of late. How often do we make judgements or assumptions about people based on the small part of them that we see?

I was talking to a friend yesterday, who was both amused and bemused at the comments made to her by a fellow school parent at a birthday party. My friend had been assisting in their children’s kindergarten class and had helped the other mum’s daughter finish reading her home reader because she wanted to change it over. The mum confessed to my friend that when she heard the story from her daughter, she had thought “Oh no, why did it have to be you. We just hadn’t had time to get the reading done, and you’re always there helping and always look like you’re on top of things  and have it all together.”

My friend and I chortled quite merrily about this. In fact I offered to call the other mum and set her straight about all my friend’s parenting shortcomings. But then my friend wondered, “Is this really how other people see me?”

I guess the answer is yes. People see what you project in the moments that they know you. This mum had only seen my friend in the few minutes at school. Now I know that books are a passion with my friend. She is an avid reader and not only enjoys sharing her love of books with her own children, but ensures that she finds ways to share it with her wider community. With two older children as well as a kindergartner, she has been involved with the school’s reading program for many years. No wonder she looks self assured and confident when other parents see her helping out in the classroom.

While my friend’s experience could be viewed in a mostly positive light, there are more obvious negatives to drawing conclusions about someone based on relatively brief encounters. In this particular situation, the other parent might not have broached the subject in such a light-hearted way or indeed at all. She may have allowed this one perception of a person colour any other encounters they had. Suddenly someone who helps out with reading because she loves books and hates canteen and sports carnivals, becomes an “Übermum” and a pushy parent.

Now look at other times we make judgements about someone with very little or even no knowledge about who they really are. Have you ever tsked about an overweight person in the shopping centre eating a donut and a milkshake? Have you ever rolled your eyes at someone speaking abruptly even angrily to their child or spouse or parent? Have you ever made an assumption about someone by their clothes or appearance? I know I have. It’s hard not to.

What we see of people we don’t know or only know a little is just a snapshot of their lives. And snap judgements are very often wrong.

Oh and by the way? If you see a crazy woman in her thirties in the local Westfield on a Wednesday berating a sweet little old man? Don’t judge. That’s me and my dad, and we bicker because we love. Right Dad?

Category: Deep Thinks  3 Comments  Tags:
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