The New Carpark

This bucket has become the new favourite place to "park" the cars.

Suddenly there was silence

It's 5.15pm and he couldn't stay awake a moment longer. After daycare he asked for his pyjamas, blankie and papillow then he got himself comfortable in front of Thomas the Tank Engine and promptly fell asleep.

First it was the vacuuming....

Now the "helping" phase has turned a corner. It was bad enough when it was vacuum help but now it's dishes help. I was truly wishing this phase would never make it but it has. Once you start there's no going back. I am never going to be able to wash the dishes without help again!

Maya is off to Adelaide very early tomorrow morning and I don't know how she and Henry are going to live without each other for two weeks. More importantly how will I entertain Henry on my own.

Conversation with co-worker

Co-worker: I have a huge exam tomorrow and I haven't studied

Me: Oh, what are you studying.

Co-worker: Law

Me: What area will you go into?

Co-worker: I dunno. I don't even know what areas of law there are? I'm just doing it for something to do. I've got a job with a law firm and I start next week.

Me: What type of law do they specialise in?

Co-worker: Dunno.

Me: Are they friends of yours? Is it through someone you know?

Co-worker: No I applied for the job.

Me: Oh. Right. I guess you could do copyright law. That would be interesting in this day and age.

Co-worker: Yeah but what is that? I didn't even know the difference between a solicitor and a barrister until I googled it yesterday.

Thank God they're back

My mother and stepfather have been away for the last three weeks. They arrived home on Saturday evening after driving more than 1000 kilometres and the first thing they did was call to tell us they were home and they couldn't wait another minute to see Henry and could they come over now. Please! Never mind about the rest of us. They called everyday to get an update on how he was doing. They had driven to almost every town in Queensland but the scenery wasn't enough to take their mind off the most precious thing in their world. Henry. Henry was almost as bad as they were. I had to go to their house each day they were away and bring in their mail and check on things. We'd get there and Henry would be deep breathing in anticipation of them standing at the top of the stairs waiting for him. He'd say "Oooh Nanna, Tritchy" then go tramping through the house yelling "Where are you Nanna?". Of course they didn't show. They weren't there. Then he'd start whining. "Nanna, Tritchy. Not here" and almost start hyperventilating because they were no where to be seen.

When they rang Saturday night to say they were coming over Henry waited at the door, eyes wide, new trucks in hand and when they finally arrived I thought he was going to keel over with excitement. Mind you they were as bad as he was. My mother was almost teary and Tritchy was beside himself. Suddenly all was right with the world once again. Those that should be joined at the hip were together once again.

To Do Lists

Check out this.

A very cool idea. I'm afraid my list would read something like this and since it's so selfish she probably wouldn't want to know about it.

• Get rich
• Have a WHOLE weekend all to myself
• Build padded cage to house children
  
• Get rich
• Spend more than $20 on a pair of shoes
• Have lipoma removed from shoulder and have both shoulders replaced with Gwyneth Paltrow's shoulders
• Get rich
• Give some of my money (after I get rich) to disadvantaged members of society (this part is not selfish)
  
• Fly first class to USA
• Manicure, pedicure, facial, hairdo, massage
• Be listed in BRW most wealthy
• Buy a childcare centre (a sure way to get into the BRW most wealthy list but if I was already wealthy I could offer childcare free of charge - nice idea)
• And just to prove I'm not totally selfish - buy Maya a completely new wardrobe

To prove a point

Maya has been hounding me for a new pair of shoes. Just to prove a point she decided to try on a pair of Henry's. Apparently hers are in such a state of disrepair she needs to wear his.

Super Nanny

Ben and I have taken to watching Super Nanny on a regular basis. Mostly so we can feel sorry for those parents who seem to have the most horrid children on earth. Ours are perfect, or so we believed. If you were to judge only upon the adorably innocent photo above you would think so too. Since Henry is about to enter the terrible two's and seems to have started early, I've started to take a lot more notice of what the Nanny says.

We've implemented a naughty corner. Guess what? It actually works. At Henry's age of course it only works because it serves to take his mind off whatever it is he was having a hissy fit about rather than actually give him time out to think about his crime. As soon as we say "off to the naughty corner" he grins and takes himself there and sits down until we say he can leave. He even says "sorry" when his time is up.

The Nanny's formula works but it's a method taught by many parenting programs and is very similar to the program developed by Matt Sanders who designed the triple P Parenting Program. I attended a Matt Sanders program when Maya was around five years old and driving me insane. If you are prepared to be persistent and consistent it pays off. Not always but most times.

Last night I thought the Nanny had been presented with the worst situation ever. A single mum who seemed to have lost complete control of her three daughters. I felt like crying for her just watching those kids bring her to tears several times a day. I could feel the frustration welling inside me and my kid was asleep. I thought there was no way anyone was going to get these kids under control but it happened. Those children were like putty by the end of it....almost. No kid is ever going to be 100% well behaved and if they were one would have to wonder what kind of abuse they were being subjected to on a regular basis that kept them so pliable.

Flirt

Henry has become an outrageous flirt. Today at the supermarket he spied a very pretty little girl who seemed to be around his age, perhaps a little older and started coyly smiling at her, pointing at her and saying "hi". He was in the shopping trolley guarding the groceries for me while I was paying for them. I looked up at him to see him taking everything from the bags and showing them to her. She was very cutely standing there holding her dress and rocking back and forth just like they do in the movies. He would point, smile and shove the carton of sausages her way as an offering. When it was time to go he flashed her the most enormous grin and said "see you later, bye". She very shyly lifted her hand and waved back. Henry continued to watch her as we walked away.

This could be cute but it could also be the start of something that's going to cause me to have a stash of vodka in the cupboard at all times.