I would like to discuss my cat in these ramblings, if that’s okay with you?

I do not like throwing these terms around lightly. OCD is very real and a serious problem for many people and I do

Tessa cat

find the term used far too flippantly these days. The reason I am using it now, is that I really got to thinking that my cat does suffer in this way.

Here is the problem as I see it.

Tessa likes to drink fresh, running water. We have a water shortage that may have been somewhat relieved lately with fabulous Spring rains, but I like to be water concious in times of plenty aswell. I have in the distant past, tried standing there whilst Tessa tries to get her tongue around the running tap water, but my conscience gets the better of me. (more…)

I was intending to take Charlotte to the Kinder that is 10 mins drive away for this last term of the year, to get her used to the idea of Kinder. I’m aware that it would have opened up the possibility of having to continue on  if Charlotte was feeling at home there. Unfortunately, things haven’t panned out that way. We’ve had other
commitments on the day so far, so I’m finding I have to let that idea go.

Yesterday, however, I did pop into the (4 min) Kinder and delivered our acceptance form for next year and it felt quite good to finally have made a decision. I was reminded of how lovely the teacher is.  She is a young, vibrant woman.

I also felt sad at the prospect of sending Charlotte to Kinder, though. Just a reminder that She is growing up quickly and part of my responsibility as a parent is to gradually prepare her for the outside world & adulthood. But,  it is not something that we are beholden to forever.  If it doesn’t work out, we can pull the pin.

As much as I’d like to keep Charlotte wrapped up in cottonwool, it certainly would not benefit her development. Oh, I am protective, though. It feels such a different and much scarier world now, but I don’t want my fears to inhibit her as a person. I want Charlotte to feel safe, protected and much loved.

This parenting business is a really tricky balancing act and trying to choose firstly whether to send Charlotte to Kinder and secondly which one to send her to once I decided to give it a go, just highlights how tricky it is.

Anyway, I have arrived at my decision for now. So onto the next one whatever it might be.  Bring it on!

If you are a Homeschooler, did you send your little ones to pre school or Kinder ? I’m always interested to hear others stories, so feel free to share with me here. If you are yet to make a decision yourselves, I hope sharing my experience will help in some way. Of course, I am interested to hear from anyone, Homeschooler or not.

Thanks for joining me.

Christine alias Gippsygirl.

photo credit: David Kusserow

Here’s my ideal scenario : The teacher transported from the Kinder that is 10 mins drive away, placed into our local Kinder, so we can walk there, with two five hour days a week scheduled, not three and the lovely settings of all three Kinders. Two of them have a couple of Charlotte’s friends attending, one in the local and another at the out of the
way Kinder. That would be another plus.

Oh and with Charlotte saying She wants to go there as with the Kinder which is 4 mins away.  A mix of all three would be GREAT!  We know the chances are buckleys and none, but wouldn’t it be good? What was that I heard you say? I want my cake and eat it, too? Hell yeah, you bet I do!  lol

Well, given that the ideal scenario doesn’t seem to exist with Kinder, I am feeling okay with things so far and the week has been productive in sifting through my thoughts and feelings. My decision has to be made by the end of this month, so in my final post in this series I hope to have something firmed up for Charlotte and myself.

See you soon for the final segment.

photo credit: ReubenInStt

Little did I know how difficult my decision was going to be in choosing a Kindergarten.

I have taken Charlotte along to one just for a few visits, which is about 10 mins drive away. Doesn’t sound much and
it isn’t with 3 yr old kinder which is one morning a week, but next yr it will be two five hour days a week.

So that’s 10mins there & back, two times a day, two days a week. Still not a lot you might say, but take into consideration that many friends and family live in a different direction & a lot further away, so it’s extra k’s for them if there is an emergency plus the time out of my work day.

I know I’ll build up friendships and we’ll do some car pooling for the regular Kinder run. I already have my friend who recommended this particular Kinder. The other thing for me is my fear of  fire. During the Summer months this would be heightened whilst driving through the bush for the drop off & collection of Charlotte. So, with this Kinder, I keep on yo-yoing with my decision. (more…)

Come and join me on my journey in making a decision about Kindergarten for my 4 yr old daughter, Charlotte. My partner has pretty well left it in my capable hands and is there as a good sounding board for me. I wonder how your decision has been or will be made. It’s not something to be taken lightly, I feel or at least I haven’t been able to take
it lightly. For some of you, the choice is already made if there is only one Kindergarten in the area or if you have chosen not to go down that track with your littlies.

I’ve never done well with a strict routine and Charlotte has always been flexible, too. Some babies & children don’t function well without one, but we’ve always done pretty well.

The flexibility might change next year, however, with more of a routine required if Charlotte goes to Kinder. Sometime back we attended the open day session for our local one. I have registered Charlotte, but I am questioning the whole thing. (more…)

It’s a wet old, windy old evening. Our garden is flooded and we have to head off to a concert. Should be a good one and worth the wild, woolly trip. Toni Childs & Wendy Matthews in concert at the West Gippsland Arts Centre.

our flooded back garden

Charlotte’s Nanna will look after Charlotte and that’s only 10mins drive away from the venue, in the opposite direction mind you, but close enough that we’ll collect Charlotte afterwards. She hasn’t yet had an overnighter anywhere and there wasn’t much that was going to entice her just yet. Not that I tried that hard either. I’m not necessarily ready myself  for Charlotte to be away overnight, but if it happens because She is ready, then I’m fine with that.

I must get ready and hopefully I’ll complete this post when I get home from the concert.

Next Day

Well, things change rapidly don’t they? We didn’t make the concert and therefore, I didn’t finish the post once I arrived home. lol.  Shall I just say that a last minute glitch prevented us from going, but apparently the backing group drowned out the beautiful voice of  Toni Childs, so it wasn’t the greatest concert, anyway.

I’m in a bit of a funk at the moment which is part of the reason that we didn’t make it last night, but I’ve just come across a fun book on our bookshelf, so shall try and lighten up with some sharing.

The book is “Ronald Searle’s Non-Sexist Dictionary”. He translates some of our English words with quite an amusing outcome. Here are a few exerpts.

Abandonment – Abandonwoment. Abdomen – Abdowomen. Acumen – Acuwomen

Ballad – Ballass. Boisterous – Goilsterous. Boycott – Girlcott

Commentator – Cowomentator. Compliment – Compliwoment. Compartment – Compartwoment

Demented – Dewomented. Detriment – Detriwoment. Dormant – Dorwomant

You get the picture by now. My spell check was having a field day there. The book goes right through the alphabet with some rather amusing drawings scattered throughout. If you think of any words yourself, feel free to share. There’s nothing like a good laugh to brighten a persons day.

I’ve just had the best day with Peter & Charlotte. I’m so glad Charlotte loves the snow as much as I do. We decided to catch the final remnants of it up at Mt. Baw Baw in Victoria. There was a bit of a dump last week and earlier this week. A little unseasonal, but it does happen from time to time. My Father experienced a blizzard on Boxing Day which is the 26th Dec and Summer for those who don’t know about Boxing Day. Extremely unseasonal!

WooHoo! Snow. Charlotte & me.

Peter and I like to ski, mostly cross country, more for financial reasons from my perspective and Peter has been fortunate enough to get some skiing in for the past few years with his other children whilst I have cared for Charlotte.

Yes, a bit of dissent taking place on that one. This year, Charlotte and I almost missed out on a visit to the snow altogether, but thanks to the heavens, we headed up there today. It was a gorgeous day and a surprising amount of snow on the top. I expected a blast of cold air upon exiting the car, but not so. (more…)

We were thinking of going to the movies tonight. There is a fundraiser for the Community Radio Station that I do very occasional presenting for, but you know what, I preferred to stay home and catch up on some blogging. In fact, I seem to prefer home to travelling out and about these days.

I think Motherhood has put some settling into my bones. I’ve heard this can happen and I seem to have lost my adventurous Spirit for travel, anyway. It’s really nice to have a base. I like to think I am having different
adventures now. Expanding my mind in other ways, exploring new ways of being in the world. It’s all an adventure really, don’t you think? Adventures in Motherhood, adventures in online business, adventures in blogging/writing. You get the picture.

Anything that’s new is an adventure to me. It doesn’t have to be some ‘out there’ travel experience. I am glad, however, that I have experienced a lot of travelling. In fact travelling was my ‘career’ if you like. I’ve been known to say these past few years, that if, for some reason I couldn’t travel again, I am well satisfied with what I have done. It’s not that I am giving up the travel completely, but I know how to do that. It’s time to find out about other things I might be able to do.

I was recently ‘interviewed’ for ‘ The Writer WAHM’s Network‘ by Tess Taylor a fellow MMer ( MomMasterminds member) and I feel quite excited about it. If you’d like to see the article, I would love you to head over and check it out. Being interviewed is all part of the beginnings of my inner adventures.

Enjoy!

photo credit: laudu

We’ve got a Full moon & Daylight Savings Time starting on the same day. Tonight, Saturday, before bed we need to put our clocks forward an hour for the 2am (approx.) changeover.  The full moon happens tomorrow night.

This evening the sky is beautiful. It has what I call a jigsaw puzzle effect with the white clouds looking like they need to be slotted together. The bright moon highlights the ‘pieces’ clearly.

I’ve got a bit of brain drain happening right now, so I’ll just leave you with a photo to give you an idea of what I am trying to describe with the sky and bid you farewell for the night.

Jigsaw puzzle sky

I’m sitting in bed feeling exhausted, but getting some good work done.  About mid afternoon, I couldn’t stay awake any longer, the boys (Peter’s 17yr old & his mate) had taken over our small loungeroom, Peter had a very productive morning/afternoon in the garden and it was time for me to leave Charlotte with him and take time out for a nap. I don’t have that luxury when Peter is at work, of course, so I milk it a bit when he is home nowadays. If I’m not proactive, I NEVER get a break at home.

So I had a wee nap, but these days my head is buzzing with new info, things I need to do yada, yada, yada! I decided after the nap and lying there not able to get more sleep that I would bring my Laptop into the bedroom, snuggle in and get onto my Accountability projects. Charlotte has been an angel and hasn’t disturbed me once in a few hours. That is unheard of! I can hear her interacting which brings a smile to my face. I haven’t dared to venture out of my room because as soon as I do, that’s my own time, GONE!

I do have to head on out of the bedroom shortly, though, but feel very satisfied with my accomplishments. I can finally put a photo onto my blog without needing help. Bit of a process, but it’ll get easier. I’ve learnt a few new things about Twitter, read my Blog Internship lessons, listened to a few of the myriad audio’s that I have to listen to.

Now the sunset is happening. Beautiful pink, purple & blue skies outside the bedroom window. I didn’t hear my beautiful Blackbird calls tonight. This time of year, they are so melodic and it is evocative of my early childhood in Wales before moving to Australia. Oh, there they are, I just needed to wait for a tad longer to hear the Blackbirds goodnight song.  I’m happy now