Wednesday, March 30, 2011

And so it begins.....

trying to back a good impression 
We went on our school visit yesterday, the Dynamic Duo and I.

It was interesting. 

There were a few, um, hiccups. Like the boys not wanting to enter the classroom when we got there.  And needing to leave the group at the playground coz Ninja had wet his pants, but didn't want to go to the toilet. Dragging a kid back across the school screaming (him. not me) is not a good look I can tell you.

Then there's mat time (the second time) when they didn't wanna sit on the mat with everyone else.

well, maybe not -that- good an impression
But, *shrug*  the teacher didn't seem too fazed by any of this, so I guess maybe they are normal little boys afterall. And not the hellion Demon Spawn Twins that I find them to be by the end of most days......

So maybe the school won't be reduced to ashes when they start, but it was only the first visit. They were probably on good behaviour, and time will tell when I leave them without me.  I live in fear of the school ringing me asking me to remove my boys coz they're too disruptive to class.  

I'll keep you posted   :O/ 

Monday, March 28, 2011

Plagiarism?! You decide......

I'm not sure which came first, and I can't be bothered playing chicken or the egg, nor looking up the production dates, but I do believe that our darling Bic Runga was listening to Deftones while she wrote her hit song Drive.

 Here have a listen to her version of it.....

and now listen to this song

I know there's a shortage of perfect breasts *ahem* I mean song topics in the world, but let's not be out right copying each other huh??  ;OD

For the record I really like both versions songs, there is a time for Bic and a time for Deftones  :O)

Friday, March 25, 2011

There's Too Much....I'll Sum Up

Me in my Grandad's coat :O)
Yeah, I know I've used it before. But it's a good one.  Deal with it.  (and if you don't get it, shame on you. Go rent the video. *showing my age there, sorry*)  :OP

 So, this week?  hmm, it's been ok. I'm still feeling fairly knackered. Which makes for a GrumpyWeeFairy. Compounded by Captain being exhausted too, so he's grumpy at me coz he thinks I'm grumpy at him but I'm just tired and tired of living with a grumpy man which makes him think I'm grumpy coz I'm tired and he's tired of living with a grumpy tired wee wife. All up?


Good. Fucken. Fun. Times.  :O/

We'll sort it out. We usually do.  And we're still talking, so that's good. Also I know I still love him, and I'm -fairly- sure he still loves me. Even though he may not like me much right now. 
Going to the park today


I don't want to be with anyone else. Neither does he.  This just sucks. Being tired all the time. With no end in sight, no break from it. 


We have an early night, and the kids wake up. So, that doesn't work. And it's not like work, where you get a break, a weekend. Parenting is 24/7.


I kinda understand now why my parents struggled.


in my new fav shirt  :OD
And those pesky scientists devoting all that time to finding a cure for cancer when they could be developing a Sleep Vaccine.  #Dumb.



But hey, some good stuff from this week...... we've been getting monarch caterpillars round our front door. We don't have swan plants. It's weird.  Darling Girl had caught a butterfly the other weekend, then lost it in her room. All the windows and door were shut.  Weird. 


She found it again. Thankfully. I had visions of finding a smooshed monarch under a pile of clothes  :O/


anyways, so caterpillars....it's been an interesting lesson for Monkey and Ninja who both it seems are fascinated with bugs. They weren't being very gentle at first.  


And then walking round on the path, Dude and I both stood on a caterpillar. In bare feet. Us, not the caterpillar. Altho, I imagine he woulda been barefoot too....  That was a weird moment. Something soft and velvety almost underfoot. Odd. 


But, then one curled up on the side of the house. It hung there for a day or so, so long without doing anything much that I thought it had frozen. Then today when we go back from the park I saw this.....   ------------->

a chrysallis.  Beautiful!  

SirTalks noticed it was swinging in the breeze. Now I just have to stop Ninja from sitting next to it blowing it, waiting for the butterfly to come out.  



It could be another long week *LeSigh*   :OD

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

*yawn*

I really really really need to sort out my body clock so that I sleep at night time instead of being awake at silly hours like 1230am when I have work, and school and Playcentre in the day time.

So. Not. Cool.

But can I convince my brain to shut up and my body to settle to sleepies?

No it seems I can't.

And it's getting ridiculous.  It's not like I've been getting all that much sleep since the kids arrived 12years ago as it is.


 And once again the pic isn't being uploaded like it should. grrr. dumb dumb dumb dumb AND  more dumb  *LeSigh*



Altho, I will say, there are nice moments like being able to watch West Wing while I feed Monkey.  And cuddling with him in his cot coz he awoke with what sounded like a nightmare (not that that's nice for him).

Also good I am small enough to fit in his cot with him.  :OD

Sunday, March 20, 2011

*giggle* *snort* check this out

Even if you're not really a Star Wars fan this is kinda funny.....

and if you are a fan, then, *shrug* you know, more brilliant piss takes  

Thanks Colin Hanks for the post  

Either way, all good!!  :O)

Huh. I Wonder When That Happened?

I had a realisation the other day after chatting with someone on twitter about how often I "get lucky" 

Yeah, we're a happy sharing lot there on the twitter.  That's not what the realisation was about, I know me and Captain Awesome make bunny rabbits blush  ;O)

  As the conversation progressed I mentioned that we were both "physical touch" types (in terms of the Five Love Languages - Physical Touch, Acts of Service, Words of Affirmation, Quality Time, Gifts).  


So as I reflected on that conversation later on, as I often do, I realised that with Captain I am a physical person. I love it when I feel his hands on me, his skin on mine, and not just when we're naked either. We could be watching tv and he strokes my lower leg = happy wee fairy. A pat on the head when I'm heading off to sleep = happy wee fairy.  A cuddle when he gets home, being silly and pushing and shoving each other = happy wee fairy.


Yet somehow, when I'm with other adults I don't hug them hello or good bye. And slack as it makes me I don't hug my kids nearly enough either.  If I'm physical, then chances are good they are too. And I'm not loving them how they need to hear it by not hugging them enough. That's bad.


I have distinct memories of when I was a teenager having lots of hugs from my friends - male and female. It was just what we did, it was a merely a physical way of expressing our friendships.  When did all that change?  Why did it change?


When did I decide, consciously or not, that I no longer needed friendship hugs? Why did I think that something that so obviously feeds my soul is no longer important?


And most importantly - how do I now change the habits of over half my life so that I feel safe and confident enough to hug people? Especially when some of these people have only known me as a Non-Hugging Adult?   :O`

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Consensus and The Beast that Bit me

Dressed professional to impress
Consensus. 

It's a decision making thing.  

Something I have known about for 10 years or so now.  I have oft referred to it as "Death By Committee"  Having to talk around and around and around a subject until all parties are happy.  And get a group of parents together to agree on something?  It'd be easier to shift a tonne of jelly with a teeny tiny teaspoon.  :O.

It would seem I've been misunderstanding the process all this time.... 

Dictionary.com describes it thusly

con·sen·sus

[kuhn-sen-suhs] Show IPA
–noun, plural -sus·es.
1.
majority of opinion: The consensus of the group was that they should meet twice a month.
2.
general agreement or concord; harmony.
  
 So I had the bones of it.  But it seems I missed the point somehow.  The reason for it.

I mentioned I was going to be at a National Playcentre meeting over the weekend? It was the Presidents of our 33 Associations, and some other representatives, and some Federation folks.  These are folk who have been around for years, generally, and who really know their shit.  It was awe inspiring to be in the same room as them, let alone watching them facilitate a discussion, assist a group of 90+ people come to an agreement about a HUGE change to the structure of our organisation.  A discussion that has been ongoing for about 10 years.


Then I had someone suggest that I could sit in the room next time, as part of the discussion. That I would be good as an Association President. There's a daunting thought!!


So much so that I didn't really sleep on Saturday night. 


But they didn't need to ask if I wanted to coz I was hooked. I went back to help again after dinner Saturday (I had only been asked to help during the day) and then again on Sunday.


It blew my mind to watch this huge group work together to find a resolution that everyone in the room was ok about.  It was frustrating to watch one party be confused, unhappy with the decision, but feel they could say so. It was amazing to be a part of a process that allows for that kind of open honest emotive but eventually satisfying communication.  Humbling to think that these people lead all of us Playcentre mums and dads. The wisdom in that room. If I could have an ounce of that much empathy, compassion, aroha, tact and word-smith-ness, diplomatic speechyness then I would be so much more an awesome person than I am.


I want more.


I want to be in a room with these like minded, but oh so different people more often. I want to learn from them. I want to be like them, but in my own wee ToastFairy way of course!!  I want to be where they are: leading, guiding, keeping the Beast that is Playcentre alive. No. Thriving. 

I want the Beast thriving. I call it a Beast coz we have 33 Asociations, 489 centres, and who knows how many families in our organisation. It's a term of endearment. A reference to how big and cumbersome it could be. But these people make it work. It's amazing. 
 
I want everyone to know the awesomeness that is Playcentre. I know already what a blessing Playcentre is to my family, I want others to know that blessing on their families too.  I want Playcentre to be recognised as the wonderful Full Preschool Learning Environment that it is. 


I'm in the door at my Association by being Secretary.  Onwards and upwards for me. Anyway I can stay involved I'm gonna grab! That's the Beast that bit me. Playcentre Federation.


And about being scared shitless that I don't have the skills to do such a job?  Well, as my wise Dad pointed out "that seems like a perfect reason to do it!" So, if given the opportunity I will grab it with both hands, I want to be involved. I want to learn and grow. And to have the chance to help others do the same.  :OD



 
Side note?  I think I need a haircut. I'm starting to look like Astro Boy.  :O/  

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Playing With The Big Boys.

Since yesterday or the day before, maybe a little longer, whenever I think about what I'm doing tomorrow I get this song playing in my head....  Thanks Prince of Egypt

So what am I doing tomorrow (today coz I got distracted and ran out of timet o write this....) I hear you ask?  


Good Question!  Remember how a while ago (like maybe right back near the beginning of my bloggin days), I mentioned that I go to Playcentre - a New Zealand born preschool educational place that supports the whole family too? And I apologise I tried to look back and make a link to that post, but again I ran out of time.  


Anyways, so this weekend is a National Meeting for Playcentre peeps. They are discussing changing the structure at a national level. We are a volunteer thing (I'm typing this early when I'm supposed to be getting dressed so forgive me please. I do believe my brain ain't awake yet!)  um, yeah, volunteers. And for 60 years have had the same structure, but as life changes we are finding as an organisation that it doesn't work on a national level anymore the way it works at a centre level.  We come to decisions by consensus - which means everyone has to be happy (or be able to live with) any decisions we come to. Everyone.  That's a big ask.


This restructuring conversation has been going on for about 10 years. 


So. This weekend, they really want an outcome. I so wanted to be a fly on the wall to watch how things work at a Federation level (that's what we call the national level. Regions are the Associations).  


How am I gonna get in? (altho, I'm fairly sure if I just mentioned interest somehow I coulda got to go. But I know I don't have anything to offer to the discussion as such, and if I went it would take the place of someone who had a clue. I offered instead (as it's being held nearby) to be a microphone runner.


All day. It should be interesting.  I'll let ya know.


Now if I could only figure out what to wear. I wanted to wear my new boots, but it needs to be a somewhat practical outfit if I'm gonna be on my feet all day.....  *leSigh*  :OD
 

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Thank You

And there is no sarcasm there.  

I posted my 70th post the other day, and realised as I looked at my stats that I now have 4 "official" followers. And in talking to someone on twitter we came to the agreement that I have more than that!  

WOOT!!   

You guys obviously keep coming back to listen to my drivel. and for that, I Thank You.  *curtsy*

So, here's something I saw today that gave me a giggle - hopefully it will do the same for you too  :OD  

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

today, I did stuff.

This morning,  I dropped kids off to their various places of entertainment, I mean education, and then headed off to "work".  This is going well.  Which is good.  :O)

And then by afternoon I'm wrecked. Which is probably an overstatement, but I'm tired, had some weird viral thingy that Captain and I seem to both have - or we have 6 kids.  No. You know what? It's been a worse tiredness of late. And that sucks.  

So. Here I am. Sitting on laptop catching up on online tv that I've missed by having a real life in the evenings.  And you know what else? I'm not really watching it either. It could be the radio. I'm listening to it while hanging on twitter, writing this, and checking out other sites.  Also I'm gonna read these.....

 It's been a while since I've seen a new one of these books. Altho when I looked at the published date it's 2004 or something, so maybe I'm just not looking in the right place.  


This is a little historical memory lane walking kinda thing, to read an Asterix book, as I grew up with them.  I didn't get all the jokes, but comics are easy to read when you can't read too many words, coz you can still follow the storyline.  It's such a great visual treat is Asterix.  


And it's set in Gaul (that's Southern France.  Yes I'm looking at YOU SIS  *grin*)


But I have been waylaid by a phone call, so haven't got around to reading yet. I will tho. that swing seat is calling my name.....


One last thing.... you know how your brain does funny things?  Little thoughts pop into your head before your consciousness kicks in and says "that's ridiculous!" 


I have one of these moments regularly.  It's coz of these....


As I walk out to the washing line. Which we have covered before is OFTEN.  6 kids = fuckloads of washing. 


And yes that's an official number. It's a high number.  Lots of digits.  


So as I walk out, I see these out the corner of my eye and think  "Circus!! yay." 


Then my brain wakes up and I realise it's just the empty gas station on the corner.  


So Disappointing. Which in itself is weird coz I've never really been to the circus all that much as a child.
But there you go. The brain is a weird thing.  :OD

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Captain Awesome

I was hanging shirts up in the cupboard for Captain Awesome the other week and I found these at the back smooshed up against the wall....

Now I know what you're thinking "if he's so freakin awesome why are you hanging up his shirts for him?!"  Actually what usually happens is he throws them on the ottomany thing we have for such a purpose as being a clothes holding station (amongst other uses)  until he needs to wear them to work again, or I get in a cleaning mode and hang them up for him.  He cleans the windows, ceilings and cobwebs up, also usually the really ooky jobs like the shower trap so *shrug* hanging shirts up ain't a biggie. Also? it's not like he expects me to iron them too.  :O)

So back to the nice, new ones I found at the back of the cupboard. I pulled them out, looked at them - barely worn, and think "hmmm, I don't remember the last time he wore these..."


I track him down, carrying them with me, to enquire as to why he doesn't wear these. Why he has only 4 shirts on rotation. Shirts that are starting to look a little bedraggled I might add, a little old. His answer?


And I would like you to keep in mind that he chose them, as he is particular about clothes, so I can't buy stuff for him (yes. He's worse than a fussy 3 year old girl. Bless his heart.)


When I asked why he doesn't wear the shirts he replied...


"oh. those are too fancy for me."  

Awesome. Captain Awesome Pants.  :OD

Friday, March 4, 2011

That crazy woman you saw?

Playcentre wardrobe
Yeah. That was me.  The one chasing down the street after a group of intermediate kids, calling one out, and telling him off?  me again.

I had been driving my kids home from school and I saw two boys fighting, or starting to fight by the side of the road so I tooted my horn at them and told them to cut it out. As I drove on I heard "mutter, mumble bitch"   

Um. Excuse me?!  What the fuck?

I wasn't wearing this dirty shirt.
Needless to say I pulled over as soon as was safe, turned car off. Darling Girl, bless her, said "yup. We'll stay here" as I leapt from the van and ran back around the corner.  

Now coz none of you were there, I should paint the pic for ya: I'm not tall. I'm not even average. My growth spurt in 6th form made me a whooping 5'1". I had grown 2/3 of an inch and was thrilled coz it tipped me over 5 feet. For definite.  *sigh*  good times.   So as I ran towards a group of intermediate kids, same age as Pandawan I'm aware that most of them are as tall as, if not taller than me.  I'm in barefeet. I must look barely old enough to be driving a car.  Yet here I go, calling out to this smartmouth kid.

Conversation went something like this.....
kid "it wasn't a real fight"
me "would your mother be ok with you using language like that?"
kid "yeah"
me "really?! your mum would be ok with you calling an adult a bitch?"
kid "yes." (looking a little sullen now)
Me " well, I pity you. that you aren't being taught to be nice to the people around you. that's all I was trying to say, be nice to the people around you"

He had started walking away now, so I left it.  It occurred to me when I got home that it was also dangerous to be even play fighting by the side of the road. Kid coulda fallen under the wheels of a car. Wouldn't have seemed like that much fun then huh?  Punkarse.


Now before you judge me a complete loony - and yes  I understand I come across that way. Captain pointed it out to me when I told him "you're gonna get shot one day" and that may well be the case. I have a reasonable history of yelling out the window (sometimes when it's open, more often when it's shut) at idiots who cross the road kinda in front of me on busy roads, when there is a pedestrian crossing in sight. Do they use the crossing? No. They run out in front of moving vehicles, playing dodgeballchicken. 


A little voice in my head screams that idiots like that should be left to be helped outta the gene pool.  
This is where you're supposed to cross roads. Asshat.

The nice part of me says that I should be helping them learn better. 


At least my kids have heard me yell about the safe way to cross roads often enough now, that they wouldn't dare be an asshat about it.  #Win


This comes from a story that a friend told me years ago that has stuck with me.  She told me about a day that she was driving home from picking up her kid from school (or to school? something) and she saw some neighbourhood kids playing in the gutter by the roadside. She stopped the car and told the kids that it wasn't a safe place to play.  I was surprised she had the guts to do this to kids she didn't know. She said, "well, we're a community. I would hope that if a neighbour saw my kid doing something unsafe like that, that they would correct her" 


So that's how I view the kids I drive past everyday.  Like they are kids I DO know, that I know their parents, and that the way they are misbehaving would be unacceptable at home. 


I do this in the hope that when MY kids are walking to school etc that strangers/neighbours would help them out, by correcting them when they are misbehaving.  


I talked with my kids about this this evening, coz Pandawan was embarrassed that I had got out of the car to talk to this kid. I asked him how he would feel if we were walking down the street and the situation ensued? Would he be ok about a kid talking to me like that?  Bless him he answered he would feel like punching the kid. :O)  I said "yeah, that's how I felt. But punching isn't an ok reaction. So that's why I spoke to him"  It's nice to know he would defend my honour (yeah yeah, I hear ya, what little I have left :OP)  I had a worrying couple seconds there when I thought he wouldn't.....


SO!!  People of my humble wee home town beware!  I am a crazy lady who takes it upon herself to correct misbehaviour.  I aim to do my best myself so that I'm not being hypocritical. I also am doing my damnest to raise my children with respect for others, some common decency and compassion.  I would appreciate it if you would make some effort to raise your kids the same.  This way the world will be a nice safe place for us to live in. Well, our wee corner should be.


If not, it may be your child I chastise in the street next time.   You have been warned.  :OD
*end Public Service Announcement*

 

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

It just wasn't that kinda week

Heading out to 'work'
Oh yeah. It rained today. Just a bit tho.
So, everytime I thought about sitting down at the puter and writing a post, it just felt wrong.

I either didn't have the words to describe the hell on earth that has become a major city in our wee nation - you're in my thoughts everyday Christchurch - OR some little thing I was thinking about sharing just seemed too trite in light of the suffering of my fellow countrymen (sic).

That time, really, still hasn't past. But I don't think it will happen anytime soon. It's the kinda event that has rocked our nation. And we thought our grimmest day happened earlier this year when the Pike River Mine collapsed.  Sadly no.  Christchurch was hit by another earthquake last tuesday.  

On a world scale for earthquake carnage, it probably doesn't even rate amongst the top ten. But for our wee nation of about 4 million, it's HUGE.

ugh. excuse me.  SirTalks has just come and reminded me that GingerNinja has "done a huge pond of wees on the toilet floor"  I better go clean that up huh?  *sigh*

So, anyways that wasn't what I was gonna write about today......I was gonna have a wee moan.  Yup, LittleToastFairy is gonna have a rant.  Those who know me IRL know that me and ranting aren't that unknown friends. But I have tried to keep things positive here, coz I'm aware this goes out into the interwebs universe for all to see.....and there are so many whiny blogs out there, particularly mommy blogs. Or maybe there aren't that many. It just seems to me that that is something that mum's get pigeon-holed into - whiny coffee drinking blah blah blah.


For the record most of the mum's I know aren't whiny. Well, not without good reason!!  The mum's I know work damn hard, for very little recognition and often with not a lot of sleep. It's joked about, but I reckon put some mum's on the front line defending their babies and tell them the enemy ate the last of the chocolate and we'd win before lunch.


Before breakfast.  Fuck I got better things to do with my day than to waste it all away on that kinda crap!!  :O)


anyways.....once again my verbosity has gotten away with me here......so here's a list of things that have been pissing me off lately. In the last week mostly. But some more often than that! oh, and this is in no particular order either....
  • flies. all the fucken flies in my house. Yes I leave the windows open, so they'll fly in, but we have an ecomist that's supposed to kill the lil fuckers. And we have been spraying them too. But they JUST.WONT.DIE.  grrr
  • idiot drivers who don't give way at the roundabout I have to go around numerous times a day to get to our street.  This is when I have right of way, and they don't stop. Or stop, then edge forward, when really there is no room for this without clipping me. In our Van (yeah it's not like we can be missed).  With the kids in the back. Where their car would hit ours.  hmmm, not really great for keeping me calm.
  • Sick kids. Yeah I know, I'm whinging, but it's been 3 weeks of having at least one kid home from school with a cold/sniffy nose/sore throat/cough/feeling exhausted. And I've been feeling that way myself for at least that long too. Sorry Patience has run out. *mutter grumble* "Stupid bitch. Why'd she have to leave now??"
  • Other idiot drivers who think that the rules don't apply to them, so it's ok for them to talk on their phones while driving. This is not only illegal, IT'S STUPID.  Rules of the Universe however have shown that these idiots aren't the ones who will be hurt/killed, it's rule abidding citizens like me who pay the cost.
  •  And yeah while we're here, those pricks who think that indicators are an optional driver tool.  *facepalm*  I hate you all.
  • Little boys (particularly mine) who have been exposed to the ways of the toilet since they were 3, and are now 4 3/4 and yet still can't get themselves to the toilet before they pee in their pants. One of them can stay dry without a nappy overnight. Explain that shit to me. PLEASE.
  •  Also boys (oh, look the same boys) who think that pants are optional once the ones they are wearing are wet.  oh dear children school is going to be such a shock to your system.  Either that or my kids will be kicked out before they have barely started....

Not that I'm stressed about them starting school or anything.....

Yeesh. Listen to me.  ugh I can't bear to listen to myself anymore, 1st World Problems!

Time to shoot the gap before I scare off any readers I have left.

On a funny note, Monkey had a blocked nose earlier in the week, and wandered over with his finger well up his nose. I commented that that was a good plan, dig those boogers out buddy. Or something along those lines.   Captain then suggested he could flick it.

Monkey pulled his finger out and flicked his fingers.   Charming  :OD

p.s...I DID NOT teach him that trick. I dunno where it got it from, but knowing our family it's probably a genetically inherited skill.  Awesome.