tuesday 21.9.2010
J.T. has gone fishing. He got up very early, fussed around and then asked "is it ok if I go fishing for an hour?" I knew this was what he wanted to do and was annoyed that he'd had to do the fussing beforehand and wake me up. I think he was working up the courage to suggest that he nick off, while leaving me with four kids. Of course his fussing woke them up, so as soon as he left, there were calls - from the other end of this vast space - "i neeeed to go to the toilet! I'm busting!!" Now H (oldest) and M (youngest) were still asleep, so this became a logistical challenge. The toilet block is visible from the camper, but there was no way I was sending E and C (5 and 3) to the loos by themselves. So I left H - now half awake - in charge of M and the rest of us walked to the amenities. After checking out the loos, I sent E and C into the disabled cubicle together and told them to lock the door. (Just so you know, there was a sign saying feel free to use the disabled facilities, when not currently in use.) I then waited outside the building so I could hear them (C singing and E giving instruction) and see anyone trying to break in and steal my other two from the camper. I'm sure nobody else would send their children near the toilets because I looked like some crazy woman, standing outside, listening at the door and staring all the while at our camper across the way - which probably looked like I was staring at the (both female) couple in the camper situated between the loos and our camper - but all seemed to be going well. Until E came out without C to give me C's night nappy and tell me it was wet. "Where's C?" "She's in there and the door's locked!" she tells me with pride in her voice. Oh dear, my heart sank. Not a week earlier, C had locked herself in a cubicle and then pooed. Unfortunately I was unavailable as I was with M trying to capture the magic of an Uluru sunset for E to present to her kindy class on return to school and J.T had sent them on a toilet mission on their own. H had been required to crawl under the door and clean up her soiled sister, because J.T hadn't wanted to bust in on a building full of teenage girls. This time, luckily, E got back inot the cubicle and there was no poo to be found. My two "middle girls" emerged from the amenities block with proud smiles and we trekked across to confirm that my "outer girls" were still snug in their beds. Why don't I ever get to *"go fishing"?
*I say "go fishing" because I don't actually want to go fishing. Yuck! Who wants to kill things by pulling them out of their environment, by giving them an unwanted (I assume) piercing and then leaving them to flop around on the banks of their former home while they drown in the air? J.T. and millions of others it would seem. I wouldn't mind just standing by myself for an hour though. I could even hold a rod if it made it more acceptable, just without a nasty hook on the end.
Friday, September 24, 2010
Monday, September 20, 2010
me and my stuff
monday 20.9.2010
I just asked J.T. if we could live in the camper when we get home. He made some noises which I'm going to take as agreement and the only thing I'm yet to work out is schooling. School of the air is always an option. See, it's not that I particularly like the camper, or that it's full of all the conveniences of home but we can drive it around. It's not like that at all! It's small, cramped, dirty and when we're all in it at once, very, very small. But I need to get away from my stuff.
I have spoken about this to my most excellent friend K.B. before. I have too much stuff. I am a hoarder. Of everything, not just really cool stuff that my kids will be able to take on Antiques Roadshow in the future and make millions (not including my collection of retro McDonald's Happy Meal toys in mint condition, which will make my fortune if I can ever find a buyer.) Added to that I don't clean or tidy as a rule. I like things to be clean and tidy, I really do, but I can't personally do it. For a while, a few years ago, I did this online de-cluttering/organising/cleaning thing online (I didn't clean online the program was online)called FLYlady and my house was not only usable, but pleasant. Then I fell pregnant with baby number two and it became too hard with a small child and morning sickness. I can't get back to it though. Now I have four kids and my house is just full. That's not a exaggeration either, we have literally kicked a path from our front door to the main living areas of the house and in other places we just walk on stuff to get around. It's quite disgusting and something I'm quite ashamed about. I don't have people over and the idea of people dropping in is a constant source of panic. People (the thousands who read this blog daily) will scream at their computer screens "CLEAN IT, YOU FOOL, YOU LAZY, GOOD-FOR-NOTHING SLOB!" and I would generally agree, but I just CAN'T do it. I can't. I want to, for me for my kids, for J.T., for all the people who love me who would like to come over for a cuppa....
Anyway, if I lived in the camper and never went back to my "stuff" it would all be ok. I'd only need a few things from there. My photos of course, all the kids' artworks, some toys (which we didn't bring because we knew the kids would be enthralled by nature and history *snort*), books, more cooking equipment, my pantry, lounge, heater, fan (the weather has been fickle), another pair of shorts, my radio, washing machine, fridge, freezer, oven, my elephant collection (currently conveniently stored in boxes), letters from when J.T and I were dating in high school, kids' christening gowns and gifts, everything that was ever hand-made for my children, mementos of interesting times. Some may say "everything but the kitchen sink," but I'm really missing my double sink. Maybe i should start looking at one of those two-storey 10 metre caravans with plenty of storage space.
I just asked J.T. if we could live in the camper when we get home. He made some noises which I'm going to take as agreement and the only thing I'm yet to work out is schooling. School of the air is always an option. See, it's not that I particularly like the camper, or that it's full of all the conveniences of home but we can drive it around. It's not like that at all! It's small, cramped, dirty and when we're all in it at once, very, very small. But I need to get away from my stuff.
I have spoken about this to my most excellent friend K.B. before. I have too much stuff. I am a hoarder. Of everything, not just really cool stuff that my kids will be able to take on Antiques Roadshow in the future and make millions (not including my collection of retro McDonald's Happy Meal toys in mint condition, which will make my fortune if I can ever find a buyer.) Added to that I don't clean or tidy as a rule. I like things to be clean and tidy, I really do, but I can't personally do it. For a while, a few years ago, I did this online de-cluttering/organising/cleaning thing online (I didn't clean online the program was online)called FLYlady and my house was not only usable, but pleasant. Then I fell pregnant with baby number two and it became too hard with a small child and morning sickness. I can't get back to it though. Now I have four kids and my house is just full. That's not a exaggeration either, we have literally kicked a path from our front door to the main living areas of the house and in other places we just walk on stuff to get around. It's quite disgusting and something I'm quite ashamed about. I don't have people over and the idea of people dropping in is a constant source of panic. People (the thousands who read this blog daily) will scream at their computer screens "CLEAN IT, YOU FOOL, YOU LAZY, GOOD-FOR-NOTHING SLOB!" and I would generally agree, but I just CAN'T do it. I can't. I want to, for me for my kids, for J.T., for all the people who love me who would like to come over for a cuppa....
Anyway, if I lived in the camper and never went back to my "stuff" it would all be ok. I'd only need a few things from there. My photos of course, all the kids' artworks, some toys (which we didn't bring because we knew the kids would be enthralled by nature and history *snort*), books, more cooking equipment, my pantry, lounge, heater, fan (the weather has been fickle), another pair of shorts, my radio, washing machine, fridge, freezer, oven, my elephant collection (currently conveniently stored in boxes), letters from when J.T and I were dating in high school, kids' christening gowns and gifts, everything that was ever hand-made for my children, mementos of interesting times. Some may say "everything but the kitchen sink," but I'm really missing my double sink. Maybe i should start looking at one of those two-storey 10 metre caravans with plenty of storage space.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
should have left the kids at home.
friday 17.9.2010
My kids are driving me barmy. I don't think it's natural to spend so much time travelling and sleeping in close quarters. I thought about nomadic tribes, but figured even they would have seperate horses/camels/gypsy caravans/whatever or, if walking, would be able to run off sometimes and just be.
I'm sick of "what is there to eat?/I'm hungry!" being whined at me every ten minutes. It doesn't help that there's not a lot they can eat - all four of them have pretty serious allergies and/or intolerances - so all their food is home made/baked and therefore I'm not willing to let them shovel it in. Does that make sense? Maybe I shIould be more willing to let them eat stuff I know I've made, but it really does take a lot of my time to cook and bake for them.
I'm also sick of the constant fighting that sarts as soon as they wake up. Literally the minute they are awake it's on. "Stop touching me!" Stop kicking me!" See, they're sharing a bed. Well the three older ones are. They are H - who is 7 and like to pretend she's civil and cooperative but is really in her own little world most of the time, E - who is 5 who has Asperger's syndrome and just doesn't "get" a lot of stuff and C - who is totally insane and 3 (and probably has ADHD like her father, the afforementioned J.T. - there's also the little one M - who is 9 months old and as gorgeous as can be, but insists on breastfeeding every 10 mins or so. ) I knew that sharing a bed would be really hard on E. She doesn't like being touched, which is really hard to avoid when sharing a smaller-than-double bed. We have them top-to-tail, but C tends to bunch up against H and then there's nowhere for E's feet to go between them. Immediately she assumes that C is kicking her, but I think C is just touching her. Of course as soon as she growls "STOP KICKING ME!" C starts kicking her. Because she's three and insane. Then it's on. We've tried to get E to lie on the edge of the bed, to ignore her, to "use her words," but nothing is working. This morning we tried to practice with E lying diagonal and the other two bunched in a corner. Sigh.
For some reason - as I mentioned to J.T. this morning as we listened to them bickering - I expected they would reach some kind of Zen state where they could exist in perfect peace and harmony. I expected this to come within a few days of starting out on our journey but maybe it's still to come. Maybe I just need to chill.
My kids are driving me barmy. I don't think it's natural to spend so much time travelling and sleeping in close quarters. I thought about nomadic tribes, but figured even they would have seperate horses/camels/gypsy caravans/whatever or, if walking, would be able to run off sometimes and just be.
I'm sick of "what is there to eat?/I'm hungry!" being whined at me every ten minutes. It doesn't help that there's not a lot they can eat - all four of them have pretty serious allergies and/or intolerances - so all their food is home made/baked and therefore I'm not willing to let them shovel it in. Does that make sense? Maybe I shIould be more willing to let them eat stuff I know I've made, but it really does take a lot of my time to cook and bake for them.
I'm also sick of the constant fighting that sarts as soon as they wake up. Literally the minute they are awake it's on. "Stop touching me!" Stop kicking me!" See, they're sharing a bed. Well the three older ones are. They are H - who is 7 and like to pretend she's civil and cooperative but is really in her own little world most of the time, E - who is 5 who has Asperger's syndrome and just doesn't "get" a lot of stuff and C - who is totally insane and 3 (and probably has ADHD like her father, the afforementioned J.T. - there's also the little one M - who is 9 months old and as gorgeous as can be, but insists on breastfeeding every 10 mins or so. ) I knew that sharing a bed would be really hard on E. She doesn't like being touched, which is really hard to avoid when sharing a smaller-than-double bed. We have them top-to-tail, but C tends to bunch up against H and then there's nowhere for E's feet to go between them. Immediately she assumes that C is kicking her, but I think C is just touching her. Of course as soon as she growls "STOP KICKING ME!" C starts kicking her. Because she's three and insane. Then it's on. We've tried to get E to lie on the edge of the bed, to ignore her, to "use her words," but nothing is working. This morning we tried to practice with E lying diagonal and the other two bunched in a corner. Sigh.
For some reason - as I mentioned to J.T. this morning as we listened to them bickering - I expected they would reach some kind of Zen state where they could exist in perfect peace and harmony. I expected this to come within a few days of starting out on our journey but maybe it's still to come. Maybe I just need to chill.
who to blame?
thurs 16.9.2010
Why are we doing this? Well we have my good friend K.B. to thank for that. Discussing with her (over coffee) where we could go on holidays, she said "why don't you go absolutely crazy, buy a camper and drive with your four nutbag kids and your husband all the way to Darwin and back?" or words to a similar effect. She may not have actually mentioned the driving bit. Anyway, the really cuckoo (as my children would say) thing was not that she suggested this, but that I then went home and suggested that exact thing to my husband (henceforth known as J.T.) Now anyone who knows J.T. knows that once he has a project he kinda becomes really focused, some would say obsessed. J.T had been trying to convince me to go on driving holidays for years and I had generally resisted, prefering to lie around a read a book in a nice location for my holidaying. Up until now we had generally combined our preferences, meaning neither of us was particularly satisfied. At first we thought we'd take the girls out of school a week before the holidays and have three weeks, but that eventually extended to three weeks out of school and five weeks all up. J.T. spent hours researching campers and we eventually decided to check out a Jayco Finch. I'm so glad we didn't get that, because it was just way too small. We ended up buying the next size up, a Dove, off ebay. Then J.T. discovered it's "issues." He spent every waking moment in the weeks before we went away welding, cutting, designing, wiring, kicking and swearing in, on and at the camper. the short story (ha!) is that it was almost done before we left. He and his Dad and Mum worked on it for two days straight as their place was our first stop.
And then we started travelling... so far we've seen some of the most amazing things, things that J.T and I have always wanted to see and things the girls will (hopefully) never forget. We still have many more days to go and hope we have an amazing holiday. So, saying all that. We have K.B. to thank, with only the smallest hint of sarcasm.
Why are we doing this? Well we have my good friend K.B. to thank for that. Discussing with her (over coffee) where we could go on holidays, she said "why don't you go absolutely crazy, buy a camper and drive with your four nutbag kids and your husband all the way to Darwin and back?" or words to a similar effect. She may not have actually mentioned the driving bit. Anyway, the really cuckoo (as my children would say) thing was not that she suggested this, but that I then went home and suggested that exact thing to my husband (henceforth known as J.T.) Now anyone who knows J.T. knows that once he has a project he kinda becomes really focused, some would say obsessed. J.T had been trying to convince me to go on driving holidays for years and I had generally resisted, prefering to lie around a read a book in a nice location for my holidaying. Up until now we had generally combined our preferences, meaning neither of us was particularly satisfied. At first we thought we'd take the girls out of school a week before the holidays and have three weeks, but that eventually extended to three weeks out of school and five weeks all up. J.T. spent hours researching campers and we eventually decided to check out a Jayco Finch. I'm so glad we didn't get that, because it was just way too small. We ended up buying the next size up, a Dove, off ebay. Then J.T. discovered it's "issues." He spent every waking moment in the weeks before we went away welding, cutting, designing, wiring, kicking and swearing in, on and at the camper. the short story (ha!) is that it was almost done before we left. He and his Dad and Mum worked on it for two days straight as their place was our first stop.
And then we started travelling... so far we've seen some of the most amazing things, things that J.T and I have always wanted to see and things the girls will (hopefully) never forget. We still have many more days to go and hope we have an amazing holiday. So, saying all that. We have K.B. to thank, with only the smallest hint of sarcasm.
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Well, well, well.... well
sun 12.9.2010
we are into day 6 of our trip. This morning while visiting the loos at Woomera Traveller's Village with H and E I overheard a woman exclaiming that "it was the one luxury she couldn't live without!" What was this luxury? "It" was washing her face. Now, I agree that washing your face is mostly an essential part of personal hygiene, but the place we were staying had fully functioning, pleasant ammenities, including showers. If you are bush camping and have very little water and it's 50 degrees in the shade, then face washing may be seen as a luxury, but when you are in a place that has showers, it's really the bare minimum a grown woman should be doing. Both for her own sake and others around her. And that's all I'll say on that matter.
Today we visit the rockets. It's been a long time coming with us being a full day behind schedule, plus getting here too late last night to see anything, let alone explore a rocket park. I'm not sure what we're going to bribe Erin with into staying calm after we've left the rockets. Maybe we'll lie and say there's more rockets in Darwin.
later:
Well we made it to Coober Pedy. It was freezing cold and raining the whole way from Woomera. So much for warm weather in the outback! We're not going to get to see anything here in the underground town because we have to leave at sparrow's for Uluru to try and make it for sunset. Which there won't be because it will be raining. We also won't make it because it's a huge drive and Molly insists on feeding every half an hour. *Sigh*
we are into day 6 of our trip. This morning while visiting the loos at Woomera Traveller's Village with H and E I overheard a woman exclaiming that "it was the one luxury she couldn't live without!" What was this luxury? "It" was washing her face. Now, I agree that washing your face is mostly an essential part of personal hygiene, but the place we were staying had fully functioning, pleasant ammenities, including showers. If you are bush camping and have very little water and it's 50 degrees in the shade, then face washing may be seen as a luxury, but when you are in a place that has showers, it's really the bare minimum a grown woman should be doing. Both for her own sake and others around her. And that's all I'll say on that matter.
Today we visit the rockets. It's been a long time coming with us being a full day behind schedule, plus getting here too late last night to see anything, let alone explore a rocket park. I'm not sure what we're going to bribe Erin with into staying calm after we've left the rockets. Maybe we'll lie and say there's more rockets in Darwin.
later:
Well we made it to Coober Pedy. It was freezing cold and raining the whole way from Woomera. So much for warm weather in the outback! We're not going to get to see anything here in the underground town because we have to leave at sparrow's for Uluru to try and make it for sunset. Which there won't be because it will be raining. We also won't make it because it's a huge drive and Molly insists on feeding every half an hour. *Sigh*
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