Tantrums and Decisions

Today started badly but ended exceptionally well.

If you were at my local shopping centre this morning at approximately 10.00am you would have been witness to the mother of all hissy fits thrown by my normally angelic 3 year old. We were having a lovely browse in the children's section of Borders when I heard my daughter utter the fatal words... "Look Ben, a Power Ranges video!" Well that was all it took. As soon as I told him,very sympathetically, that we couldn't buy it, all hell broke loose! Needless to say I immediately vacated Borders to the staff's relief, and spent the next 2 HOURS with B. lying on the floor in the hall screaming and thrashing around like that poor, yet oh so creepy, Exorcist girl!
Luckily just prior to my having a hissy fit myself, some divine being flipped the switch and Mr Schizophrenia (as we now refer to him) came good and wondered off to play with the cat and be cute. He had a delightful afternoon but I was completely wrung out.

Needless to say when J. arrived home from work at 4.00pm I related the events of the day and then informed him that I had to leave to go to the Prep Info Evening at the local school. Knowing that this started at 7.00pm he was a little bemused but agreed cheerfully and sent me on my way.

This is where I ended up -

I spent a very cathartic 2 hours wondering around my local bookshop and drinking tea. This set me up nicely for what turned out to be the highlight of the day. Information Night!

In my area we are lucky enough to have 3 or 4 really great state primary schools and over the last few weeks all the prospective prep parents have been doing the rounds. I had pretty much decided on the school E. was going to but after a few visits I found that the school I felt most comfortable with was not the school I had chosen! This threw me into a bit of a spin as I could not quite get me head around the change. One thing I tell anyone who asks for my professional opinion on choosing schools is to go with your gut instinct. My gut was telling me to choose 'School B' over the original choice of "School A". Tonight saw me back at 'B' and I had the overwhelming feeling that this school was right for us. I was so excited as the decision was now so easy.

I'm so thrilled and can't wait to enrol E. first thing tomorrow.

This is the way I should hope everyone feels about their choice of school. No matter what they do or don't offer, ultimately you have to feel good deep in your gut that this school is right. The rest is gravy.

www.ywps.vic.edu.au

Crocodile Creek

Another new product in store this week that I'm thrilled about.

These puzzles are very high quality and have such lovely pictures on them.


I'm always on the look out for new products so please let me know if you come across anything fabulous.


Thanks to another wonderful blogger I have sourced some very special knitted rattles that should be instore very soon. Being a huge fan of the doughnut, I particularly like these ones.

What Price Boredom

I woke up this morning to the sounds of Barbie and the Red Power Ranger arguing fiercely and had that sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach that I am sure every Mum has experienced... How am I going to entertain my children today? An empty Monday stretched before me and rather than be cooped up in the house all day with the offspring I started racking my brain for something to do that would satisfy all of us. The usuals flitted through my brain but I decided on the rash course of asking E what she wanted to do! As the words came out of my mouth I realised my folly, but to my surprise she actually had a legitimate suggestion - the local indoor play centre. Great idea. Haven't been for ages. Can have a cup of tea and feel like a good mum at the same time.
All went according to plan and I even had the added joy of being able to read my book as the kids were so engrossed and old enough not to need me. Woo Hoo! Then as I was driving home 2 1/2 hours later I realised that there must be a hole in my wallet as all my money seemed to have disappeared. On reflection I realised that my morning outing had cost me a small fortune! Entry for 2 kids $16.00 Tea $3.50 2x pop tops $8.00 2x smartie cookie $7.80 Another tea $3.50 It had cost me $40 for our little outing!!
Now I remember why I had stopped going. Compare this to last week when we visited Scienceworks for the grand total of $0.00. The kids get in free, as do I being a teacher, and we took our own snacks. Now that is a worthwhile outing and if you're lucky the kids will catch some science germs while you're there.
I'm going to start a list of cheap and cheerful entertainment starting with Scienceworks and if anyone can add to this list it would be much appreciated.
Now what on earth am I going to do with them tomorrow.....

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Scienceworks www.scienceworks.museum.vic.gov.au
C.E.R.E.S. www.ceres.org.au
Kensington Community Playground - 'The Venny'
Melbourne Museum
Melb Zoo (If you have a membership!) www.zoo.org.au
Collingwood Children's Farm - small entry fee www.farm.org.au


The Zoo -

Solo At Rod Laver

WOW, what a great show. I won't bore you with a rave suffice to say that I had an absolute ball and loved every minute of my solo concert going experience thanks to a great performer and the best seat in the arena (Thank you my gorgeous friend Megs)

They didn't have any mugs but I did get a great tour poster that is rolled up waiting for some nice relative to frame for my birthday! I had all the best intentions of buying out the merchandise stand as you may recall but I made a -'not so startling, once I had thought about it'- discovery. Country music is not known for style or subtlety. Now I don't like to say a bad word about my Keith but who the hell is designing the merchandise??? Every T-shirt was black with a Massive photo of Keith covering the entire front. Now he's got a good head but who the hell wants to walk around wearing this?

The only item of apparel that was passably wearable was The Waifs tee!

And where, I ask, were the calenders, totes, Cd's etc. I did pick up a lovely pair of Monkeyville (Keith's fan club) ear rings which I turned into a necklace after getting home! Bet you wish you picked up some of these...








Here's one last shot of the Man, just for my own pleasure before I move on.

Urban Girl In More Ways Than One!

The quilts are done, James has taken Ben to the park, Emma is at Kinder, so I am free to indulge in a bit of KEITH therapy!!!

For those who are lucky enough to have experienced my obsession with Mr Urban over the last few years it will come as no surprise that with 7 hours to go until the Melbourne concert I am in full boot scooting, guitar picking, yee haaing glory. My so-called friends think it is hysterical, although not surprising, that I could find no one to come to the concert with me. So I'm off for my first solo concert experience! This is probably just as well as even I am anticipating my being very embarrassing.

For a city bred girl I have always had a secret love of all things country - for that I am blaming my Dad's Glen Campbell, John Denver collection. Tammy, Dolly and Patsy have always held a secret spot in my heart and I guess now that I'm in my 30's I'm more able to handle the mocking and taunting that goes with the territory.

I fully intend to come home with every single item in the merchandise stand just to annoy everyone. The next time you pop into the shop you will no doubt find me wearing my Keith Urban tee and sipping from my 'I LOVE KEITH' mug.

Chalk Quilts Are Back

Well after a couple of nights of cutting patches and burning the midnight oil..here are a couple of the new quilts that will be instore by the end of the week....

Ode to Mr Fussenegger

I don't think I can begin to tell you how excited I am about our latest new product. How can I be so excited about a blanket?? I'll tell you why because they are from the amazing world of Fussenegger and they are fabulous.

David Fussenegger founded his company in Austria in the year 1832 - Six generations on and continuing the family tradition, it is now run by Klaus Ladstaetter. These beautiful baby blankets are made in the age old tradition and are some of the softest baby blankets on the market today.

The greatest thing is that I have this fabulous catalogue of gems that I can order individually if customers are after a design we don't carry.

At the moment we have the baby blanket at $49 (70x90cm) and the huge cot blanket at $72 (The photo of the girl is the cot size-100x140cm)

I must apologise for the lack of CHALK cot quilts in store at the moment. With James away I haven't had a lot of sewing time but there are heaps on the way and they should be instore by the end of the week. I'll post some photos of them tomorrow. Brothers & Sisters is about to start so must fly....

Healing Power of Silence

Ever felt the need to sit very still and quiet and stare at a blank white wall? This is where I am at the moment after a week as a single Mum. It hasn't even been a particularly busy week - just the usual stuff but I am feeling a tad shabby around the edges. Exactly how many questions can a 5yr old and a 3yr old ask during a week? And do they EVER shut up?

My saving grace has been my local cafes or 'Sanity Savers'. I live in the most wonderful part of Melbourne where I am blessed with an infinite variety of great cafes. The Yarraville/ Seddon area is dotted with places that know just how I drink my tea and always have it ready without me asking. Ali at Gourmet On Gamon even has my own mug on her shelf and while I read all the mags that she keeps me supplied with, she entertains my kids!! You can't really ask for better than that.

I'm hoping 'Daddy' will be home tomorrow and as much as I've missed him, I'm tipping he'll get 10 minutes at the most before I sneak out the door and bolt to read my book in SILENCE in a Seddon Cafe. Look out for me - I'll be the one with the slightly dazed expression and the big mug of tea!

My Husband Has Always Looked Hot In A Skivvy

I own a Children's store and must see hundreds of items of clothing from designers every season but where are the skivvys like this one?

Granted the availability of great boys fashion is very limited but surely we can come up with something to rival this gem!

The Changing Face Of Friendship

There is nothing better than rediscovering an acquaintance and realising they are now a friend! This week an ex student of mine got in contact with me and subsequently has made my week.

As a teacher you often come across kids that you wish you could know as an adult just to see if they lived up to the potential you could see in them. You rarely get this opportunity as a primary teacher. Your grade 3 teacher is hardly on the Christmas card list for very long. The reality is that time moves very differently for an 8 year old, a year seems to last forever, whereas we teachers remember these special kids long after we are a vague memory they drag up from the deep recesses. You can imagine my delight when this week brought back just such a one!

The greatest thing is that after 7 years a shift has taken place and I am now meeting the adult version. The gap has narrowed, the dynamic has changed and the potential for real friendship is now there. This is one of the greatest joys of teaching, discovering kindred spirits across generations.

Mind you, just in case he's reading this, he's also still a ratbag. (Thank god)

We've Got Ourselves A Pippi Virgin

As this is my first ever blog please excuse the complete lack of interesting content, humour or social comment.

The kids have just gone to bed and as there is nothing more interesting on TV than Catriona Rowntree, the computer was looking like a better option.

(For those of you not in Australia CR is a particularly annoying TV host.)

My gorgeous husband is packing for a week away for work which means that I will be heading off to the Video Library tomorrow to stock up on DVDs and cookie cream commotion ice cream! My tip is there will be a lot of Gilmore Girls watched in my house next week.
As much as I miss him there is something exciting about knowing that my evenings will be all mine for a while. Anyone with young kids will probably sympathise with the need for some personal space. I sometimes find myself pulling over in the car when out by myself, just for an extra few minutes of quiet...is that bad?

The other advantage of batch'ing it is that I won't have James rolling his eyes in disgust at my viewing choices. The freedom to watch 'Bring It On' as many times as I like, and practice my Bollywood dancing to 'Bride & Prejudice' into the small hours will be bliss. (God even to me I'm sounding a little freaky - no wonder there is eye-rolling!)

I'm going to post this now and see what a blog looks like.
See you soon