Hey there February 2016

Hey February,

Did you know I could never get the first r in your name; it’s a tricky one. I give it one more century before you lose it. But for now, I am going to tell you a few things about life right here and now, on the extra day you’ve given me this year, which you usually keep to yourself. I have been:

Making:

Better use of my time. I am working more and I have had to break up my tasks. When you’re forced to work more efficiently at home, you can still get everything done

Drinking : Impressed Juices. 

Doing: Took the kids to Werribee to be photographed for the Cadbury Easter Egg Hunt for Good Friday. They had a ball and were paid in chocolate. But guess what, they were in the highest read newspaper in the State and not one person noticed them...so how many people are reading the newspaper these days?

Reading:  Crap books. I am usually a bit of a book snob, but the last month, actually all of this year, I’ve been reading stuff that other people like. It’s kind of like eating McDonalds, I know it’s doing nothing for me, but in that exact moment, it’s actually pretty fine thank you.

Wanting:  Clothes are always on my want list. Today it’s these dresses from Gorman. It’s a fabric feeling thing, both just feel so good to touch.

  

Looking: At houses with pools. It’s a thing I do when I have time to waste.

Playing: Spotify. I finally subscribed and we all now have silly lists of songs to listen to. It’s the best thing for people who previously had limited music to listen to.

Deciding: That we need to plan more weekends away, otherwise the weekends disappear without us ever getting away.

Wishing: people who left ignorant comments on social media got electric buzzers on their fingers as they typed to remind them that they are being assholes.

Enjoying: Hot cross buns – ok, so the ones with chocolate and orange have been enjoyed too much.

Wondering:  If July is a good time to holiday in Noosa?

Loving: Kiddle the google for kids. I already have Kids YouTube on Immy’s ipad and it’s so good. My blog doesn't even get through...too much saying fuckity fuck fuck.

Pondering: What my next blog post will be about.

Considering: Buying Easter decorations.

Buying: things on sale. David Jones had a massive sale and I was there right at the exact time it happened. It would have been stupid not to buy things.

Watching: Movies with the smalls. Immy is one of those kids who LOVES a good movie and we have a date each Friday night now where she chooses something to watch. This week we had Nanny McPhie. I think she is going to be the next David and Margaret at the Movies.

Hoping: I will always always hope for healthy days for us all.

Cringing: at my credit card bill.

Questioning:  Other parents parenting.

Smelling: my roses. Every day. They are kicking goals in the flower garden and making my house wonderful.

Wearing: Active wear, active wear…I am picking up the kids in my active wear 

Noticing: My hamstrings are not working.

Knowing: Cardinal Pell is not a very nice person.

Thinking: About new projects and what they might end up being.

Admiring: People who just say yes and find a way to make everything happen.

Disliking: pimples. 

Opening:  the fridge to see if someone decided to make a cake and leave it there for me, so far no luck.

Feeling: Excited about ideas in my head.

Snacking: on peanut butter with chia seeds in it and then having chia seeds stuck in my teeth, not so glamorous

Hearing: TimMinchin sing about Cardinal Pell and then hearing that the funds from that song went to people who deserve it so very very much.

That's it Febby, I hope to see you again in 2017 to tell you all about another great month. 

xx

Impressed by Kale. Really.

This is a sponsored post

Life gets dull if you don’t take a little look at how you’re living sometimes. It’s silly to think that what you’re doing right now, how you’re living, can’t be improved just a little with a slight change here or there.

I don’t make new years resolutions but I do write down some little changes that I am going to make a few times a year.

Last year I decided to listen to a wider variety of radio stations. Why? Because if you don’t flick around the stations, you only hear one type of opinion, and that opinion can slowly become yours.

At first I rolled my eyes at what I had to listen to, with both commentators, callers and music choices, but after a few months I found I was producing less eye rolls and had a greater acceptance of why some people might like to listen to a certain station (just not all the time!)

This year I decided to give up soft drink and hot chips.  The soft drink isn’t really a big deal. I’ve been a big fan of the marketing for ReThink Sugary drink, I picture the drink in my head as a glass of lard and just prefer not to drink it. There is just no reason to tip that stuff into your body. For me, it becomes much harder to abstain when I go for a social drinkie. 

If I am not drinking alcohol, I’ll always pick lemonade or a coke and if I am drinking alcohol, soft drinks are often mixed in…Pimms and lemonade anyone?

When the Impressed Juices team asked me about any changes I was planning to make this year, I thought maybe I could replace the soft drink for a healthy juice option instead.

Let’s be very honest here.

1) I will never own a nutribullet and make my own juices.

2) I still think the best green smoothie is a Midori and Lemonade

3) I don’t believe in kale.

But Impressed Juices had me at totally ‘Australian made’ and that they are offered at a price point I think is very reasonable (I am also of the thinking that any type of Franchise Juice bar is a total rip off) so I was happy to check these new juices out.

The juices arrived at my door and I instantly saw the word kale on one of the bottles and must admit there was more eye rolling.  But I opened up my Summer Greens drink, drank it down and then had another one just to make sure I liked it. It's fantastic. Perhaps my bias against kale means I've been missing out on good stuff???

The next day I opened the Berry Beets and tried to get Miss 10 to drink some. She refused to let it pass her lips. Miss 7 wouldn’t even hold the bottle. Mr H had a few sips and asked if he really had to drink the rest. The beetroot juice just wasn’t going down well at all. So I took them to work to try out with some of my team.

They all said good things, it contains carrots, pears, beetroot, cucumber, strawberry and blueberries, which is an amazing way to get your fruit and veg for the day. My work mates drank their full bottles worth. I let them have a taste of my Kale Juice to compare flavours, but they all preferred the Berry Beets the most.

Over the next fortnight Mr H and I actually fought over who was drinking the Ginger Ninja juice, a delicious orange, carrot, ginger concoction.  One night I tried it with a splash of vodka, just to test it out. It didn’t really work, this juice is best left on it’s own or served over ice. 

It was also the favourite for the kids, not that I think most kids will want this, the flavours are more grown up, unless your kids drink fancy stuff a lot more than mine do (highly possible).

I’d started out thinking Impressed Juices would be a way to substitute for when I desired a soft drink, but it didn’t. Instead, it has started to become my breakfast on the go.  I work three days a work and have a long commute after I drop the kids, it’s the perfect time to drink one of my Impressed Juices. I throw it in my handbag and feel as though I have started the day better off, it also means I am not looking for a muffin at 10am to go with a hot chocolate.

The thing with Impressed Juices is, once you’ve drunk one, kale and all, your insides feel happy. It’s like giving your internal workings a nice big hug and after a few days, you want that feeling every day. I ended up relaxing on a weekend with my book and my juice and I really started missing them when my trial drinks run out. Lucky, all I had to do was throw them into the trolley on my next shop, and bingo, breakfast is now sorted when I am running out the door.

You can check out more about Impressed Juices on 

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The saying I hate the most in the world.

A couple of months ago when lumpy was first discovered, my world was a major stress zone.

Major. Every waking moment I tried to concentrate on being positive and using my energy to get through the day without booking a plot for myself at the local cemetery. Sounds pretty extreme right now as I am fully fit and recovered, at the time, not so much.

One night I scrolled through my Instagram and saw some happy person deciding to share their message of the day to the world. It was all so simple for them, just 'CHOOSE HAPPY', they cried out to me. Implying that I was making a decision to be fearful, anxious, scared, lonely, terrified and all I had to do was shake my head three times and pick happiness instead.

When you are dealing with shit times, someone sending you a CHOOSE HAPPINESS image is possibly the worst thing ever.

Click over to Pinterest and search Choose Happy and you will get hundreds of pretty pictures reminding you how easy it is to just be happy. You just have to choose to be.

Please take your Choose Happy/Happiness/Joy posters and keep them neatly in your own handbag. The people who are finding it hard to smile that day, it's probably for a bigger reason than you have felt. If they are grieving for a much loved person they shouldn't be happy! They should be sad, let them be sad, it's ok for people to really miss someone. It's probably even ideal if they cry about it and feel pretty miserable for a certain amount of time.

If you have a friend who has some type of health issue to overcome, they might need support for awhile, encouragement, reminding that they are not alone and that others are going to support them along for awhile, especially on days when they can't cope on their own. Suggesting they just Choose Happy, is like a smack to the face.

Some people live constantly with a piece of them that is fighting a black cloud. They don't like the black cloud that hovers over them and threatens to smother them when they least expect it. They wish it wasn't happening to them and some days they get on top of things better than others, but I promise you, this is never because you sent them a text message saying. "Hey, Be Happy!"

Also, it's boring. Share something else instead.

Get out and do stuff: Langham Hotel Pool Day

The Langham Hotel at Southbank in Melbourne is beautiful.

It has a divine staircase up the middle that is always filled with a flower display that makes you stop and take notice. The hotel is also well known for their high teas and cuisine.

But there is also a swimming pool and spa area on Level 9 of the hotel with beautiful views across the city, and you don't have to stay at the hotel to use them.

A few weeks ago Miss 9 became Miss 10. With her birthday falling in the summer school holidays it's always a tricky event to schedule and get invites out etc. This year, we decided that we would make all the decisions about her birthday and it would be a surprise day for her.

Mr H and I decided a day in the city was the perfect option and so we headed straight to The Langham, paid for a day pass for us all and that gave us the pool, spa, sauna, steam room and ALL the towels that we wanted.  We invited two other little girls to join us, so together we had four kids and two adults.

We ordered room service and had it delivered to the roof top balcony and the girls sat and ate hot chips and dumplings from a silver tray.

More swimming, more checking out of the snail shower, and steam room and then we dried off and went for a walk to Federation Square. There is always something to check out there, but for the birthday girl we went straight to ACMI, joined in on a make your own gif workshop and then went for ice cream.

Mr H then surprised them all again with tickets to the giant slip n slide and even though the weather was cool, they all still run straight on (again and again) until their 45 minutes was up.

A quick walk back to the Langham and we settled down for hot chocolates in the lounge area, then went straight back to the pool.

By the early afternoon there were a few guests sitting in the spa sipping on their champagne, but still none using the heated swimming pool, perhaps four squealing girls kept them out.

As I swam around I chatted with a lady who had just arrived from Canada and pointed out all the buildings that you can see from the pool.

Eventually we dragged the girls out of the pool, they went to get changed and found delight in the smallest of things - hair dryers, shampoos and hotel shower caps.

A day in a Five Star hotel isn't how they spend their usual summer holidays so it was a really fantastic way to spend the day for the newly Miss 10. It was highly enjoyable for parents too.

If you're looking for something a bit different to do in the city, head to The Langham, right up to Level 9 and grab yourself a day pass at the pool. You can also book in for massages and all that jazz and order dumplings and champagne...there sure are worse ways to spend your day!

Get out and do stuff: Melbourne Star

There are so many things you can just get out and do. Every day of the year there are people ready to entertain you or teach you or show you stuff.

If you think there is nothing more to see or do, act like a tourist. Go check out the tourist attractions in your town.

If you're in Melbourne, that might be Melbourne Star.

It sits there for all to see but so few of us actually get down there and take a trip around. At night is shines gorgeously and the kids love to be first to point out 'the big wheel', but we had never thought to actually go in and take a trip.

I wasn't sure what my kids would think of it but they really loved it and it's certainly got kids in mind.

Take the time to check out the signs along the way, there are some interesting facts and figures to read. Once onboard, the kids had a crossword to fill in, they needed to look out at the view to find the answers, like how many red squares on the top of the car park etc. At the end, they both won a little prize by completing the challenge.

Miss 7 was a bit nervous about the height. She preferred to stay towards the centre rather than near the windows and she mentioned a couple of times she was scared the door might open and she would fall out.

If you don't like heights, it might not be for you, but if you can fight the fear for a little bit, you'll be well rewarded.

Because the views are what you are after and if you go on a nice clear day you really will be seeing further than before. You'll see a long way and the audio speaker dude will fill you in on what you are looking at as you go.

Half an hour later you are back on the ground and if you have made the trip in with your kids, it's worth finishing off the day by taking them to play at the new park just near by. It's under the Bolte bridge and is great for kids that are tired of plastic slides and swings.

There is also plenty of space for running, picnics, cartwheels and handstands while you continue to enjoy the view of Melbourne.

A decade of parenting

Today marks the anniversary of me being a parent for an entire decade.

It's not a very long time.

It's quite a long time.

I was so organised for parenting. I read every book available before my babies arrived. The books tell you exactly what you need to know, as long as you read as many as you can. Sooner or later you'll get the answer you want to hear.

Having a baby knocks your brain about, and your heart. It does things to your body that you can see physically on the outside but it does even more to the bit that you can't.

Over the last decade I've learnt things that no book in the world will teach you.

Like, sounds.

Kids have certain sounds that require different parenting reactions. There is the loud bang that's followed by silence. This is a bad one. If a loud bang is instantly followed by crying and screaming, it's ice pack/band aid time, when it's silence, parents manage to run faster and breathe differently.

There are noises in the night. You can hear little tiny feet scampering around the house and you can instantly tell if it's just a child running to the toilet or if it's a child sleep walking in random places.

Parents can hear the sounds of a bad day at school in the silence of the car on the way home from pick up. Parents can hear the sound of 'I need help with something but I don't know how to tell you.' There is no chapter on learning this in the books, you have to teach yourself, you won't even know that you have. One day you just realise that you know these things.

When you have a tiny baby you know you're going to do EVERYTHING to protect that bundle from pain and suffering. And then along the way, some other persons shit kid utters the words to your beautiful child along the lines of "No! You CANT PLAY WITH US." Whatever age your kid is you want to stick chewy in that nasty kids hair and spit in their lunch. But you won't. You'll slowly realise that you can't keep the pain and suffering away forever. You can't live in a bubble where your kid never ever has to deal with the world. It's at these moments when you know you have to do something even harder. You have to prepare your kid for shit times. Because they are coming. It might be shit kids in the playground, it might be that your beautiful child is not going to be attending a party that every other kid got invited to or it might be Fluffy the bunny has gone missing. One day it's going to be the death of someone they knew and loved. The pain will come along for your kids and as a parent it will hurt your heart that you can't protect your child.

It will make you breathe differently.

Then you will learn about being a proud parent.

At first - YAY - I made a baby that cries and poos and looks cute in photos will be all you need. You'll be so proud that you got that baby out of you and that you're both still alive. Phew, what an effort. So proud. The world around you will be thrilled too. It's exciting to be a part of a new life. People will send cards and gifts and food. It's so amazing.

And then. Your baby will start to walk/talk/eat/roll/sleep/read and it will be better than any other baby that ever lived. No one will care. No one will be as proud as you. Only you will see what it took for your baby to achieve that thing, to ride that bike, to conquer that fear. But you will be proud of them. When they win that race, finish that novel, play the game, attend the concert, get invited to the party, make a friend, cook a meal, ace the test, you'll be so proud, they don't need anyone else to be.

There are moments you look at them and you're so proud for that brief moment, you'll take a deep breath and breathe a little bit slower.

No one tells you the stuff that you are going to learn either. All you read about is what you should be teaching your kids, like manners, kindness, reading and writing, to be a tennis star,  a Master chef, blah blah. No one says that your kids will end up bringing new people into your life, new friends and new interests. They don't tell you that you will learn to sew sequins on outfits and to braid hair in many styles. That you will learn about every highly contagious disease and know the best way to administer foul tasting medicine to toddlers. That you'll learn the name of every dinosaur and how to play minecraft. You'll build more lego and read more books, learn how to install a trampoline in the dark of night and how you can creep on your hands and knees to ensure a floor board doesn't creak.

It's possible you'll sit up hours and hours of the night helping your child to breathe.

Sometimes, you might even hear that moment when your child can't breathe and you'll learn the tips to help a child with whooping cough or croup or asthma to catch that next breath.

A decade ago no one told me any of the fears I'd conquer just because I had no other choice but to do so.

It's surprising how much parenting you do in a decade, it's surprising you even get a chance to breathe.

The Givers and the Keepers

There are two types of people.

The Givers: those who find it easy to give to others.

The Keepers: those who feel that when they give something away they are the lesser for it, that in giving away they lose out on something.

This second group can feel this way with all sorts of objects.

Some don't want to give things to the op shop, just in case they might need it themselves in seven years. They worry about who might receive the goods they donate. There is the worry that any financial donation they give will be used up in administration or swallowed up by some dodgy charity group. These are reasonable concerns because charity groups do have expenses and some groups (not mentioning Shane Warne Foundation here) do find ways to spend millions of dollars on swanky events rather than the people they are meant to support. It's possible that your op shop donations might even go to someone with a drug addiction, or to a person who has no job, even if you don't like people with a drug addiction or people who have no job.

But the problem is the Keepers are missing out by not being more generous. If you think of how great it feels when you de clutter a wardrobe, or a kitchen drawer or a work space. How nice it is to know someone else can benefit from items you are no longer using?

Giving to other people feels good. Knowing that stuff you once loved and used but no longer need can make someone else happy is a great feeling.

Freeing the space you live in to only have the things you really love gives you more space, less to clean, and new spots to fill with new treasures you find.

Donating money to things like research helps come up with cures for diseases that your children might one day get. Imagine knowing that you don't have to worry about your daughters getting cervical cancer because there is a vaccine that they will get in high school which will decrease the possibility to a very very low chance? When it comes to research there will never be enough money so every dollar really does help.

Giving a little bit of what you have to people who don't have much will not make you sad or lonely or destitute. It's likely to make you smile. Smiling makes you happy. Being happier makes you healthier and being healthier makes your life better.

I am not writing this post as a request for money. This is not asking for you to do anything, other than to consider how you feel at the idea of giving away something that is yours.

I am also not suggesting that you leave all the money in your Will to the local dog shelter or that you fill every coin shaking can with every dollar you have. It's just a post to suggest that next time you are asked to buy a chocolate, that you don't feel as though you will be the lesser for buying one. If you are cleaning out a shed or a cupboard and sorting through things you haven't used in a long time, don't think about how you might (probably never) use it in the future, think about how good it will be for you to make space for something else.

And remember that giving comes in so many forms, including your time and your heart and your skills. Being able to teach someone a skill that you have (languages, music, to drive, to cook) is donating your valuable time. Perhaps you can call an elderly person who lives alone or drive someone to a scary medical appointment and sit with them in the waiting room.

Even if you're already a Giver, most of us might be able to give just a teeny tiny bit more. I am sure I can, I just need to remind myself that I'll likely gain so much more from the giving than the not giving.

Three Apps for Primary School Kids - January 2016

It's time for some new apps on all the new devices that some kids got for Christmas.

I spend a lot of time checking out the apps my kids use and I am constantly surprised at how pathetic so many of them are. There are very few that really get used and even fewer that allow kids to think, to be creative, to use their heads.

When I am looking for an app that I want to recommend I am looking for apps that are not just about consumption.

I don't want my kids (or yours) to sit and just consume other people's crap. I want them to create their own stuff, crap or masterpiece, who cares, it's all theirs. My kids don't connect with other people on their devices (I lock that stuff down, big time) but some apps do allow you to connect with people outside -that's up to you what you want your kids to be able to do.

Accapella 

If your kids watched Pitch Perfect and loved it, if they are into singing or if they like to perform, this is a fun app for them to sing and make their own songs. They muck around with the sounds, film themselves singing/dancing and changing songs around. It's pretty fun. Then you can delete it and do it all again.

Currently free, but this is for a limited time.

Agent A

I love this app!

It's not for little kids as they might not be able to work out some of the clues - but then again if they spend enough time on it you will be surprised at what they figure out all on their own. Never underestimate the skills of little people. I am even thinking of downloading this on my own device so I can solve the crime without the kids trying to grab the ipad out of my hands while I 'help' them. In Agent A, there is a mystery to be solved, there are clues to find and things to work out. Everything needs investigating, remembering, rethinking until you have saved Agent A. I am still working on that bit!

Cost: $4.49 - but totally worth buying, no adverts and we have had no negative things on this one.

My First Dog.

This app is not really all that amazing - unless you are 7 years old and love everything about puppies and you want one and no one will get you one, and it says PUPPIES!! AND THEY ARE SO CUTE.

It's your job to get a puppy, look after it, train it and all that stuff.

This app is free, it's possible it might end up having in app purchases, but again - SWITCH THAT STUFF OFF.




And if you are reading this online or on your phone and wish you had an easier way of reading or commenting you could download the Clairey Hewitt APP!  it's free, so click over and download me.