Beyond the Edge of Adventure

How was your day today? Mine was a blur of driving, party food, crying baby, spilled urine and shouted question-and-answers back and forth in the car over dirt roads and loud music. Today, I was kept hopping at playgroup because it was a Christmas party because, you know, fifty pre-schoolers with party food, play time and craft. Hello, craziness! Then when we finally got home, I decided to turn the routine on it's head and bring rest time forward to NOW and lunch LATER........which worked out well...... ......until Miss Nature Girl (almost 7) and Miss Little Leader (5) decided to take 20 minutes to put on their leotards for dance rehearsal this afternoon. This meant that they missed lunch and had to eat it in the car. No big deal, right? Wrong. They decided today would be the perfect day (only days out from their dance concert on Saturday) to wear their stockings (they usually wear socks)......which means that Little Leader now has lunch-stained stockings because she ha

This is photograph was taken in Brisbane on November 22nd, 2013. My husband had just completed an intense 14-month course of full-time work and full-time study (simultaneously) and we were going out to celebrate! I'd arrived in Brisbane by bus earlier that day and had wondered around the shops in our local town before my therapist appointment. I hadn't been able to eat breakfast because I was just so tired and anxious. I hadn't had anything to drink that morning, either. I had walked around and around my favourite op-shop with energy but not knowing what I was looking for or what I was really doing. I was fidgety and nervous, yet I didn't know why because I was heading off for an amazing time away with my favourite person and our hard work was finally over! At my appointment with my therapist, she made me eat a biscuit and drink some water once I had unloaded my burdens - "I can't eat and I haven't had anything to drink......" - before my bu

"Yeah, I live for little moments like that...." - Brad Paisley, 'Little Moments' I was talking to a friend today about home schooling and the 'little moments' that make the hum-drum and craziness all worthwhile. Then I realised that life is pretty much like that.....especially parenting. Parenting is hard work - it's not for the faint-hearted! It's a huge responsibility to raise a child to a functioning adult. Day in, day out, it takes all our energy to love, guide and teach our little ones. Amongst all the hard bits like labour, teething, tantrums, defiance, seemingly endless energy, scribbled-on walls, pre-teen attitude, pester power, teen hormones, grunts in the place of words and mess......there are these sweet little vignettes of pure joy. Just one of those moments can power a parent for a long while sometimes! My children always looks so precious when they're sleeping. Gazing upon their peaceful countenance never fails to fil

Well, today was another exciting day in the world of this wanna-be political mama - I got to go and hear an amazing speaker talk about dildos, masturbation, homosexuality, radical gender theory and other sick topics. Why? Because these are things that are in a program that is insidiously infiltrating our schools. There are many names for this program, the most commonly used being 'Safe Schools'. The more switched-on parents like PoliticalPostingMumma (also known as Marijke Rancie, a self-described 'ordinary mum' from Melbourne) find out about these sick programs, the more government ministers and beauracrats lie, remove the evidence and keep pushing their agenda through under a different name. PPM was hosted by our local MP in our city this afternoon to share her testimony about 'Safe Schools' which has been in schools since 2010 in Victoria. Her story is remarkable and scary. Man, I'm so glad I home school and that there is zero risk of my c

Dear Breastfeeding, Our twelve-year relationship is almost at an end. For good this time! I have never felt so passionate, torn, ecstatic, pained, fatigued or content about anything else in my entire life. Nothing has ever stretched my feelings over so many different areas of joy and suffering. Breastfeeding, we started out well. I thought you looked pretty amazing, natural and good. It was only after I had my baby in my arms that I discovered how tricky it can be to get things going. Baby #1 and I took a while to get ourselves together with what I thought at the time was excruciating pain (it was nowhere near, compared to #2 and #3). Over the years, I have loved you with a depth that's gone beyond what I thought could ever be comprehended for something so simple as feeding one's child. That gently pulsating rose-bud lip against my areola is something so peaceful and beautiful. The contented sigh as an older baby swoops on an awaiting nipple. The milky trail from t

Today, I had a meeting and an appointment.  I don't have a pic of my diary, so here's something like a diary! It was pretty nice to have an important meeting to attend that wasn't about children! I took three of the children with me and they did their school work while I was at the meeting. Afterwards, we had to go to our local primary school so I could speak at assembly briefly about an event we have coming up. I sat on the bleachers with my own children and some parents, watching the assembly from start to finish. I love school. I'm a born teacher. Many times during my own schooling, I got into trouble for playing with younger students and not staying in my own age-designated playing area. I have loved children and teaching them since I was barely more than a little girl myself! School is somewhere that I feel at home. It's like a place of excitement but also comfort for me. I love the student work on the walls, books stacked on shelves and desks line