I have NOT enjoyed the past 5 weeks. Not one bit.
Jamie moved away for work. So essentially I've been a single parent and I hate it. I hate the lack of company in the evening, I hate not being able to share the load.
Mark started high school and we had some major anxiety to deal with. Over the past three days, he's been suffering from a spasm-y stomach, the doc thinks it might be "migraine stomach aches".
Ryan has become super clingy, we attempted to put him in the "big boy bed" but after two weeks of hell, I convinced myself that it was ok to put him back in the cot, so I rearranged the boys room for the 5th or 6th time and his sleeping pattern normalised. Daycare has been a nightmare for Ryan, he doesn't enjoy* being dropped off, he screams and carries on, clings to me like a koala and pretty much needs to be pried away by the staff who always reassure me that the day improves. Currently Ryan is sick, he has a double ear infection and congested lungs. He is on penicillin and ventolin (via a spacer & mask)
Ben is still brilliant. He cut more teeth without a fuss, currently has 4 top teeth and two bottom teeth. He commando crawls very quickly and is very inquisitive and quite independent. He's not a great fan of cuddles but will give a kiss if you "pucker" at him. He is very smiley and loves the remote controls, 5c pieces and food! Ben also has a bronchospasm and is on ventolin via a spacer & mask.
I didn't cope with agency work. Being called at 5am to cancel a shift or be given one is just not my cup of tea. Dropping the boys off at 6am and dashing to my work with Mr Clingy was more than I could stand. Thankfully I am starting my "real job" on Tuesday at St Vincent's Private Hospital, I'm stupidly excited about it. I just have a great feeling that its going to be good. That our work situation will work out. Jamie will find a contract job at the airport down here that starts at 7 or 8am, so he can do the daycare drop off... men handle it so much better.... or is that Jamie will handle it better than me.
* this is a super understatement.
Friday, February 17, 2012
Thursday, February 02, 2012
First Day of Year 8
My biggest boy started school this morning, and as usual, nerves took hold.
It really looks like a nice school. Very big, about 1400 kids from year 7 -12. His old school had around 800 but only 7-10.
The uniform is nice, grey shorts/pants, a white shirt, white socks and black shoes. Sport uniform is green shorts and a green shirt, which to me begs the question, why the heck are there two uniforms, make the whole lot the sport uniform and be done with it.
Changes from Waratah to Gladdy Park are:
We did a dummy run yesterday - took us 40 minutes to walk there, Mark later in the day rode there in 10 mintues!
Today I drove him, tomorrow (depending on how today went) will be on the bike.
I hope he will allow me to take a photo when he gets home. Fingers crossed.
It really looks like a nice school. Very big, about 1400 kids from year 7 -12. His old school had around 800 but only 7-10.
The uniform is nice, grey shorts/pants, a white shirt, white socks and black shoes. Sport uniform is green shorts and a green shirt, which to me begs the question, why the heck are there two uniforms, make the whole lot the sport uniform and be done with it.
Changes from Waratah to Gladdy Park are:
- Lockers
- Your own personal copy of the text books
- Diary
- 6 classes a day, not 5
We did a dummy run yesterday - took us 40 minutes to walk there, Mark later in the day rode there in 10 mintues!
Today I drove him, tomorrow (depending on how today went) will be on the bike.
I hope he will allow me to take a photo when he gets home. Fingers crossed.
Monday, January 30, 2012
Aches and pains.
38 so far has not been a good year for me. I feel I'm hurting all the time.
- I broke my little right toe by kicking the door frame back in November, its almost fixed now, but can still be very tender.
- Sciatica - OWWW
- Sore shoulder from changing gears.
- Torn medial meniscus (my knee) causing strong pain.
- Tender back, I think that is from being stiff.
- Frequently have a "cricked" neck from sleeping wrong.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Masses of photos
Mark looking very cool, and quite grown up.
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| Benno, my little cheeky chops. |
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| A nice stylish photo of our Skye. |
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| Chaos at the Storer side Christmas dinner |
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| Starting to open the pressies. |
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| Mark helping Ryan open his presents - the look of delight on his face. |
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| Daddy and Ben with a gorgeous soft dog that he got for a present. |
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| Ben working out how to open the presents, Ryan's face is saying "what its not for me" |
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| Mark and Margie, they gave him this lovely keyboard. |
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| Cousins galore. That's Roy with the antlers on. |
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| Sheena and Ben saying hello. |
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| Christmas Day hail... yes that makes sense. |
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| The bigger picture of the Christmas Day hail. |
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| Mark changing Ryan's nappy... yes it was a doozy. |
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| In the "big boy" bed. |
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| Another one of cheeky chops. |
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| Hello... can anyone see me? |
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| Ryan on the tramopoline. |
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| Selfies happen early these day. Ryan taking a self portrait. |
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| The fantabulous lemon tree. |
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| Our Tulla backyard. |
help, Help, HELP HELP HELP please
We're suffering, Ryan is not going to sleep at night. In the last months, lots of changes for him. Changes are as follows:
So with all that in mind, Ryan is having so much trouble falling asleep.
We do the wind down procedure,
I've done the "I've said goodnight, time to sleep, shut your eyes" He does this, then immediately returns.
I've growled, I've even smacked, I've been stony faced, I've been loving. I've given a drink, I've given the silent treatment. My main problem is when in the cot, he would scream, but in the bed, he just comes out screaming.
Help!
Next is the horrible wake up.
He wakes up screaming and thrashes about, yesterday he even butted his head on the ceramic tiles. This performance (which I try to ignore) goes on for 10-15 minutes. If I cuddle Ben, he weaves his way in and pushes, hits or kicks Ben to get him out of the way. Ryan is still essentially non-verbal, he will repeat words, but they appear to have no meaning. He grunts and points, often at nothing in particular which makes it even harder. Even Ben has taken to looking at him with a strange expression on his face.
I think the bed means he gets up before he wakes up properly and this is his wake up procedure. When in the cot, I could hear he was awake but lay there and chatted to himself, even for half an hour before he "asked" to get up.
Mark is a big softie and any time he cries he wants to give him his dummy, even though we've made dummies a bed only thing. His behaviour is making dummy-in-the-mouth an almost constant thing, which has given him an excoriation mark on his lip/chin.
Mark is desperate to help, but this usually means getting him out of bed for a cuddle, or hopping in his bed to calm him down, all of which will be a rod for Mark's back later on.
OMG, I'm suffering from lack of sleep. Feeling guilt as I have to give tons of attention to Ryan, so I feel I'm not giving Ben as much attention. Its so hard. I hate being a temporary single parent. I want my webcam, but can't find it.
But at the moment, Marko is playing his xbox talking to his bestie, Ryan is happily playing with a ball, Ben is wiggling around on the floor finding stuff to play with.
- Moved house - seems to have coped with that well.
- Lots of visitors - enjoys that.
- Mark went away for 2 weeks - but he loves Mark, don't go.
- Daddy went away - OMG he loves Daddy and now can't see him (last night he kissed Jamie's picture on my phone when he said goodnight)
- We moved him to a "big boy" bed the day before we knew Jamie had the job, and he left 5 days later and routine was not established.
- Started daycare 3 days per week.
- Changeable weather - can't help that one.
- Naps are erratic
- Mummy goes walking at strange times, leaving Ryan at home.
So with all that in mind, Ryan is having so much trouble falling asleep.
We do the wind down procedure,
- dinner - that is a whole other battle that I won't go into yet.
- bath - love love love the bath, its a frequent calmer down.
- relax in front of the telly,
- story (ok I only started that yesterday, but they really enjoyed it, so it will continue *blush*)
- The kiss, tuck in and say goodnight.
I've done the "I've said goodnight, time to sleep, shut your eyes" He does this, then immediately returns.
I've growled, I've even smacked, I've been stony faced, I've been loving. I've given a drink, I've given the silent treatment. My main problem is when in the cot, he would scream, but in the bed, he just comes out screaming.
Help!
Next is the horrible wake up.
He wakes up screaming and thrashes about, yesterday he even butted his head on the ceramic tiles. This performance (which I try to ignore) goes on for 10-15 minutes. If I cuddle Ben, he weaves his way in and pushes, hits or kicks Ben to get him out of the way. Ryan is still essentially non-verbal, he will repeat words, but they appear to have no meaning. He grunts and points, often at nothing in particular which makes it even harder. Even Ben has taken to looking at him with a strange expression on his face.
I think the bed means he gets up before he wakes up properly and this is his wake up procedure. When in the cot, I could hear he was awake but lay there and chatted to himself, even for half an hour before he "asked" to get up.
Mark is a big softie and any time he cries he wants to give him his dummy, even though we've made dummies a bed only thing. His behaviour is making dummy-in-the-mouth an almost constant thing, which has given him an excoriation mark on his lip/chin.
Mark is desperate to help, but this usually means getting him out of bed for a cuddle, or hopping in his bed to calm him down, all of which will be a rod for Mark's back later on.
OMG, I'm suffering from lack of sleep. Feeling guilt as I have to give tons of attention to Ryan, so I feel I'm not giving Ben as much attention. Its so hard. I hate being a temporary single parent. I want my webcam, but can't find it.
But at the moment, Marko is playing his xbox talking to his bestie, Ryan is happily playing with a ball, Ben is wiggling around on the floor finding stuff to play with.
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Like.... forever
PART ONE - THE MOVE
Hi there,
It sure has been a while.
What have you been up to?
I'm guessing no one really looks on here, but I'll write just the same. So much has happened since the 10th of November, that I'm quite embarrassed to tell.
Firstly we moved. It was awfully stressful and an event I do not wish to do again - ever (unless someone else packs and unpacks and there aren't renovations being done at the same time)
That obviously tells you that our renovation actually got finished. Our home in Newcastle had a lot done to it over the 8 years we were there. We repainted every room, re-curtained every room, put a built in wardrobe in the master bedroom, took out a floating wall*, demolished the kitchen and built a new one from scratch, re-tiled the shower, re-surfaced the bath, made a new bathroom vanity unit, polished the floorboards in the kitchen and re-carpeted the whole house. It was a massive task, and although I have written that we did it, truth be told, Jamie did it, mostly by himself, some help from his parents and a few faithful fantastic friends, but essentially by himself.
Our house has been rented out, hopefully to a nice family who look after the place and want to be there for years and years to come.
We moved back to our home in Tullamarine. Its pretty good except for the carpet in the lounge/computer room which has been destroyed. Hopefully in the next month or two we will rip it up and polish the floorboards. I will have my work cut out for me in the sweeping department if that plan eventuates. We have slate at the front door, tiles in the kitchen, dining, rumpus, laundry and toilet and in the near future will have floorboards in the lounge and office. Eeek, so much sweeping.
We are loving the backyard. It was pretty stark when we first moved back, huge lawn, high wooden fences and a lemon tree. Since Christmas we have now got a trampoline (tramopoline), a kiddie pool, a slide and two pink cars. Along with the outdoor table, a pram or two, the dog bed and random car parts... its a full backyard now.
* What is a floating wall, its a term I made up, but the previous owners wanted to add a room to get more rental income, so a partition wall was created in our computer room, leaving a "space" without a light that contained the back door.
Hi there,
It sure has been a while.
What have you been up to?
I'm guessing no one really looks on here, but I'll write just the same. So much has happened since the 10th of November, that I'm quite embarrassed to tell.
Firstly we moved. It was awfully stressful and an event I do not wish to do again - ever (unless someone else packs and unpacks and there aren't renovations being done at the same time)
That obviously tells you that our renovation actually got finished. Our home in Newcastle had a lot done to it over the 8 years we were there. We repainted every room, re-curtained every room, put a built in wardrobe in the master bedroom, took out a floating wall*, demolished the kitchen and built a new one from scratch, re-tiled the shower, re-surfaced the bath, made a new bathroom vanity unit, polished the floorboards in the kitchen and re-carpeted the whole house. It was a massive task, and although I have written that we did it, truth be told, Jamie did it, mostly by himself, some help from his parents and a few faithful fantastic friends, but essentially by himself.
Our house has been rented out, hopefully to a nice family who look after the place and want to be there for years and years to come.
We moved back to our home in Tullamarine. Its pretty good except for the carpet in the lounge/computer room which has been destroyed. Hopefully in the next month or two we will rip it up and polish the floorboards. I will have my work cut out for me in the sweeping department if that plan eventuates. We have slate at the front door, tiles in the kitchen, dining, rumpus, laundry and toilet and in the near future will have floorboards in the lounge and office. Eeek, so much sweeping.
We are loving the backyard. It was pretty stark when we first moved back, huge lawn, high wooden fences and a lemon tree. Since Christmas we have now got a trampoline (tramopoline), a kiddie pool, a slide and two pink cars. Along with the outdoor table, a pram or two, the dog bed and random car parts... its a full backyard now.
* What is a floating wall, its a term I made up, but the previous owners wanted to add a room to get more rental income, so a partition wall was created in our computer room, leaving a "space" without a light that contained the back door.
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Changing ones mind.
As a mother I'm allowed to change my mind and realise my mistakes. The hard part is explaining myself and holding true to myself.
I've stuffed up with Marko and his damned, stupid, irritating, life-sapping xbox. I allowed him to play war games, I purchased them for him. These are not just war, but graphic, realistic, blood splattering, violent war games, ones that are rated MA15+. Not sure entirely why I ignored the rating when I got the first one. He said "all my friends are playing it" I believed him and truth be told they are "all" playing it.
The latest and greatest of the Modern Warfare series came out this week. I heard on the telly that England is trying to ban it due to its extreme violence, realistic graphics and scenes that are obviously based on the Underground bombings in London several years ago. Mark is desperate for this game. Desperate to the point of tears when told NO.
There are two reasons not to purchase this game in particular.
The violence.
The cost.
Mark's response is: "Its exactly the same as my other games"
Me: "You don't need it then, play the ones you've got"
Him" THis one is better"
Me: "Oh well, too bad, I've made my decision and its NO"
Tears! Slamming of doors! Aggression! (Yet he swears black and blue that he is not being affected by these games).
He wants to know why he's allowed to play the old games and not the new one. So I've offered to sell them all. Didn't get a favourable response to that one.
I just don't know what to do at the moment. I feel hypocritical. I'd love to sell the whole damned system. I want him to be a kid, go outside and play. He is only interested in killing people on that stupid console. Tomorrow we MUST put the timer lock onto it. He has no self control with time.
I've stuffed up with Marko and his damned, stupid, irritating, life-sapping xbox. I allowed him to play war games, I purchased them for him. These are not just war, but graphic, realistic, blood splattering, violent war games, ones that are rated MA15+. Not sure entirely why I ignored the rating when I got the first one. He said "all my friends are playing it" I believed him and truth be told they are "all" playing it.
The latest and greatest of the Modern Warfare series came out this week. I heard on the telly that England is trying to ban it due to its extreme violence, realistic graphics and scenes that are obviously based on the Underground bombings in London several years ago. Mark is desperate for this game. Desperate to the point of tears when told NO.
There are two reasons not to purchase this game in particular.
The violence.
The cost.
Mark's response is: "Its exactly the same as my other games"
Me: "You don't need it then, play the ones you've got"
Him" THis one is better"
Me: "Oh well, too bad, I've made my decision and its NO"
Tears! Slamming of doors! Aggression! (Yet he swears black and blue that he is not being affected by these games).
He wants to know why he's allowed to play the old games and not the new one. So I've offered to sell them all. Didn't get a favourable response to that one.
I just don't know what to do at the moment. I feel hypocritical. I'd love to sell the whole damned system. I want him to be a kid, go outside and play. He is only interested in killing people on that stupid console. Tomorrow we MUST put the timer lock onto it. He has no self control with time.
Monday, October 31, 2011
grr
I'm currently on hold to Centrelink. Enough to drive someone to drink!
We've had a super busy weekend, and physically I'm paying the price. Aches in my knees, hips, back and shoulders. Not happy Jan.
Currently I live in a massively messy house. I need to organise the kitchen so its habitable, the laundry (which is seconding as our bathroom) is full of shit (oops I mean stuff). We have bare floorboards in every room, along with staples and dirt. OH THE DIRT.
I need to de-staple Ryan's room today, Jamie will sand the walls tonight and then we can paint is either tomorrow or Wednesday.
Went shopping today, bought (or is that brought) 4 t-shirts, 2 shorts and 5 socks for Mark as he appears to have grown on the weekend. Everything is too small, too tight or worn out.
Got myself 3 tops and a pair of fashionable shoes, quite excited about the shoes actually.
Halloween mask and some cookies for Marko's party / get together tonight.
We've had a super busy weekend, and physically I'm paying the price. Aches in my knees, hips, back and shoulders. Not happy Jan.
Currently I live in a massively messy house. I need to organise the kitchen so its habitable, the laundry (which is seconding as our bathroom) is full of shit (oops I mean stuff). We have bare floorboards in every room, along with staples and dirt. OH THE DIRT.
I need to de-staple Ryan's room today, Jamie will sand the walls tonight and then we can paint is either tomorrow or Wednesday.
Went shopping today, bought (or is that brought) 4 t-shirts, 2 shorts and 5 socks for Mark as he appears to have grown on the weekend. Everything is too small, too tight or worn out.
Got myself 3 tops and a pair of fashionable shoes, quite excited about the shoes actually.
Halloween mask and some cookies for Marko's party / get together tonight.
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