28 July 2010
Life in the Single Lane
This week, David is away in Canberra, so I've slogging it alone since Sunday afternoon. He's been calling just before bedtime each night, to say good night to Anya and Callum, so it's been relatively painless for them. It wasn't until this morning, when Callum was romping on the bed with me before breakfast, that his absence was really noticed. Callum looked at David's empty pillow and said, "Where's Dad?"
I've had a lazy several days, in reality, as I'm still recovering from my various illnesses (still a mystery to me how I got whooping cough, and whether the following sniffles were related or a new infestation of my lungs), so I've allowed myself to sleep in a bit (kids permitting). Today I had to actually roust Anya out of bed – she's still recovering too, I think, although she's seemed happy and bright enough.
Yesterday was Anya's first day back at school since last Wednesday, so I also indulged her a bit when dropping her off – then as I appeared to be sticking around, her teacher suckered me into showing all the kids how to do some origami! It was a frantic half hour of helping 6 or 8 or 10 (the group seemed to be growing by the minute) each fold their own hopping frog. Fun for me, actually, but not sure if the kids actually learned anything.
The next thing I knew, I was rolling into the office at around eleven, just in time to find out that all the managers were there in force for a managers' meeting. This could have been embarrassing but instead I was invited along for the lunch, so I got a free, fancy lunch at the Pink Piano instead of my usual hurried gulp at my desk. It's just as well I don't have any pressing deadlines at the moment.
I think perhaps I'm still on Darwin time... (half an hour behind Brisbane/Sydney).
13 July 2010
Our Top End Tour
I love maps, so here is a map showing everywhere we stopped on last week's holiday. I will progressively link some photos to each map marker - just click and you'll see! Alternatively follow this link to view the map in full screen: NT Top End 4WD Holiday
30 June 2010
Anya, You Have the Power
From the back files of my mind...
The set-up: Anya has just had a fight with Callum because he was being naughty and physically pestering her.
The usual answer: I force Callum to say sorry to Anya, and I force Anya to gracefully accept his apology and hug (not what she wants at all!)
Theory: Making them say sorry and hug should either (1) teach them manners and/or (2) avoid annoying each other, so they don’t have to go through the apology dance.
New approach: Afterwards, I take Anya aside and try to lay things out for her. First, I say, “Look, you know you’re like a little mother to Callum.” She looks sulky but agreeable to this idea. (Later we notice her “giving him a little mothering.”) Next I say, “So, you have the POWER.” She looks intrigued. I continue, “When he is naughty, you can tell him how to behave better. Instead of shrieking about what he did, you can say calmly, ‘Callum, that’s wrong.’ And he’ll listen to you.” Anya likes this idea, I can tell. Last, I shake my finger for emphasis, “But, you have to use your power for good and not evil.” She laughs.
The set-up: Anya has just had a fight with Callum because he was being naughty and physically pestering her.
The usual answer: I force Callum to say sorry to Anya, and I force Anya to gracefully accept his apology and hug (not what she wants at all!)
Theory: Making them say sorry and hug should either (1) teach them manners and/or (2) avoid annoying each other, so they don’t have to go through the apology dance.
New approach: Afterwards, I take Anya aside and try to lay things out for her. First, I say, “Look, you know you’re like a little mother to Callum.” She looks sulky but agreeable to this idea. (Later we notice her “giving him a little mothering.”) Next I say, “So, you have the POWER.” She looks intrigued. I continue, “When he is naughty, you can tell him how to behave better. Instead of shrieking about what he did, you can say calmly, ‘Callum, that’s wrong.’ And he’ll listen to you.” Anya likes this idea, I can tell. Last, I shake my finger for emphasis, “But, you have to use your power for good and not evil.” She laughs.
16 June 2010
Ten Useful Uses for One's Children
Someone to...
10. Fetch and carry when my grown up legs are feeling lazy.
9. Give me cuddles on my birthday.
8. Eat the random mouthfuls of leftovers lurking in the nooks and crannies of the fridge.
7. Walk over my back to give me a massage.
6. Say out loud what we're all really thinking.
5. Need me to bake some cake.
4. Render my alarm clock useless.
3. Give me practice at folding multitudes of tiny, tiny pairs of underpants.
2. Lick the cake bowl clean.
1. Appreciate their father's comic books.
10. Fetch and carry when my grown up legs are feeling lazy.
9. Give me cuddles on my birthday.
8. Eat the random mouthfuls of leftovers lurking in the nooks and crannies of the fridge.
7. Walk over my back to give me a massage.
6. Say out loud what we're all really thinking.
5. Need me to bake some cake.
4. Render my alarm clock useless.
3. Give me practice at folding multitudes of tiny, tiny pairs of underpants.
2. Lick the cake bowl clean.
1. Appreciate their father's comic books.
14 June 2010
31 May 2010
Photo Roundup
Just catching up on uploading some photos from the last few months. This is from April when we lucked into a local fair while we were staying up the coast.
This is from a day when my old rollerblades disintegrated, so I walked up Kedron Brook (in the water, wearing thongs) while David took the kids for a bike ride:
This is from a few weeks ago when we were out for a walk in the neighborhood, and found a tree in full autumn glory. My heart filled with pure gladness to see it. Most plants around here stay green year round or simply become brown or bare branched instantly, so it was a rare and wonderful sight.
Last of all, here is a photo of my current knitting project in progress. I'm making a baby blanket and this is one side of it, half finished. I also intend to knit a strip of a different pattern (maybe cables) to go in the center.
This is from a day when my old rollerblades disintegrated, so I walked up Kedron Brook (in the water, wearing thongs) while David took the kids for a bike ride:
This is from a few weeks ago when we were out for a walk in the neighborhood, and found a tree in full autumn glory. My heart filled with pure gladness to see it. Most plants around here stay green year round or simply become brown or bare branched instantly, so it was a rare and wonderful sight.
Last of all, here is a photo of my current knitting project in progress. I'm making a baby blanket and this is one side of it, half finished. I also intend to knit a strip of a different pattern (maybe cables) to go in the center.
26 May 2010
The Super Life
Superkids can fight crime with anything, even teapots.
Superkids have their own special seating.
Superkids wear goggles in the bath.
Superkids don't have to worry about safety barriers.
Superkids have Superdads.
25 May 2010
Arty Partying
So much to tell, so little time. Do I give a ginormous report, or throw together a tossed salad of amusing anecdotes? It's very daunting to think of trying to catch up to where we are now, but for you, my loyal readers (I know there are at least two of you), it's my duty to try.
10 May 2010
Guest Post: Good morning, cars!
[this post was written by David]
My son usually gets up early each morning to go to the toilet. He always wants his mum to take him, but Elaine and I alternate. It's always a struggle to stop him from crying, "I want Mama!" and waking everyone up when it's my turn with him.
My son usually gets up early each morning to go to the toilet. He always wants his mum to take him, but Elaine and I alternate. It's always a struggle to stop him from crying, "I want Mama!" and waking everyone up when it's my turn with him.
12 April 2010
Three Great Cakes
Lately I've been trying new cake recipes and lucked across a few really good ones. So, I thought I'd share. Warning: I tend to prefer cakes that are intensely flavored and moist. If your favorite cake is angelfood, these recipes are not for you.
CHOCOLATE BANANA CAKE (from Brisbane News)
150 g plain flour
25 g cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
115 g unsalted butter
200 g caster sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 medium-sized bananas, mashed
120 g sour cream
115 g dark chocolate, finely chopped
250 ml cream, softly whipped
Preheat oven to 175C. Grease a 23 cm round cake tin, dust with flour and line with baking paper. Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Place the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat for 1 minute until pale. Add sugar and beat until creamy and light. Reduce speed and add eggs one at a time until combined. Add vanilla and banana, mixing on speed 1. Remove bowl from mixer and fold in flour mixture in two batches, alternating with sour cream. Stir in chocolate, and pour batter into tin. Bake for 1 hour. The cake should be firm to the touch and an inserted skewer should come out clean. Cool in the tin on a rack. Once cool, top the cake with the whipped cream. (Also nice with ice cream.)
PUMPKIN CITRUS SYRUP CAKE (from Womens Weekly cakes cookbook)
250 g butter
2 Tbs orange rind
2 Tbs lemon rind
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
2 cups self-raising flour
1 cup mashed pumpkin
Preheat oven to 190C. Cream together butter, orange & lemon rind & sugar. Add eggs, flour & mashed pumpkin. (To make 1 cup, boil 350 g cubed pumpkin until tender.) Pour into 23 cm round cake tin and bake for 1 hour. The cake should be firm to the touch and an inserted skewer should come out clean. When the cake is ready, combine 2 Tbs ea. orange & lemon juice with ¾ cup sugar in a small saucepan and bring to the boil. Reduce to medium heat and allow to thicken (approx 1 minute). Pierce cake all over the top with a fork or skewer, and pour the hot syrup over the cake while it is still hot (in the tin). Stand at least 10 min. This cake lasts four days (if you don’t eat it all right away!) and tastes best the second day.
PUMPKIN SWIRL BREAD (from allrecipes.com)
224 g cream cheese
¼ cup white sugar
1 egg, beaten
1¾ cup all-purpose flour
1½ cups white sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp ground nutmeg
1 cup pumpkin puree
½ cup butter, melted
1 egg, beaten
1/3 cup water
1. Blend cream cheese, 1/4 cup sugar, and 1 beaten egg. Set aside.
2. Combine flour, 1½ cups white sugar, baking soda, salt, and spices. Set aside.
3. Combine pumpkin, butter or margarine, beaten egg, and water. Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture, mixing just until moistened. Reserve 2 cups of the pumpkin batter. Pour the remaining batter into a greased and floured 9 x 5 inch loaf pan. Pour cream cheese mixture over pumpkin batter, and top with reserved pumpkin batter. Cut through batter several times with a knife for a swirl effect.
4. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 70 minutes, or until tester comes out clean. [Note: as muffins/cupcakes, bake 20 to 25 minutes.] Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, and then remove from pan to cool completely.
CHOCOLATE BANANA CAKE (from Brisbane News)
150 g plain flour
25 g cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
115 g unsalted butter
200 g caster sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 medium-sized bananas, mashed
120 g sour cream
115 g dark chocolate, finely chopped
250 ml cream, softly whipped
Preheat oven to 175C. Grease a 23 cm round cake tin, dust with flour and line with baking paper. Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Place the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat for 1 minute until pale. Add sugar and beat until creamy and light. Reduce speed and add eggs one at a time until combined. Add vanilla and banana, mixing on speed 1. Remove bowl from mixer and fold in flour mixture in two batches, alternating with sour cream. Stir in chocolate, and pour batter into tin. Bake for 1 hour. The cake should be firm to the touch and an inserted skewer should come out clean. Cool in the tin on a rack. Once cool, top the cake with the whipped cream. (Also nice with ice cream.)
PUMPKIN CITRUS SYRUP CAKE (from Womens Weekly cakes cookbook)
250 g butter
2 Tbs orange rind
2 Tbs lemon rind
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
2 cups self-raising flour
1 cup mashed pumpkin
Preheat oven to 190C. Cream together butter, orange & lemon rind & sugar. Add eggs, flour & mashed pumpkin. (To make 1 cup, boil 350 g cubed pumpkin until tender.) Pour into 23 cm round cake tin and bake for 1 hour. The cake should be firm to the touch and an inserted skewer should come out clean. When the cake is ready, combine 2 Tbs ea. orange & lemon juice with ¾ cup sugar in a small saucepan and bring to the boil. Reduce to medium heat and allow to thicken (approx 1 minute). Pierce cake all over the top with a fork or skewer, and pour the hot syrup over the cake while it is still hot (in the tin). Stand at least 10 min. This cake lasts four days (if you don’t eat it all right away!) and tastes best the second day.
PUMPKIN SWIRL BREAD (from allrecipes.com)
224 g cream cheese
¼ cup white sugar
1 egg, beaten
1¾ cup all-purpose flour
1½ cups white sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp ground nutmeg
1 cup pumpkin puree
½ cup butter, melted
1 egg, beaten
1/3 cup water
1. Blend cream cheese, 1/4 cup sugar, and 1 beaten egg. Set aside.
2. Combine flour, 1½ cups white sugar, baking soda, salt, and spices. Set aside.
3. Combine pumpkin, butter or margarine, beaten egg, and water. Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture, mixing just until moistened. Reserve 2 cups of the pumpkin batter. Pour the remaining batter into a greased and floured 9 x 5 inch loaf pan. Pour cream cheese mixture over pumpkin batter, and top with reserved pumpkin batter. Cut through batter several times with a knife for a swirl effect.
4. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 70 minutes, or until tester comes out clean. [Note: as muffins/cupcakes, bake 20 to 25 minutes.] Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, and then remove from pan to cool completely.
11 April 2010
Easter Week
Once again, we spent our week of holidays “up the coast,” as we say – that is, at the family units at Peregian Beach. Usually, we share our beach holidays with Don’s family, who have two girls and a boy; this time we were with Rob’s family, who have two boys, much to Callum’s delight. It’s been a bit frustrating for Anya as the only girl, while the boys rough-house and say naughty things, but Callum has been completely and thoroughly enjoying himself. Anya isn’t totally left out, as she and Jayden do have in common a great love of drawing and pretend play. I brought a big pile of paper and it’s been all used up along with good quantities of pencil, crayon, sticky tape, staples, and prolific scissoring.
Easter morning the cousins were up at four a.m. with excitement, but thankfully were held back from visiting us until six a.m. I’d hidden some eggs around the unit to start Anya and Callum off, then all four kids moved outside and found more scattered around. I do miss the Easter activities of my childhood such as dying and decorating hard-boiled eggs, and making up little baskets with grass and chicks. Here the focus is very much on chocolate and it’s like having Christmas where all the presents are made of chocolate. We gave Anya a Lindt bunny, and Callum a Buzz Lightyear chocolate figure; they also received a large egg apiece from our in-laws and sacks of chocolate eggs and bunnies from their grandma.
It’s the custom in our household to let Callum and Anya have a little snack just before bedtime – sometimes candy, other times cookies, or even cheese and crackers if the mood strikes. This week, that became an excited look through their enormous array of Easter chocolate to decide which bit to eat next. (Amusingly, looking at Buzz Lightyear, Callum asked, “Where’s his head?” I had to unfold the wrapper to show him the face and remind him that he’d eaten it the previous evening.)
A new addition to our household this week is Maddy, a small mixed-breed dog who belongs to our other in-laws. They went camping this week, and asked us to look after her. She’s about the size of a cat, but very self-assured and tends to snap at small kids. Anya and Callum have had to be very patient with her and approach her very softly. Rob’s family recently acquired a dog as well, a small poodle, so it’s been a very doggish week. The poodle’s name is Minnie and she is amazingly patient, putting up with anything the kids want to do with her.
Another custom we’ve adopted this week is “happy hour” with drinks and snacks on the upstairs veranda or down by the barbecue. It’s a little awkward because we don’t want our kids getting full on chips and junk just before dinner, but it’s been really nice to relax with our in-laws and simply chat. The kids come and go, playing ball or other games, in between sitting with us sometimes to participate in the conversation. We had a good one today that started at 3:30 and carried on until 5:30! I did some sketches of Travis (my nephew) and Anya, and then Anya got inspired and got her own book to do some drawings of me.
Anya’s been learning to read, with “homework” each night of a different reader. The rhyming games, and other word games we’ve been playing with her for the last several years (just for fun without any educational goal) seem to helped a lot with this. She’s really got the hang of sounding out words. The only thing holding her back is her own tendency to get frustrated when faced with something new and difficult. I think as she continues, her confidence will grow and she won’t be so easily frustrated. On the holiday we haven’t pushed her to do much reading, except for one afternoon looking at Dr. Seuss’s “Hop on Pop.”
She also received a list of “sight words” to learn just before the holiday started. (Sight words are those you recognise immediately without having to sound them out.) I haven’t tried to drill her in them – I don’t find flash cards very appealing – but I did use them. I had to make up a board game for her to play with her cousins one afternoon, and I decided to base it on the sight words. Milton Bradley would never buy this game from me, but I do think with a little polish it could work as a real game. My first version involved spinning for a word and moving to the closest square with that word. My second version involved collecting letters until you had the ones that would make a word on the board, so you could move to its square. Her cousins also got me to help them make a snakes and ladders style game with drawings of animals, but I imagine that could also be adapted to sight words.
Meanwhile, Callum is speaking in quite elaborate sentences. For example, today he said without pause or hesitation, “Can I have a drink of water and when I drink it all up, you give me a cup of juice?” (This is a sort of rule I’ve introduced recently, that you only get juice after drinking a cup of water.) He also made us laugh this morning at the beach, as Anya refused to take her hat (she wanted to swim some more), and he scolded her, “Put your hat on, young lady!” Our in-laws have taken to calling him “Mr. Galumph.” I guess this kind of rhymes with our pet name for Anya, “Miss Gump.”
Easter morning the cousins were up at four a.m. with excitement, but thankfully were held back from visiting us until six a.m. I’d hidden some eggs around the unit to start Anya and Callum off, then all four kids moved outside and found more scattered around. I do miss the Easter activities of my childhood such as dying and decorating hard-boiled eggs, and making up little baskets with grass and chicks. Here the focus is very much on chocolate and it’s like having Christmas where all the presents are made of chocolate. We gave Anya a Lindt bunny, and Callum a Buzz Lightyear chocolate figure; they also received a large egg apiece from our in-laws and sacks of chocolate eggs and bunnies from their grandma.
It’s the custom in our household to let Callum and Anya have a little snack just before bedtime – sometimes candy, other times cookies, or even cheese and crackers if the mood strikes. This week, that became an excited look through their enormous array of Easter chocolate to decide which bit to eat next. (Amusingly, looking at Buzz Lightyear, Callum asked, “Where’s his head?” I had to unfold the wrapper to show him the face and remind him that he’d eaten it the previous evening.)
A new addition to our household this week is Maddy, a small mixed-breed dog who belongs to our other in-laws. They went camping this week, and asked us to look after her. She’s about the size of a cat, but very self-assured and tends to snap at small kids. Anya and Callum have had to be very patient with her and approach her very softly. Rob’s family recently acquired a dog as well, a small poodle, so it’s been a very doggish week. The poodle’s name is Minnie and she is amazingly patient, putting up with anything the kids want to do with her.
Another custom we’ve adopted this week is “happy hour” with drinks and snacks on the upstairs veranda or down by the barbecue. It’s a little awkward because we don’t want our kids getting full on chips and junk just before dinner, but it’s been really nice to relax with our in-laws and simply chat. The kids come and go, playing ball or other games, in between sitting with us sometimes to participate in the conversation. We had a good one today that started at 3:30 and carried on until 5:30! I did some sketches of Travis (my nephew) and Anya, and then Anya got inspired and got her own book to do some drawings of me.
Anya’s been learning to read, with “homework” each night of a different reader. The rhyming games, and other word games we’ve been playing with her for the last several years (just for fun without any educational goal) seem to helped a lot with this. She’s really got the hang of sounding out words. The only thing holding her back is her own tendency to get frustrated when faced with something new and difficult. I think as she continues, her confidence will grow and she won’t be so easily frustrated. On the holiday we haven’t pushed her to do much reading, except for one afternoon looking at Dr. Seuss’s “Hop on Pop.”
She also received a list of “sight words” to learn just before the holiday started. (Sight words are those you recognise immediately without having to sound them out.) I haven’t tried to drill her in them – I don’t find flash cards very appealing – but I did use them. I had to make up a board game for her to play with her cousins one afternoon, and I decided to base it on the sight words. Milton Bradley would never buy this game from me, but I do think with a little polish it could work as a real game. My first version involved spinning for a word and moving to the closest square with that word. My second version involved collecting letters until you had the ones that would make a word on the board, so you could move to its square. Her cousins also got me to help them make a snakes and ladders style game with drawings of animals, but I imagine that could also be adapted to sight words.
Meanwhile, Callum is speaking in quite elaborate sentences. For example, today he said without pause or hesitation, “Can I have a drink of water and when I drink it all up, you give me a cup of juice?” (This is a sort of rule I’ve introduced recently, that you only get juice after drinking a cup of water.) He also made us laugh this morning at the beach, as Anya refused to take her hat (she wanted to swim some more), and he scolded her, “Put your hat on, young lady!” Our in-laws have taken to calling him “Mr. Galumph.” I guess this kind of rhymes with our pet name for Anya, “Miss Gump.”
31 March 2010
The Wow Moment
I made a new friend at the annual Artforce awards where she was nominated for one of the award categories. (I wasn't -- just attended out of interest to see the leading designs.) We decided to collaborate on a new traffic signal box (TSB) design. This is really exciting and fun as I've never collaborated with someone before. It's a different way to work, bouncing ideas off each other and changing things around like a sliding Chinese puzzle.
I've learned some new ways of composition from her such as tracing, photocopying, cutting and gluing. I typically do things the hard way -- freehand sketching with old-school erasing and starting over if I don't get it right. Last night we even used whiteout to "do over" some areas and cut apart white paper and a spare color copy of the image to do over other parts.
We've gotten together several times now -- usually I head over to her place after the kids are in bed. Last night I went over to help finalise the design, thinking that we just had a few things to firm up, and we ended up changing the design some more... and I stayed until one in the morning. The design is now finally ready for submission -- it already looks different from these photos -- keep your eyes peeled for the final result!
Last Friday I also brought a pile of the working materials and the mock-up to Anya's class and gave a short talk (after morning tea and before the teddy bear's picnic... but that's another story...) The aim of the talk was to illustrate how you go from imagining a design, to planning it and working it out. I'd downloaded Hokusai's The Great Wave and a swath of paintings by other artists who inspired us, like Lin Onus and Friedensreich Hundertwasser. It was the best moment when the first image flashed up (projected on the wall from the teacher's laptop) and all the kids gasped, "Wow!" They continued to "Wow" each successive image as if watching fireworks and I felt thrilled to be connecting them to the wonders of art. Anya had a proud moment as well, when I mentioned that some of the animals in the design were from her drawings.
11 March 2010
APT6
Liminal Air – descend – 2007-09 by Shinji Ohmaki
I was lucky enough to have a spare hour yesterday and spent it speed-walking through the 6th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (APT6). I love the APT, as there are always stunning and exciting works, although this time around I have really struggled to find time. At the 2002 APT, I was thrilled to discover Yayoi Kusama (originally one of Andy Warhol's contemporaries). This time, the Liminal Air installation, pictured above, was another thriller. Another gallery-goer agreed with me that it felt like water, upside-down. Now I'm dreaming of how I could install something like this at home... complete with a reflecting pool featuring some Yayoi Kusama silver balls...
Check out my snapshots here and the Queensland Art Gallery/Gallery of Modern Art photos here.
23 February 2010
Queen of the Ziploc Bag
I'm feeling like such a MOM lately. My parents used Ziploc bags a lot, but with my green tendencies, I was trying to avoid them. You know, less plastic, save the planet, etc. However, as a parent, I now find that these bags are just the thing. (And to salve my green conscience, we wash and reuse them until they are totally worn out.) I started off using them only for food -- an easy way to take along snacks on the go. Then I branched out into other useful kid-related items, like a handful of wipes (so I don't have to lug around a whole container). Now I've gone bag-crazy and use them for: wet/squishy toiletries (amazing how often I need to bring sunblock, shampoo and soap!); hair elastics; tampons (men can avert their mental eyes here); mobile phone (when it's raining); pills; band-aids (my mini first aid kit)...
11 February 2010
Rolling Along
I spied Callum rolling this giant ball around as I came into kindy to
take him home. He told me gleefully, "I was getting in and out of it!"
08 February 2010
The Ultimate Abs Workout
So forget your Wii Fit Plus; forget your pilates devotions; forget your fit ball. THIS IS IT: hula hoops. After doing this for just 20 minutes in circus class tonight, I swear I can feel washboard ridges forming already.
02 February 2010
The Next Learning Curve
Now that Anya is attending school, I have been introduced to a whole new level of bewilderment. After living here for over ten years, I generally have the hang of how things are done in Australia, as opposed to the US, but now I am hitting another learning curve.
Kids here don’t catch school buses – their parents usually drive them in, although they are encouraged to take public transport. I think this will be OK when Anya gets older, but at this tender age, we have been dropping her off personally. I rather miss the school bus idea, actually, since you could then be sure that your kid was safe(ish) and set for the day once they got on the bus.
There is something called “tuck shop” available two days of the week, and it’s there for kids who want to buy their morning tea (mid-morning snack) or lunch, also sometimes called “little lunch” and “big lunch.” Today Anya ordered an apple slinky for morning tea and fish fingers and a corn cob for lunch. I had to learn to mark her name, order, and total amount on the outside of each bag which contains the required money; they return them to the classroom with food inside.
Mysteriously (to me), in addition to a requirement that we purchase a particular set of supplies for the year, the same info sheet also specified other things we had to supply, including one box of tissues and two reams of copier paper. I’m assuming these are NOT to be marked with Anya’s name! I didn’t actually notice this extra requirement until today when I was glancing over the info sheet again (we have already purchased the supply packet). Surely there would be some more efficient way of garnering these supplies rather than getting parents to bring them in individually?
Last, there was information about “Voluntary Contribution,” but the exact amount and deadline was specified. I don’t mind contributing, but this just seems like Orwellian double-speak to me...
Photo Theme: Liking Brisbane
What do I like around Brisbane today?
Art on the Streets
Architectural Juxtapositions
30 January 2010
Drawing from Life
Anya loves to draw – this week even her new teacher remarked on it, after knowing Anya for just three days. Lately she has begun drawing "real" pictures – sometimes from memory, sometimes by looking at what she’s drawing. I find this so exciting – that she doesn’t just draw a figure and call it a girl, or a particular shape and call it a box -- but rather, really observes what the features are, and includes them in her drawing.
Last week she amazed us with drawings of Wall-E and Eva, complete with the right body shapes and hands correctly including just two fingers per hand. This week, she drew Totoro, with the right body shape and v-shaped markings on his chest, and the bear claws on his paws – and she wrote his name next to him, as well. She told me that she wrote his name herself without asking anyone how to spell it. This just blows me away!
Last week she amazed us with drawings of Wall-E and Eva, complete with the right body shapes and hands correctly including just two fingers per hand. This week, she drew Totoro, with the right body shape and v-shaped markings on his chest, and the bear claws on his paws – and she wrote his name next to him, as well. She told me that she wrote his name herself without asking anyone how to spell it. This just blows me away!
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