Introducing Jumbo, Finn's imaginary friend. He can grow to the size of Finn and shrink back down to the size of Finn's little finger in 30 seconds! He ALWAYS has a bath at the same time as Finn, and so I have to get Finn out, wrap his towel around him, then get Jumbo out, wrap his towel around him (extra amusing when hes little finger size!) and then send them both on their way. When Jumbo is small, he travels on top of Finn's head.
After one bath, Finn had moved on the bath mat and left wet footprints. I thought it would be fun and cute and clever to tell Finn they were Jumbo's - how amazing! Finn gave me a look that was both confusion and scorn and said "Mama, Jumbo is IMAGINARY, he can't leave footprints, those are mine!" Silly old Mama!!!
Sometimes he plays with Jumbo, and talks about him, but Jumbo is a fair-weather friend, only appearing when it suits Jumbo, not when Finn is REALLY bored and needing someone to play with. Not when it would be helpful, thats for sure!
So Jumbo, your presence would be welcomed these school holidays, in places other than the bath too! When I hear that "I'm bored.. what can I do?" (a new one for Finn admittedly) I can suggest he play with you! :P
Meet Jumbo!
The wearer of the 'X'
I really have no idea where the concept came from. However, in this house, if you wear the 'x' - you're marked out as a loser. Somehow, Finn came upon the idea and he has taken it and run with it. In the past, its generally been J who has to wear the x. Usually because hes annoying or harassing Finn and it is Finn's form of retaliation. The wearer is shunned, outcast!
I recently had my first taste of being given the 'x' to wear. It was not fun. I was scorned, ridiculed and exiled. There was much pointing and laughing from the boys, much arm folding and hurrumphing from myself. It wasn't pretty.
So, being the mature, intelligent, adult that I am, I decided I would give Finn a taste of his own medicine. I wielded a texta and threatened the mark of the x. He scoffed at me, his laugh mocking and sort of saying 'thou art daring to place the mark of shame upon ME: the all powerful bestower of X's?!' I grabbed him and drew a beautiful, large, black X on his forearm, resisting his futile attempts at escape.
Well!!! How do YOU like it, sucker?! There were tears, there was a tantrum and there was much cruel laughter from myself. I kid you not, the tears flowed and the wearer of the X screamed the equivalent of 4 year old obscenities at me (e.g. "I am NEVER going to be your friend EVER AGAIN!") So J, softy that he is, scrubbed the offending X off and all balance was restored to the kingdom. I continue to snort and giggle under my breath. Revenge is sweet.
Happy New Year!
How hard does he rock?!!?
So, welcome to 2008, huh? Our NYE was very quiet, I slept through midnight. I am indeed, old and staid. I blame Finn's arrival, since that, NYE is just another night. Before that, I swear I was a party animal. Sort of. Party sloth? 2007 was a good year, a turning point for us, and I anticipate 08 being good to us too, its time. I can feel it!
Christmas was good, again fairly quiet. Watching Finn open his presents was awesome, he was pretty impressed and reacted well this year. When the sheet was thrown back from the drumkit, he got all teary: "It's exactly what I asked for!!" Bless! He was spoiled mad rotten, so much stuff. Need to sort through his toys again and pass some on, give some away etc. And tidy up his room. Its a shambles! J is making him a new storage cube which will help, I hope!
We spent boxing day driving down the Great Ocean Road to Airey's Inlet, where we camped a couple of nights. First night SUCKED. I knew we were in trouble when the 5 guys 2 sites over arrived with no fewer than 5 slabs and 5 bottles of bourbon. And yes, til 4am they yelled, sang, carried on generally. And yes, this brave (stupid?) woman that I am went over TWICE, alone, to tell them to STFU (politely). It worked for 5 minutes each time, but of course when one is drunk, one forgets fast.. A complaint the next day to reception worked and second night was blissfully peaceful. Finn had a ball at the beach and the pool etc.. We saw the Split Point Lighthouse and generally just relaxed. It was good, and needed. I suspect Finns highlight (aside from his first experience at a urinal as opposed to a loo: "Ooh a waterfall, can I touch it?!" NOOOOO!) was the friend he made at the caravan park playground. Maeve was a fair haired, sweet little girl a year older than Finn. She took him under her wing and they had a lovely time playing together. Chasey, Mums and Dads (innocently in a make-believe car trip to QLD all buckled in with doll and teddy babies) and general play... was so cute to watch! 
I don't think I would rush back to camping. I enjoyed it, but we were lucky with weather, a beautiful 22-23 degrees. But, if hotter, there is no escape from the sun and if colder, you're trapped in a tent. Noisy in a park, but no amenities if not... I don't know. It was okay...
So J goes back to work on Thursday :( And Finn is not back at school until 4 or 5 Feb so he and I best get some plans made to stop us sending each other loco! He did get some cool learn to read books and stuff for xmas that we can use to keep his brain active which is good. I have started my writing project for next year, very excited about it! Just need some time to actually write it. We have had 5 days of 30+ temps here now, yesterday was 42! And it only got down to 27 overnight, so thats taking a toll at the moment. Cabin fever as we hide from heat, and tired and cranky: lots of fun as you can imagine. No respite for another week yet either, I hate summer!
To Santa, or not to Santa?
I was just reading this blog entry by the hilarious Alice Bradley (of finslippy) and I was thinking about the whole conundrum parents face in the Santa fable.
As a child, I remember Christmas as utterly magical. The dull glow of the colored lights on the tree, the anticipation, and the indescribable leap of my heart when I'd see my stocking - limp and forlorn the night before, now misshapen and bursting with untold delights. Diving into it, til my entire head was buried within, squealing in delight with each new discovery. As an adult, Mum has told me how she spent literally all year collecting bits and pieces for our pillow-case sized stockings and would slowly build up a stash of quirky, cheap, yet novel items.
When Finn was a baby, J and I discussed our stance and decided that we would go ahead with the Santa tale, but perhaps only make the present he delivered a small thing, and the main things from us. This way, we felt, when the truth was revealed, it would not be so disappointing, or such a big deal.
It doesn't seem to be happening that way the last 2 years, though. Santa keeps bringing a kick arse present! I wanted to recreate the magic for Finn, that I felt as a kid. That has made Christmas eve remain my favourite day/night of the entire year, in fact, I still regret not marrying that day though it would have been a logistical nightmare for our guests!
I guess I feel that children have that innocence and purity for such a short time, they truly believe in real magic for what is really the blink of an eye, that I don't want to be the one to take that away early. I want to indulge it, stretch it out and enjoy it myself, too, as a parent.
Finn enjoys the Santa idea, he is a little annoyed he cannot seem to catch sight of the elves that I see monitoring his behaviour (especially when he is having a tanty - yes I unashamedly I use bribery as well as 'lie' about Santa's existence, I really am going to hell); but he is not totally caught up in Santa - or even Christmas for that matter. He is excited, but I suspect he would be the same kind of excited with or without the Santa concept.
I understand some parents feel it is 'lying' to the child and so tell them the truth. Some of these kids blurt it and ruin it for others, some manage not to. But what DOES get my goat a bit, is when the parents try to limit these instances of blurted thoughtlessness by telling their children it is 'an idea that some like to believe is real.' I feel patronised by that. It irritates me. I understand the intentions are well placed, but it just feels like these kids are being told some children are slow and like to be a bit silly... Perhaps its just me.
We all like to do what we feel is right and best for our children, and so I don't like to judge others for their decision on the Santa thing, but I dislike that attitude towards those of us who DO decide to perpetuate it.
Anyway, I have presents to wrap, and biscuits to bake with Finn so that we can leave some out for Santa to devour tomorrow night. Merry Christmas, everyone!
I'm so excited...
...and I just can't hide it!
I got approved into the research unit of my choice for next year! Hurrah! There are pretty strict entry requirements in that you need a Distinction average and formal approval and it took a while to hear back from the unit chair, but eventually I did indeed get approval and my enrolment forms into the Master of Arts (Writing & Literature) are being processed as I type. So exciting!
What this means is 20,000 words, as I chose to do one enormous unit, rather than split it over a year or do smaller ones. So its a challenge, thats for sure. 16,000 words of creative and 4000 critical. It will involved a great deal of discipline to make sure I write often and a lot, not leave it all til late. In fact, I already have an idea that I love, and am beginning to research it thoroughly.
Its a bonus that I have the summer before I officially start to play around with it and see if it develops okay before I commit to it as my idea/proposal. the idea is complicated, but has a lot of potential.
So right now, its back to researching 18th century England (one of a few time periods I need to look at!) Shine ya shoes, guv'ner?
We went Wigglin!!!
The Wiggles really do put on a good show. Its always entertaining and energetic, and theres always things to amuse the parents as well as the kids (no kid would have understood either the My Sharona or MC Hammer references!)
Finn is Wiggles mad, has been for some time now, and after yesterday, is somehow MORE so. He got into it more this year than last, and was SO excited beforehand. It was really lovely taking him to something he got so much enjoyment out of. He is also a really good kid to take places. He doesn;t run off or get too hyper, e does as he is told and he behaves brilliantly. We had to walk about 15mins or more from the carpark and he didn't complain though it was quite a ways for little legs to walk. I am so proud of him, he really is a good kid! So lucky!
Our seats were fab, second row on the side, and so only a couple of feet from the wiggles. Finn of course, doesn't get that whole concept of good and bad seats, but I do! I always enjoy that! So, some pics:
Anthony pulling an odd face for a reason I cannot remember -
They couldn't find Jeff, but he was the weasel popping (!!) -
Sam Wiggle (I reckon hes a bit of cute, is Sammy!)
Benny, a wiggly dancer... Finn adores Benny -
Murray in his "rockin' threads" -
Toot Toot, Chugga Chugga -
Finn at the end, having had the time of his life - 
Tis the season...
... To be unwell. I got a cold 2 weeks ago, came on from the grief/stress of the failed IVF; as it started to ease, Finn hurt his arm and I got all stressed out about that and I ended up with a cough/chest infection as well. So its been 2 weeks of fairly heavy sickness. Have truly had enough, very very over it. Finn had xrays and such but was nothing serious in the end, just a strain of some sort and after a week it has returned to normal and he is using it again. Poor bugger had his vaccinations as well and has contracted my cough and cold, so hes had a tough time as well. Its been intense!
Getting ourselves ready for xmas, Finn wrote to Santa last week and asked for a drum kit. Santa, silly old fool that he is, has decided to grant the wish. Crazy! Still have a stocking to fill, and need to decide what he gets from his parents - minor thing. How many days have I got again? 18? Best get organised.
J and I are getting one another a ticket to Frank Woodleys new solo show next year. Not sure what else I will get him... His birthday is this week and I have his presents bought but now need to get paper to wrap them, card, something from finn etc. Would help if I was 100%, but it all feels like a super effort at the moment being this sick.
Finn and I are off to see The Wiggles next week. WAAAAY back at the start of this blog I wrote how I got tickets for us and my brother and niece. For some reason at the time, I was sad about our crap seats so bought 2 good seats as well, just from sheer frustration. I must have known something because brother bailed last week and I had to sell the 4 together (not quite making the money back :( ) - thank god I hung on to the 2 second row seats or I would have been really pissed off. We have gone the last 2 years and had front or second row as well, Finn loves it. Hes so wiggle mad. He is 4 now, so I think our wiggling years are not far from over, so best make the most of it!! It is always hectic though, so not looking forward to that part.
Looking forward to camping over xmas/new year down at Aireys Inlet. Need the getaway! Having fun buying new gear as well, its fun. I think the boys are having a test run in the backyard tonight, means I get the house to myself.. bliss!
