13
Dec
2011
Christmas Gifts to Inspire Your Child’s Creative Side
As much as we all try and remain completely impartial regarding the direction in which we steer our kids’ interests, there is a very fine line between nurturing a child’s natural abilities, encouraging their given interests (very important) and steering them towards the achievement of your own unfulfilled ambitions and lost hopes and desires. I am of course not one of these parents but, as luck would have it, my children have exhibited some very early genius in their play with lego. So when I crouch by their cots at night whispering ‘architect, architect, architect’ in to their sweet little ears I am merely celebrating the good fortune that has ensured that their natural abilities and my hopes for them happily coincide on a path to greatness.
This complete lack of self-interest and impartial guidance will undoubtedly ensure that we avoid tnhat whole messy parent-child conflict in this area.
I do recognise, however, that things don’t always go according to plan and in my open mindedness I don’t want to discourage my children from being anything they want to be. At least not right now. Unfortunately, creative professions don’t have the cache they should for a toddler. It’s challenging to dress your child as an architect, art director, costume designer, scriptwriter, filmmaker or commercially successful artist on dress-up day. Black rimmed glasses and turtlenecks just don’t have the same impact as a white coat and stethoscope or fireman outfit.
19
Dec
2010
Getting even more traditional – could yum cha be the key?
possibly my favourite tradition. I know, I'm shallow like that.
I saw this great post the other day on a website. It was all about the traditions this mother is starting with her family. Some of them were a bit ummm full on (compulsory family hikes are not really going to cut it in our family) but some of them got me thinking about what we’re doing in our house. I’ve covered some of these in earlier posts but for those of you who don’t immediately memorise and take notes (what is WRONG with you people? Don’t you know this stuff is gold?), here are some ideas we are planning on taking up in our little family. (OK, not so little our family as we currently stand at four and are soon to be five but DON’T REMIND ME, I HAVE THE FEAR.)
- Sunday family roasts – as per last week’s post, I am loving this new tradition. Granted, following the first week’s massive success, we can only go backwards from there (witness tonight’s event where daughter refused to eat anything but individual peas. One at a time. Very slowly. Until you wanted to throw each and every pea at the wall), but I am still loving it. Perhaps in warmer times it will become Sunday barbeque night. I love any excuse to break out the tomato sauce.
12
Dec
2010
New family tradition and a shameful confession
I have a shameful confession to make. Although I am boastful and annoyingly proud of my children’s eating regime, we *whispers* never eat as a family. I KNOW. HORRIFYING. I bang on and on about their table manners, I make them eat copious amounts of vegies, I supervise their eating at their little table, I am smug about their love of plain yoghurt.
But it’s not at the big table. It’s not with me and the Captain eating beside them (well, except for obvious shameful stealing of anything that looks good and doesn’t involve broccoli).
It suddenly struck me when we were discussing Christmas lunch – this will be the first year that son will be allowed to sit at the table with us all rather than banished to naptime in his cot – we never ever eat together as a family. Well, except for yum cha/dim sum, where getting food in as fast as you can, drinking juith with a bendy straw and spilling food at the table, is all positively encouraged. Not something I think aunt and uncle will appreciate at carefully laid Christmas feast table.
28
Nov
2010
In which I give you a warning and make an announcement
Sometimes I blame my husband – he said his next wife would do it if I wouldn’t – but mostly I blame my daughter.
There is a point at about nine months when your child, if lucky, is sleeping, eating, crawling, happy and content. Easy to get around, they sit happily in a pram for ages at a time, allowing you to shop, have coffees, shop… so you decide this parenting thing is a lark, may as well have another one.
And so you get pregnant.
And then she wakes up and you discover it was all part of an evil plan to lull you into a false sense of security and propagate the human race.
See, angelic daughter has decided she hates the pram. And the car. Not a huge fan of her cot either while we’re at it. And as for crawling round gently prodding her toys – she’d rather rip wine bottles out of the wine rack, pull appliances off the bench using the 1cm of cord you left dangling, launch herself out of her high chair, scale the stairs at 60kms an hour whenever your back is turned, and my personal favourite of which I never tire – empty out every drawer and cupboard she can lay her hands on. Especially neatly organised Christmas wrapping drawer, ensuring every single roll of ribbon is festively strewn around the living room and red tissue paper is poking suspiciously out of her mouth.
28
Mar
2010
Even though we are rich and famous, I still think about the small things. Like why I love London.
So, in case you missed it, we recently became very famous and embarrassingly wealthy after a guest post on Mia Freedman’s wonderful blog, http://www.mamamia.com.au/ . The post was about making friends in a new place and was fairly cynical in tone. I know – shocking. Anyway, in the subsequent comments amongst all the lovely and amusing ones, someone suggested we had very bad attitudes and we should be more positive and we’d probably have more luck finding friends. Frankly, I’m not sure – I’m quite bossy and Jacqui is mildly annoying – but there’s always hope I spose. In the same vein someone else suggested that maybe we should be more appreciative of the life we are leading. Basically everyone hated us. Or maybe that was just our husbands commenting.
24
Dec
2009
Nativity Scene and Pine Trees
Christmas Tree
We may have laboured the Christmas theme a bit but I wanted to:
a. Have the last word on it and be able to sign off before holidays saying “Merry Christmas”.
b. Show you my nativity scene and Christmas tree (the true artistic genius of which I think may not been captured in these photos) and
c. Write a post with bullet points/an itemised list so that I could demonstrate that while I may never surpass Kate in the lists department, I too can throw an alphabetised list together when necessary.
So, how good is my tree? One might say it represents my understated style. Certainly I do. To anyone that will listen.
And my nativity scene — sure, I am not sure how many stocky, short dairy cows there were in Bethlehem in those days. I’ll admit they look a bit incongruous next to the desert palm tree.
Nativity Scene
Right. I’m off to glaze a ham, which is carrying more than the usual pressure as I am representing the British and Commonwealth’s traditional Christmas dinner to the Spanish family.
13
Dec
2009
For the slack Christmas shoppers – last minute ideas
I was going to do a long post on Christmas present ideas. Then I started getting them come in thick and fast from my favourite blogs and I decided that:
a) I had left it too late
b) I couldn’t possibly outdo the lists I have already been sent and
c) Why on earth would I rewrite a whole post that I was clearly going to shamelessly copy from other sources anyway (ah, Internet, bless your cotton socks)?
So I thought I would highlight a few fun ideas/gifts and then give you the links to my favourite present lists for you to peruse at your leisure (or not – Christmas is only 12 days away. If you haven’t finished yet you’re absolutely buggered).
Nice traditions for book-loving parents
- See Jacqui’s post on passing down books. What a gorgeous idea.
- Stolen from Babyology – think about starting a tradition where you give each child a special book – like a special hardcover or vintage book. Do books come in vintage? We’ve bought the Mouse a hardcover set of Beatrix Potter. I hope she doesn’t read this and find out. She is 14 weeks and VERY advanced.
10
Dec
2009
Truly awesome newborn present
I have just received a gift from my cousin for the recent birth of my first baby. I opened the package to see a slightly tattered and dog eared edition of Graeme Base’s “The Eleventh Hour”.
The Eleventh Hour by Graeme Base
It’s a wonderful, beautifully illustrated book with a captivating story in the form of a rhyme, including a who-dunnit mystery for the reader to solve.
But what makes this present really special is that this book was first given to my little sister, 21 years ago. My mother then gave the book to my cousin’s younger sister and then each of my cousin’s three children in turn have enjoyed the book being read to them hundreds of times. And now I have the book for my own child to enjoy. In it my gorgeous cousin has written an inscription to my little baby wishing him the same joy it has brought to all the children who’s sticky fingers and eager eyes have absorbed its pages before him. It’s a beautiful thing to see that list of names in the inscription.
I can’t wait to give it to my little sister for her first child, already on it’s way, so that the book will have come full circle.
9
Dec
2009
An Expat Christmas
Christmas time is when expats often miss home the most. Australians at home might take this opportunity to count their blessings and appreciate being home with family. Or perhaps not. Perhaps you are filled with envy and wish that you too were separated from your family by a 22 hour flight and thousands of miles of ocean on Christmas Day.
For Kate and me, Christmas abroad and with our husbands’ families, the festive season, as for everyone, has its highs and lows. Here we each share ours with you.
Kate’s London Christmas:
Brussel sprouts – those horrible green balls that feature on every mother’s threat list, pretty much sum up Christmas in England for me. They have these on Christmas Day. On purpose. They also have weird mini sausages wrapped in bacon. Not on the barbecue as some homage to their colonial cousins – no, just because well, it’s Christmas. And then there is the hideous sounding three bird roast. Chicken, goose and turkey. All in one. Yes, I realise that conjures up odd visions of a freakish looking giant bird with three heads (is that just me?) but it’s actually a supermarket creation – quelle surprise.
2
Dec
2009
Making Christmas Edgy
CC photo credit: snorp
I know it’s totally acceptable to be disparaging about Christmas. It gives you a kind of intellectual, nonchalant, coolness to be so.
There is good reason to cynical about the festive season, but I’m on a mission to turn that around. I’d like to help make Christmas the new cool, so it’s ok to like it again – a little bit like it’s cool to knit now.
It’s time to shake it off cynics. Relax and let the festive spirit take you. As Susie Boyt, from the Financial Times reminded me this weekend, Christmas doesn’t have to be about religion or even consumerism, although it is those things too. It’s a festive time and, if you try hard enough, you can focus on the great things that it is: people coming together, the wonder and joy of children, beautiful window displays, delicious food, lots of drinking and celebration, celebration, celebration. Does it matter if you’re a Christian or not? Hell no. Celebrate under whatever guise takes you fancy.
It’s worth quoting the fabulous Ms Boyt at length;
