Do you have a nightmare neighbour? A child you don't like yours playing with? Have you ever said no to a playdate?
We have a nightmare neighbour. We only met these neighbour about 6 months into living in our new home. The children met first. The little boy knocked on our door and asked if a little boy lived here as he'd seen my boys toys laying around the yard. Yes, I replied. He seemed so sweet at the beginning!
So ever since that first visit, the boys got along like a house on fire. I commented to his mum how much alike they were, typical boys boys, loving the outdoors and exploring.
The summer ended and they must have had around 4 playdates so far until the winter arrived and the schools were back. My boy is still only at preschool 2 days a week so we'd be home by 3pm the latest each day. The little visits started off as twice a week and in he would come and be nice as pie, off they would run to the toy room and play happily. This would last around 5 minutes until my boy would come running to me. Now my boy is no pushover and doesn't usually come running to mum, so it was a little concerning. I would investigate and his little friend wouldn't speak and would just run away! I would text his mum to tell her what had occurred but she would be oblivious of even him visiting! She still thought he was under her roof!
So what started as a twice a week, sort of play date, turned into an everyday occasion. He would knock on the door until he was seen and was let in. He was a little sneaky and would be very hurtful towards my boy if things didn't go his way. I was more put off that his older brother, only 13 year old himself would collect him after an hours play. Wheres your mum? Oh, she's still at work. So this 13 year old was in charge. God bless him, he would try and drag his 5 year old brother, literally, out of my house kicking and screaming!
This continued for weeks and was stressing me out, I would dread a knock on the door. What followed was arguments and fights with my boy, flushed batmans down the toilet, throwing toys at my 12 month old, hitting my boy with anything he could get his hands on. I found myself to start making excuses when he did knock at the door, sorry no we're going out, sorry dinner is ready, along those lines. He was very persistent and it took a good few weeks for the knocks to stop. They have now come to halt, thank goodness!
The conversations I used to have with his mum, on the handful of occassions she would actually come and collect him, were quite disturbing too. She had in the past actually given him tablets to send him asleep because she couldn't handle his behaviour. He would spit at her, kick her, scream etc etc. This is what we witnessed at almost every visit.
I don't want either of my children to see this sort of behaviour and think that its normal in any way, shape or form. So, on our approach to the Australian summer I am quite on the lookout for such visits to reoccur and will be just saying no! I need to find my harsh voice! I know I have one!
Have you had a similar experience? If so, how did you deal with it?
Friday, 12 August 2011
Thursday, 11 August 2011
The Westin Hotel, Sydney
We rate The Westin Hotel, the best hotel in Sydney. From the moment you walk up the drive on St Martins Place you are greeted by luxury. In our case, the first impression was a Lamborghini parked in the drive.
Although The Westin Hotel is very luxurious they were very welcoming to our family of four too, from the smiling faces of the boys on the Concierge to the greetings from the Reception staff. Bearing in mind they could have been otherwise very put off with a 4 year old and 13 month old in tow that are definitely NOT the quietest of children!
The last time we stayed at The Westin we stayed in a Heritage Room, I must say which has been my favourite so far! It was the epitome of luxury, from the exquisite Heavenly Queen Beds in our room to the oversized bathroom, I was totally in love with the place! I think it made it more luxurious for me because before we entered the hotel I'd just been pampered in my hair salon on Pitt Street, so I'd had 3 hours of pure bliss with no screaming kids! Ha!
After a bottle of champagne in the room, while the kids investigated the room and were fed their dinner I had brought with us, we all had a lovely hot bath together and then got glammed up for the night. Well, for a 7pm dinner in the hotel restaurant, which is not to be laughed at!
So, down we go to the Mosaic Restaurant with kids in tow. We are seated and my 4 year old gets transfixed into a game on my iphone4 (educational of course) whilst I feed my 13 month old her nighttime bottle of milk over pre dinner cocktails.
We order and then suddenly our 4 year old wants to lie down in the spare pushchair we brought along for said occasions. Within 2 minutes he is fast asleep! Lucky hey? After our delicious starters my 13 month old falls asleep in my arms and I transfer her into her Bugaboo. High fives all around and then we continue to finish our mains plus wine and ALSO order desserts!!! Amazing it was!
After an amazing nights sleep, I think the wine helped too, albeit, there was a girls queen bed and a boys one we had a great day shopping at the new Westfields!
Great weekend had by all and children very well behaved!
Although The Westin Hotel is very luxurious they were very welcoming to our family of four too, from the smiling faces of the boys on the Concierge to the greetings from the Reception staff. Bearing in mind they could have been otherwise very put off with a 4 year old and 13 month old in tow that are definitely NOT the quietest of children!
The last time we stayed at The Westin we stayed in a Heritage Room, I must say which has been my favourite so far! It was the epitome of luxury, from the exquisite Heavenly Queen Beds in our room to the oversized bathroom, I was totally in love with the place! I think it made it more luxurious for me because before we entered the hotel I'd just been pampered in my hair salon on Pitt Street, so I'd had 3 hours of pure bliss with no screaming kids! Ha!
After a bottle of champagne in the room, while the kids investigated the room and were fed their dinner I had brought with us, we all had a lovely hot bath together and then got glammed up for the night. Well, for a 7pm dinner in the hotel restaurant, which is not to be laughed at!
So, down we go to the Mosaic Restaurant with kids in tow. We are seated and my 4 year old gets transfixed into a game on my iphone4 (educational of course) whilst I feed my 13 month old her nighttime bottle of milk over pre dinner cocktails.
After an amazing nights sleep, I think the wine helped too, albeit, there was a girls queen bed and a boys one we had a great day shopping at the new Westfields!
Great weekend had by all and children very well behaved!
Tuesday, 9 August 2011
The 6 Months Before Kindy
Here we are with 6 months to go before my little boy, my first born, will be starting kindergarten. He will be leaving my protective busoms and going out on his own in the big wide world for the first time in his dear little life.
So, I should be sad, I should be worried that this is when it starts, he will no longer need me anymore, he won't rely on me for anything again, he will be able to think for himself, dress himself, etc etc. So why am I counting down the days with a smile on my face and willing the time to pass more quickly?
I'll tell you why because no one told me until now! These precious 6 months before kindy drive you insane! I mean hair pulling out crazy, drive you to cocktail hour, pure looney bin stuff! Every night before bed he asks 'what are we doing tomorrow mum?' and I kindly inform him what we have scheduled for him the next day. Every day we have something on, and its all for him. Monday morning is swimming lessons, Tuesday is preschool day, Wednesday is swimming lesson again followed by a play at Macdonalds with his friends, followed by craft hour at the library, Thursday is soccer training followed by lunch out and then Friday arrives and its preschool again. Hurray for preschool I say!
You would think all of the above would be enough to keep a 4 year old happy right? No! We get home from all of these activites and he's back to himself, talking to me like I'm something on the bottom of his shoe, going out of his way to annoy and upset his 13 month old sister, shouts a lot (much to the neighbours annoyance) etc etc.
So, to avoid these terrible occasions when we do return home from his little planned day, I bake with him, do craft with him, let him watch a movie, let him watch his cartoons, play in the toyroom with him, anything to keep him occupied. But it never seems to be enough for him!
On top of this I am his food slave, he has breakfast as soon as he rises and then thats when it begins 'mum, I'm hungry' so I fix him drinks because surely he can't be hungry after the huge bowl of porridge he's just ravished, try to get him to wait till morning tea, make him morning tea. Then straight away 'mum, I'm hungry', then its lunchtime fixed and the afternoon is much the same, every 10-15 minutes the same rants until dinnertime.
So I try and come to conclusions for his behaviour as to why he acts this way and why does he really seem to go out of his way to annoy me ALL day. And this is it:
My conclusion is that he is VERY bored at home with me and is EVER ready for Kindegarten in January.
My other conclusion for the forever nagging for food is that he is simply growing!
But why does no one warn you of this behaviour? I was going out of my mind thinking that my boy was VERY ill mannered and what was I doing wrong, maybe it was the way I have been raising him? All these thoughts running round my head until I had a simple conversation with a friend who has a little boy exactly a year older than mine. She reassured me straight away that is exactly what she went through 6 months before her boy started kindy.
So I thought I'd share with you all in case you are going through a similar experience with your precious little ones.
Roll on kindy! After all I've said, come January I will probably miss my boy madly and the first day will be torture for me!
So, I should be sad, I should be worried that this is when it starts, he will no longer need me anymore, he won't rely on me for anything again, he will be able to think for himself, dress himself, etc etc. So why am I counting down the days with a smile on my face and willing the time to pass more quickly?
I'll tell you why because no one told me until now! These precious 6 months before kindy drive you insane! I mean hair pulling out crazy, drive you to cocktail hour, pure looney bin stuff! Every night before bed he asks 'what are we doing tomorrow mum?' and I kindly inform him what we have scheduled for him the next day. Every day we have something on, and its all for him. Monday morning is swimming lessons, Tuesday is preschool day, Wednesday is swimming lesson again followed by a play at Macdonalds with his friends, followed by craft hour at the library, Thursday is soccer training followed by lunch out and then Friday arrives and its preschool again. Hurray for preschool I say!
You would think all of the above would be enough to keep a 4 year old happy right? No! We get home from all of these activites and he's back to himself, talking to me like I'm something on the bottom of his shoe, going out of his way to annoy and upset his 13 month old sister, shouts a lot (much to the neighbours annoyance) etc etc.
So, to avoid these terrible occasions when we do return home from his little planned day, I bake with him, do craft with him, let him watch a movie, let him watch his cartoons, play in the toyroom with him, anything to keep him occupied. But it never seems to be enough for him!
On top of this I am his food slave, he has breakfast as soon as he rises and then thats when it begins 'mum, I'm hungry' so I fix him drinks because surely he can't be hungry after the huge bowl of porridge he's just ravished, try to get him to wait till morning tea, make him morning tea. Then straight away 'mum, I'm hungry', then its lunchtime fixed and the afternoon is much the same, every 10-15 minutes the same rants until dinnertime.
So I try and come to conclusions for his behaviour as to why he acts this way and why does he really seem to go out of his way to annoy me ALL day. And this is it:
My conclusion is that he is VERY bored at home with me and is EVER ready for Kindegarten in January.
My other conclusion for the forever nagging for food is that he is simply growing!
But why does no one warn you of this behaviour? I was going out of my mind thinking that my boy was VERY ill mannered and what was I doing wrong, maybe it was the way I have been raising him? All these thoughts running round my head until I had a simple conversation with a friend who has a little boy exactly a year older than mine. She reassured me straight away that is exactly what she went through 6 months before her boy started kindy.
So I thought I'd share with you all in case you are going through a similar experience with your precious little ones.
Roll on kindy! After all I've said, come January I will probably miss my boy madly and the first day will be torture for me!
Sunday, 7 August 2011
Australia's Next Top Model Starts Tonight!!!!!
So excited! Australia's Next Top Model starts tonight!
Love, love, love this show!
It usually calls for a bottle of bubbles to watch it with! It just has to be done!
My little Monday night treat!
Hope everyone else is tuning in to watch!
Butterfly Moment!
My baby girl was sitting next to me on the sofa playing with her top when she suddenly found her stomach.
I know, maybe you're thinking 'so what' but she normally wears bodysuits under her girly outfits, so it was a huge discovery for her. Her smile was huge.
She starts smacking her little babychub belly and laughing. She's very clever because then decided to schmooze over to mummy to investigate my mummychub belly. She lifts up my t-shirt and gives me a huge smile and then proceeds to smack mummies tummy a little and decides pulling at it is much more fun. That's what you get for having a tyre of chub!
The butterflies in the tummy moment came when she stopped, looked deep in thought and then started kissing my belly! It was just pure heaven, how gorgeous! It made me go all funny in the tummy!
Little girls are SO loving! :)
I know, maybe you're thinking 'so what' but she normally wears bodysuits under her girly outfits, so it was a huge discovery for her. Her smile was huge.
She starts smacking her little babychub belly and laughing. She's very clever because then decided to schmooze over to mummy to investigate my mummychub belly. She lifts up my t-shirt and gives me a huge smile and then proceeds to smack mummies tummy a little and decides pulling at it is much more fun. That's what you get for having a tyre of chub!
The butterflies in the tummy moment came when she stopped, looked deep in thought and then started kissing my belly! It was just pure heaven, how gorgeous! It made me go all funny in the tummy!
Little girls are SO loving! :)
Credit To All Single Parents Out There
How do all the single parents out there do it?
A lot of credit is due to these parents, a LOT!
For the past week my husband has been working on a shutdown at work, which basically means he is spending up to 12 hours a day at work. He leaves before the kids wake and made it home once during the week before they went to bed. This got me feeling like a single parent.
So with my usual daily jobs of getting the children dressed in the morning, making sure they're fed three times a day, taking them to swimming, taking them to preschool, soccer practice, doing the grocery shopping, making dinner and cleaning. I also had the added jobs of the evening routine of bathing the children, reading them bedtime stories and fingers crossed them actually falling asleep on schedule and don't forget the arguments during the day! I don't think I appreciate the jobs the hubby actually does help out with until now.
I coped by having cocktail hour at 4pm before the dreaded hour of dinnertime!
But I feel a little silly and I am making a mountain out of a molehill because what about those out there doing this single handedly ALL of the time? They have all the above worries and strains plus working to put food on the table and pay for all said activities!
I really don't know how you do it! You are Superwomen & Supermen!
I really feel for you and you are due a LOT of credit!!! Its a HUGE thumbs up from me!
A lot of credit is due to these parents, a LOT!
For the past week my husband has been working on a shutdown at work, which basically means he is spending up to 12 hours a day at work. He leaves before the kids wake and made it home once during the week before they went to bed. This got me feeling like a single parent.
So with my usual daily jobs of getting the children dressed in the morning, making sure they're fed three times a day, taking them to swimming, taking them to preschool, soccer practice, doing the grocery shopping, making dinner and cleaning. I also had the added jobs of the evening routine of bathing the children, reading them bedtime stories and fingers crossed them actually falling asleep on schedule and don't forget the arguments during the day! I don't think I appreciate the jobs the hubby actually does help out with until now.
I coped by having cocktail hour at 4pm before the dreaded hour of dinnertime!
But I feel a little silly and I am making a mountain out of a molehill because what about those out there doing this single handedly ALL of the time? They have all the above worries and strains plus working to put food on the table and pay for all said activities!
I really don't know how you do it! You are Superwomen & Supermen!
I really feel for you and you are due a LOT of credit!!! Its a HUGE thumbs up from me!
Friday, 5 August 2011
Ravenous Pig With a Wedding to go to!
Why is it every time I try and loose weight I get this unbearable urge to eat everything in sight? The naughtier the food, the bigger the urge to devour it!
I was fine the way I was and was even losing weight without trying before the invite arrived. A wedding invite at that! I was so excited when it landed in my letterbox as I haven't been to a wedding for at least 4 years. To top it off, it's only my gorgeous bestie mates wedding and I wouldn't miss it for the world!
So why am I now SO hungry all the time?
I found my outfit almost straight away and it's just perfect and knew it was the one the moment I tried it on, with matching shoes may I add. So everything was more or less going smoothly until now!
The main area of concern is the flabby midsection I call my baby fat guts! It's a huge big roll that I most definitely need to get rid of!
So my bright idea this morning was to cut out bread as I eat way more than my fair share of the stuff. Going well so far, well it is only 1.30 in the afternoon. Well I say it's going good but look at what I've eaten instead of the white stuff.
Food diary so far - bacon, scrambled egg, grilled tomatoes, coffee, cup of tea, 2 packets of Twisties and I find myself writing this cradling a glass of full fat Coke!
My willpower is an utter joke!
I was fine the way I was and was even losing weight without trying before the invite arrived. A wedding invite at that! I was so excited when it landed in my letterbox as I haven't been to a wedding for at least 4 years. To top it off, it's only my gorgeous bestie mates wedding and I wouldn't miss it for the world!
So why am I now SO hungry all the time?
I found my outfit almost straight away and it's just perfect and knew it was the one the moment I tried it on, with matching shoes may I add. So everything was more or less going smoothly until now!
The main area of concern is the flabby midsection I call my baby fat guts! It's a huge big roll that I most definitely need to get rid of!
So my bright idea this morning was to cut out bread as I eat way more than my fair share of the stuff. Going well so far, well it is only 1.30 in the afternoon. Well I say it's going good but look at what I've eaten instead of the white stuff.
Food diary so far - bacon, scrambled egg, grilled tomatoes, coffee, cup of tea, 2 packets of Twisties and I find myself writing this cradling a glass of full fat Coke!
My willpower is an utter joke!
The Non Existent Work From Home Job
I don't know if anyone is like me and is always looking for something out there to get a bit more me time. After spending the past 5 years at home raising the children I've decided I need something more!
In my quest to find something more I've entered all my details (stupid of me I know) to participate in online surveys (I still get junk mail from this 3 years later), joined Dubli ($1500 out of pocket) which amounted to zero and still waiting for that one to launch (the next EBay I was told, an opportunity not to be missed). I've thought about designing my own line of matching pyjamas for the whole family until I realized that I'm no good at sewing and would need classes and to purchase a sewing machine which would amount to more out of pocket costs. Plus many more little ideas to concentrate on which have amounted to nothing and a little rediculed by the hubby.
So after all this I'm back to square one, what can I do?
The conclusion would be to return to some dreary office admin job like I had pre kids and put the kids in expensive childcare for the privilege. Then I'd probably not get the job as I haven't worked for 5 years or in the event I do get the job, what if my brain cells have all died?
Please, if you can, prove me wrong and let me know your secrets to either working from home or working part time and finding the balance between being at work and family life!
In my quest to find something more I've entered all my details (stupid of me I know) to participate in online surveys (I still get junk mail from this 3 years later), joined Dubli ($1500 out of pocket) which amounted to zero and still waiting for that one to launch (the next EBay I was told, an opportunity not to be missed). I've thought about designing my own line of matching pyjamas for the whole family until I realized that I'm no good at sewing and would need classes and to purchase a sewing machine which would amount to more out of pocket costs. Plus many more little ideas to concentrate on which have amounted to nothing and a little rediculed by the hubby.
So after all this I'm back to square one, what can I do?
The conclusion would be to return to some dreary office admin job like I had pre kids and put the kids in expensive childcare for the privilege. Then I'd probably not get the job as I haven't worked for 5 years or in the event I do get the job, what if my brain cells have all died?
Please, if you can, prove me wrong and let me know your secrets to either working from home or working part time and finding the balance between being at work and family life!
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