The children of Australia have now returned back to school. For most students, return to school also means the return of homework. It seems that most parents I talk to are not overly enthusiastic about homework. Some, like my sister, are passionately defiant that homework should not be given to children. For some lucky parents homework is never a big deal. These parents normally have self motivated children, who quickly and independently finish their homework. I have occasionally heard a parent comment that a struggling child likes homework, even though it’s not easy. I have noted that these children are also normally easy going and compliant children. Then there are the children hate homework as much as a cat likes a bubble bath. Homework time in such houses is very rarely pleasant.
My views on homework as a parent and a teacher are mixed. Well, quite frankly, they are quite conflicted.
As a teacher, I assigned homework. I taught years 1-3, and I am a big believer in play, so I tried not to set too much homework. I was also clear that I did not expect children to spend more than 10-20 minutes on their homework and immediately pardoned homework being incomplete if there was a note explaining they had used the allocated time or listing some other reason. The main homework I would assign was learning spelling word and drilling basic facts. Every Friday these two areas would be tested and it was normally very obvious when a child had done their homework. If for a variety of valid or invalid reasons, a child was unable to spend much time doing homework, the test results were significantly lower than previous weeks. There was a collection of students who were exceptionally bright who parents told me spent hardly any, if any time on homework, yet still achieved good results. There was also one or two students in each class of average ability who never did homework, and their results did not reflect their capability.
The thing is, I did used to drill number facts during the school day. I did get children to learn their spelling words during the school day. However, the curriculum is crowded, and there is so much to fit into one day. Things that you seriously do not want to leave out of your child’s education. Setting homework allowed the children to keep developing basic skills that required more time to cement than I was able to offer inside the classroom.
I would particularly find that children who found accuracy difficult in spelling and number facts made significant improvements when parents spent some quality time with their children. I was inspired by the faithfulness and commitment to homework of these parents and the outcomes I saw in their children’s results.
I wanted the same for my children when I had them. I had grand plans in my head about how I would do homework with my children. Years before the children came along. I had ideas of how FUN homework was going to be. Games. So many games that would make homework a delight. Kinaesthetic opportunities lavished upon my children that cater for different types of learning. The image of my child and I laughing as we explored spelling patterns and the excitement of building speed as we fired out answers to math sums. It was a delightful vision.
The reality, my friend, is different.
I hate homework.
My child hates homework.
Laughter is not a common sound as we complete homework.
The sounds of a battlefield might be a more apt description of homework in our home a lot of the time. There is wailing, there is anger, there are arguments and refusal. Not all the time. But it is common.
I used to listen to parents complain about homework, and I did empathise with them. I tried wherever possible to make it easier for them. I don’t know why I thought I would defy the odds and make homework such a fun time. I guess it was because I saw my students having so much fun when I used to complete the spelling and homework tasks in class.
I found my relationship with my students is on a totally different level to my relationship with my child. Your students have to be there. They have to be in a classroom, there is no choice. They have to do the work you present to them, so they are highly motivated to do this work in the most fun way possible.
For my child, homework is an interruption to his personal schedule. It interrupts his all important play time. And that makes him angry. Angry children do not work very well.
(And let’s face it, playtime at home is a lot of fun. And has its own list of benefits.)
My attempts to make homework ‘fun’, are not appreciated because in reality sitting 5 metres away is the ‘real’ fun. One day when I was getting him to write his spelling words out and then roll them into snowballs to throw them around the room, then pick them up, open the paper and read the word then spell it again, he just sighed and snappily retorted, “Mum, I just want to do my homework the quickest way.” And so, at his request, he sat down, scribbled out the spelling word three times, pushed back the chair and ran outside as though he had just escaped being caged with an ungracious gorilla.
I sat watching him outside, digging enthusiastically in the sand, chatting conversationally with his brother and taking time to direct his younger siblings as they created a road winding around the sand for their plastic trucks. I watched them tire of the sand pit and start running around the yard, jumping, tumbling and laughing. I watched his eyes glisten with pleasure and looked at the way his four younger siblings looked up to him in adoration as their unsteady legs followed their big brother around the garden.
I gave up trying to make homework fun.
Not completely. I still would suggest fun ways to do homework. Sometimes he would take me up on the offer, often he wouldn’t and we would just go through the motions of writing the homework out in the quickest way possible.
One of the less painful homework session. Much easier when there is a friend around.
I will always be a teacher. There will always be the teacher side of my brain that operates. But mostly these days the Mum part of my brain is stronger. It has to be. It needs to be, because instinctively the Mum side of me knows what is best for my child, and sometimes what is best for my child in that moment is not the best for my child educationally. I have to trust my gut that by doing the best for my child in the moment, in the long run it will educationally be more beneficial to him.
I still believe in the power of homework. I will never forget the difference it made in my students life when caring parents took the time to complete homework with their child. I love the memory of parents who would come in asking home their child did in the weekly test, and the way the children’s eyes would shine with the accomplishment of a good result and the glow of pride in the parents eye as they high fived their efforts or jumped up and down in excitement because they knew how much work had been invested in that result. I would see these children become more confident in other areas of their school work, writing better because their spelling improved. Finishing math pages on time (if not before) because with stronger computation skills all of a sudden maths became easier.
However, I also know that in family life, homework is not always beneficial in the complexity of living everyday. There are parents rushing home late from work that are stressed by homework, and stressed parents might get the job done, but in doing so, tension has increased in the household. This has an effect on learning as well.
There are babies and toddlers in homes who interrupt children trying to do homework. There are mothers who are trying their best to help their school kid, but she feels inadequate because homework needs to be done in between dirty nappies and the homework book need to be wiped clean of baby vomit.
Last week as I was trying to do homework with my eldest, one of the triplets managed to retrieve a aerosol suncream from a high shelf (we shan’t go into details how) and proceeded to coat the floor in suncream spray and then spray his own eyes. Homework assistance was halted to a screaming child, and then I needed to mop the floor at least a dozen times before the stickiness was removed.
I know the feeling overwhelming of trying to stay calm when your child does not have the logical ability to reason that if he just sits still and gets it over and done with, it will be all over and he can get back to his own agenda.
The struggle of helping your child when you are existing on four hours sleep from the previous evening.
The rush of doing homework in between swimming lessons and soccer practice.
Myriads of other reasons why homework is just not easy.
There are benefits for doing homework.
There can also be consequences when homework is done.
What does homework time look like at your home? Do you love or abhor it? Or are you strangely indifferent? Is your child an independent learner who can do it without assistance or do you need to spend the time with them to ensure that he/she is actually learning? What are your best strategies for getting it done? Please share with us the good, bad and the ugly!
The children of Australia have now returned back to school. For most students, return to school also means the return of homework. It seems that most parents I talk to are not overly enthusiastic about homework. Some, like my sister, are passionately defiant that homework should not be given to children. For some lucky parents homework is never a big deal. These parents normally have self motivated children, who quickly and independently finish their homework. I have occasionally heard a parent comment that a struggling child likes homework, even though it’s not easy. I have noted that these children are also normally easy going and compliant children. Then there are the children hate homework as much as a cat likes a bubble bath. Homework time in such houses is very rarely pleasant.
My views on homework as a parent and a teacher are mixed. Well, quite frankly, they are quite conflicted.
As a teacher, I assigned homework. I taught years 1-3, and I am a big believer in play, so I tried not to set too much homework. I was also clear that I did not expect children to spend more than 10-20 minutes on their homework and immediately pardoned homework being incomplete if there was a note explaining they had used the allocated time or listing some other reason. The main homework I would assign was learning spelling word and drilling basic facts. Every Friday these two areas would be tested and it was normally very obvious when a child had done their homework. If for a variety of valid or invalid reasons, a child was unable to spend much time doing homework, the test results were significantly lower than previous weeks. There was a collection of students who were exceptionally bright who parents told me spent hardly any, if any time on homework, yet still achieved good results. There was also one or two students in each class of average ability who never did homework, and their results did not reflect their capability.
The thing is, I did used to drill number facts during the school day. I did get children to learn their spelling words during the school day. However, the curriculum is crowded, and there is so much to fit into one day. Things that you seriously do not want to leave out of your child’s education. Setting homework allowed the children to keep developing basic skills that required more time to cement than I was able to offer inside the classroom.
I would particularly find that children who found accuracy difficult in spelling and number facts made significant improvements when parents spent some quality time with their children. I was inspired by the faithfulness and commitment to homework of these parents and the outcomes I saw in their children’s results.
I wanted the same for my children when I had them. I had grand plans in my head about how I would do homework with my children. Years before the children came along. I had ideas of how FUN homework was going to be. Games. So many games that would make homework a delight. Kinaesthetic opportunities lavished upon my children that cater for different types of learning. The image of my child and I laughing as we explored spelling patterns and the excitement of building speed as we fired out answers to math sums. It was a delightful vision.
The reality, my friend, is different.
I hate homework.
My child hates homework.
Laughter is not a common sound as we complete homework.
The sounds of a battlefield might be a more apt description of homework in our home a lot of the time. There is wailing, there is anger, there are arguments and refusal. Not all the time. But it is common.
I used to listen to parents complain about homework, and I did empathise with them. I tried wherever possible to make it easier for them. I don’t know why I thought I would defy the odds and make homework such a fun time. I guess it was because I saw my students having so much fun when I used to complete the spelling and homework tasks in class.
I found my relationship with my students is on a totally different level to my relationship with my child. Your students have to be there. They have to be in a classroom, there is no choice. They have to do the work you present to them, so they are highly motivated to do this work in the most fun way possible.
For my child, homework is an interruption to his personal schedule. It interrupts his all important play time. And that makes him angry. Angry children do not work very well.
(And let’s face it, playtime at home is a lot of fun. And has its own list of benefits.)
My attempts to make homework ‘fun’, are not appreciated because in reality sitting 5 metres away is the ‘real’ fun. One day when I was getting him to write his spelling words out and then roll them into snowballs to throw them around the room, then pick them up, open the paper and read the word then spell it again, he just sighed and snappily retorted, “Mum, I just want to do my homework the quickest way.” And so, at his request, he sat down, scribbled out the spelling word three times, pushed back the chair and ran outside as though he had just escaped being caged with an ungracious gorilla.
I sat watching him outside, digging enthusiastically in the sand, chatting conversationally with his brother and taking time to direct his younger siblings as they created a road winding around the sand for their plastic trucks. I watched them tire of the sand pit and start running around the yard, jumping, tumbling and laughing. I watched his eyes glisten with pleasure and looked at the way his four younger siblings looked up to him in adoration as their unsteady legs followed their big brother around the garden.
I gave up trying to make homework fun.
Not completely. I still would suggest fun ways to do homework. Sometimes he would take me up on the offer, often he wouldn’t and we would just go through the motions of writing the homework out in the quickest way possible.
One of the less painful homework session. Much easier when there is a friend around.
I will always be a teacher. There will always be the teacher side of my brain that operates. But mostly these days the Mum part of my brain is stronger. It has to be. It needs to be, because instinctively the Mum side of me knows what is best for my child, and sometimes what is best for my child in that moment is not the best for my child educationally. I have to trust my gut that by doing the best for my child in the moment, in the long run it will educationally be more beneficial to him.
I still believe in the power of homework. I will never forget the difference it made in my students life when caring parents took the time to complete homework with their child. I love the memory of parents who would come in asking home their child did in the weekly test, and the way the children’s eyes would shine with the accomplishment of a good result and the glow of pride in the parents eye as they high fived their efforts or jumped up and down in excitement because they knew how much work had been invested in that result. I would see these children become more confident in other areas of their school work, writing better because their spelling improved. Finishing math pages on time (if not before) because with stronger computation skills all of a sudden maths became easier.
However, I also know that in family life, homework is not always beneficial in the complexity of living everyday. There are parents rushing home late from work that are stressed by homework, and stressed parents might get the job done, but in doing so, tension has increased in the household. This has an effect on learning as well.
There are babies and toddlers in homes who interrupt children trying to do homework. There are mothers who are trying their best to help their school kid, but she feels inadequate because homework needs to be done in between dirty nappies and the homework book need to be wiped clean of baby vomit.
Last week as I was trying to do homework with my eldest, one of the triplets managed to retrieve a aerosol suncream from a high shelf (we shan’t go into details how) and proceeded to coat the floor in suncream spray and then spray his own eyes. Homework assistance was halted to a screaming child, and then I needed to mop the floor at least a dozen times before the stickiness was removed.
I know the feeling overwhelming of trying to stay calm when your child does not have the logical ability to reason that if he just sits still and gets it over and done with, it will be all over and he can get back to his own agenda.
The struggle of helping your child when you are existing on four hours sleep from the previous evening.
The rush of doing homework in between swimming lessons and soccer practice.
Myriads of other reasons why homework is just not easy.
There are benefits for doing homework.
There can also be consequences when homework is done.
What does homework time look like at your home? Do you love or abhor it? Or are you strangely indifferent? Is your child an independent learner who can do it without assistance or do you need to spend the time with them to ensure that he/she is actually learning? What are your best strategies for getting it done? Please share with us the good, bad and the ugly!
I have an annual tradition since we have been married. At Christmas time I have sent out Christmas cards accompanied by a newsletter about our year as a couple, and then in later years, as a family. I actually love Christmas cards. I love buying attractive cards, I like writing on them and as much as possible adding a personal little note. I also love receiving them and stringing them up on display. I like drafting and printing the newsletter also. There’s something nice about reflecting on all the nicest parts of your year and laughing at a few of the more embarrassing moments or the catastrophes that you made it through. Alex and I always discuss what goes into the newsletter, but I’m always the one who writes it and adds the pictures. Alex’s job is normally to print it.
That was until 2013. And then 2014. For two years in a row I have had massive Christmas card fail. No cards were sent out from our family. In 2013 I just couldn’t find the energy to find the time and complete the project. I must say I was very disheartened by the fact that we hardly receive any Christmas cards. It seems to be a dying tradition in Australia. Within our circle of family and friends anyway. Either that or they just like us less then I thought… There’s also the fact that I have this blog, so throughout the year, you can now keep up with our family antics, so it seems funny to write it out in condensed version again.
Anyway, for all those reasons, and plus a few more, I didn’t get a card and newsletter out in 2013. But then we did receive some cards, I was so ashamed that I hadn’t reciprocated. I also just missed the whole process. So I decided that I would certainly do better in 2014. I didn’t. I must say, we were just so extraordinarily busy most of 2014, and the year just galloped to a close. I could see how busy the year was, so I blocked out one Saturday to write the Christmas newsletter. I lined up Alex to be on kid duties, I turned down invitations. I was going to get them done. Then the night before.
I didn’t feel so well.
The next day.
Sick.As.A.Dog.
I spent three days in bed. When I emerged, I jumped right back on silly season carousel finishing up the school and kindy year (I hang my head and admit that my child was the only child to not give out Christmas cards to his Kindy friends also. But, I had to let it go, because seriously, the kids can’t read to begin with…) and plunging into the school holidays while wrapping up employment odd jobs. I just couldn’t find the time to write. Do you know it’s really busy with five kids? Do you know that two and three year old triplets can suck energy from your very being and the aura surrounding you?
Once again, the cards arrived. I hung my head in shame again and crossed my fingers in hope that I was not struck off the few Christmas card lists we have remained on!
I’ve already told you about my expectations for 2015. So I thought perhaps I would send out a New Year greeting to some of our friends, and I count you, my wonderful blog readers, among that number.
So here, in the style of a family newsletter, is 2014 in review.
Happy New Year, from our family to yours!
We trust that you had a blessed Christmas full of special moments. We celebrated Christmas this year with Caitlin’s family at her parents and sister’s home on their property, “Bantry” one hour from our house. We decided to maximise the festivities on the day we would stay over Christmas Eve and Christmas night. The kids happily stayed an extra day beforehand with Grandma, they love their special “Grandma days”. They don’t get them as often now my parents live further away, which probably makes them even more special.
2014 was a year when our children continued to grow and flourish. It’s amazing when you look at photos from the beginning of the year and realise just how much they have grown and how they have developed. Alex and I have also grown spiritually and emotionally this year. It has been a year that has been often challenging for us, but challenges are often the events that make your roots dig deeper and develop character and strength.
Highlights of 2014 for our Family.
1. Family holidays in Bargara.
As much as we are able, we take advantage and use my parent’s beach house in Bargara. It is a base for them and my sister to use when they visit the Bundaberg farms, but we make the most of using them for recreation. The children are very well acquainted with beaches in Bargara. Their particular favourite (and Alex’s!) is Kelly’s Beach because it has waves that they can surf. The big boys are becoming very good at catching waves on their boogie boards and the triplets delight in playing in the shallow waters. Another big attraction about Kelly’s Beach is the food van parked there every day. The lady now knows our family and she is popular with the kids thanks to her yummy hot chips and ice blocks!
2. Alex, Trent and Jonty travelling to PNG.
In July Alex took Jonty and Trent to Papua New Guinea. It was a return trip for Alex to the village of Kiru where they stayed with missionaries and former mission pastors of TCC, Walo and Namana Ani. They were originally travelling with another family, but pleasantly their visit coincided with a team from Crosshands and they assisted where possible erecting wind turbines to generate electricity for the village. In the Crosshands team was Adrian and Brenton, so the boys loved hanging out with their cousin during the day. It was a wonderful way for the boys to develop global awareness and particularly to be exposed to a Polynesian culture and the joys and limitations of living a village life with less services and facilities compared to our western culture. The boys gained such valuable perspectives and constantly talk about their trip to PNG.
3. Alex’s 40th Birthday at Peregian Beach
Alex turned 40 in April! What a blessing this man is! We were honoured to celebrate all the wisdom, integrity, faithfulness and humour of Alex at this 40 year mark. We were very grateful for Alex’s family and friends who travelled to the Coast to celebrate the event with him. We rented an enormous house at Peregian Beach and enjoyed going to the beach each day and relaxing. Alex’s father, his wife and step-daughter stayed with us, so it was good to spend time together, something that is difficult to do as Alex’s Dad is still living in UAE. We also had friends stay in the house over the birthday weekend. The birthday party was a wonderful evening at Peregian Springs golf club enjoying a BBQ buffet in relaxed surroundings.
4. Aunty Julienne’s Wedding.
Caitlin’s sister Julienne was married in a sultry hot day in October to her beloved Matt. We all think they are a wonderful match and it’s been refreshing to see Matt fit into our family just as easily as Adrian and Alex once did. Matt has four children, so when they are with their Dad, our family functions are huge! 14 kids in total combined with Katrina and my own children! Julienne and Matt’s wedding day was at Bantry. A true bush wedding, they married under the shade of trees in God’s cathedral. Afterwards there was a fun fair with roving entertainers as well as stalls laden with delectables. This was followed by an evening meal. Caitlin was honoured to be a bridesmaid, which left Alex with the arduous task of dressing the five children and getting them to the ceremony on his own. He did an amazing job, although we won’t mention the child who wore shoes four sizes too large!
Sadness in 2014
Earlier in the week before Julienne was married, we farewelled my grandfather, Clarence Joseph Youngberry. (Trent shares his Great Grandad’s middle name.) Caitlin’s paternal grandfather passed away at 96 years of age after declining health following a stroke earlier in the year. We feel blessed that Grandad was such an active part of our lives and we loved him dearly.
Grandad adored babies, so it is appropriate to put a photo here of when he met the triplets for the first time.
Family Members Updates
Alex
Alex has completed another year as Senior Accountant at Arch Roggeveen & Assoc. Alex has really enjoyed working with this firm and is flourishing as he helps individuals and business with tax.
Alex received a Yamaha WR450 motorbike for his birthday. The children love riding on the motorbike with Daddy and is a favourite Saturday afternoon activity. He has really enjoyed how smoothly it rides, although it has been difficult for him to find the time to go out and enjoy it with a busy family life and an increase in church and school commitments this year.
Alex is now a member of our church’s management committee. This has not been an easy job to walk into and Alex is prayerfully working with the committee to solve some issues that have surfaced in the past 18 months. It has been a very challenging journey, and if you look with natural eyes, the task seems insurmountable. However, we have a strong sense of calling to this church family and believe that God is at work despite the hardship and that his name will continue to be glorified in this House and from here to our city and world. Alex also has begun service on the school board of the school Jonty attends. This has also been a lot of work learning how schools function, government policies and effective administration of a school community. Despite the workload, Alex is enjoying his role in creating a secure place for quality Christian education of the next generation.
As a Daddy, Alex enjoys reading bedtime stories to the children every evening. It is such a special time that the children look forward to each night. With our extensive gardens and land surrounding our house, Alex spends a great deal of time on Saturdays doing yard work. He constantly has shadows as he works as the children traipse after him. He almost always is accompanied by small helpers and they particularly enjoy rides on the lawn mower. Alex also keeps our pool in order and has enjoyed the challenge working out the PH and balance of the water and keeping it maintained. The pool has looked a lot better in the latter half of the year once he purchased a new sand filtration unit.
Altogether Alex has an enormous year and well and truly enjoyed our beach holiday at the conclusion of the year.
Caitlin
Caitlin has been busy this year continuing to be a SAH for the five children. She has really enjoyed finding moments to have one on one time with each moment. These special moments of connecting has been some of the highlights of her year!
She has enjoyed continuing to work for USQ as a Professional Experience Liaison as it’s a flexible job that allows her to use her education skills.
Caitlin continues to take much joy investing a lot of time and energy into her blog. It was her aim to increase readership, move from blogger to wordpress and to have her own domain name, she just scraped in achieving her goals with her blog rolling over to www.caitlinshappyheart.com on Christmas Eve. She is really praying that the blog will become more well known and that stories and tips from her happy heart is infectious and that she brings joy to others who read it.
As a step in the direction of making her blog more professional, Caitlin attended one of the largest blogging conferences in Australia in August. Problogger was a highlight of her year and very inspiring time for her, even if it was a little bit overwhelming also. It was held at the very funky QT hotel at the Gold Coast. Apart from the great information during the conference she particular enjoyed eating a lot of delicious food – the included meals were amazing and as for the in-house restaurant Bazaar – yummo!
As much as Caitlin loves time with the children, she also adores getaways with Alex. They were able to getaway twice this year. Once to Brisbane, dinner at Eagle St. Wharf and staying at Stamford for their anniversary in January. A bit later in the year they also had a quick trip with an overnight stay to celebrate a friends 40th birthday.
In September Caitlin had her first speaking gig. She spoke to a group of ladies about “Pursuing Your Passion and Being Purposeful” at a craft retreat at Ravensbourne. She also loved hanging out with some friends at the retreat and doing a lot of crocheting. She almost finished a UFO (unfinished object) of a single bed blanket. Unfortunately on returning home she hasn’t picked it up again… Maybe a resolution to finish it in 2015 is in order?
Jonty
Jonty completed Year 2 this year and had a wonderful year at school. He was truly blessed to have had a wonderful teacher who understood him and his little personality quirks and worked with him gently guiding and inspiring him throughout the year. He started learning the piano this year. Practice is a bit of a bore for him, but he is actually persisting with it so he can play another instrument, but we have said he needs to prove that he can stick with the piano first!
For Jonty’s birthday this year we gave him a trip to Australia Zoo with the family. Just to make it extra special for him he got to choose an animal to have an experience with. It was so special seeing Jonty bond with an echidna. It was a lovely 8th birthday tradition to start, but the day was very difficult with three over tired two year olds. Luckily at the end of the day, after we had retrieved a lost child from the gift shop, Jonty remarked what a wonderful day it was. It seemed the public meltdowns didn’t phase him at all. Crocs rule over cranky triplets apparently!
During the winter months Jonty played soccer for our local team. He has had the same coach for three years now, and it’s good to see his skill continue to improve. Jonty is extremely talkative and will constantly plaster us with questions or explain in great detail little schemes and inventions he is planning. His favourite activities are climbing trees, playing with Hot Wheels cars, and riding his Yamaha 50cc motorbike. He has become passionate about becoming a farmer. Almost every library book he loans is about farms or tractors and when he goes out to Bantry and during a trip to Moolin Downs out west, he is Grandad’s shadow ‘doing farm work’ as much possible. It has been beautiful to watch Jonty’s hunger for Spiritual elements of life as well.
Trent
Trent’s formal education began this year with an amazing year of Kindy. His delightful teacher (who also taught Jonty) ensured that his year was one full of play, learning and just a little fairy magic. (Trent was infatuated with the Kindy fairies Sunshine and Martin!) He would come home covered in dirt and full of stories, quoting little rhymes and catchphrases and singing little ditties. Trent is our little superhero and is obsessed with all things heroic. Most days he is donned in superhero clothes and costumes. He is full of energy and testosterone, often running around roaring for no apparent reason. He has also developed an obsession for Lego after receiving several boxes for his birthday. He can follow the instructions and put the pieces together remarkably well for his five years of age. Trent flourishes with kind words and encouragement and in return will also come out with many loving words of his own. He has been a great big brother to the triplets and they will miss him greatly next year as he heads off to school. During the days he was at home, he would have them organised in creative play and be doting and encouraging to them. (Breaking for regular fights, as is the custom of sibling relationships.) Trent’s favourite colour is green, and will normally wear (if it’s not superhero related) paint, write and eat all things green. Have you picked up that he has a slightly obsessive personality when he likes something? He is a true little extrovert he loves connecting with people and spending time with his friends.
The Triplets
It’s hard to believe the triplets turned three in October. They had a small ice-cream party with the extended family and a friend. Unfortunately we survived the “terrible twos” and all the mischief that their united forces showered upon us, but as soon as the triplets turned three they descended into the dark hole of three year old tantrums and have taken their in-house bickering and sibling combat up a ferocious notch! At any one time one of the trio is normally sporting a bruise or a bite mark they have received from the other. Throughout the year they have also (almost) conquered potty training! If you are imagining that this would be a mess, tiring and sometimes down what gross job. You would be absolutely correct. There are still accidents during the day on occasions and they are not quite there during the nights, but we are very proud of their progress. It is just a delightful gift watching multiples grow up together. Despite the fights, they are one another’s best mates. They always hang out together and it is amusing to listen in as they chatter with one another. They are wonderful talkers and their conversations are a constant source of joy and amusement.
Toby
Toby is a little dynamo. He talks the least of the triplets and is the most introverted. Jayden and Toby seem to have a connection, perhaps it is the identical factor. However Toby will happily play on his own for extended periods of time. He also talks the least of the children, but to make up for it he has perfected a posed smile leaning his head to his shoulders, squinting his eyes and doing a contorted smile. It’s very funny. While he might be introverted, he is by no means reclusive. In fact he is quite the bully of the trio and is quick to manhandle others to get his own way. Teaching him gracefulness is still a work in progress! Toby loves to cuddle and when he wraps his arms around you and snuggles into your neck, it’s just about one of the best feelings in the world!
Jayden
Jayden is the strongest extrovert of all our children. He is constantly looking to gain eye contact with others and engage in conversation and have a laugh with. He is consistently the mischief maker and can create havoc in ten seconds flat. He is normally the common denominator when things are ‘triplet trashed’, probably because of his inquisitive nature and his reluctance to play on his own. He also has a beautiful sensitive nature. He is quick to respond to correction and apologises quickly and (mostly) sincerely. It’s been amazing to see his personality develop and along with it his love and concern for people. He is a true ‘people person’.
Imogen
People often say Imogen will be very protected having four brothers. While we think that is true and we are training our young men to be gentleman and caring to girls and women, it is also safe to assume that Immy is well adept in protecting herself in most situations to begin with. With four brothers, she is one tough chick! Nevertheless, she is completely female from her higher pitched girly voice, to her love of salad (which may well be a saving grace considering her insatiable desire for chocolate and cheese) and her absolute passion for shopping. She is a bright little thing, and if she senses that a shopping trip may be on the cards, her handbag will be ready and she will watch any movements toward the car like a hawk and beg to go shopping. Once she is on the expedition, she will repeatedly plead, “Just one more shop?”
Imogen is also mad keen at drawing and crafting. She will happily sit for extended periods of time with her paints, textas or pencils – something our boys have never been as keen to do.
Imogen talks with absolute clarity and uses her words to boss the boys around continually. (To her chagrin, they normally ignore her) She knows she is as cute as a button and has a giggle designed to charm and literally knows how to bat her eyelashes. Perhaps our boys will need to be on her guard after all!
Bronco
Our labrador Bronco continues to be a beloved part of our family. Although his roaming had stopped in his previous days, when he returned to the house we now lived he remembered roaming free and wild in the days of his youth and began the project of introducing us to our neighbours. Unfortunately this project meant that he consistently would cross the busy highway opposite our house. In the last several months he has ceased playing in traffic and now when he has the chance will head several kilometres down the back paddock and visits his doggy mates living at a house backing onto the our property. If he tires of this friends, he will trot up the road to another house with dogs. This has turned out to be a great convenience for us as Caitlin always knows where to find him when he goes missing now. Luckily for Bronco, his mate’s humans are wonderfully nice people and have our phone number on speed dial and are quite indulgent in letting him stay for a play.
The children adore Bronco and he is as good natured as ever with them, although he is quite happy to gently steal food from the children and for the most part they now have protective behaviour when eating food outdoors. (The triplets generally put their food on their heads in between bites if Bronco is around.) Alex bought a trailer this year, so now Bronco is included on family holidays, it appears that he thinks the bumpy trip is worth the extra time with the family.
So that was 2014 for our family in a nutshell. What were some of the highlights of your 2014? Tell me! I’d love to know!
Joining with Sarah from Creating Contentment today because I am Thankful this Thursday.
HELLO!!!!! I don’t know if you have missed me, but I have certainly missed you! Although I indulged in an extended Christmas/New Year break from publishing on my blog, I certainly haven’t neglected blogging. Have you noticed the address? Welcome to my new blog!!! My very own .com! I feel so grown up!
The lovely Tanya at Blogelina did a wonderful job helping me out. I highly recommend her Blogger to WordPress transfer and design transfer. I’ve been wanting to do this for a long time, but I barely have time to write this blog let alone to learn how to do all this behind the scenes technical stuff. Everywhere I had searched previously told me that to do this would cost more money than our family budget could stretch. It was such a blessing that Blogelina had such affordable prices.
So 2015 has begun with the same blog under a new domain name. I’m still learning how to work in WordPress, but as I do, I am quietly hopeful that my dreams for this blog continue to come true. Firstly I’m hoping that I can find set times and become more regular in my contributions. I still have ideas whirring in my mind on how this blog can be an encouragement, inspiration and help to you. Please don’t be shy, let me know what you love and what you would like to hear more of on this space. Maybe we can both help one another!
Don’t you love a new year? It is bright and shiny and just beckoning for you to enter and soar to new heights.
I am feeling very optimistic about 2015. After all it’s my 40th year of life, that certainly is momentous! I should add that I will not turn 40 until the end of November so I for most of this year I am certainly still in my 30’s! However, I love a party, and when you are a grown up it takes a decade before you are justified kicking your heels up and having a great shing ding. I’m already speculating what we will do, I’ve got ideas but no plans yet. Plenty of time for that.
I have resolutions racing around in my head. I want to get them down onto paper. To make them real. And include an action plan. So that they will happen.
I have started the process. I didn’t want to write it all out on January 1. I want to be careful and considered so that my goals are realistic and achievable. We were away on holidays at Bargara. I had been getting up early and walking along the coastline, at the end of the walk I sat down at a picnic bench and while the sea breeze blew I started writing my plan. It felt good. I need to continue because the storm clouds gathered and as the rain started to spill I raced back to my family eating their breakfast and bickering over who got to sit in the ‘best’ seat.
Some years I don’t write resolutions because it feels so cliche and I don’t want to write something I will fail at. Because that’s what you keep hearing, that most people don’t follow through with their resolutions. To be truthful, I do succeed sometimes, and then there are failures. This year I’m setting many goals, but I want them to make differences in my life and for those I love. Many of my goals are the simple things. Because there are plenty of simple things I can improve on that will make a huge difference in my life and for my family. I have goals for my family, organising my home, my spiritual walk and my blog.
We welcomed the New Year with friends. We sat on the balcony across from the ocean (we couldn’t quite see the sea) and ate seafood and sipped champagne. Earlier we had cooked fish and chips for the children. It had taken a bit too long doing this, so we missed watching the fireworks on the beach like we had planned, but the kids watched them from the car as we drove closer to them. Whoops! We then turned around and let them play with the sparklers on the deck before getting tucked in for bed.
Then we sat on the deck and chatted until midnight. After midnight we said a prayer blessing the New Year before heading to bed.
Another New Year with my love. It was stinking hot and the humidity sky high in Bargara and the a/c was broken. Hence the shiny skin, no make up because it’s slid away and frizzy hair!
We thoroughly enjoyed our holiday. Cycling by the seaside (Alex and the kids cycled, I walked the dog!). Ice cream breaks and hanging out with friends. Sunshine and swimming in the beach.
And all too soon, it’s back to reality. Although there is something about returning home from holidays in a new year. That sense that the holiday is over and the anticipation that real stuff is about to begin. Somehow the new year has brought a feeling of restoration. 2014 was a challenging year for us and contained hurt from people we trusted and heartache from things beyond our control. I felt disheveled and limped over the finish line. I was praying for this New Year and felt my word for this year is “New Beginnings”. I am believing that God can make all things new again and can sense there is fresh hope in this New Year so I am taking a deep breath in and looking forward with optimism. I don’t think that it is going to be an easy year. Already there are dark shapes looming in the distance that I know will take courage and perseverance to pass them by. But come the end of 2015, I know I will be a stronger person (even though I will be 40. Sigh.) and have learnt lessons that will continue shape my impact on my corner of the globe.
Anyway, I’m getting deep and philosophical. Enough about me. So tell me, how was your Christmas and New Year? I would really love to know? How are you feeling about the new year that stretches before you? Do have goals, words or impressions of what this will be for you?
Today I’m linking with
Talking of which, I love Grace’s post about her Year of Small Things. Make sure you check it out. Kind of sums up life for me now. Because small things are often the big things in life.
Last year The Elf on the Shelf joined our household. Our elf was named “Elvey” by the children and each day they would seek him out to find out where his new spot for the day was. For those who aren’t familiar with The Elf on the Shelf, (it’s a newish concept for most of us in Australia, even though it’s firmly established in the US.), our elf, like all other Elves who sit on shelves, is a scout elf. He sits and watches the children all day and at night magically flies back to Santa where he tell Santa what’s been happening in our household. (Oh yes, there were some naughty moments last year where I did point to the elf and then witnessed a miraculous behaviour shift.) There is a story book which arrives with the elf outlining all of this, and the book also makes it clear that to retain the elf’s magic you cannot touch the elf. (Sheer brilliance, it’s clear the author was familiar with children!)
During December, we really had so much fun with Elvey. Mind you, I wasn’t always creative with his placement, (Hello! I had two year old triplets!) There was some mornings that I was secretly hiding the elf behind my back and scampering through the house to shove the elf in a new spot for the day. Thanks to the innocence of childhood, my children were delighted to see him even if he was doing nothing exciting, the thrill of finding him was enough for them. Exhibit A & B below!
Trent discovering The Elf on the Shelf was hanging from the fan.
Jonty looking at the elf simply sitting on a shelf!
Elf on the Shelf Hanging Underwear from the Ceiling Fan.
Oh yeah. That cheeky elf looked very comfy hanging in the kids pants. Trent was a little disgruntled, but happily saw the joke eventually.
Sitting on a Shelf With Candy Canes looking Christmassy.
Hanging Out in the Bathroom and Plastering the place with Bows. This was actually more complex then I expected! The bows just would not stay on and were dropping off everywhere! By the morning there was basically a pile of gift bows on the bench top.
Elvey was hanging on the shower screen, but kindly offered the children the candy canes for a Christmas snack.
He also left a letter giving them some feedback!
Luckily the boys thought it was cool!
Hanging out with the Nativity crowd.
Getting spicy in the spice rack. It took forever for the boys to find the elf this day, and the needed some substantial clues before they could locate him. Another example of how simplicity did not disappoint.
Hanging around Drawing I gave my sister the honours of elf placement one night when she was visiting and this was what he ended up doing.
Mixing it Up. The elf on the shelf was in the playroom mixing an invisible something in the toy pots and pans this day. Trent ‘wrote’ (it was dictated) a letter to Santa and got us to put it on the Shelf with the Elf so he could deliver it to Santa when he flew back to the workshop that evening. (He got one thing on the list, Santa can’t deliver everything it turns out!)
Checking out the Aussie Animals Cards Turns out even elves can get sucked in by Woolworths brilliant marketing ploy.
Wise Old Elf on the Shelf Once more Elvey is on a shelf. This time hanging with the owls.
Reindeer Loving Elf
Last year I bought these gorgeous white reindeer from Coles. Elvey loved the little guys as well. Must have made him homesick for the reindeer back at the North Pole. So he fed them carrots. This was actually my favourite elf position that I did, even though the poor little guy needed to be roped in as well. It can be hazardous hanging on to a carrot that is more than your body weight.
Another morning Elvey was riding the reindeer. As you can see, the boys thought this was funny.
Toilet Paper Mischief It seems that scout elves often end up creating mischief in the toilet. Trent was aghast. Personally, I would not be hanging out in our loo if I were an elf. Trust me. Little boys have bad aim. Our WC is not always a pleasant place to be.
In any case, The Elf on the Shelf was a lot of fun for our family last year and I’m looking at finding more places for Elvey to hide this year. It will be more fun for the triplets this year also I think.
I’ve got a Pinterest Board full of ideas of where Elvey can hang out – but would love to hear a suggestion if you have one! Have you heard of Elf on the Shelf? Do you have a scout elf at your home or do something similar? Are your kids starting to catch the Christmas spirit yet?
Sunday afternoon. Five happy children are scattered throughout the garden. Playing, exploring, enjoying the moment, celebrating the small things in life. Living their childhood. This will be a part of the collage of memories they reflect on as they grow older.
Mummy wanders around with her camera, capturing the little moments, a moment in time becomes still, forever a point of reflection and joy. She is thinking of her grandfather as she snaps. He is sick in bed, the unfortunate victim of a stroke and his days are fading. His great grand children brighten his long days, he loves them dearly. Photos of the children are tacked opposite his bed, it brightens his day.
I snap away. These photos are not quite right. Grandad is old school when it comes to photos. They should be looking straight at the camera. “What a shame,” he has said to me “they glanced away at the wrong time.” Back in his day photos were not taken for artistic interpretation. He doesn’t understand why we capture so many moments. He doesn’t think in the way of the digital camera where you can snap in gay abandon. “The old box brownie took a good photo” he tells me. “It’s around here somewhere in my boxes.”
Later that evening I choose photos for his wall. My five children, joining the other 6 great grandchildren on the wall. They are part of his present and are part of his legacy. In the meantime, their innocent smiles enjoying childhood cheer his tired spirit lacking in energy but never bereft of love.
On Saturday, my niece had a Ladybug Party for her 5th birthday. She’s such a funny little thing, my five year old niece. She makes us laugh, yet doesn’t like being the centre of attention. She is cuddly, but sometimes cuddles aren’t appropriate. She loves animals. Especially chooks. (Translation for the non-Aussie readers: Chickens.) My sister woke up one morning, opened her eyes to stare into a chooks beady eyes mere centimetres from her own. My little neice had brought the hen indoors to assist in a wake up call.
The birthday girl herself, thrilled that a lizard crashed her party.
Anyway, I should stop talking. This is for Wordless Wednesday, after all. The ladybug party was a thoroughly delightful affair. Right from Uncle Adrian carrying the triplets en masse from the car to the party. (They had just woken up from the long drive and were a bit groggy.) Unfortunately I only had one ladybug outfit, but Jayden was a stellar bug and surprised me by keeping it on the whole time.
My two sisters had done a wonderful job with the food. Plenty of fruit and even cheese imitating ladybeetles. Including a watermelon, although it was a bit of a large freaky ladybug. I loved that Katrina put party snacks and fruit such as grapes and melon balls in cupcake papers. It made the party look all the more cheerful as well as making it easy for the children to grab food without putting grubby hands into bowls. There seemed to be less waste also.
Of course the obligatory birthday cake was a ladybug. My brother-in-law made it. He’s awesome at making kids cakes.
Grown up shennanigans.
And moments with little people waiting patiently for her Grandad to open her lollies. Complete with her “painting toes” to copy Mummy’s toes painted red and dotted with a sharpie for that ladybug look.
One more little thing that I have been remembering while celebrating my neice, Miss R’s, birthday. I’ve probably broken the Wordless Wednesday rule, (although honestly, have I not done less talking then normals?)
Miss R was born in later in the day, but that morning I had been receiving IVF treatment. I had an embryo implanted. And that was part of beginning of Master Trent’s life.
On Miss R’s birthday, in an amazing moment of symmetry, I was once again undergoing an IVF procedure. This time, two eggs were implanted. Not long after, one of those eggs split, and hey presto, there were triplets on the way. (Read about it here)
Valentines Day is a great chance for family’s to show their love to one another. In Australia, the popularity of Valentines Day is growing. When I was a child, there were flowers available in the shops, (Thank goodness, because my Dad was farming flowers for quite a few years during my childhood! Valentines Day was good for business.), but certainly only a certain number of people would give flowers or exchange cards. However, we do have a tendency to follow the traditions made popular in the US, (especially when the shopping centres realise the commercial lucrativeness of these special days), and now, like many places in the world, the shops are overflowing with Valentine opportunities and it’s not an easily forgotten day anymore.
When I was a girl, I loved seeing all our flowers picked, and ready to be delivered to the florist – roses, carnations and babies breath. (It was the 80’s after all). I used to dream of a man giving me flowers and showering me with gifts on Valentines Day. Luckily for me, The Accountant has used Valentines Day to display his love to me – it always makes me feel warm and fuzzy. A girlhood dream come true is very satisfying. For those who accuse Valentines Day of being purely commercial. I don’t care. If it takes a commercial prompt to remind people to express their love, I’ll take it! Gladly.
Alex had left for an early morning meeting this Valentines Day so woke me with a kiss and a Happy Valentines Day wish. It was a little thrill to find his card later in the day, and I must say I did a little happy dance when I read that he has some Royal Doulton I have been desiring on its way. Bit surprise, because I’ve enrolled in a painting class, and he had told me that was to be my Valentines gift. Spoilt to the max! My fancy candle and massage oil for him, seemed a little insignificant, but I made it up to him. 😉 Say no more!
Excitedly unpacking the beautiful mugs and plates once they arrived.
From what I have observed over the internet, the Americans, (and probably other countries also, but Americans are most easily ‘seen’), celebrate Valentines Day with their children also, with class gifts and exchanging Valentines mail and craft activities. While I don’t think that children should be pressured to be romantic with one another, (there is plenty of time for that later in life), I do think Valentines Day is a great opportunity to teach children about the depth and meaning of love.
So, in our house, we celebrate Valentines Day. At this stage I follow a simple formula. Bake some Valentines snacks, do Valentines craft and have a special dinner together.
It’s very easy to bake some biscuits, ice them and let the children decorate them. This year, we cut them with heart shaped cookie cutters and decorated with pink sugar balls, raspberry M&M’s and lots of sprinkles.
Using a toilet roll that was folded into a heart shape and a cookie cutter, the children did printing with red and pink paint onto cardboard.
We made cards and placemats, to be used later that evening at dinner. It’s a shame I don’t own a laminator. (Perhaps one day soon.) Laminating the placemats would have meant we could have used them for the next week at least. But unfortunately they were a one hit wonder! But it all added to the atmosphere of family love!
Trent didn’t want to paint, but he did cut out paint chip samples into hearts and stripes to make cards. He had also seen Mr Potato on TV that morning when watching Peppa Pig. He wanted to make Mr. Potato, but I suggested Mr Heart Head instead. I thought his Mr. Heart Head turned out very cute!
Finally, we had a special family dinner. My preference would be to teach the children how to set a beautiful table. However, I wimped out, knowing that the triplets was going to make that project a little insane. I did try to convince Trent to help me, but he can be an obstinate child for no good reason at times, so I set the table with the home made placemats, a little chocolate treat in ‘wine glasses’ and flowers from the garden. I forgot the candles, (I was rushing), but normally the children adore candlelit dinners. On the menu was spaghetti bolognaise, (so simple, but we haven’t had it for a little while, and nothing says, “I Love You” to a child more than spag bol. and chocolate brownies. Once again, simple, but my kids always get yoghurt for dessert regularly and anything with sugar is an exciting upgrade. But anyways, who can refuse a good brownie? I am on the hunt for an excellent brownie recipe at the moment. One that is chewy on the outside and squishy in the middle. I think I may have found it, but my oven is misbehaving right now, so I need to try it again to be sure when it working properly. (Fingers crossed the technician turns up this week.)
Of course, dinner, even though eaten with gusto, had it’s typical insanity. Life with four children under four, particularly the three two year olds, means that love is not demonstrated in peaceful whispers and silent meaningful moments. Although there are still loving family moments. Like holding hands to say grace together.
As always The Accountant and I breathed a sigh of relief once the children were in bed. Until I realised there was still the clean up to go. The meal had ended in mayhem and we quickly ushered the kids to the bathroom and the
n bed without pause to clear the table…
And that was our simple, but loving Valentines Day. I spoke a lot to the children about love and doing things for one another to show love. Of course it’s very simple at this age, but I fully intend to continue to bulk it out as the kids grow older. Having four boys, I think it’s important they grow up being able to express their love for others. I also want my girl to expect the male in her life to treat her with love and respect. Valentines Day is a great training day for future life and a day where children feel secure in the immense love that a family gives.
Having three two year olds is really not easy. To be truthful, I’m really struggling at the moment. They are gorgeous. They bring me such joy, but oh my goodness that joy is accompanied by bucket loads of stress.
I just need to have a little ‘rest’ session at the moment before I continue to work on the myriads of tasks crowding my head… So I thought I would write a blog, because as a Mummy blogger this blog also serves as a little bit of a diary at times, for myself and my family in future years.
So let me share with you, as way of example of how my life is progressing at the moment with a seven year old, four year old and three 27 month old children. (If you are pregnant or have young triplets, perhaps you shouldn’t read on. Denial is awesome.)
Today. It’s my day with no help. I look forward to these days, but once they are in progress, I often get into survival mode. Sometimes I feel like I’m just treading water and holding afloat a boat full of children. Objective: No one drowns.
(Just a little aside, I just looked down at my fingers while I typed, there is a huge slice taken out of the middle of my fingernail. I have no idea how or when this dent in my nail has happened.)
The morning started by waking relatively early, so I reached for my phone and started reading yesterday’s Bible In One Year entry since I was behind. Before long, Trent, our early bird, arrives at my bed. He wants to play games on my phone. I refuse. He comes and checks every five minutes if I am finished yet. Even still I manage to read yesterday and today’s reading and then set the timer for 15 minutes and let him play a game while I shower.
I had a quick shower, well I thought so, I had purposely shaved the previous night to save time in the morning, but before I was dressed, Alex appears asking why I was taking so long. I retort that I haven’t been long, and he mutters something that it feels like a long time when you are surrounded by screaming children. Welcome to my life buddy.
The kids played nicely for awhile after Alex left for work. I managed to eat my breakfast, give the kitchen a tidy (you can’t tell that now) and do a few other tasks. And then, in between nappy changing, I printed out some Australia Day colouring-in sheets to do with the kids to decorate the walls for our Australia Day party on Sunday.
We sat down to colour-in. Actually, we went to sit down, then I noticed that the table had not been wiped, there were crumbs everywhere. Immy was desperate to draw, as was Trent, I set her up on a plastic box while I wiped the table and him on another flat surface. Meanwhile, the other three who had been playing contentedly now came out and started to fight over Immy’s space. She was fierce defending her textas and I quickly dried the table with a tea-towel before setting the kids up there. Immy refused then to be moved from her box, but was having trouble with the boys who were still getting down from the table to steal her pens. Toby is into biting at the moment, so had to keep getting sent to time out. Once when I came back with him I noticed that all the lids had disappeared, so then I was crawling around searching for them. In the meantime, another box of pencils was tipped over. You might think colouring-in is a low key activity. In our house, it is not.
The only way to get the kids out of the colouring-in meltdown was to feed them. Unfortunately I haven’t been fruit shopping this week, so rice crackers had to suffice. They were all happy because we made home made slushies. Of course the contents of one full cup was spilled.
More play. More fights. More tantrums. More happy moments, more cute words and developing sentences. We read Immy’s favourite book, “Rawr” by Todd H. Doodler. Hopefully I will get the chance to tell you more about it, but if I don’t, keep an eye out for it. If you have a toddler who loves dinosaur, this book will be much loved. It’s so cute, and all the kids love it, not just my dino obsessed girl.
We made lunch. I couldn’t make the sandwiched quick enough. The triplets were literally standing at my knees begging for more and more and more. Thankfully it was soon time for their naps. Sigh of relief. I took the opportunity to have a quick check of Facebook. Wrote a Caitlin’s Happy Heart status. (Psst. Do you “like” me? If not come over to Caitlin’s Happy Heart and keep in touch, I love to connect with people!)
As I wrapped the computer time up, the two big boys came in asking to play Reading Eggs. Well, that means that Jonty plays it and Trent watches because he can’t participate because it’s linked to Jonty’s school account. But in any account, it’s a great educational game, so I said they could play it for half an hour.
In the meantime, I had my lovely sister and her man turned up. It was nice chatting to her, and we don’t get enough chances to do it during the week, so I don’t regret that at all, but it did mean that the jobs I was going to get done while the triplets slept and the boys played didn’t get accomplished. As my sister left, it started absolutely bucketing with rain. Our house, which is getting older, had two leaks with a lot of water pouring in, so then I was mopping up water, and shifting the unfortunate piano that was right underneath the largest crack in the roof. (I hope I didn’t undo the good work of my chiropractor from earlier in the week.)
Then I decided to do something with the big boys. Remember that facebook status I had written earlier? In it I declared that I needed the kids to go back to school so I could bake. But right then and there I decided to bake with them. They are going for a sleepover with their grandmother and cousins tomorrow night so I thought we would send a packet mix jelly slice with them for dessert. I had two boxes, so the boys made one each. It was very easy, except it had three stages, which made it more complex. Throughout the process, as is often the case when cooking with young kids, I had crumbs dropped everywhere, several near misses of catching licked fingers just before they went back into the cooking, tipped over chairs, and spills.
Towards the end of one of the slice stages, the triplets all emerged. Of course, when they saw the activity in the kitchen, they instantly wanted a part of the action. So I decided to bake ANZAC biscuits with them. I had wanted to make some for Australia Day. Cooking with two year old triplets is not for the faint hearted. But it is very cute, and I love seeing their enthusiasm. They love it all so much, like sniffing ingredients. (Go and see my Happyheart75 instagram video. I can’t seem to load it here.)
They also like pouring and stirring. The stirring will always end up with ingredients outside the bowl. By the time I stirred in the hot ingredients and had multiple hands diving to hold the hot saucepan and tears over who stood where, etc. I banished them all to watch ABC kids while I rolled and cooked the biscuits. (Notice a theme here on my alone days, electronic devices become my survival mechanism.) As I was finishing up the bikkies, I got the boys in to do the last stage of their slice, at which point Trent spilled a jug of half made jelly (you know, when it’s not stirred properly, but in the really sticky point…) so that was a joy to clean up.
I extracted the kids from the TV by serving the warm biscuits and momentarily everyone was silent and happy, until another drink was spilled. During the clean up Trent decided to have a meltdown over not receiving another biscuit. (I wanted enough for Australia Day in a few days time.) Between that and his initial refusal to help clean up after cooking, he now has a large chuck of his favourite toys residing on the top of our fridge as a direct consequence.
Favourite toys. (I still have some sELFies on the fridge that our Elf On The Shelf took. I know I should take them down, but they amuse me.)
The kitchen floor had started the morning sticky, and was already high on my to do list, was now feeling positively awful, but I realised that I really needed to get the children bathed. I did that, one at a time for the youngest four. By then I had barely enough time to get dinner ready. I had mince, and decided to use my new pressure cooker I got for Christmas to speed up the process and cook the potatoes in half the time for just a simple savoury mince. Simple savoury mince still requires lots of vegetable chopping, which always feels like more time than you anticipated. I was relieved when I finally had everything in the pan with the lid on.
At this point I retrieved my eldest, who I had allowed to play outdoors in the rain. He was soaking all over and filthy, on account of jumping in muddy puddles. (Peppa, I normally love you, but sometimes I rue the day you put dirty ideas in my children’s heads.)
Oh, and talking about puddles, Alex received a water cooler for Christmas. Which is a great gift, except the triplets are still in the training phase and are constantly overfilling and/or spilling. I have had a lot of soggy towels today. Still better than the first day we set it up. We went through 10L of water in one day. I kid you not.
The infamous water cooler. Complete with water drops due to a recent triplet visit.
By the time I got back to the kitchen I expected dinner to be made. Except it wasn’t. I hadn’t turned it on. Frustrating to the max. In the final minutes I could hear the inevitable sounds of tired children falling apart and I was literally pacing in front of the machine. At this point my husband told me before disappearing somewhere that he was leaving soon for futsal. I just fell apart and started bawling. The thought of doing dinner, teeth and bedtimes on my own for the five kids was just too overwhelming. I continued to howl throughout dishing up the meals. The big boys were concerned and wanted to know what was wrong, I had no good answer. We sat at the table, my eyes red and streaked and the triplets spent the first five minutes saying, “Mummy crying” over and over again. Bless them. I didn’t mean to be so dramatic. Alex offered to stay, but he was fully dressed ready to go, and I know how much it meant to him, so I didn’t want him to miss out. It all was pretty easy getting the kids to bed, thank goodness.
The beauty of being a mother, is that even when it’s tough, you look over and see this and your heart feels refreshed. I was so glad the camera was handy to capture my beautiful daughter.
I left a little bit of time in between getting the triplets down and reading the boys stories where the big boys played in their room and I got the kitchen floor mopped finally and the slice cut and put into containers, so I felt good about that.
After bedtime, I have sat down here. I’ve got a giant to do list. Here are things in no particular order that are up the top of the list:
Cover (most) school books. Buy last bits and pieces of school uniform Mop and sweep floors Tidy office and bedroom (they are both in appalling messes) Organise a meal for a friend that I said I would deliver for Saturday night Tackle enormous ironing pile Tidy Kitchen (Although I’ve heard The Accountant out there since he’s got home, so I’m hoping that he has worked his magic and tidied it up. He’s good at that.) Pack bags for the children’s sleepover. Pack bags for Mummy and Daddy’s night away! (Hooray!)
The last item is the silver lining. It’s Alex and my 16th wedding anniversary tomorrow. We’re going to eat out and spend the night in Brissy. I’m looking forward to it. We’re returning to the same place that I went when I was 23 weeks pregnant. That will be a nice trip down memory lane of that time as well as remembering our wonderful wedding day. Last time we went to that hotel, I had started contractions the day before so we were very cautious and careful. I’m so grateful the babies didn’t arrive for another 11 weeks after that. It will be nice to be carefree this time!
Anyway, I have now been at the computer blogging for so long, (well done if you have managed to read right to the end!) that I don’t think I will get any of the to-do list tackled in this sacred time while the children sleep. Fingers crossed for productivity tomorrow!
During the September school holidays, we went camping with triplets.
If you think we are a crazy, I would agree with you.
But here is why I decided to. a) It was only one night. b) There was very little accommodation available at an affordable price that would fit our family. c) The Accountant has been wanting to go camping. I have been objecting. I thought this might be a good chance for me to illustrate why I object. d) It was only one night.
We needed to travel to the coast because next year my husband has a major milestone birthday (!) and he wants to have a small party at the coast. This was a reconnaissance mission. A fact finding exercise in order to find a venue for the event.
Before you think that I’m incredibly brave – let me tell you that there are triplet Mum’s out there who camp – and do it well – with their young triplets. I know, how amazing! How organised. How very not me! There are also many of us HOMmies who don’t!
If you are wondering about the pros and cons, Let me list them for you.
Cons. 1. Even for an overnight trip, (bringing nothing to feed your family) your car will be full to overflowing, including the roof rack.
2. The children will not be helpful while you are pitching a tent.
Especially after being confined to a car for 3 hours.
3. If after chasing toddlers who have split up and running in opposite directions to neighbouring campsites and on service roads, you let the three one year olds play in the car while you set up the tent, expect chaos afterwards in the form of squashed food, tissue boxes deconstructed, random bags pulled out and the contents scattered throughout the car, every light and windscreen wiper and gadget to be fiddled with. (But on the positive, you will have somewhere to sleep that night.)
3. The children will not want to sleep at night. You on the other hand will be so exhausted by the days proceedings that every muscle will be craving sleep. 4. The children will examine the neighbouring campsites. The neighbours may not be friendly. They may reposition their tent to have minimal contact with you. Hypothetically speaking of course. Cough. Cough. 5. After a night with very little sleep, you will be woken extremely early in the morning. 6. You will need to pack up the tent.
Expect all the same problems you encountered erecting the tent in the first place. Until you decide to have one parent pack up the campsite and another parent supervise the playground. God bless the husband who packs up the overnight dwelling. God bless the mother who had the patience to entertain five over tired bodies.
Pros. 1. It is cheap. 2. You are able to go away when you hadn’t booked accommodation at the start of the school holidays and there is nothing affordable left in the region. 3. The kids love it. (And are totally unaware of the first six points.) 4. You prove to the husband that camping with five children, especially young triplets, is very difficult.
And if you are considering to triplet toddlers camping, I thought I really share some hints with you. Even though IF I were to do it again, I would need a ton of hints myself. But nevertheless, here is what I did learn.
1. Book an ensuite site. I cannot tell you how good this was. Oh my goodness. No traipsing to the toilet at all hours with the children. No leaving partners for excessively long times with the children while you shower. (10 minutes is an excessively long time with children.) When Trent was a baby, we went camping and there was no shared space where we could bath him, so I showered with the baby, The Accountant hung around outside the door to the Ladies toilets not trying to look like a pervert until I passed a naked baby out to him while I was adorned in nothing but a towel because there was nowhere to dry a baby, there was no bath. The sinks were tiny and I had to shower with the baby to remove the dirt and sand from the day. Nightmare. Couldn’t do it with triplets. Couldn’t.Do.It.
2. Bringing a DVD player is a good way to divert the kids attention.
3. A DVD player will only temporarily divert attention. Then they will start rampaging through the tent and work on their escape plan.
4. Their escape plan will be executed as soon as they work it out. 5. There will be fights over the DVD player. These fights could disturb your neighbours. Just smile and wave. Smile and wave.
6. Bring lots of snacks. Lots. 7. Lift all bans on electronic devices. That way your children can amuse themselves indefinitely taking crazy photos on their DS and other such fun.
Apparantly this creature used our facilities.
8. Eat out. After all, you’re saving money on accomodation. We had Indian for dinner. We got take-away, took it back to the holiday park and ate it while watching an outdoor movie that the park screened for families. We went to a great little cafe in Noosaville for breakfast.
Note: You will amaze and mysitfy (perhaps frighten) the other patrons. Note the body language of the man sitting at the table beside us.
9. Use the park facilities and let children burn off as much energy as possible. (Works well for grown-ups too.)
10. Bring Phernergan. (I so wish I thought of this.) 11. I might be joking about phernergan. 12. I might not be joking about phernergan.
Are you a happy camper? What are your tips, hints and reflections of family camping?
PS. You may want to head over to my 7 year old son’s blog and read his account of our camping trip! See here
