The over-sharing and the ridiculous...

Legs of a woman in a white skirt, holding a basket of flowers

I assume it's not just me, others too, find themselves in this situation. But there are times in life when you are forced into the most ridiculous conversations. Living with one or more  junior recipe testers under the age of five will mean this is a daily occurrence. But it is made even more problematic when you are forced to have a ridiculous conversation in a very public place.

Now, I realise, I am at high risk of over-sharing here. So if you are prone to embarrassment, please do avert your eyes.

I recently had need to visit the GP....

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School holidays and climbing the roof (but not the walls!)

A red and a blue door of adjacent terrace housesSchool holidays are, for me, a break in routine and a chance just to hang out. They're also a time to climb on the roof. I should point out that I didn't include that on my original school holiday plan...

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Last minute orders are here... for when you're begging for mercy!

Black and white image of children's hands on a table top

Recently, I had one of those days. Not the good one. I had a bit to get through, so I made a list. Lists are good. They keep you on track. And there's that sense of great personal fulfillment when you tick something off.

My big problem is, I lose little pieces of paper on which I write lists. But I will not be deterred. I now write them on my phone. And then they do not get lost. Very often...

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Finite energy points - the daily life juggle and the energy overdraft

Light globe on its side with a little smoke coming off it

Most days, I work on the proviso that we start every day with a certain number of energy points. These are there for the picking, spent as the situation requires. Some tasks, of course, require a greater number of energy points than others. Occasionally I find I can achieve two tasks using a single energy point, and in those rare moments, I feel supremely smug.

Over the years I have learned three things:

  1. Getting an overdraft is difficult.
  2. Sometimes I am over-expended by 8.32am.
  3. My application for an overdraft, logged by 8.43am, is usually denied by 9.03am.

Here's how the tally went today:

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I still don't get how...

Image of two children's toothbrush holders and a single toothbrush with no holder
Parenting's hard, but if I may be bold
There's a lot, 'fore we're parents, we're simply not told.
Like how little juniors, would seem without warning
To wake in the morning and promptly start bawling

And so 'twas our fate, the morn before last
One junior woke up and just gave us a blast
And right in that instant, confirmed all my fears
For an effortless morning, yep- a junior in tears...

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The force of force

Black and white image of steam on a black background

A force is any interaction with an object that, when unopposed, will change the motion of an object. Put another way, forces are the push or pull on an object. Heavy objects require greater force to move them than light objects. In short, you have to push or pull harder to get heavy objects to move.

I am so excited to tell you that we bought you an oven. The oven we had in the big kitchen is still perfectly serviceable. It was just getting a little on the small size for your dinners. The new oven is large. It is also heavy.

The senior recipe tester, being the kind and generous sort that he is, went to collect the new oven for you. For this task we hired a truck with a lifting device to overcome the significant downward force of the oven on the floor of the depot. A forklift lifted the oven into the truck for the senior. Lifting it out of the truck, and into the big kitchen, he had to sort out himself. We called a friend for backup...

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If you can't beat 'em, cook with 'em

Image of a child stiring a bowl of cake mixture

The virtues of eating meals with your children are long heralded. The benefits, we are told, are untold. Everything from lofty educational attainment to absence of delinquency are certain gains.

What they don't mention is that eating with those significantly younger than you, can be quite unpalatable...

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Lifelong learning...

Image of a yellow person figurine attached to a set of keys

Learning, I've come to realise, occurs in stages. Whenever one starts working with new tools, for instance, there is that stage in which you're stretched until your functional knowledge and proficiency catch up to your skill need. Psychologists call this stage "conscious incompetence": a point at which you have at least recognised a deficit in your understanding or skill.

This week I have made some inroads to stemming my incompetence:

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Who cares? Carers Week 2016

Pegs on a clothesline

The week just gone was National Carers Week in Australia. It's a chance to say thank you to those who provide care in all sorts of ways, and to recognise their valuable work. Informal carers save government in this country over $1BILLION each and every week: over $60billion annually. That's a lot of dollars in anyone's language.

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The proudest of moments

Image of open book "We're going on a bear hunt"...today, big excitement
Was happ'ning at school
We rushed to be part of it,
Downing our tools;

A stellar performance
... Well, it wasn't quite Wembly.
One junior and class
They were running assembly...

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