I am woman hear me roar

Oh the rain. One plan for the week has not happened, and it is sadly not going to happen again. Taj and I were meant to go for a horsey ride walk up the beach with the ergo carrier. We might get a gap in the rain, in which time we will have to do some crazy mummy walking, like I did in the mall yesterday.

I accomplished and survived the christmas shopping at the mall. That was my massive plan of the week. The one that I knew would cause me the most pain. I wanted to get the shopping done in one go. Anything that did not come home with me will be bought online or locally. I am not a fan of the mall, and I take that deep breath, and then run around like some crazy lady. Taj was on his scooter and we were racing around together. It was all completed in an hour and a half. All I can think of right now is Helen Reddy, I am woman hear me roar!

We came home with lots of well known and popular toys. They love them, and christmas is all about the little people! The advent calendar even made it into the trolley, toy story for Taj and barbie for Keely. Taj chose them, and to my surprise he has forgotten about the whole shopping adventure, {phew}. Must have been the lightning fast santa mummy. I am happy to say this fast mummy got the hard part done, the rest is all the pretty and creative gifts. Although, I do need one more commercial gift for Keely, but I could not bring myself to walk out with a Baby Alive doll.

Have you started your christmas shopping, or finished?

home alone

This week it is just me and my little Taj Joan. I had grand plans for us. In my head it was going to be so cruisey. Two little people down to one. Easy. I can hear Taj giggling right now, "yeah right mummy!" {And please do not let that cute face fool you.... }.

Yesterday was a hard one. Taj was in a mood. I am not sure how those stars are aligned, or what that moon is doing, but they sure didn't help my day yesterday. It could also be that he was just having a bad day. That is very normal. He is also missing 4 teeth, and he could be pushing them through. I am not game to put my hands in there to check it out.

I bought trains for Taj. He is obsessed with Keely's Ikea train set and he told me he wanted to have 2 more trains. Two soon turned into three. So off we potted to the shops in the rain and I bought him three thomas trains..... bad decision. He gets frustrated with them. He wants them to stay in a big line and not fall off. They were not playing nice with him and in turn there were tears, tantrums and more tantrums, and then laughing and smiles. (Picture Taj's moods going around and around that train track).

There are times when the gift of giving is not the best thing to do. Or as some might call it, bribing our children can sometimes backfire. I am not sure what I was bribing him for. But I truly believe this close to christmas a gift was not necessary. Looks like I will be buying the whole train track for christmas. Have you seen the price of the Thomas train tracks? Oh my; now I am having the tears, tantrums and more tantrums all the way around the Thomas train track.

There is still 4 days of grand plans left!

jem is my name

As a little girl I never owned a dolls house. I did have barbies. Maybe too many barbies. I had a Jem doll. Do you remember her, Jem and the Misfits? My Jem had the coolest pink hair. I used to play full rock concerts with her and my barbies. Even writing about it is bringing me back the memories of my pretend play.

Watching Keely on the weekend pull out all of her furniture from her doll's house, and set it all up around her was beautiful. When I got down and started to take photos I could see the game she was playing. I could see the imagination ticking over in her head. Hearing her voice and hearing the things they were doing was magic.

These are the times when I wish I could shrink back to being her size and enjoying the innocence and the tiny life of pretend play.

{This week Keely is away with her daddy and her grand dad, creating memories with her cousins. I am missing her already, and she is still here}!

graduation

I remember going to big school. I remember those packed lunches, and the days my mum worked in the tuck shop. I loved it when she was in there. It was the day I could buy my lunch. I especially loved the fruit balls and the carob buds my tuck shop had.

The tables have turned and now I am thinking about my own daughter going to big school. I bought her a lunch box online this week. This morning I am going to the school with Keely to buy her uniform. Her uniform!

The beginning of next month Keely graduates from pre school. Yes they have a graduation. The end of this month she wears her uniform to pre school with a packed lunch in her new lunch box for the week. This is practice. I guess it will be practice for me to give her the kiss goodbye and wish her a lovely day.

I will feel somewhat naked. Very proud. And I am sure a little anxious. But overall I will feel excited, as I know this is what she will be feeling. The anxious part and the naked self will go in hiding. I want her to feel excited, and so she should feel excited.

Lucky for Keely she will never have a mullet hair cut like I did!

{image 1. me with the famous mullet, image 2. my sister with amazing red hair, image 3. my brother}.

taj rockin' the sandcastle

The sun is out. The beach is hot. The water is warming up. The afternoon storms are here. Roll on summer, roll on.

{Great editing skills I have.....}!

here I am.

I am dancing. Have you seen me dance. I am pretty good. If I do say so myself! I have quite a bit of balance right now and the feet are groovin' to some awesome beats. Heartbeats. My little people's hearts.

Come watch me dance in the new issue of Maeve. Summer issue. Here comes the sun.

Enjoy an online magazine full of awesomeness. You can see Natalie in there from the Pagoda Tree. She helped me put those dancing shoes on. I have Nat to thank. {thank you x}. She can help you dance through summer. Go and put those dancing shoes on.

Let's dance.

little buddies

I have heard that you should not be friends with your children. They should know who is "boss." I personally disagree. I was friends with my mum. I was also a daughter to my mum. We had a relationship I could only hope I will have with my children. I may be going about it the wrong way, but I am rolling with it. Parenthood is a bit hit and miss and I have no doubt my mum missed a few hits. But I can say she hit a home run with me. I have nothing but true respect and love for her.

I bought a bracelet for Keely and one for myself last week from Pulp. I gave Keely hers and showed her that I had one too. She instantly said, "oh mum these are friendship bracelets!"

That they are. That is what we are. We are friends and we are mother and daughter.