Apparently someone in the know has tallied up the Total Germ Points for our household and deemed we haven’t met our quota. Three out of the five of us have colds this week and Miss Moo had to have another day off school yesterday because of a stomach bug. Thankfully this time around it seems to be one of those ‘blink and you’ll miss it’ types because she’s back at school today. Good thing too, because school lets out for the mid-year holidays on Friday. I need to suck up all the kid-free days while I still can!
Seriously though, I feel so helpless when the kids are ill. Even though this bout was nowhere near as horrendous as the last, Moo has developed a unique method of vomiting which sounds suspiciously like an airway obstruction. Nothing like the sound of a choking child to make you thankful for a still-sound bladder :P We gave her a dose of the same medication which fixed her last time and that was the end of it. And in the way only a 6yo can do, she bounded out of bed this morning and calmly announced that she made it through the night without ‘making chunks’ in her hair. Awesome sweetie.
Today, as I still feel pretty lousy, has been all about The Vague. I worked on my Family Cookbook this morning. I have a couple of loads of laundry to do (meh). I’m in the process of reinvigorating (again) my Home Management Binder (stay tuned). Pretty easy kind of day.
A few days ago I tried to book our regular respite worker (specially-trained care worker, which we have access to because of Master J) only to find out she had retired. Sigh. The respite people like you to have two or three workers on file so that if one can’t make it, another can, but since we are pretty flexible with our Date Nights and can easily reschedule, we’ve taken the easy route all these years and only met and got to know one. The kids love her, so its sad to know she won’t be around. Now we have to go through the hassle of meeting a new worker and having the kids like her. And you know, there’s the security issue of having a new person in your home. I’m not the only one who hides the Petty Cash jar whenever a babysitter comes around, right? With C, we never had to bother because we trusted her and though I’m sure our new care worker will be wonderful, there’s that initial apprehension. I have it with all caregivers/teachers/doctors. Till I get to know you and trust you, you’re fair game for verbal dissection with my husband. And doubly so when you throw a disabled child into the mix. I remember one other time we tried to meet a second worker and I just didn’t gel with her AT ALL. I felt guilty at the time calling up the respite agency and saying ‘no’ to her, but hey - my kids, my rules. We meet our new person tomorrow. Actually, only I do - Talented Hubby has a Big Time Interview for an internal transfer at work (fingers triply crossed everyone…thanks) and the kids will be at school - but this gives the opportunity to vet her before involving the kids. If she puts me at ease, I’ll book a shorter-than-we-normally-take respite session and TH and I will head out for coffee for a couple of hours (rather than the five or so hours we are normally gone). Hubs thinks my process is a little extreme but I reminded him of the previous failed introduction and he zipped up.
It’s Boofah’s birthday on Saturday! What a bundle of - well, CURIOSITY - that kid is! It seems like such a long time since this. This kid has absolutely flourished since he skipped a grade a couple of years back. We have such interesting conversations in the 7 minute walk to school each day. Just the other day I was explaining to him the concept of credit cards and why Mummy and Daddy don’t just go out and buy the new TV he’s heard us talking about wanting lately. I told him we could ‘buy’ something (clearly not the TV, LOL) for $200 and take it home today but we would owe the bank interest for (potentially) many months and end up paying perhaps $250. Or we could save that money and buy the item outright and only pay the original $200. He thought about that for a moment and agreed it was better to save. Wow, a parenting moment that stuck! I had to giggle at the serious look on his face as he mulled it over though. Actually, starting pocket money at the beginning of 2007 (the kids were 8, 6½ and 5) was one of the best things we ever did. They get the equivalent of half their age per week (Boof is particularly excited because he’s due a pay rise this weekend, LOL) but of that, half must be put in their money tins, which eventually ends up in the bank. They’re free to spend the other half. So Boof, who is turning 8, will soon get $4 - $2 for his tin, and $2 for his wallet. The coolest thing about this system is that all three of them have been saving their ‘wallet money’ for the longest time and have each put in $50 toward a new gaming system for when we (eventually) do get the new TV. Daddy’s influence had something to do with that, LOL, but $50 is massive for little kids - at Boof’s new rate, it’s almost six months of not spending a dime! Last year they chipped in $40 each to buy Guitar Hero 2. Pocket money is an awesome learning experience for kids.
Boofah has requested the following things for his birthday:
Fruit Loops for breakfast (the birthday child always gets to choose a ‘treat’ box of cereal - I hate these things!)
a day out with Mum and the other two kids while Daddy is at work, and a Donut King hotdog lunch. Not Wendy’s. Must be the donut shop’s. I’m not complaining. They have DONUTS.
A chocolate mud cake (originally going to be bought from The Cheesecake Shop but given the kid has a sound financial head on his shoulders he readily agreed to a much-cheaper boxed mix - but only after I sweetened the deal with his choice of candy to put on the top, LOL).
dinner at our favourite pasta restaurant. We started going to real sit-down dinners with the kids last year - not very often, but for special occasions and maybe once every 2mo during the ‘dry’ (ie, no birthdays) half of the year. It’s a great night out and though more expensive than takeout McDonald’s, we’re all getting far more out of the experience than just a full belly.
Clearly, nutrition takes a backseat on birthdays :P
Oh, and if you’re Australian, you’d have heard about the speight of toy sales coming up. For his present, we broached the idea to him of looking through the catalogues and choosing three or four things (in our budget) which he would like to have, with direction from Mum and Dad as to the appropriateness of his choices. The ’surprise’ - he still wanted some mystery - is which thing he gets. It was a bit hard to ignore the incredible deals that will be flying around in the next couple of weeks. Boof is so careful with money I know this method will work - not so with the other two!
With the end of term looming, we have some other things on the horizon as well. I was originally scheduled to do my next blood donation on Thursday but that had to be postponed when I got sick this week, leaving the day free for an Ikea trip. Being a photographer, Talented Hubby is in love with their cheap photo frames. I’m on the lookout for some very basic student desks for the kids for when Boof FINALLY moves into his own room. I’ve also put aside a couple of op shop (thrift store) finds especially for Miss Moo. She’s only ever known her bedroom as hers and Boof’s and was saying she would miss him (awww, right?) so making sure we have the desks ready to put up on ‘moving day’ will help smooth the way for everyone. Plus, they need them anyway. All three of them are getting homework now and I have this crazy notion that we should get back to dinners at the dining table - not easy when it is strewn with math worksheets and old spelling tests (and a laptop, and four half empty cups of tea, and the wrappers of many a sweet treat…but I wouldn’t know anything about that, no sirree….)
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