A quick spot of randomness

Tomorrow is Australia Day.  Lamb and Lamingtons were on special... it was a very happy shopping trip for me.

That is going to sound totally weird if you don't know the lamb and lamington connection to January 26th... which is basically that on Australia Day you chuck lamb on the barbie and scoff down a couple of lamingtons.  And I really like lamb and lamingtons.

Monkey is really not sleeping well lately, I think I may need to cut out milk again, even my good milk that has been okay, now that he doesn't have the medicine to help it might be too much.  I like the odd latte.

Dragon was at kindy again today.  Not a drama at all.  Miss S was about to read a book to another little boy and asked if Dragon would like to join in and he sat up next to her on the couch and I gave him a cuddle and a kiss and left.

Lion starts prep in less than 48 hours.  It's exciting.  It's scary.  This is me I'm talking about here, if Lion is scared at all anymore he's not showing it.  Meanwhile my heart skips a beat anytime I see an ad on TV with kids in school uniforms.

I met a lady today who had panic in her eyes.  She had been sitting with her husband at the hospital but she needed to leave him to go and get some groceries for home and in her hurry hadn't gone to the loo before she started shopping.  She had a trolley full of groceries and needed to use the loo!  She had called her daughter on the off chance that she was shopping in the same centre or was near by because she just couldn't think what to do with her groceries while she relieved herself.  Her daughter suggested she go to the parents room because they have a stall big enough to get a pram into so she could take the trolley in with her.  She was very embarrassed to be in there without a child, and worse still she had to wait.  I chatted with her for a minute and could see the panic rising as we talked... "Why don't you leave your trolley here, take your handbag and see if there's a stall free in the ladies" I suggested... I didn't have to say it twice, she gave me a relieved (hahahaha) look and took off.  When she got back she told me I was the most wonderful thing that has happened to her in her life... now, I doubt it was true, desperation can make your world seem rather skewey... but she was sweet and I hope her husband gets to go home soon.

We bought Lion a school hat today.  He should have one with the school emblem on the front and his sports house colour trim around the edge of the brim.  "You can purchase them from the tuckshop during the student-free days" we were told.  So off we go today, Lion and I, to the school office to find out which house he is in and what colour trim we need to get.  "You can purchase it from the tuckshop once school starts" the office ladies tell me.  WHAT?  I doubt there will be any sun on his first day of school with all these tropical lows and rain depressions hanging around but he should have a hat to start school.  So they can stick their school hat (the uniform is just a navy hat with a full brim and you can purchase a "school hat" if you wish) I went and bought him a nice broad brimmed navy hat.  He loved it and I had to pull the tags off it for the chick to scan them because it was on his head for keeps once I said we were buying it.

The rain has been crazy with ex-Tropical Cyclone Olga and ex-Tropical Cyclone Neville messing with things.  Olga was above us and Neville below us... the rain was right on us.  But then it wasn't.  It was pouring.  Then it was blue sky.  It was raining so hard I couldn't see through the windscreen for a bit each time the wipers passed.  Then it was spitting just enough to be annoying.  AAAARRRRGGGGGGHHHHHH!

I am a realist.  This summer anyway.  I spent nearly $20 on an underbrella (Lion's word) last summer that was compact when folded and big enough to fit me and two kids under, it died the second time I used it.  This summer... I spent $5 at the junk shop on a sweet purple kids underbrella just for Monkey and I to use.  If my underbrella doesn't make it to the end of the wet season I wont cry.

I needed to buy new raincoaters (Lion's word also) for the kids anyway.  The one (yes, only one) that we had was a hand me down from Cheetah, I don't know how old it was but towards the end of last summer it started getting holes.  That's fine for playing in the yard (when you have to do a time share deal with your brother anyway so one of you is getting soaked at all times) but for actual rain protection it's pretty useless.

Have I mentioned that Lion is starting school and I am not ready for it?

It's 11pm and Monkey is awake and playing.  He does this a bit lately.  He goes to sleep for an hour or so and then he wakes up sometime when I am thinking sleepy thoughts and is uncomfortable and cranky and kicks and plays and complains until he a) burps b) pops c) poops d) all three.  I have no idea how to break this cycle.  I am hoping going back off the milk might help that too.

Yep, my boy is going to school.  I don't think I'll cry, but I will be nervous for him... and for me.  Nervous for him as he meets his new classmates and will he get a teacher that will understand his special little personality.  Nervous for me for the new parenting challenges this will bring... Remembering to pick him up each day... The delightful new words that will come home... Will I have to deal with problems from the "wrong sort of friends"?  I know we'll be fine, heaps of parents have done it before and survived and their kids have turned out to be model citizens.  Heaps of people have totally screwed up their kids too... but I'm not completely convinced that had anything to do with school in a lot of cases.

We did find out his teachers name today, Miss P... and his class, Prep A.  We went looking for which room that was but they didn't have their room names anywhere that I could find and we were told that  from today they would have class lists on the room doors so that if you wanted to familiarise your child with where to go before school starts you could.  I figured it seemed like a good idea and since we were there to buy a hat (yeah, great!) we might as well find out which room he was in.  Well it was like their promise that the tuckshop would be open for us to buy a hat... NOTHING.  We'll just be surprised along with everyone else on Wednesday.

I love to listen to my kids sing.  Two particular times they have brought a smile to me recently.  Yesterday at church Lion was giving it his all singing "Trust and obey, for there's no other way, to be joyful in Jeeeeesus than to trust and obey".  Then today in the car we had the most wonderful rock/opera version of the Hallelujah Chorus.  I love the way they pronounce 'omnipotent' different every time they sing it!

So, yeah, Lion starts Prep on Wednesday...