a big weekend

On Sunday, Owl was dedicated to God (the baptist version of Christening). Many friends turned up for the day, and also I had the wonderful privilege of baptising people - I love this particular part of a pastor's job! I'm very feminine about it - I'm so happy I hug them when they come out of the water! Talking about owls, I am about to make a little owl for Owl (see this wonderful friend's blog, who has designed one for me! - thanks Prue!) So, in his honour, a little Owl story -at all of 10 months, he has worked out when TV shows are about to finish when the closing music comes on, and looks up and waves and says buh buh (which we think is bye bye). Is he watching too much TV ;)? That's Owl in the piccie - not a recent piccie. but a favourite.

On Saturday, I went out for my grandmother's birthday - she turned 89 - Happy Birthday Marty! (there is a long involved and way too boring story about why we call my grandmother that .....)

Well besides the big days in my family, other, obsiously less important ;) things happened this weekend - I haven't been blogging for a few days because all I wanted to do was talk election, and I didn't want to bore or annoy you all by being overly partisan. Fortunately, my family (husband, parents, brother and sister in law) were all in agreement over the election, so we spent much time on the phone over Friday and Saturday - let's just say we were all happy and much bonding ensued. What was a funny little coincidence was that my parents were in Howard's electorate and my brother and sister in law in Rudd's!

Alas, I was not as happy about the outcome of Sunday night - Aussie idol. still, I had a great night in with friends making jokes about the telecast - almost as good as watching the Eurovision Song contest.

easy peasy tasty hasty kid's cooking

Well I had an idea.... I've just been making some Sparky meals and freezing them today, and thought - why don't we share our easy peasy tasty hasty tried, tested and true kid's meals? oh they can be for the whole family too! and if you have some allergies or what have you you have to deal with, then please contribute one of your recipes so we know what to make when a kid with that allergy or so on comes round for tea.

So, from me - this is the help i'm running out of things to feed him and haven't been to the super market in a while and I've only got a spare 10 mins to cook for him...and can I keep costs down too??

2Min noodles gourmet
2 packs 2 min chicken noodles any brand - aldi if being cheap works well - of course if you want something more upmarket any noodles work.
some chopped vegies - can be frozen! or whatever is knocking round the fridge and needs eating up - one combo i use is peas, mushrooms and ham.
some meat - chopped up ham, or mince of any meat type works well.
some oil, oil spray or butter to grease the pan.

Then if you want a creamy sauce (this works nice with ham) 300ml or more of cream (don't worry, pouring or thickened seems to work well - I use leftover cream of any description).
If you want a chinese style sauce (goes well with pork mince), use soy sauce and any other ones similar hanging out in your fridge door (hoisin, maggi seasoning sauce go well).

Squash noodles while in packet - now they are easy to eat for littlies. prepare as per instructions,. meanwhile, brown meat in saucepan. add vegies, add your combo of sauces/cream to taste - simmer til vegies soft. Add flavour packets (or only part of them if want to reduce sodium intake) to noodles, then drain noodles, but reserve half liquid and add to pan with noodles. stir and warm together - then voila! some meals (number depending on appetite).

virtues for children

I borrowed a book from the local library the other day which I still haven't got around to reading much of (yes I read the fiction first...........). It is called Character building - written by a catholic educationalist. It lists a whole lot of virtues we should aim to inculcate in our children. Even without reading this book, just looking at the chpater headings has been making me think about a virtue focussed upbringing. I think it is quite a handy way to be thoughtful and intentional as a parent, as you can have the virtues you want for them in your head (by the way, I feel for the sake of honesty that I should say I have my days when being intentional as a parent is not on the rader and instead having us all get through the day in one piece is more the goal ;) ). Here is his list of virtues:
audacity (more like boldness for the good). flexibility. fortitude. friendship. generousity. humility. industriousness. justice.loyalty. moderation (more like lack of ostentation). modesty (more like respect of privacy). Obedience. Orderliness. Optimism. Patience. Patriotism (which aslso supports other countries). Perserverance. Prudence. Respect for others. Responsibility. Simplicity (more like authenticity). Sincerity. Sociability. Understanding.

Negatives first:
1. In the bit I have read, he suggests that before 7, you can only really concentrate on 3 virtues - obedience, sincerity and orderliness. I think this is rather pessimistic and limiting, though I notice he does address small kids when he looks at the other virtues.
2. Where is love or grace or compassion?? Certainly several of these virtues would be acting in love, but I would like to have this emphasised.
3. Not all virtues are of equal importance - I certainly am not sure I would focus on patriotism - though perhaps I would prefer to call this social responsility, and act on a global as well as local scale. (By the way, I am actually a very patriotic person, but I'm not sure how important it is that I am!)

Positives:
1. Many of these are directly biblically based, while others may be supported more indirectly. Others are wise ways to deal with life.
2. I think this list is quite widereaching and encourages you to think about qualities that otherwise you might forget.
Some I have been thinking about with my kids lately:
Flexibility - the book makes it clear this is not flexibility about all things! Some things we need to stand firm on. I have been thinking about this with Sparky, as he as I have mentioned before is very structured - which sometimes verges on the obsessional, and I think it is helpful for me to not pander to his self imposed rules, for his sake, as life will be easier if he is flexible, and for the sake of others because I think flexibility can be a real other centred virtue.
Fortitude - this is something I have been intentional about with both kids, though perhaps I think not giving enough sympathy at times, as Sparky is now refusing cuddles sometimes when he is hurt, so I think I need now to stress that it is OK to get the help you need! I think it is good for even small kids to realise that sometimes things can be hard, and it is better to carry on and do your best rather than whinging. I think this results in children who are competent, and also ones who will not look for someone to blame (like God!) or someone to revenge themselves on when things don't go their way. After all, as Rom 5:3-5 says: And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us. (NRSV)
Understanding - lately I have been trying to awaken empathy in Sparky - this is an uphill battle with a 3 year old, and maybe overly ambitious, but we will see!

What virtues are you focussing on? Are there any you would take off from the list? any you would add?

More spiritual development

A couple of interesting conversations with Sparky yesterday.

First, he had been in time out twice (once from his dad once from me) for being aggressive with his brother. He had also at this time been pretending to be a super hero. He then wouldn't put his teatowel cape back on and was sobbing - I ased why, and he said "I will never ever be a super hero". Why not? becuase super heroes are good, not naughty and they help people. They also fly, according to Sparky, but apparently that is not as definitive of them as the moral virtues of a hero! We had a big talk about how all of us be naughty sometimes, and that he can already be a super hero, and that God will have lots of super hero things for him to do in life. Cape went back on . So, lovely internalisation of desire for goodness - but now need him to feel that him being good isn't a hopeless case.

Secondly, at the shops, he suddenly says "come along Jesus, hold my hand" and I look down (Sparky is holding my hand) and the other hand is outstretched holding on to well what looks likes nothing. Then we get to the car and I am told to strap Jesus in as well. Sparky then says "it is a good thing we didn't leave Jesus at the shops". Very true. Then he says "jesus says he loves everybody" . Then Jesus got a running commentary from Sparky about what could be seen out the window. Jeus was kinda being treated like an imaginary friend, but still I thought it was gorgeous - so relational.

I feel like I am leaving Owl out recently, so his latest thing is he has stood by himself unsupported - yesterday for quite a while, because he was so cranky with me for putting him down, he just stood and cried for a while and then calmed down , realised he was standing up and so sat down with a plop. Quite a funny sight actually - poor fella.

had we but world enough and time

The title comes from a poem by Marvell which aims to seduce a woman fast using the whole carpe diem thing. An amusing poem, but basically the 17th C version of a pick up line. Is it right though?

I have been excited by reconnecting with people on facebook but have been struck by the fact that I don't manage to keep up with existing friends at the moment, let alone refound or new ones. I have been able to have more contact with people than I otherwise might have, but it is still not the same as good ol face-to-face time. Sure relationships can be difficult, but life has been teaching me that people of all sorts are worth knowing. So the lack of time saddens me.

This is one thing that really draws me about eternity , and the Christian view of it - is that we spend it in community with those who take hold of forgiveness in Christ. Those people that moved far away will be right next door. Those people who for some reason although they seemed great we never got past polite acquaintance with - we will be able to go bowling with. Those people we have relationship struggles with - even though in our heart we really want to be friends with - we will be laughing with them over a cuppa about it. I can't wait. And I want to take people with me.

So sorry Marvell, we do have, in hope, in Christ, world enough and time (and heaven and eternity too).

I are very bryght

Well, after some attempts, I have now managed to get the perfect score (50) on the vocab test game I mentioned a couple of posts back that gives rice to the hungry.
This says that I have:
a) an amazing vocab
b) a heart for the hungry
c) an amazing ability to waste time
d) a self esteem that needs shoring up through proving myself in games of limited application in the outside world...........
ahh! but the sense of achievement feels so good................
well, I was having some downtime from looking after a sick Owl all day, as he projectile vomited in the morning, all over me, twice. which also explains why Sparky went to bed with a sore tum last night. Plus tonight we had a blackout when I was putting them to bed (but the power is back on for House on tv tonight yay!).

updated blog reading level

Hmmmmmm
just out of curiousity did the blog readability test on my blog again.........only 2 posts since I last did it (see 2 posts back!). And this time came out as postgrad level - 2 posts can make that much difference???? would be interesting to see the code for this...

Help is just a click away

One of the funny little byproducts of the Internet is charity clicking - basically how it works is you go on to a charity site and click a button and this donates to the charity - the donation is given by advertisers to the site (so you also help the longevity of charity clicking by visiting these advertisers at least once in a while or otherwise they will decide it isn't worth the money).
I've known about this site -the hunger site - for years - it is the original charity click site since 1999. It has expanded and now also has affiliated sites for breast cancer literacy, child health, the rainforest and animal rescue.

There are now tonnes of them - so you now find sites that produce directories of them (and also enable you to bulk click - though again, this practice makes it even more likely that charity clicking will become unprofitable for advertisers, unless you do visit them occasionally as well).

I go through stages - sometimes I am a committed clicker, and at other times very infrequent - it does cost my time, and you have to weigh up your time constraints versus actual beneficial outcome - some sites seem to be more generous than others - more cash for your click if you like. Also, it can lead to a feeling of having done your bit just by clicking, when you should also put your hand in your own pocket!

Clicking is not very exciting though so a new site a friend had on her blog (2nd ref to this blog in 2 days!) is the answer to that (though way too addictive and definitely is catering to your pride, which may not be a good idea) - its called Free Rice, and you test your vocab and each word correct donates rice. And yes, this is boasting - I have managed so far to get to a rating of 47/50 (48/50 now)... see BBC news service for an article on this game.

Blog reading level

I found this interesting little test on a blogger friend's blog - who came out as postgrad level! I'm not sure what to feel about this..... as I am contemplating going back to postgrad study, but was wondering whether I knew how to write like that anymore, this is worrying that I don't make postgrad..........on the other hand, as this is just a little personal blog in which I write about my days, perhaps the level is too high???

internalising

Sparky is having one of those developmental change periods...we had a difficult morning this morning, because Bhaer and I were both busy and Sparky likes lots of attention - anyway he followed me around most of the time talking non stop (NOT an exaggeration) and it was wearing, and so I got irritable with him. Eventually he went off to do something by himself, and proudly showed me what he had done - create an interesting pattern on his playdough ------with his jumper. I didn't get him in trouble, since he didn't know he shouldn't do this, but told him not to do it again. I changed his jumper, because he was just about to go out. I came back and he was now creating patterns with something I had said was Ok, but still making a huge mess, including on the new jumper, and we were less than 5 mins off going out, so I said it was time to put the playdough away. He was very upset, and I explained he wasnt in trouble but that no he couldnt have it back, and why. Next thing I know, I find him standing face against a wall, and he says mum I'm here. I'm like yes I can see that... and then he says "I'm having time out". He had put himself into time out! So then I gave him lots of cuddles and tried to explain again that he wasn't in trouble. Then I had very mixed feelings about this: 1) was very impressed that he seemed to be internalising discipline. Becuase of course our hope is that he develops internal values and self control, rather than being reliant on being externally controlled. There have been other signs of this lately, and I'm really pleased about that.
2) I did feel that this was the result of a whole morning of me being irritable with him - after all talking non stop isn't exactly naughty (though I did tell him to be quieter a couple of times when I was on the phone), just tiring. So it isn't good that at the end of the morning he feels like a bad boy. This links into my previous post about needing to be aware of the interplay of his extraversion with my intraversion.

So, so pleased that he is developing a moral sense, but wondering how to teach him the fine balance between being himself in all his chatty, friendly gorgeousness, whilst respecting other's boundaries and need for space - we had this issue a while ago with him hugging people too much, and he finally learnt that not everybody wants a hug all the time, especially not 20 in a row.

In other Sparky news, he came up with his first joke (very proud parents!)
When does a truck run over your toe? when it is a tow truck!
and today managed to kiss several little girls at Koorong (Christian book store) - most of whom looked pleased, but the girls' mums looked even more charmed.