BEAR-ly relevant

Bear has had a dead wiggly tooth for some time now - top centre front - one of the "biguns". We have tried various things to get it out - even suggesting he get a paper towel and try to pull it out himself - which he did try a couple of times with fierce determination! It's been pretty stubborn.

Anyway, last night whilst we were out (Fuzz and I that is) at a farewell party for a friend Monk texted Fuzz to let us know that Bear's tooth had finally fallen out - huzzah!!

So this morning I call Bear over and attempted to find out how his tooth had come out in the end, stubborn as it was....

Me: So Bear, how did your tooth fall out last night?

Bear: Mum....Monk was watching Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix last night! (said as if it was particularly significant)

Meanwhile, I am left puzzling over the relevance of this statement which is apparently part of the same conversation that I initiated when I asked how his tooth fell out - no other further explanation however.

After, uttering an internal Huh to myself I say:

Me: So uh, your tooth was SO frightened from watching this (ie. the movie), that that made it fall out....?!!

snort from Fuzz (also in the room).

Pause.

I look up.

Bear is gone.

Apparently he felt his response was more than sufficient.

"I do not think it means what you think it means....."

Perhaps my first mistake was thinking that my young child actually appreciated something I had done for him - I mean who wouldn't appreciate hot porridge with brown sugar and sprinkled liberally with cinnamon and a dash of milk? RIGHT??

But yes, perhaps I was jumping the gun - perhaps, when I asked wombat - "Did you enjoy your porridge?"

and he answered rather enthusiastically "YES!" - that should have sent up a red flag.

A red flag for what? you ask......a red flag that:

"I've finished my porridge, Mummy!" actually meant "I've finished.....smearing my porridge all over the table, chair and floor!"

Snarl.

What crafty people do when they're bored...

....casually knit up a wallet/cover/snuggie (whatever you wanna call it - I prefer wallet - sounds sleaker - or at least as sleak-sounding as a knit accessory can be) for my newly gifted smart phone whilst watching Bones and Fringe...

And sew on a button securely (apparently the way I was taught to sew on buttons is the way professional tailors sew buttons).

Kinda sad really - isn't it?

In fact my only real redeeming factor in all this is a minute instance of lazy indulgence by way of not knitting a button hole - that's right - there are no button holes or at least I didn't need to purposely knit any into the pattern as the twists in cable knits naturally create holes in the knitted fabric.

And then the next morning I was fishing around in my bag and found a cream egg - score! Yes albeit it was wrapped in a hankie (used? unused? who knows...) and the wrapper was missing in parts..... and it was a bit sticky....probably belonged to one of the boys....who may or may not have started eating it (ie. read as "drooled on" - hence the stickiness?) but we're focusing on the positive here - hence - cream egg - wooooo! SCORE!!

The type of Mother I am

I like to think that I am a fairly particular type of Mother. I am a "no-sugar coating" Mother. I tell it like it is.

For instance, one night Monk (the oldest) came to me and in an attempt to delay going to bed he announced, holding his finger aloft, that he could not go to bed because something was wrong with his finger. He then proceeded to elaborate on this a little by repeating several times rather earnestly that something (he wasn't quite sure what) was wrong with his finger. He then, insisting something was wrong with it, proffered it to me asking if I could see just exactly what was wrong with it. I peered at said proffered finger and responded "Yes. It's not in bed."

Of course,...one might argue that this is a fairly accurate description for the attitude with which I approach life in general - not just mothering.

For instance, when my Dad just last night objected to a current movie premise as it was explained in a review - that of the movie Source Code - that is that a soldier is sent back in time to retrieve info, but there's a catch - he only has 8mins each time he travels to gather intel. On hearing this my Father cried aloud "Oh! That's just UNREALISTIC!!"*
Inwardly I responded, "Uh what? As er, opposed to say.....time travel.....?!?"

PS.
We LOVED the movie. Next step up from Minority Report and PayCheque I thought. Can't believe the tv3 reviewer gave it ONLY 3.5 out of 5 stars!!! LUDICROUS.




*Dad thought the concept of someone only having 8mins to gather info was unrealistic. REALLLLLLLY Dad??? You're gonna pick holes in a scifi plot based on what is feasible....??


HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY EVERYONE!!!!

5 Little known facts about MOI

1. I started out my "acting career" as a dancing bunny in our Primary School Production of "Winnie the Pooh".

2. I worked for the Anglican Church one Summer - in the Christchurch Cathedral to be exact.

3. Will(iam) Mariner, whom Mariner's Cave in Tonga is named after, is my Great, Great, Great, Great Grandfather (give or take a "Great").

4. Somewhere in Taiwan there is an icecream poster(s) with me on it! (it was an SJS job)

5. Pink bikkies with hundreds and thousands were my FAV bikkies as a child.

The big PC and the Santa Dilemma (not what you'd expect)

Well, ......this is going to be quite the different blog from what it was going to be. What was it going to be?

Well, ...my friend recently posted on her blog about what I shall refer to as the Santa Dilemma. This whole idea that "lying" to our children about Santa - a fictional character, invented by Coca Cola for Commercial and Capitalistic gain, and "based" on a fairytale and lore embellished Saint Nick - will have such a drastic effect on their lives that it will cause them to lose all faith in us and consequently, potentially lose faith in their faith.

Well

This was going to be a post all about how I considered this had all come about thanks to the large all-encompassing shadow of PC - namely Political Correctness - it's got everyone, particularly parents, running scared. It was going to mention how perfectly sound moral stories like Red Riding Hood have been irreparably and heinously ruined by the effects of PC - as in the instance where I saw a version that belonged to my niece, several years ago now, wherein Red and her Granny were rescued from the Wolf by the Woodsman (that much is the same at least) but instead of the Woodsman logically and realistically chasing off or killing the Wolf for their own safety - he is instead let go, albeit after a HARSH reprimand by the Woodsman. SERIOUSLY??

Well, it was going to be about that.

It was also going to be about such unbelievable things as iconic childrens' characters altered beyond belief such as Cookie Monster now eating fruits and veges and cookies only being a "sometimes" food. He is a COOKIE MONSTER. For goodness sake!

Also apparently The Count (also from Sesame St) no longer laughs after he counts - apparently it was too scary for some children so they cut that out. REALLLLLY??

Well, it was going to be about all of that. It was. And how I believed that Santa had just become really another victim of PC Paranoia. It was at least until I saw this picture - Bear and his class and the rest of the Junior School had a whole fun day out today as part of the 4th to last day of school. As part of this they went to Cadbury World and Bear had THIS picture taken with Santa. DODGY Santa I call him. Don't you think?

Bear and Dodgy Santa - look at that Dodgy look on his face!

Here are my comments as Fuzz perused the picture:

Me: That Santa looks DODGY!! DODGY Santa! What is that up with that DODGY Santa sitting next to OUR Bear with his hand near his BOTTOM! Look at that DODGY look on his face!! And is that a BED they're sitting on?!?!!!

Fuzz shakes with silent laughter as he peruses and I continue to comment.

Me: Do they do a CHECK on these Santas before they let them sit there ALL DAY and have pictures with LITTLE kids sitting on their knee?? I mean LOOK at him! DODGY Santa!

Seriously disturbing - NO child should have a Christmas where THIS Santa is included. If EVER there were a reason NOT to include Santa in Christmas this picture would be the CAMPAIGN POSTER!

It's torches and pitchforks time...

I'll let the pictures and videos speak for themselves - but also add some info not shown in photo form:
Picked up several pieces of paper and plastic rubbish lying about the place, TWO picnic bar wrappers (boys allergic), a sneaker-boot and some kind of filth-streaked pikachu toy - just yesterday ALONE. When weeding along the fence line I found the roses and rose branches that one of the neighbours' daughters had specifically requested when she saw we were trimming and pruning - apparently just so she could change her mind and dump them back over the fence when we weren't looking.

Last week on Friday I discovered a giant orange safety cone - no doubt stolen from the DCC roadworks on Hillside Rd and carted about 3 or so blocks to our house, uphill (they're REALLY committed to being jerks it seems - good on them), and dumped behind our letterbox.

Today our recycling bin has "disappeared". It costs $12 to replace ORRRR I send the police round asking them to return our bin. Nice and friendly like. OR I call our friend at DCC Animal Control to come and take away their annoying dog - actually that would probably be more like rescuing the dog....

Did I mention that earlier this week, in a rather saint-like act of good will that I gave them ALL a ride to school when we ourselves were late AND their ride didn't show?

Anyway,....as I'm "mulling" over all of this I'm SO trying to imagine the "Going on a Bear Hunt" song but with "witch" substituted in instead of "Bear".