This post is sponsored by Nurofen for Children. Nixon has had to deal with more pain in his short life than I can even imagine. Before his diagnosis with Hirschprungs Disease, the first year of his life must have been so uncomfortable. His inability to …
My Christmas shopping is progressing surprisingly well this year. I hate rush-shopping so have been steadily ticking items off my list for the past few months. The kids gifts are a different story however. The only presents locked in and ordered so far are books. And that …
Sunday morning, post-sleepover party. It was sunny, I flung open the doors, I vacuumed and lit lovely smelling candles, the bebe was sleeping and the 10th birthday party was over {for me at least, Dave was on duty with 5 boys at the hot pools – where’s that laughing-so-hard-i’m-crying emoticon?}. How jaded do I sound? Very, I know. Here’s the deal, we have gone big on birthday parties for so many years, and I can definitely pull them off. Remember Big Foot hunting in the forest when Dave hired a costume and was actually Big Foot? Yes, I think our work here is done.
So, I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeve, a few skills you know; I can take some pretty snaps, sometimes people pay me to do this. I can produce large and small scale graphics and run Illustrator, InDesign and Photoshop with my eyes closed, sometimes people pay me to do this too. One thing I can definately do is make awesome birthday invitations and get all crafty with party stuff. But this year I didn’t. No mummy-guilt here, just knocked out a Minecraft invite 5 days before the party {oops} in literally, 6 minutes. Ethan was pretty much in raptures. Check.
I have made my blessed first born an awesome cake every year for every party. He wanted a cheesecake this year which was no problem as I can knock one of those up in a flash {Cheesecake Recipe here}. Totally purchased all the ingredients and didn’t have time to make it. No mummy-guilt here, Dave ran up to The Cheesecake Shop and got them to write “Happy 10th Birthday Ethan” on his store bought cake – in really crappy looking writing – and it was just the best thing ever! “Look at this”, E exclaimed to his friends, “my DAD got this custom made!” “you don’t just buy them like that, DAD hooked it up”. Yes, DAD totally “hooked it up”. Obviously I hadn’t been hooking it up enough for the past 9 years to deserve that enthusiastic reaction to cake, but whatevs, there was cake! Check.
Afternoon tea – Ethan planned the menu; cocktail sausages, grapes, frozen savouries, chips and soda. Healthy? No way. Easy, yes! 24 hours of party food won’t kill anyone and will also help this mummy not kill anyone – everybody wins!
Dinner – Pizza Hut $5 takeout pizzas – still winning!
Breakfast – Pancakes, cheers Dad. Our amaze Pancake Recipe here
So, to summarize, this is NOT my idea of an epic birthday party. No perfectly planned menu, no crafts and decor, no Pinterest worthy pics, in fact no pics at all aside from this gem – can’t see the cake or the birthday boy, the lighting is shit, image quality worse than shit and I have 7 chins!
But for all of its failings in the ‘Perfect Party’ department, Ethan had an amazing weekend with his friends and enjoyed the unstructured, un-fancy-no photo-opp nature of his celebration and it was a good lesson for me; my expectations can be lowered without the world falling off its axis!
Life is mental. Then your eldest son turns 10 and life gets more mental and you just get really o l d . On Friday E turns 10 and this means {if my maths is correct} that Dave and I have been parents for 10 …
Many of us try and add a little charitable cheer to the Christmas season, making a point to teach our kids the value and importance of giving, not just receiving, especially to those to those less fortunate. In-store initiatives such as Kmart’s Wishing Tree Appeal …
I’ve had a revelation dear reader, and being the giver that I am, I’ve decided to share it with you.
{Truth be told, this philosophical divulgence occurred some time ago, but it has taken 6 weeks to get a picture of that damned frog!}
So here we are. Is your mind clear? Are you sitting with an open heart and incense burning {preferably on an organic, free trade hemp mat, but beggars can’t be choosers so read on}, ready to receive the blessing of todays spiritual enlightenment?
The circle of life has nothing to do with Elton John. Or Simba. Let’s let that sink in shall we? No! You’re good, ok. Moving on; The circle of life also has nothing to do with birth, death, regeneration, planting your placenta under a tree or anything else completely normal like that. Shit’s getting cray cray, stay with me reader.
During the last school holidays, Ethan headed north to spend a few golden days and nights with his Nana & Geoff in Waipu. He loves it there, he can roam free with the big dogs, fish for eels and………catch frogs all day. We are fully versed in the one-way relationship that comes from having pet frogs; you spend $140 on a terrarium to house your new friends, add to that a budget of $20 on flies once a week, put flies in tank, frog eats flies, frog poos in water, you clean the tank (because Steve Irwin Jr lost interest after day 9). Needless to say after a couple of years of this we released our amphibious friends and sold our terrarium – because there was no way we were EVER having pet frogs again. Mmm mmmm, no way.
Can you see where this is going? Can you?
Ethan returned from Waipu clutching a 20 litre paint bucket like it was the last bucket of Resene Quarter Tea left in existence. Inside was the biggest freaking frog we had ever seen. Despite a generous offer of a frog palace from friends, we were going to need a bigger tank.
So you see reader, the circle of life isn’t a matter worthy of deep, spiritual meditation. The circle of life is complete when you are purchasing your SECOND $140 terrarium and naming the biggest, fly guzzling creature you have ever seen, Benji.
The lesson here is simple, don’t sell your terrarium / fishtank / hamster house ever. Hoard that shit in your garage until all kids are at least 21, then make them take it flatting. The husband children will always find a way to smuggle more pets into your life, this is how we ended up with Dash, and goddamn it I can’t lose that dog for want of trying.
Namaste x
Thanks to Rexona Invisible Dry for sponsoring this post – originally published on nzgirl I am a Mum. I am also a stay-at-home Mum. Every choice you make as a mother comes at a cost; the equal and opposite alternative to your decision to stay …
People go crazy about their coffee and its inherent routine in their day. Some will happily knock back a cup of instant and be good to go, but others love the process and the ritual of brewing and perfecting their consummate cup. The team at Volt Espresso …
It’s pretty hard to deny that everything is generally a-ok in your world when you have sun shining on this little corner of love in your lounge x
We are still loving finding new ways in which we can work Vitasoy’s new Coconut Milk into our diets and this new recipe I’ve mixed up results in a deliciously creamy popsicle, without the guilt factor. Best thing is, these creamsicles don’t have that super-hard …