War on Bugs!

So… What did you do today? Even if it was watching paint dry, or the grass grow, I bet it was more fun than what I did. I had the wonderful maternal task of delousing the boys. (Why is it the mum’s job? Because it’s the dad’s job to polish the car.)

It always starts with the note sent home from school. You know, the one that starts, “Dear Parent / Caregiver, The presence of head lice has been detected in your child’s class…” I’m normally pretty diligent but with the weather cooling down, I figured I could take a break. And in my defence, I hadn’t seen any for quite a few months.

According to the information, there’s no need to rush around vacuuming and washing bedding because they don’t live for long but nobody seemed to know exactly how long. Do you know how long lice can survive away from the warmth of its host? I do because I did an experiment a few years back. I managed to ‘rescue a pair’ who were too busy playing with each other to notice that they had been relocated to a plastic cup. They survived for at least 24 hours. I reckon that’s more than enough time to hide and wait on pillows, chairs, hairbrushes and hats!

With the eldest being in school and day-care for over a decade, I am not a stranger to these bugs. And naturally, I’ve tried nearly every product that is available. Countless shampoos (both natural and chemical), that really cool zapper comb that promises to zap any bug it comes into contact with (until it choked on Pup’s hair and promptly quit its day job), and of course the conditioner and comb method. The conditioner and comb method are my preferred method of declaring war on those things. (Why do they even exist? They don’t seem to serve any purpose at all.)

I have often been tempted to just shave their heads, but, for some reason, they aren't to keen on that idea. (Something to do with image and how silly they would look.) So, for what it’s worth, here are my tips.

• Use a really good quality comb.
• Any conditioner will do, and make sure to cover all the hair. It slows the bugs down so you can actually catch them.
• Get rid of all the nits you find. If you don’t they will hatch and you will have wasted the day.
• Make sure you have a really strong light source. The sun cannot be relied on to stay shining bright. Just as soon as you spot something, the sun will disappear behind a cloud.
• Even if you think that speck is dirt, remove it. Rather safe than sorry because if you think those nits are small, wait until you see baby lice.
• Add some tea tree oil to shampoo and wash out the conditioner. Then comb the hair again thoroughly.
• Add some tea tree oil to a spray bottle of water and douse the child’s head with it before and after school. I also recommend combing the hair when the child gets back from school. Early detection never hurt anyone, except the bugs.
• Keep checking their heads and don’t make plans for rest of the week or guess what you’ll be doing in about two weeks time.

Go on scratch your head. You know you want to…

The Stray

I have a confession to make. I am generally a good-hearted person but sometimes I get a 'little bit cranky’. (Dad would disagree that it's a little bit cranky but this is still my blog)

Yes I can get a 'little bit cranky' and this is one of those times so let’s just go back a bit…


Down our street are quite a few houses but one in particular is my own personal nightmare. About four years ago, there was a knock on the door, and, as you do, I wandered over to see who it was. (I was also desperately hoping it was not yet another salesperson because I really don’t like dealing with them either) It was a woman and basically our conversation went like this:

Her: Hello, you don’t know me but you are obviously a soft touch. My husband needs our car so that he can get to work to pick strawberries, I need you to take our son to school and then bring him home in the afternoons.
Me: How do you know what school we go to?
Her: I was parked behind you at the school and followed you home. It would be so nice of you to relieve me of my parental duties of playing taxi for the snot-nosed brat. Besides I have other more important things to do, like sleep all day and recover from Thursday night bowling.
Me: Ok. (Fantastic! Now I have a stalker who lives down the road!)

Obviously that conversation was not 100% accurate but it was a while ago. I assumed that it would be a short term thing because they were trying to save money for another car (she actually did say so). I also stupidly assumed there’d be some sort of reciprocation. Sadly, there was no offer for petrol money, or the remote suggestion of she’ll pick up my boys because she’s got the car. Instead, there was just the lazy, sulking woman who had dragged herself from wherever she’d been lying to walk her son home. There was never ever a thank-you.

After a while I noticed that their car was often in the driveway and I got a 'little bit cranky’. I suggested to her that maybe her kid could catch the bus. She replied that there wasn’t one. Because I’m obsessive (I prefer the word persistent –thank-you very much) I decided to look into it and would you believe that there were actually TWO bus services they could use?! She only needed to walk him a little bit further. Oh! And actually pay someone for the service! I printed out the information and gave it to her. She only got the hint when I set Dad on her and he told her no more. Interestingly enough, the kid then caught the bus and I didn’t have to deal with them. They moved a few months later and sometimes I think, was it just me? (Then I get over it)

About two years ago, Dad and I had just come home from shopping. A woman’s voice called out. Again, as you do, I went to investigate. She was holding a dog’s collar and wanted to know if we knew where it lived. I told her no. She asked me to take responsibility because she needed to get back to work and the stupid mutt was running all over the busy road. I agreed, mainly because the dog was very friendly, needed a bath and the lady needed to go back to work. I phoned the local council and gave them the information on the dog’s collar and they managed to find the owner. He lives in THAT HOUSE!!! Anyway, to keep this story short, the dog owner wandered over and took the dog back home again. The mongrel had escaped when his wife went shopping!

Back to The Stray… About a year ago, there was a knock on the door (and by now you know what I did) There was a young boy (4) standing there. That conversation went a bit like this…

Him: Can I come and play?
Me: No, where’s your mum?
Him: She’s not here.
Me: Where do you live?
Him: Not here.

Then I noticed a man down the street, calling for him to come home.

Me: I think your dad wants you to go home.
Him: That’s not my dad.

Yes, it was his dad but what was even worse was it was the HOUSE!!! Again!!!

Apparently the dad had split up with the mum and they had shared custody. Shame and he gets so bored… No one else to play with…

So yes, I said he could come and play… The kid turned into a Houdini. He’d escape from his home and turn up here. I’d march him back if he was on his own. Most of the time, his dad or grandparents didn’t even know he was missing. The worst was when Granddad (that dog owner) turned up and asked if I knew where the kid was. I guess they found him but they never told me…

I told the dad the kid could play but only if he turned up with an adult. If the kid was flying solo, I’d walk him back home.

The last time he came to play, his dad said it was just for an hour. Two hours later, I walked him home.

His dad was a bit annoyed because he was “just going to finish his coffee”. I got a little bit cranky. (It’s a 2 minute walk – I doubt the coffee will go anywhere!!!)

We hadn’t seen The Stray for a while, so I thought they’d got the hint. But No! He was back last Saturday (alone), yesterday (alone) and both times I sent him home. (Yes, I watched him until I could see one of his family members watching him – I’m not totally heartless)

Today, he turned up WITH HIS DAD!!! At 4:00 on a Sunday afternoon!!! He asked if he could come and play. I said no.

Time for The Stray to go but why do I feel so bad? I don't like that house!

A Quick Update - Student Leader

Ready for another post about Cub?

He has been made a "Student Leader" for the year! He has a certificate AND a badge! How awesome is that?! Guess who the proud parents are!!!

I only wish the school had told us so we could have had the opportunity to see him get his badge. And no, he didn't know about it either. It was a surprise for him too... He reckons he didn't bother to apply but obviously his teachers and peers did! Yes! I'm massively proud of him!!!

On a side note - When he showed Pup his badge, Pup said, "I had one of them too." Sadly, I had to correct him and tell him that no, he did not actually have one of them and neither did any of his friends... (Lesson learnt Pup - don't take away someone else's glory)

Leadership Camps! My First Year 7 camp!

Pup is now in Year 10, Cub is in Year 7 and Foal is in Year 3!

The main focus of this post is Cub… I’m facing a similar issue I had with Pup ending primary school. (To be honest, I’m the first to say - I know I didn’t cope but he did)

But this time it’s worse. This time the school is actually holding the seniors camp! (Pup’s camp was cancelled due to “lack of interest”. Actually most of the Year 7 boys decided to boycott the camp and that’s why it was cancelled)

I think I coped quite well with Cub’s Year 6 camp (held at the school for a one night sleep over, where I could see him when we dropped his brother off) but this one is a whole new game. This time he’s not going to be just up the road, it’s not just for one night and I can’t help him! (Clearly my issues – thank you for pointing that out)

Cub is massively excited for “His Year 7 Camp” so I need to be brave and suck it up. Here’s my story because I’m obviously not Cub.

Before Camp
We’ve spent the day before camp getting all his stuff together. Who knew that a human could be alive for that long and still need more stuff?! He only needed more old shorts, old shirts with collars, undies, socks and the list can go on. He’s only going for 3 nights and 4 days!?

1st day of Camp
On the way to school, he was so excited, “Drive faster!” Dad asked him if he needed any help getting his stuff to where it should be, and he’s replied, “NO! That would be embarrassing!” So just a quick kiss from him (in the car) and he was gone! Embraced by his mates. Enveloped in the masses. Gone until Friday. I miss him already.

After school it was quiet. As Cub would say, “Too quiet!” and then make a noise!!!Dinner time was the hardest. 4 plates instead of 5. Not looking forward to bedtime.

2nd day of Camp
I’m still not enjoying his absence. I’ve had this awful feeling in the pit of my belly all day and I don’t know why. Maybe it’s just because he’s not here? I’m hoping that’s all it is but like Dad said, “If it is important, they will phone”.

Well, they haven’t phoned, so he must be alright. Unless it’s the whole Halloween disco thing again. He was so excited to go to that too! The excitement lasted for about 10 minutes after he was dropped off. Then he wanted to go home. The novelty wore off. One of the teachers “encouraged” him to stay until the end. I’m worried the same thing could be happening.

Is he eating? I don’t know. He’s a vegetarian, his choice, so I had to put that on the form. Then he got cranky with me for putting that on the form because he was the only one! (He told me he would like to eat meat but he doesn’t like the taste of meat, therefore we agreed he’s a vegetarian)

I can’t call him unless it’s an emergency, and then it’s a case of leave your name, phone number, reason, and we’ll get back to you. Obviously questions like, “Do you want to mow the lawn and get paid?” or “Do you want chocolate when you come home?” simply don’t fit into the EMERGENCY category.

Clearly the teachers have had to deal with the more neurotic (I prefer the word “caring”) parents in the past and they simply don’t have time for the rest of us more “caring” parents, who just want to say, “Goodnight and I love you” (No! Don’t panic! I did not do that! I wanted to but didn’t because I didn’t want to embarrass Cub)

3rd day of Camp
I am so glad there’s only one more sleep until Cub comes back home. I think today was the best where I’ve coped. I still felt a bit lost but a bit better - Yay me! Maybe I’m growing up!

I hope he’s enjoyed himself,
I hope he didn’t go hungry,
I hope he slept well,
I hope he coped better than I, and finally
I hope he’s going to be happy when he comes home

I guess we’ll find out tomorrow.

Last Day
Cub is back - Yay!!! He enjoyed himself big time (relief for me). He reckons that the best bit was the beach and there was no bad bit. Yes, he had plenty to eat. The first night was fish and chips (bonus) He tried some fish and liked it. Unfortunately, we don't know what type of fish but whatever it was I am more than happy to cook it! He's very tanned and looks fantastic. He's all talked out and is now reading his comic books. We're just giving him a bit of space to adjust back to being home.

Birthdays, Christmas and Floods

Well! Where to begin...

Both Pup and Cub are another year older - Yay me! I've managed to have not knocked them off! To the ripe old age of 14 and 12 respectively...

Pup's birthday was fun because he actually wanted to have friends over. His last 'proper' birthday party (when he was 6) was a total debacle. He invited absolutely everyone he knew from school but he REALLY didn't enjoy the day. This time around he chose to have five friends over. So we did the invitations (we bought Chocolate rolls and made like a 'Golden Ticket" kind of thing) and they all turned up! They ate the hamburgers I cooked on the BBQ, made lemonade spiders, ate cupcakes and lollies and went home. Except for one boy (Master T) who couldn't be picked up until 1130 that night for some reason or other. I told his mum he should stay over, so he slept over and then they took Pup to see the latest Harry Potter movie for his birthday pressie. It was far too stressful for him back when he was 6 but I guess it shows how much Pup's grown up.

Cub's enjoyed his birthday too because he had the day off school and he got to see the latest Harry Potter movie. This year we bought him the "Lord of the Rings" books plus a few toys. He really loved his presents too. That's actually a massive bonus because normally we can't get anything he actually likes or wants. Likewise when Christmas turns up...

Oh! The Floods....... I knew Northern Queensland was flooding but we had a fair bit of rain too. Anyway, I woke up on the 28th December to 8 text messages and 1 missed call on my mobile phone. They were all from my sister in South Africa. She must have started texting at about 8 pm her time (and 4 am my time) She had seen all the images on the news and was worried about us because of the cyclone. I quickly texted back to let her know we were safe... only to get a reply from her 12 hours later saying, "Thank goodness. I was so worried, crying and panicking. I couldn't sleep all night"...

Nana and Pops had already spent a few days at Uncle's place and were planning on going home the day after Boxing Day. The floods meant they were stranded and stuck with us. The massive bonus there was  Nana and I beat Pops and Dad at Canasta. Again! Nana and I are now the "Winners for December" (Twice now in December Pops! You and Dad can say you 'let us win' but it's my blog so there! )

Love and Positive Energy to anyone who reads this...
C

People, BBQ's and Chicken Pox

Sometimes I don't understand people. I don't understand their motivation behind some of the things they do. That frustrates me more than anything because I don't understand why they do what they do. It must make sense in their own heads but I still don't get it. What happened to the old "treat others as you would yourself" thing? I think it's a lesson forgotten.

Anyway, I'm thinking of someone else and their story is not mine to tell. The current miserable weather is not helping my mood at the moment. The bad weather might be my fault too - sorry...

Moving along on to happier things!

I feel a bit more grown up! We bought a BBQ! Yay us! It's been on our list of things to do for years but for various reasons it just never happened. About a month ago, it was a stinking hot day and I was trying to cook dinner in my furnace of a kitchen. The neighbours over the back were cooking theirs on their BBQ. I decided I'd had enough and there was absolutely no way I was going to suffer through another summer of this! I decided to tell Dad that we NEED a BBQ and we NEED IT SOON because otherwise I'm going on strike and we'll be eating cereal with icy cold milk for our summer dinners. I think the smell of the BBQ next door helped him to agree...

We checked out all the specials and finally agreed on my new best friend. And let me tell you now - it's even better than it looked in the picture! Of course we had to put it together, but I didn't mind because the weather had cooled down a bit.

And then...

Of course it rained... For two days straight!

I was patient and waited - because I'm good like that - (actually, I'm not but it's my blog, so there) - until Saturday and decided I was going to use the damn thing even if it was snowing! So I did. And no, it didn't snow. Plus the rain stopped long enough for me to cook the meat.

Yes, it's true the steak was so rare it could still run around the table but the lamb chops and sausages were perfect. Nana, Pops and Shayla were lucky enough to enjoy my first attempt and Shayla was more than happy to protect me and the BBQ from our other neighbour (Mr 75). (Now I think about it, I think she was probably just protecting the meat...)

Since we've had the BBQ, it's pretty much rained on and off along the way. When we do get a hot sunny day, I'll cook on the BBQ and then it rains for a few days more. I'm starting to think the weather is mocking me. The weather is not my friend! Maybe my BBQ and the weather aren't friends. Now there's a thought...

On another thought, Foal caught chicken pox. That was fun because I thought he'd been immunised against it. Turned out I was wrong. (I know! I was surprised too.) Sadly, that was three days before the two week school holiday started. The really interesting thing for me about that whole thing was he didn't feel itchy. At all. Ever! The poor kid was absolutely covered in them but he didn't scratch once. I still don't understand it but the best I can come up with is he had eczema when he was a baby so maybe the chicken pox itch wasn't as bad as the other one. Or maybe he was just used to it.

Maybe that's the solution to my problem. Gather those people I don't quite understand together for a BBQ, give them chicken pox and then it will rain! Maybe then I'll understand those people... Probably not, but at least I can still blame it on the BBQ and the rain...

No Excuses! Time for a long overdue post...

Pup was nominated for an absolutely awesome award at school. Students have to be nominated by a teacher to even be considered. And obviously having more than one teacher nominate you increases your chances. But as one lady pointed out a teacher may have 4 classes so it can be tricky to pick just one student. During ‘Education Week’ the school held a morning tea to celebrate these students. Dad and I turned up to see him get his certificate, after checking with Pup to make sure we wouldn't be embarrassing him, of course...

Cub tried out for the inter school soccer team and got in. Yay Cub! Unfortunately, he then broke his arm on the flying fox during lunch. The school phoned at about 2:30 to recommend we take him to get it looked at. (Have to love those phone calls! For goodness sake, school ends at 3:00!) Of course, we turned up and yes his arm did look painful, he was extremely pale and in a bit of shock... Rather than wait at the hospital for five hours, I figured the best place to go was the local doctor's surgery that advertised XRAYS on the side of the building. Because the notice at the front said so, I informed the really unhelpful, sulky receptionist that we suspected a broken bone, and we were sent down a really long corridor at the back of the building. (I'm glad it wasn't a broken leg). We then had to wait for a nurse - we were there for a so long a woman fell asleep! She finally called his name and gave him another ice pack and sent us halfway back down the corridor to sit outside a doctor's room. The only nice thing I can say about that particular doctor is that he could type fast with only two fingers. Pity he couldn't spell, pity he had no compassion, and, pity he kept confusing which arm it was. I thought it was fairly simple to tell which one was injured - you know the one that was swollen with an ice pack would have been my first clue, but maybe that's just me...

He then told us we need to have xrays taken and seemed genuinely surprised when I asked where to go for them. His reply was, "Oh, not here! It's not working!" So off to a place that actually specialises in Xrays, only to be told that some part or other wasn't working! That's when I lost it! I told Cub to go sit down and explained the situation to the receptionists. Once I mentioned where we had come from, one actually told me not to waste our time there. Their machine is working - they just don't have the staff for it! We finally agreed to do the xray, and they would email the result to the Idiot doctor. I was to pick up the films next week. (Did I mention it was now 4:30 on the Friday before a long weekend?) We did all that, popped back to see the idiot, who confirmed it was a broken bone, and sent us back to the nurse we met earlier. She was actually quite lovely. She did a half-cast and explained what we needed to do next. Long story short, we went to the fracture clinic, they redid the half cast to let the swelling go down a bit more. The next day, he had a lighter cast put on and four weeks later he was back to normal. Just no sport for another month. Sadly, he did miss out on soccer season...

The highlight of THAT whole experience was the letter (6 weeks later) from the Idiot Doctor suggesting a "review of his condition was required". No, we've not been back for a "review of his condition". Mainly because his arm was out the cast by then...

Foal has come home as the “Student of the week” more times than I can recall. I think he's up to about five or six now. I am very proud of him but I am beginning to think that there might not be too many kids in his class. (Except that I've seen his class photo, so I know that can't be it)