Last weekend, I decided to spend a bit more time with my two big boys – by taking them to their weekly soccer lesson.

My big boy is in a 6-7 year old class, where they practice lots of skills and play a proper soccer match. My other boy is in a 4-5yo class, where the parent is involved in the games and activities. And yes, I love playing soccer!

Now, usually, weekend sporting activities are a realm exclusively reserved for fathers.

I guess the thinking is that – during the week, most mothers spend all day with the kids, so when the weekend arrives, sport is a great way for the dads to get involved and do something fun with the kids.

So there I was. Standing around a cluster of kids, with 14 Dads.

Dads with their cargo shorts, big t-shirts, caps, sunnies and their arms folded across their chests, standing alone, looking like fish out of water.

The soccer coach would shout, “WHO’S READY TO HAVE A GOOD TIIIIIME?!?!”

The kids screamed “MEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! YEEEEAAAAAAHHH!!”

And all the dads would shift around uncomfortably, look all reserved and shy, look to the ground, look at their watch, rearrange their caps.

They were an interesting bunch to watch.

You see, if they were women, they would have gravitated to the person next to them, start nattering, and soon they would find out the number of children in the other mum’s families, their names, ages, where they went to school. They would quickly have swapped the names of their hairdressers, share their plans for the weekend and found out how much they spent for groceries that week.

But for these men… each of them had approximately a 2 metre diameter of space between him and the next dad – as if to say, this is MY SPACE. DO NOT COME INTO MY TERRITORY.

They were all pretty young looking dads. Mostly in their 20s and 30s.

And truth be told, they were all quite decent looking. I guessed this must be THE place for single mums to pick up single dads.

In fact there were a couple of guys who were EXTREMELY good looking.

One, I swear, looked like Jude Law. His nose! His eyes! It was so Jude Law!

OK, I have never met Jude Law in real life, but I believe if I had, he would look just like this dad standing next to me (if Jude Law were to wear a floppy t-shirt and huge cargo pants).

And then there was another guy who looked like Sam Worthington (from Avatar), and another like John Stamos (ER).

I was trying to play soccer with my son, but I kept catching glimpses of movie stars from the corner of my eye and argh it was very distracting!

Then I suddenly thought, OMG Karen what are you doing? Are you CHECKING OUT guys at my kids’ soccer practice? Just keep your eyes down and say something encouraging at your kid!

“GOOD KICK MATE! GIMME A HIGH FIVE!”

A little later, halfway through a mini-soccer match, I side-stepped into another dad’s path and he almost knocked me over. We exchanged “sorrys” and I found myself doing this huge – and very uncool – double-take, because he looked EXACTLY like Matthew Broderick.

I was so embarrassed that I babbled on about something… looking everywhere except his face again, in case I were to say something about Matthew Broderick… and then I noticed I was wearing TWO DIFFERENT SNEAKERS. BOTH WHITE. BOTH WITH LACES. JUST TWO DIFFERENT ONES ON EACH FOOT. ARGH!

OK I know that these guys are not actual movie stars, and I know I’m not actually out here to impress anyone OR to make a fashion statement, and I AM supposed to just be spending time with my son, but really, my life as a cool soccer mum is well and truly over.

Liam has a new trick called, SWATTING THE SPOON!

My how clever babies are!

He even had the ability to turn it into a game, so that we can have FUN THREE TIMES A DAY.

Spoonfuls of food! Thrown across the room like happy confetti!

Oh how I enjoy seeing porridge splatter on the walls!

The way it slowly slides down like a lumpy, single-celled organism!

And just look at the colourful array of vegetables rolling across the tiles!

And the mash potato on the ceiling!

Not to mention the sticky rice on the curtains!

Maybe he’ll be a tennis star one day! Or a ping pong champion!

His back hand is just remarkable!

I love my baby!

He brings such joy into my life!

You know… a typical praying mantis already looks like a pretty creepy insect.

But to find a teeny-tiny, baby praying mantis, crawling on your shoulder towards your neck, centimetres from your nostrils… is possibly just a little too alarming for a midweek afternoon.

It is kinda cute though.

I had one of the nicest and most relaxing weekends – in a very long time! I managed to snap a photo, but I don’t think it truly captured the magical, summer happiness in the air.

We were invited by some friends to share dinner and have movie night in their backyard. They set up a screen and projector, and we all lay on the lawn under the trees, on bean bags and blankets and an old couch to watch a family movie. It was a fantastic, kid-friendly Saturday night out.

As I was watching my boys snuggle down with the other kids, I was full of nostalgia for my own childhood days back on Christmas Island, where there was an outdoor cinema. If the movie was boring, we just ran up and down the aisles and played games at the back.

I just love warm, summer nights. With friends. And food.

And someone to snuggle up to on an old couch.

Early this week, my 7 year old VOLUNTEERED ME to give a presentation about Chinese New Year to his school class.

Apparently he thought that I knew everything there is to know about the subject of being Chinese.

Now. This whole thing is rather funny for the people who know me.

Because… I know CLOSE TO NOTHING about Chinese New Year, except the things my family practice, which – for a long time – I have waved off as being silly, daggy, folky stuff.

I can’t even speak Chinese! Cantonese or Mandarin!

No, wait. I can say, “Ni Hao! Wo Ai Ni!” which means, “Hello! I love you!” And a few swear words of course.

So sure enough, the night before it was due, I was cutting and pasting from Wikipedia and Googling for images to finish my primary school homework! How humiliating!

To make matters worse… there are 8 kids in my son’s class who are actually ethnically Chinese, from China, Singapore and Malaysia, who probably know how to speak more Chinese than me!

And they probably also knew MORE about the traditions, customs, meanings and stories surrounding Chinese New Year.

And crap, it would be terribly embarrassing if they blew my cover.

So. I decided to take on a bit of Chinese Aunty credibility by wearing my bright red cheong sum. It was a kind of dress that said – All Hail The Chinese Woman! Don’t cross her path or she’ll whip out her invisible flying swords! That’ll teach those pesky kids with difficult questions!

Then I thought, Oh god, how embarrassing is this going to be? I’m going to walk across the school yard dressed like this, and everyone is going to think I’m the local expert on all things Chinese! They are going to invite me to school cultural dinners and other classroom talks and they are going to parade me in front of everyone and make me say things in Chinese (”Wo Ai Ni Everyone!”) and give out char siew bows (roast pork buns)! Eeeek! What am I getting myself into!?

Anyway.

That morning, at home, before the presentation, my 7 year old said to me,

“Mum I like your dress. But your split is so high, I think I can see your knickers.”

“WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?! This split is NOT HIGH! Look! You can’t see my knickers!!”

And my husband had the cheek to say “If you don’t want people to see your knickers, maybe you shouldn’t wear any?”

GAH! MEN!

Despite everything, the presentation went wonderfully well.

I started by saying “Ni Hao! That’s what Chinese people say for hello!”

Oh I could barely stand the irony of it all! I sounded just like a children’s TV show host.

I brought props like Ang Pows, two oranges (my local fruit store didn’t sell mandarins), pictures of a lion dance and I even had print-outs for everyone of a Chinese Zodiac Chart with all the animals and dates – which I had to make myself in Photoshop.

The Chinese kids seemed really happy that their classmates were learning about things they already knew about.

I had one Chinese kid say, “We call them HONG BAOS not ANG POWS.” And I explained to everyone that Chinese have different dialects, and how they both mean the same thing – red packet.

And the teacher goes “Wow, are you a Chinese language teacher?”

(Oh the sweet sweet irony.)

And some other Chinese kid said, “What’s that thing that adults do… for lots of happiness? My mum told me about it. It’s all mixed up?”

I double blinked and paused… as I tried to find an answer to his question by sifting through the flashing images of “mixed-up adult behavior”… none of which was suitable for discussion in a primary school classroom.

Then I said, “UH. Maybe she told you about the fish salad??? They serve this special fish salad, and all the adults reach into the center of the table and toss it with chop sticks, and shout happy sayings?”

“Yes, that’s it!” said the kid.

Good save Karen! And I proceeded to guide the conversation away from any other possible adult things adults might do for lots of happiness.

I went on to tell the class about “Double Happiness”, which was a concept that the teacher really liked. Thank god she didn’t ask me to write the Chinese characters for it on the board, or my cover would have totally been blown!

Maybe I would have just drawn some random scribble, and hoped no one noticed.

Phew anyway, that’s the end of my story. Thank god that’s over.

So here’s me wishing you all Double Happiness and a sensational mixed fish salad!

(The cheong sum was my wedding banquet dress, hand-made by a very nice lady in Maylands.)

It was sunset by the river.

My husband and I walked, talked and enjoyed the cool evening and all the gorgeous muted colours around us.

We stopped by a grassy park, and we let our 11 month old baby crawl around and chase the birds.

We managed to take some photos in the dying light, and I am so in love with the results.

This was my favourite photo. Liam being tickled in the tummy, and me with a hopelessly contented smile.

Last year I made some new year resolutions. If you have been reading my blog for a while, you will know that I do this every year. It helps me feel that I’m growing as a person, and that I’m making the most of life. And I’ve always loved the idea of looking back, making conclusions, and planning for the future.

Last year, I was focusing on life balance.

I wasn’t sure that having a balanced life was actually possible – seeing that I was going to HAVE A BABY and be thrown into the role of new-motherhood for the third time again. I was also juggling 2 other small children and my life was all about nappies, groceries, dinner, picking up kids, and sports.

But I was determined to develop my great interest in fashion, to educate myself about the art and craft of it, and become part of the fashion scene – and it has been awesome! I’ve met a heap of cool, inspiring, weird and colourful people, tried on a LOT of great clothes, been to some fabulous parties, and then always glad to be home again.

So the whole idea of “Living a Balanced Life” has been a great big success for me, and I’ve never felt so relaxed and on top of things as I do now!

However, there was a point in all this balanced living when I didn’t enjoy feeling like a Chinese acrobat, finely balancing multiple, spinning plates on sticks… in a constant state of frantic anxiety. If any of the plates would slightly tip over, everything would collapse and fall, all hell would break loose! Disaster! Catastrophe! A huge mess! And I have to pick up all the pieces and start over.

I wasted so much of my energy on stress and regret.

In the end, I learned not to expect so much of myself, not to be so up-tight when things go wrong, and just enjoy life! I forgave myself quickly when I made mistakes. I focused on the things that were important. I planned. I got very organised. And everything else fell into place.

After that, balance just came naturally.

It’s a part of my everyday life, and now I invest in keeping it that way.

This year I’m looking for something MORE.

Something beyond balance.

Is that possible? Do I want too much?

I am a mother of three children, I write about lifestyle and fashion, I have a social life, I am active in my community, I love to indulge in my interests like cooking and photography,  I love to snuggle up with my husband and have long conversations…

Clearly, I have plenty to be satisfied with. I am a very blessed person.

When I remember the experience of my husband’s cancer, when I hear about the many tragedies in the world, and people who are suffering awful misfortune, and when I am reminded that my children are growing up so fast – I am inspired to make the MOST of my current good fortune.

This year I want to try something a bit different.

I want to live with style and spirit.

I freely admit that I don’t exactly know how to do this right now.

I do know that I want to live a magnificent, inspiring, motivated, productive and passionate life!

So I’m going to explore it over the next few months. And I’m zippy with excitement!

I hope you’ll join me on this journey!

And I hope this will somehow spark something in you that will make 2010 a wonderful year for you and the people you love!

I had two tickets to attend a very big Chinese New Year Gala Ball on the weekend, and of course, I was planning to take my favourite date, my husband.

But an hour before we were due to get in the car, the babysitter rang and said she had to cancel. Argh!

So. Suddenly, my husband was the babysitter!

And I needed a date at very short notice!

I decided to take my eldest son, Callum, who is almost seven years old.

Sounds crazy right? But what else was I going to do? Waste a ticket – No! Ring old boyfriends? Twist the arm of my boy cousins? Drag along my gay friend, who is really more of a girl friend? Ask the hot-looking, single guy who lives down the road (who I have never actually spoken to)? Yeah right.

Attending this event is a fairly important family tradition for me, so I figured that it was a great opportunity to introduce it to my FIRST BORN SON.

Was I really going to take a SEVEN YEAR OLD to a posh ball? I mean, whatever happened, it would be my own fault. So I tried not to think about it too much.

As I rushed around getting ready, my husband showed Callum the secret man-business of tying a tie. And under fastidious questioning, my husband had to admit that YES, TIES ARE RATHER STUPID.

Callum was quite uncomfortable with the tie and having to wear his shirt tucked into his pants. But I could see that he was also very excited to be suddenly entering the mysterious world of adults.

Once we were at the event, my son had a great time. He saw the inside of a huge grand hotel ballroom, he chatted to many adults in my community, he ate the full ten course dinner, he covered his ears during the lion dance, and boogied with me on the dance floor.

It was quite nice for me to see the whole CNY Ball experience through new eyes.

But I have to confess, it was a very unusual date because I have never before…

Been on a date with a guy shorter than I am.

Or had a date who sucked on his tie when he was bored.

Or had drunk so much juice that he had to go to the toilet 6 times.

Or danced with my mother to 60’s rock and roll!

(But I still think I had the best looking date there!)

(My dress is a lovely gown from Fashion Junkee!)

(This post is sponsored, and I’m relieved to say that it’s going to help pay my internet bills. It has been sponsored by Nuffnang and of course, Telstra.)

This is your chance to have a laugh, maybe win a new mobile phone, and see me in a video! But first, you have to think up the idea for the video.

Telstra Digital Mum 2.0 Facebook Page

Telstra Australia has launched a new and very charming program to help mums become more digital savvy – Digital Mum 2.0 Facebook Page.

The Facebook page has a fun series of videos that give mums of digitally savvy children the right advice and confidence to connect with their families and friends in an online world. The videos are superbly produced, as you would expect from Telstra mega-corp, and I found them to be quite funny – which is why I was happy to be involved.

What makes these videos humorous is that you can immediately recognise someone, or some situation you know (or fear) from your real world!

As part of developing this program, they’ve asked me to get involved – including ME being filmed as part of their next series of videos – and this gives my readers an opportunity to win some cool prizes.

And so you, dear reader, will be able to see what I move like and sound like. If you have ever wondered what kind of accent an ethnically Chinese girl born on a remote tropical island in the Indian Ocean who has been raised in Australia has – well, now is your chance to find out.

Your Ideas Turned into a Video

YOU get to think up the idea for the video!

1) Pop over to the Digital Mum 2.0 Facebook Page, and become a fan.

2) Head over to the contest page and then answer this question:

What would be a useful mobile or online tip for pre-digital mums to know?

It could be anything related to mobile phone usage – SMS texting, using emoticons, mobile phone decorations, using appropriate ring tones, suitable mobile phone cases or decorations, talking on speaker phone, playing games on her phone, hanging up, voice mail messages, leaving a voice message, tweeting or updating her Facebook status using her phone.

Or it could be anything related to online usage – scam emails, stupid forwarded email warnings, updating her Facebook status, doing Facebook quizzes (and sharing too much information!), creating a blog, sharing embarrassing photos, being addicted to twitter, safe modes for Google searches, adding comments to blogs, not believing everything she reads on the internet.

(There! I gave you guys some ideas to work with!)

Feel free to share any funny stories, tips or pearls of wisdom! I’ll be popping in and out over the next few days to check out your responses.

Telstra and I will choose the 3 best entries and the winners will receive a free mobile phone.

Winners will be announced on the 22 February – you have one week! Go Go Go!

Then the clever people in Telstra’s creative team will take one idea and turn it into a video, and I will be videoed as the host introducing the idea!

ARGH! VIDEO! I am intensely uncomfortable with being videoed and being directed. I have no sense of timing or physical grace, and I can’t remember anything I am supposed to say! My mind goes BLANK and I can’t even read from paper! So it shall be…an interesting experience.

I don’t think Telstra’s creative team have any idea of how much of a challenge this will be for them. They might be better off with a paper-doll cut-out of me. Never work with kids, animals, or Karen Cheng!

So far there are 6 videos. You can check them all out on this Facebook page:

http://www.facebook.com/DigitalMum?v=app_11007063052

These cover Facebook usage, and they are all pretty funny. My favourites are:

Lesson 6 – Privacy Settings (Haha I love the French guy!)

Lesson 2 – Adding Friends

Lesson 5 – Adding Applications

As for My Mum….

So here is my story about my own mum. Bless her cotton socks. She’s not exactly the most digitally accomplished person, but I love the way she has embraced the internet and discovered the goodness of all things online.

I helped her connect to broadband, set up her account, help her choose her password, held her hand as she learnt about email and web browsing.

Now look at her!

She does online banking and online flight bookings. She emails me warnings about pepper spray guns, she Googles for organic pest control for fruit flies, she even goes online shopping to redeem frequent flyer points in the form of cooking appliances!

*I’m SO proud of my mum*

But there is one area I have kept quiet from her. FACEBOOK.

Mum: “What’s this MyFacebook thingy I keep hearing about?”

Me: “Oh that? Aw, it’s no big deal.”

Mum: “But Aunty Doris says she has MyFacebook. She said I should sign up for one too.”

Me: “Really mum, it’s just for people with too much time to spend in front of the computer…”

Mum: “Oh like you?”

Me: “Ehh… maybe. Yeh, like me…”

And then I change the subject by asking her to teach me a favourite family recipe.

So why have I kept it from her? Well. Um…

Possibly for all the reasons in these Digital Mum videos!!!

I don’t think that my mum is ready for Facebook. Or perhaps, I am not ready for the awsome phenomenon that my mum and Facebook together would become.

I just couldn’t stand it if my mum ended up with more Facebook friends that I have!

And because she’ll obviously want me to be her friend, and then I’ll end up being friends with all her friends… who are my aunties, who knew me before I was born, who have pictures of me nude in the bath with my cousins when I was two… it’s just too dangerous!!!

Love ya mum, but your on your own with this one!

So, do pop over to Digital Mum 2.0 Facebook Page, send us your ideas, and I’ll try to work out what I am going to wear in my first ever video appearance. I’ll try and make it something FABULOUS to try and make up for my awful performing skills!

Everyone has a different way to express their love.

For me, I grew up in a typical Asian culture, where it was not normal to show intimate, loving affection to your partner in public – especially not in front of the children!

So, I guess, for all of my adult life, I’ve been discovering and developing my own language of love. And it has been interesting to see just how different I am to my husband.

His language of love is so much more open, natural, tender and spontaneous than mine. It’s been 10 years since we fell in love, and he still expresses his affection for me with silly antics.

I mean, heart shaped toasts!

He made this, and then put it back into the bread bag so I would find it in the morning, after he went to work.

I suppose I have a more practical way of looking at things – because I instantly thought:

How on earth will my egg sit on my bread?! Oh wait. It’s a love heart. Andrew made it for me? Oh I get it. What a sweetheart he is.

One of the great things about being a parent is that you have all kinds of experiences you could never, ever have imagined. And here is my most recent one.

My son Liam very often does a poo while he is eating.

About half way through me shoveling food into his mouth, he will suddenly stop chewing, get a “far-away” look on his face, and then be overcome with intense concentration for a few seconds.

Then, when the “poo moment” has passed, he will look at me as if he is saying…”Well, I’ve done my bit… aren’t you going to clean it up, so I can get on with my lunch?”

And then he won’t eat a damn thing till I change his nappy. It has become part of our daily routine together.

But recently, he tricked me.

As usual, I took him to his room, lay him down, took off his nappy… but this time, I discovered that he was still doing the poo. It was just starting to come out.

Now obviously, as a mother, you get to see lots of baby poo. You get used to it.

And I have three kids, so I have certainly seen my share.

But even I have never had the experience of having to actually watch poo come out of another person’s bottom.

I’ll spare you the exact details, but it was a lot like watching brown toothpaste being slowly squeezed out of a pink toothpaste tube.

Wow!

And when it was finished, it was coiled up in the nappy like a fat little snake.

Just another memorable moment in motherhood!

Here is a really nice picture of some flowers in my garden, to make you feel better!

I hate breaking-in new shoes!

My sons came running in from playing outside because they found DIRT IN THE SKY!

Huh?!

I went out with them and looked up. I saw some very odd looking smoke or clouds.

It took me a moment to realise that there was a tiny little plane buzzing around, the sun ocassionaly flashing off its windows. Sky-writing! I’d never actually seen it before.

I’m sure the poor sky-writer/pilot was trying to spell “PERTH” (the name of my home city), but even in the stillness of a super-hot summer day, the slightest of breezes was bending the letters as we watched, and erasing the word even before it was finished being written!

So now, running a house with three boys doesn’t seem so hard (and I am impressed with Callum’s ability to read bad writing).

Sometimes I get so darn sentimental.

My oldest boy is moving up yet another shoe size.

I thought the image of the two boots would look cute. And as I crouched over them in my backyard, I was struck by the power of the image.

Time is moving on. New things will be old. Journeys will be travelled. New memories will be created. Life will be lived – no matter what.

And they’re just a couple of old boots.

I love my long, straight, black hair. When I am out, I often get comments about how cool perfectly-straight-black-hair-that-goes-half-way-down-your-back is.

But a lot of hair equals a lot of work, and I have to iron it flat every couple of days. And sometimes, I dream about having naturally curly hair! Curls are much more forgiving, romantic and natural looking.

My hairdresser said if I wanted to get a digital perm it would cost me $500 and 5 hours in a chair. REALLY!? I wasn’t too keen, because I have issues with the money, time, chemicals used, the damage to my hair, and I’m at the wrong time in my life for those kinds of investments.

So I might get it done some time in the future, but at the moment I wanted to play with my hair – as it is – a bit more.

Right now, I’m experimenting with a method that only uses 1 styling product – styling wax.

This post is a bit long and has lots of pictures (of me doing my hair). I’ve suddenly gone all self conscious, sick of looking at pictures of myself, and scared of me coming across all vain!

So you’ll have to click “Read More” if you’re actually interested in curling long hair. Do you think you can handle more? You have been warned!

(more…)

Many weeks ago I met up with fellow blogger Angela, who was in town for a few days. She used to live in Perth, but now she lives in Singapore.

It was great to sit in the sun by the river and catch up! It was particularly nice, during our chat, to notice Perth and its lifestyle with fresh eyes again.

Yes, our skies are BIG and blue and our weather is almost always delightful.

Yes, people do go windsurfing and boating and have barbeques during the week.

Over here, it’s all about quality of life, and enjoying each day in a very easy and laid-back manner.

Everyone says there’s nothing to do here, but that’s rubbish – I hardly have enough time to go to all events that I WANT to go to – music events, fashion happenings, designer markets, live bands, comedy nights, plays, weekend festivals, art exhibitions, shop openings, food and wine shows.

And I haven’t even mentioned the family-friendly events!

Angela mentioned she was taking a friend horse-riding and visiting wildlife parks. Horse riding! Wildlife parks! What a great idea! It’s funny how visitors bring a fresh perspective on things.

*Make mental note: Must take kids to tourist attractions during the holidays!

When I catch up with friends, usually, there are other kids present. So when there are NO other kids around, I am always a little worried that my kids would get bored.

But my 4.5 year old Sean was a darling and he was very well behaved! And my 9 month old, Liam ate sand and slept in the pram.

When the cameras came out, Sean livened up considerably.

We asked him what we should do for the “Silly Photo”, but as you can see, he was the only one sporting enough to go all the way.

I was at a friend’s baby shower the other week, when I spotted this book in the pile of gifts.

Yes, the title of the book, Porn for New Moms, caught my eye and made me very, very curious – enough for me to pick up the book and have a look. So bravo to the publishers for the winning title.

I sat there and flicked through the book, hoping to find very hot guys in very little clothes… and what I found was something FAR, FAR BETTER. It was very hot guys who understand exactly what a woman wants when she has just had a baby.

“Damn you look hot in those trackpants”

“Let’s not have sex tonight. Let me rub your feet while you tell me about the baby’s day.”

“And in just eight more hours, we can wake up mummy!”

I could not stop laughing. Seriously, I was standing there with my camera, giggling and giggling, taking forever to snap these photos to share with you all.

It’s an EXCELLENT present.

…

Porn for New Moms at Amazon.com

Porn for New Moms at Fishpond.com.au

When I notice beautiful textures and subtle colours as I go about my daily life, it shakes me out of a rut, and I find myself somewhat inspired.

Check it out!

But what is it? An extreme close up of the texture of an exquisite cashmere wool?

Nope.

An aerial photograph of clouds over a tropical mangrove forest?

Also, no.

I am ashamed to admit that I found this inside a tea cup in my own house.

Truly disgusting, and yet also beautiful and bizarre.

I know it’s mould. But why is it so amazing in colour and texture? Why are some parts green, others white, and others yellow?

And how did it get here? Was the mould spore in the green tea leaves to start with, or was it just floating by in the air, and happened to land in my tea? And isn’t this how penicillin was accidentally discovered? Am I on the verge of a BIG medical breakthrough here?

If only I had the time to find out the answers to these questions…

To make your own green tea mould…

1. Make a cup of much needed green tea to calm your frazzled nerves while working at the computer.

2. Have the computer monitor suffer some kind of failure, and then unthinkingly push the half-drunk tea cup BEHIND the monitor while you fix the problem (by vigorously yanking on the monitor cable until the picture comes back – it works every time!)

3. Then be distracted by something else, and forget all about the cup of tea.

4. Re-discover the tea cup approximately two weeks later, when the damn computer monitor plays up again.

5. Enjoy!

(I was tempted to put the cup back again, to see if it grew into something even more interesting…but I’m not that brave!)

One of the things I love most about summer are the long summer evenings.

At 6pm, after dinner, we gather the kids and go for a nice long walk before bath time.

The sunset air, the sounds, the smells, even the colours are just beautiful.

We ride bikes, kick a soccer ball, play in the playground, and laze around on the grass noticing the summer buds on the trees in the setting sun.

My baby usually naps during the walk. I love how sleeping babies squish their faces against the side of the pram, so innocently abandoning themselves to their needs.

My oldest boy swings side-to-side on the swing. Everyday, I think he looks less like a boy, and more like a man.

My second boy makes skid marks on the ground with the tyres on his bike. Notice the hasty use of grey electrical tape on his helmet to hold the plastic cover on – we’re so classy down here in the suburbs.

(The blue plastic cover doesn’t add to the safety of the helmet, it’s just for looks. But the boy thinks that the picutres of Ultraman and a spaceship are just SO important for a safety helmet. And as long as he’s wearing it, I’m happy.)

I have a confession.

Two weeks before Christmas, I was getting very, very tense.

Liam had grown teeth, and breast feeding had become quite a chore. I was also anticipating family-in-law coming to stay, kids being on holiday, and all the other dreadful routine-destroying carry-on that comes with the festive season.

Both my older boys were becoming more and more rebellious, and treating me like a junior house maid. My husband seemed to be more distant, impatient, and less helpful around the house. In fact, I was pretty sure he was planning to leave me.

I knew this because every time he asked me if everything was alright, or if he could do anything to help, I could just tell he was purposely pushing my buttons and just trying to start a fight and I would blow up at him.

Then, one day as I was folding a towering mountain of laundry, and contemplating life as a single mother of two ungrateful aliens and a nipple chomping toddler, all of whom look a lot like the man that my mother warned me not to marry…

BAM!

I burst into sobs with a “OH MY GOD NOTHING IS GOING RIGHT IN MY LIFE! I’VE BEEN WORKING SO HARD AND I JUST FEEL LIKE SHIT! I CAN’T SEEM TO DO ANYTHING RIGHT! WHAT’S THE POINT TO ALL THIS? WHAT’S WRONG WITH MEEEEE? AAAAAAARRGHHH!!”

As I blew my nose into a towel from the laundry basket, a little voice inside my brain said, “Oh hey, we haven’t seen you around here in a while!”

Insecure, psychopath, moody, angry Karen! Welcome back!

The next morning, I discovered that my body had resumed it’s normal monthly routine. Everything was working just fine. I was so relieved!

I wasn’t going mad! It was just the temporary madness of PMS!

8 months have passed since I gave birth and I’ve enjoyed a great ride of non-stop, cruisey, happy hormones. After so long without a cycle, I was completely unprepared for the return of the PMS rollercoaster ride.

But little Liam’s teeth are a sure sign that my life, like his, is moving on again to a new phase.

And I’m okay with that!

I am now armed with emergency chocolate, and listening to boy band music from the early nineties.

Flowers from hubby. Some expensive chocolate. And a foot rub. He knew all along, and he was just waiting for me to settle into my new cycles. God, I love him so much.