Random stuff that must be kept

Fitting six months of our life into four suitcases is...

a challenge

Actually, correct that... it's impossible.  We had to buy another bag.  We now have five suitcases.

You know what takes up the most room?

The damn toys.

We have one suitcase just for toys.  

I'll admit it now - I "accidentally" left some behind.  Santa Claus underestimated the size of some of the gifts (honestly, what were you thinking Santa).  Let's hope this doesn't come back and bite me in the bum later.

It will though...

"I have no idea where enormous talking T-Rex went?"

"Must have got lost on our way home"...

Master 4 gets EXTREMELY upset when things are lost.  

He already has plans to come back to the USA "when I am a grownup" just to find a Matchbox ute he lost at the park one day.

It doesn't help that Master 4 also wants to keep all sorts of random stuff.

Like...

Leaves, bits of bark, sticks, weird balloon swords, icicles, the wrapper from his museli bar that now apparently looks like a boat, pine cones, rubber bands, bits of string, shells

It is imperative that these things are kept safe.

There is now a dedicated pocket in one of the suitcases for The Randoms That Must Be Kept.

I think he is MacGyver or something.

I mean, there are countless tricky situations where a balloon sword and a rubber band would be handy...right?

Bye Bye USA. Thanks for the memories!

We are heading home.

For those reading this blog for the first time, Welcome! We have spent the past six months living in Washington DC in the USA after Mr Jones was seconded onto a project over here.

We have loved every minute of it.

BC (before children) we lived in London for two years.  We had an amazing time and travelled all over Europe.  After returning to Australia and being grown ups (aka buying a house, renovating, buying a business, having kids etc), we never thought we would have the opportunity to work overseas again.

This has been the most incredible experience and one we will never forget and always cherish.

Living in another country with kids is different to living overseas with no kids. Hey, who am I kidding, living ANYWHERE with kids is different to no kids!

I was a little apprehensive before coming here.  I am blessed to have an amazing support network close by in Australia and coming to another country, living in a small apartment with my little boys by my side every minute of every day, seven days a week was pretty daunting (patience is not one of my strengths although I wish wish wish it were).

However, it has been fine.  There have been days that if I had to explain one more time a) picking your nose spreads germs b) putting your hands down your pants isn't nice manners c) we eat our food sitting up at the table, not upside down or d) ask for a tissue instead of wiping your snot on the couch, I would have lost the will to live but hey, that's just parenting in general.  Doesn't matter where in the world you are.

WHAT I HAVE LOVED

• Seeing a new country through the eyes of my boys
• The people I have met
• Weekly cleaning service (I haven't cleaned a toilet in six months - what a bloody treasure that has been)
• Having an ozone layer
• No water restrictions
• Being immersed in the 'day to day'
• Discovering this incredibly diverse and amazing country

WHAT I HAVE MISSED

• Friends and family
• My coffee machine
• My pillow
• Our house

So long USA, thank you for welcoming us and showing us your amazing personality.  I love your patriotism, I love how proud you are, I love your sunny disposition, I love your celebrations and your positive outlook.

I'm taking a bit of all that back to Australia with me. 


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Image courtesy of www.stockfreeimages.com

Technology has replaced "I spy"

BC (before children), I would look at parents in restaurants whose children were playing hand held games and say to Mr Jones indignantly "Why don't they have a conversation with their children, instead of playing video games at the dinner table? When we have kids, we won't be doing that".

I was such an extraordinary parent before I had kids.

Recently we took a long weekend and went to New York City on the train.  It is a four hour journey. It's a nice ride because you can look out the window and see lots of interesting things as well as being able to get up and move around.


This is what our train journey to New York looked like:

No looking out the window, no seeing interesting things and no moving around.

When I was young, we went on lots and lots of driving holidays.  We drove from Melbourne to Queensland and across the Nullarbor a few times to Perth.  We had some amazing adventures and saw some pretty cool stuff.

On these long drives, my brother and sister and I would play family car games, listen to Dad's "Australian" tapes (I can recite 'The Man From Snowy River' - its my thang), sleep, eat Fantails, read, annoy each other, listen to books on tape (remember the Disney ones that you followed along with a book and the music chimed each time you had to turn the page!), stare out the window for hours watching the scenery go by and of course play "I spy".

We had no DVD players, hand held game units, iPhones or iPads.  

This is not a "it's not like the good ole days" rant because if DVD players and iPads were available back in the "olden days", my siblings and I would have been all over that.

Now, before handing over the electronic devices, we did try to engage Master 4 in a game of "I spy".  He hasn't quite grasped the idea that you have to be able to "see it" in order for us to guess.  So once we have exhausted all the obvious things beginning with "T" (train, tractor, tracks, trees), we are also guessing every other word that he has in his vocabulary beginning with "T" (T-Rex, tiger, trampoline, trumpet etc).  Consequently, he thinks we are pretty crap at it.

In my book, any thing that I can use to my advantage to make my life as a parent just that bit more bearable on a long journey is fine by me.

Did I think that I would hand over the technology so easily?

No.

But I'm over being hoighty toighty and judgemental about it.  

To technology I say...


Bring it.

Public toilets and kids: a germ recipe for disaster

I am not over the top about germs or anything but public toilets are just GROCE.  Admittedly, some are worse than others.

Now that I have two little kids, using a public toilet has a completely new set of obstacles for all of us to overcome.

Master 4 has been toilet trained for some time but he is still not germ trained.  Master 1 thinks germs are delicious.

This is usually how it goes.

"Come on boys, lets go to the toilet before we leave"

I have each of my boys by the hand.  Ok, choose a cubicle.  I usually go to the one nearest to the entrance because I was once told that this is the cleanest.  The theory being that everyone else thinks that the first one gets used the most and go to the second or third cubicle.  Now that I write this, that seems like a load of crap and it makes no difference whatsoever, but it makes me feel better.

I usher both of them in.

Stepping in front of them so they don't both rush to touch the toilet seat, I lift up the toilet seat with my pinky finger so Master 4 can go.

"Off you go, bub", I say to him.  "Remember lean forward, watch what you are doing, don't rest your willy on the toilet bowl and don't touch ANYTHING". 

Poor kid - what a ridiculous set of instructions.

Meanwhile, I have Master 1 pretty much pinned against the cubicle door so that he can't touch anything.

After Master 4 is finished and pretty much before I can stop him, he grabs the toilet seat, not with his fingertip (like I have asked him to do a million times) but with both hands wrapped around the seat and slams it down. 

I tell them both to stand against the cubicle door and "Don't touch ANYTHING".

It gets infinitely worse when I need to go as well.  I start to do my business without touching any part of the toilet. But whilst I am hovering the following is happening:

Master 4 finds a bit of cream cheese on his hand left over from lunch and begins to lick his hand.  Master 1 has two hands on the toilet floor and is trying to look under the door. 

"Don't lick your hands", "Stand up please", I say.

Master 1 wanders past me to get a good look "back there" to see what's happening.  

Master 4 is playing with the lock.  "Don't..." too late, the door starts to swing open and I grab it from underneath with my foot, just in time, before I have more witnesses than one generally needs when peeing.

"Mumma, why do you have to sit down to do wee's?" Master 4 asks.  Still with one foot under the door, I cringe, do we have to do the differences between boys and girls talk right now?

I finish and stand up, trying to sort myself out.

Like a lightening bolt, Master 1 has squeezed past me to the sanitary napkin bin.  "Bang bang bang", he says grinning, opening and closing the lid.  

"No touching", I hiss, between clenched teeth.

Please get me out of here.

It amazes me that in the space of a couple of minutes, they have touched, wiped, stuck their fingers in or licked pretty much every part of that cesspool that they could.

Eeewwww....  I think I need to carry those chemical protection suits for each of them.  Bit far maybe?

I proceed to soap, wash and dry their hands.  Then sanitiser spray (just for good measure).

I think I might be a germaphobe after all?

To Move Overseas or Not - that is the question

This is the text I received from Mr Jones "What do you think about moving to Washington DC for 3-4 months?" my response "Hell Yeah!"

After much discussion and "pinning down" of the right people, it is all really happening.  I can't believe it.  I am really proud of Mr Jones - he has worked really hard and this is a credit to him that we this amazing opportunity.  

I honestly never thought we would be able to live and work overseas again (We lived in London for two years BC - before children!).  I am super excited but quite apprehensive aswell.

Our boys are at a really good age to travel for lots of reasons - Master 3 is only in three year old kinder and Master 1 is at home with me.  We don't need to pull them out of schools of which they have been on waiting lists for years for or interrupt their friendship groups or pull them out of all their activities that are so finely scheduled within our week.  

I am a strong believer that kids get so much out of travelling, experiencing new places and embracing different cultures that I think I would take this opportunity no matter what.

On the other hand, they might get more out of the experience if they were a bit older.  Master 1 will have pretty much no recollection but I think Master 3 will have some recollection. 

They are harder work at this age to travel with especially Master 1 - there is no amount of reasoning or explaining that can help this age group "Honey, please don't squeal anymore - it hurts mummy's ears" - is met with a blank expression and more squealing (although I am sure he knows that it irritates me).

In my mind the pros far out way the cons and so we are off - look out United States - the Jones' are on their way!

10 Tips for Visiting Disneyland with Toddlers

We loved Disneyland but it is a pretty overwhelming place for little ones.  I have put together a bit of a list of things that worked for our two boys aged 1 and 3.  Enjoy the magic!

1. Make sure you have your stroller (or you can hire one there).  There is LOTS of walking.  There is also lots of stroller parking which is great.
2. Try and stay within a 10-15 min walk from the parks.  That way, if you have little ones who are still having a nap, you can get your hand stamped, go back to your hotel for a break and then go back later.
3. Take LOTS of water, food and snacks.  Water is expensive to buy in the parks and you don't want to wait in queues for food.  Also, when you are queuing for rides you can entertain the littlies with food!
4. If you can - go for a three day pass.  It is impossible to get the most out the parks in just one day.
5. Go to the World of Colour Show
6. Don't miss the Disney Parade
7. Try to only go on rides with queues of 20mins or less.  Anymore than that and there is a distinct possibility of toddler queue rage.
8. Meet as many characters as you can (if your toddler is into it - some are terrified!).  3-4 year olds, especially get a kick out of it!
9. Make sure you get to go on at least a couple of things for you!
10. See the magic through your kids eyes - you will feel like a kid again yourself!

Our visit to Disneyland

Mr Jones and I had never planned to take our kids to Disneyland.  It was one of those places that we thought we would let them do when they were all grownup.

On our way to live in Washington DC for awhile we had to transit through Los Angeles and we thought...why not?

What an amazing place!  We arrived in LA and had about two days to recover in Anaheim.  It was hot hot hot!  Those first days we stayed around the pool and did a couple of walks around the place.  

The first night in our hotel was awful.  Master 1 cried for about 2 hours as his poor little body clock was all out of whack after our 14 hour flight from Melbourne to LA and I am sure he thought it was daytime.  I thought we might be in for it every night but he was fine after that.  

We stayed in a nice family friendly hotel about a 15 min walk from Disneyland.  It has a separate bedroom for the kids so we could shut the door at night and watch a bit of telly.

We had a three day pass to Disneyland and Disney California Adventure Park.   There is SO much to do an see.  Especially with little kids.  They need lots of breaks and food stops.  Also, there can be bit queues for things so it is good to have the time to not have to rush around.

It is just such a fairytale.  Everything is so well put together and organised.  Its clean and the people are lovely.  Master 3 and Master 1 were able to go on most of the rides.  They went on the Teacups, the Dumbo ride, Finding Nemo Submarine, the Astro Orbiter, the Carousel, Trains, had a ride on a fire engine, met Mickey, went into Mickey's house, Goofy's house, Donald's boat, Tarzan's Jungle Treehouse, a Jungle Cruise in Adventureland, Pinocchio's Daring Adventure (which scared the absolute s*** out of Master 3 - whoops!) and the Winnie the Pooh ride.  We met and had our photo with Mickey, Winnie the Pooh, Eeyore, Tigger, Lightening McQueen and Red (from Cars).

Mr Jones and I managed to go on a couple of rides each just for adults.  I went on Space Mountain and the Matterhorn and Mr Jones went on the Star Wars ride and the Matterhorn (Mr Jones is not one for the roller coaster rides so I am surprised he went on the Matterhorn).  They were awesome! We also all spent the evening watching the Disney Parade, the World of Colour show and the fireworks which was really fantastic and well worth it. 

We got there early each morning and then came back for lunch to get out of the heat, let Master 1 have a sleep and have a swim in the pool.  Surprisingly I thought it was busier at night than it was in the daytime.  

It was hard to tell whether Master 3 really enjoyed himself - I think he found everything really overwhelming and got really apprehensive on the rides as he didn't know what is coming next - especially the ones where you go through big double doors into the unknown!  It was hard to crack a smile from him at times and there was quite a bit of "I'm hot, I'm hungry, I'm tired, I don't want to go back to Disneyland (what the?)" met with "You will have fun, you will be happy, you will enjoy it, it will be magical, you will be grateful" from us hahahaha!  He is only little and I can imagine how overwhelming it was for all his senses.

On the last day we went over to Disney California Adventure Park and went to Cars Land which was awesome and looked exactly like "Radiator Springs" in the movie.  Everything was so incredibly well done and there was so much attention to detail.  No wonder Disney is put up there on a pinnacle for the delivery of customer service and the customer experience.  

The happiest place on earth has lived up to its name....we love love loved it!

Mumma, why are the post boxes blue?

I love to travel.  I embrace the differences of the places I go to.  I like trying new food, meeting new people and seeing different things.

This time, in Washington DC, I am seeing it all through the eyes of my darling boys.  Master 3 particularly.  Master 1 could be on the moon - as long as his tummy was full he wouldn't care!

For Master 3, this new place is overwhelming.  Even the smallest things seem strange.  The eggs are pure white (like in the picture books) instead of brown.  I pointed out a fire engine to him the other day that was literally going straight past us with its siren blaring but he didn't see it.  Why not?..."That's not a fire engine mumma, its yellow" - of course (they do have red fire engines here aswell but the yellow one must have been a special kind - confusing, I know!).

This was a lightbulb moment for me.

Many of the things that I must have been referring to or pointing out to him as we have been exploring, he had absolutely no idea what I was talking about!  

So I have begun to point out things to him like the post boxes are dark blue instead of red, the police cars and black and white instead of white and blue. Bob the Builder doesn't necessarily "sound funny" he just has an American accent. He seems able to process things better if he can associate with things in Australia. 

When someone asks him where he is from he will reply with our full Australian address - haha!  Have had to have some practice at just saying "Australia".  Its gorgeous!

I never thought we would travel overseas with our kids until they were at least much older but seeing this new place from my little boy's perspective is just amazing and makes me want to do it more!