Boo to Flu.

This week I went to check out a local halloween warehouse called “Halloween Spirit“. It was pretty junky but it is that time of the year again when I go in search of costumes and I was curious to see what it had to offer. There’s are lots of Slutty Mommy costumes. I don’t know what the appeal is but I guess it’s for the 20 something college market. Oh well, you’re only young once right. I’m sure that it’s a big hit in the local bars (I was going to say pub, but I don’t know if they use that term here). Hamish wants to go as a ninja much to my disdain. Why can’t he be Buzz Lightyear or Cookie Monster or something else age appropriate and without weapons. But all my suggestions are met with “that’s boring” or other similar comment. There is also a range of house decorations that range from the very kitsch to the awfully macabre. They are awful and I don’t think I can take Hamish to the store. It may be a bit scary for a 4 year old.

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The other thing I did was go and get a flu shot. I have been dreading having it but I thought it really is the time to get it done as it is now Autumn here and it won’t be long before the coughs and sniffles start to travel around. Over here you don’t need to go to the GP in order to get a flu shot. You can go to your local grocery store, even Target. Now before you start to picture in your head the checkout chicks administering the needles, no. They have built in pharmacies and the Pharmacists gives it to you. It sounds weird right? That’s what I thought too. So I asked a couple of American friends, who explain it’s all quite standard and normal. How much is it? US$31.00 but free for us as our insurance covers it. So off I headed to the local Walgreens and the needle was tiny. I didn’t feel it go in and there was no after-sting or heavy arm!

I also had to get Hamish done and I was going to get a nasal spray version for him, but after having my shot and it being painfree I reconsider giving him the needle dose, as at least he won’t have to have two visits. That is the only thing with the nasal spray, it’s less pain, but you need to have two rounds. When I said I’d bring back my four year old, the Pharmacist told me they couldn’t give injections to kids under 9.  When I enquire at Target they said the same thing. But they clue me into something called “minute clinic” which is this room in the side of yet another pharmacy that has someone that can administer the needle to kids.

Hamish had the needle in his leg and it does sting a little but he’s brave. There’s a little puppy whimper and then he’s fine. After he’s given the shot they tell me he needs a second one. My jaw dropped. If I’d been told that the result would have been a second needle I would have asked for the nasal spray! Grrr. He needs to have an immunity booster because our flu shots last year were for flu strains common in Australia. So we’ll be going back in 4 weeks time unfortunately. But I would rather that than for him to catch the Flu. We had a pretty bad run last year and even Dylan who had the nasal spray at school came home with plenty of colds and coughs. Our immune systems were just not able to cope with the new bugs that were circulating over here. Fingers crossed that they are better equipped to fight them over this coming year.

The local grocery store here has $5 Fridays. You can go in and there’s lots of $5 specials. Lunch time meals, flower bouquets, cakes – and even flu shots! Bargain. This morning, there was a big delivery truck while I was there:

I wonder what this truck is delivering?

Today brings no words, just the sudden urge at 9am to buy ice cream.

An “A” for effort will certainly do.

Soccer season has started again over here. Dylan has played his third game and even though the coach is hard on them he produces results. Two wins and a draw to date. But this season has not been without its challenges already.

Two weeks before games had even started the boys had gone into training. And so twice a week I shuttle Dylan off to the field for practice. On the first training I hear a few snarky comments from the boys and so I send around an email to the parents. There is so much more than just a kick and a run on a field that I want Dylan to learn from soccer and so I figure other parents might feel the same. I bravely send out a very polite request to parents to talk to the kids about sportsmanship in an email which goes like this:

There is one other important matter that I want to bring up. At the last soccer practice I overheard some disparaging comments made by kids, about their fellow team mates, when they were off the field taking a break. I am not going to get into details of who said what and what exactly was said. I understand that all the kids are not going to get along together. But it is the start of the season and it will be nine weeks of misery if the kids cannot respect each other and the coach and work together as a team. I understand that a lot of us have to do the drop and run and juggle a few different trainings so you may not even be aware of this. But it is all the more reason why i bring it to your attention now. I have conversations with Dylan, they go along the lines of  – do you know what good sportsmanship is? It’s about they way you behave and conduct yourself on and off the field. I ask him some examples of what good conduct are (cheering on your team, working together, handshaking) and I get him to identify bad conduct (mean comments, booing, fighting). I also make it clear that I do not tolerate bad conduct and that I’ll have him pulled out of the game if I see him fighting. At their age I want him to learn all aspect of the game including fitness, discipline, respect and then if he kicks a goal or two, well that’s the icing on the cake! i feel better speaking out about this, if I hear things again i will not stand by and ignore it. I hope that if any other moms and dads hear anything they too will say something to them.

I thought there may have been a few emails of support back. It seems the email was mostly met with indifference. Not even the Coach had much to say about making a team effort. So while it is tempting to drop my child and run home and make dinner then pick him up at 6pm, I still turn up to every training and keep an eye on the kids. To my disgust,  one comment at the next training session was “let them fight it out, they have a few alpha dogs and need to find their place in the pack” – truly!  No I do not believe that at all. Watch, learn the game and cut out the crap!

In Yesterday’s game, the teams were extremely equal in ability and quality. It was the first comment I made to Fletch as I watched from the sideline. Our team starts really strong, scoring a couple of goals within the opening quarter. The Coaches are the referees for the game and they are also allowed to direct the kids. But as soon as the opposing teams goalie lets in the goals, their coach screams at him “GET BACK IN THAT BOX AND DO NOT COME OUT” and this continues with other similar comments being bellowed out to her team. Then it seems that her frustration and anger fuels her to start yelling at our coach and his refereeing abilities. And unfortunately he does not walk away, he yells right back. On the field. In front of everyone. The game degenerates. She makes really bad calls and ruling for her side and against ours which only has our coach seeing red and arguing her calls. The boys walk away from the game and it’s a draw match. It is the only result of the hour which sits well with me from this whole ordeal.

So why air this dirty laundry? Because it’s the kind of thing you always hear about, but you do not quite believe happens on a Saturday morning with a team of 7 year olds who should be doing nothing but learning the game and having F-U-N.  But what exactly is fun? It ain’t much fun to turn up and lose game after game every week, which was last years scenario for Dylan. And the Coach at this level has a different role.  He needs to get the kids ready for representative, selective soccer. The serious kids will play indoor all through winter and come spring they’ll go into spring training camps and the talent scouts come around for tryouts.

It is quite clear those who have that natural athletic talent and who are a shoo-in for selection. And then there are kids like Dylan that get an A for effort and run around the field with nothing but big grins. All he wants to do is score at least once in the season, last week he help set up a goal and we tell him that this is just as important. And then there’s the kids who don’t want to be there, have no one to watch and cheer them, even at practice they crave attention. They muck around at training, which results in them not understanding how or where to play and then perform poorly on game day. A mix of talent and agendas, grumbles and groans over push-ups and burpees, which comes under the category of “not fun” and it unfortunately means that the role of the coach becomes less of a weekend dad coach and more of minion army producer. What you see in the movies is not far off true depiction.

After the game we are walking back to the car and we see a number of the opposition team boys. We make an effort to say good game just to reinforce good sportsmanship. Dylan asks “why was the other teams coach so mean?” And so I call it as it is, “She wasn’t being a good sport was she?”. I approach it with him philosophically, and explain to him that unfortunately in life, you will always have to deal with people who behave  like that and you just have to walk away. You cannot control other people’s behaviour and you also don’t have to put up with it, just walk away.

I want to finish on a positive note and I think this pictures tell it all. It is a pic of last weeks happier match of Dylan who plays with nothing but determination and big ear to ear grins.

This photo embodies what a soccer game is all about!

Today brings no words, just a need to vent my disappointment at the turn of events from yesterdays u8’s soccer match.

Marshmallow Math.

I found this in Hamish’s home folder today:

The only comment I can really add to this, is perhaps they should try the activity with peas, or some other food that is not quite so enticing for a four year old child to eat as opposed to sticking on a chart. (Hehehehe.)

Today brings no words as I know he can count, so the NP will be for needs practice at refraining from eating counting instruments!

Elmo and Me.

Hooray for age appropriate TV programs! This is what I think to myself every time I turn Sesame Street on. I’ve just stepped Hamish up to 4 mornings of preschool and when I pick him up after lunch I let him come home and unwind for an hour. For most of his life he’s been watching what his older brother watches which means that programs like Playschool, The Wiggles and Sesame Street have not really been in his repertoire of early learning. I am pleased that he has embraced Sesame street and even his talking Elmo has come out again. Hamish surprises me with new shapes that have entered his vocabulary like “rhombus” and “trapezoid”. He can identify a couple of letters in his name and even write a few. He came home with site words this week, and he will start to get homework his teacher tells me! This was definitely not on the curriculm with Dylan until Kindy so I am impressed.

Often he is stubborn about doing homework. But since he likes sesame street so much, I found some online printables with letters on them and so we talk about the letter, different colours and shapes on the pictures and where we should colour in. It’s just a matter of making it a little fun and he is on it. It only takes about 5-10 minutes and I figure that that his enough for a 4 year old. Super Grover 2.0 is his favourite at the moment and if I don’t add on the “2.0” when I refer to him I am studiously corrected.

We counted the butterflies. He had to pick out two and colour them in. Two girls and two boys. We recall what colours Supergrover’s costume is.

We talk about letters and colours. He traces his name.

On his one day off with me, I take him grocery shopping because it gets us out of the house for an hour. I know it sounds crazy why not do it child free, right? But I want to feel like I am doing things with him, they don’t have to be super exciting, just activies he and I can share. I always get him to help me and he gets a reward for doing so. I can ask him to find things for me and he will push the trolley for a bit, just things that engage him so that he is not running around the aisles crazy. Anyway I was at the checkout and he saw a packet of Skittles. He said “look mum, A&A’s”. So while I am part unloading items I am also trying to point out that it is an “S” and they are called “Skittles” making “ssssss” sound and looking really stupid. The lady in front of me was looking at me deadpan and I thought just ignore her she obviously does not realise he’s only 4. “Can’t get every letter right” I’d like to say with a wink and a nod, but I just keep unloading as I can see the finish line and I’ve got my head down ready to cross.

Then Hamish wants to put things on the conveyer belt. So I start to hand him the fruit and veggies and ask him to tell me what they are. I pass him a cucumber and he says “pickle”. Nice try, it’s similar, and many Americans do call them that. Then I pass him a lime and he says “Lemon?” . Close again, I tell him. “Well, lemons are yellow but when they are unripe they are green like a lime and they have the same shape.”  Anyway it goes on for a bit more and all the time I’m still getting more looks from this lady. In the end she finishes and pays. Phew no more “looks”.

But she come over to me and she says, “I am so impressed that you are taking the time to show your little one all these things, he’s a very smart little boy”. She explained that she is a child psychologist and her background is in early childhood development. What I had mistakenly took as a look of judgement had actually been her observing the way I was interacting with Hamish. She said you don’t see this enough. That is, parents taking the time to do things, really explain things with their children. I walk out of the shops feeling like the shopping trip was a success. Mum of the Day award goes too…

Today brings no words, just an after-grocery-shop glow and reward Starbucks latte for the Mum-of-the-Day and a cake pop for the little one that made it all possible!

Running the Field.

On Sunday we were at the baseball watching Nats V. Phillies. It was our first time seeing our team win so we were very excited. There were two note worthy memories about this game. Towards the end of the game, a pigeon flew onto the field. It got kicked by accident and must have been stunned because it sat there for a little while and didn’t move. Later it waddled over to the Phillies Pitcher and I was joking with Fletch that maybe the pigeon thought he could do a better job. “Come on fellas, I’ve got the club colors on and everything!”

“Hey Pitcher! give me a go!” says a fearless (or stupid) pigeon.

The other highlight was getting to go on the field after the game. They have a baseball fan kids club and when you sign up, you get discounted tickets to games, free food and little toys and Nats merchandise. Part of the deal is also getting to go on the field after the game. The boys were allowed to run the bases and Fletch and I cheer like maniacs from the sideline, as they high-fived the presidents and cheerleaders. We were a little disappointed that we couldn’t run with the kids but probably better we weren’t allowed, as I may have been tempted to slide the home base and get red dirt all over me. They LOVED it and I think it’s a pretty special once in a lifetime opportunity for them.

Here we go!

Round to second base

On the home stretch

Nearly there…

Home!

Nice run!

Today brings no words, just some pics of the baseball field at ground level. Awesome right?

PS. The ball park is very close to where the shooting took place yesterday at Navy Park and so it is with a mixture of excitement and sadness that I write this post. We are going about our lives creating these lovely beautiful memories and then something happens which reminds us what a crazy world we live in. Take care of your loved ones. Life is precious!