It’s been awhile since I joined in the Sunday Session, where I share music that I love. I found out recently that our dearest Thea has given up hosting Sunday Session and now it’s over to Oh Antipodes! So, here’s this week’s Sunday Session music that I’ll be sharing.

As you can read from the title I’ve stated , “Perry Vs Perri”. Yes, if you know the artistes I was referring to, it is Katy Perry and Christina Perri. Why? Well, I’ve so happily bought tickets to Christina Perri’s Melbourne concert which will be on next Saturday at the Palais Theatre, and this will be my very first adult concert with my girls, Miss 8 and Miss 10. So you can imagine how excited I am that I am no longer going to concerts where the main theme is about fruits, veggies, or shaking your sillies out. And why Perry Vs Perri? Mr. C, who is only 2 years older than I am can sometimes be pretty out of the loop when it comes to music. As in the latest music. He’s confused as to which Perri we’ll be watching. To him, they’re all one and the same. Sigh….and he still doesn’t think he’s gotten old.
 
So first up, Katy Perry‘s new song Wide Awake:
 

Another one of Katy Perry‘s new songs, Part of Me:
 

 
Christina Perri is well known for her Jar of Hearts and A Thousand Years songs, but I thought I should share something you might not have heard of from her. This is The Lonely:
 

And another one of my favourites featuring Jason Mraz, Distance:
 

 
Hope you enjoyed the selections from my Sunday Session this week.

Kids, you give them a box and they can turn it into a car, a bus, a jewellery box, in other words, a simple cardboard box can be turned into anything that is only limited by the child’s imagination. The same goes with many other toys that are being sold. What you might think is best for one thing can actually be turned into something that extends the normal, conventional play.

Recently, I received some Trash Pack. Now, I’ll be honest with you, I actually loathe anything where you have to buy in packs, without actually knowing what’s inside. Moose is well known for that. First, they come up with a new concept, like the Trash Packs. Then, you collect each trashie character, and then once you’ve build the collection, a new extension is created for your child to go on to the next level of play. When I first received them I thought, “Oh no, not this thing! Master 6 would want to build a collection now!” and I personally couldn’t see the value of such a toy. Until one day, when I over heard Master 6 in the living room. He was playing, by himself, speaking in different voices, creating different scenarios. I peeked into the living room to see what he was playing with. The trash pack characters! He had created it’s own world using books, boxes, and the cushions we had in the living room. Each of the characters were given names, and they were “interacting” with each other. Cute, and so unpredictable.

Trash Pack - Trash Can Collector's Tin and the 8 Pack

Then I began to see other ways that these unexpected toys can be less of a nuisance but more of a gift for those who might get stumped on what to get for someone else’s kid for their birthday! Or, another great idea is to use this as a party favour instead of giving lollies. You can have a choice of purchasing single Trash Packs at $1.80 with two Trashies in there or a pack of 5 for $4.40 or a Feature pack with 8 Trashies for $6.10. If you’re still wondering what Trash Pack is all about, basically they are these tiny figurines that supposedly live in garbage – yeah, very boyish right? Well, guess what? My girls love them too. They also have fizzing trash bags – basically dissolvable fizzy stuff and even slime if your child intends to go through with the whole shabang! Then there’s the Collectors Tin that retails for $12.50, where they can store their trashies in. Great way to keep them off the floor.

Trashies

The Trash Pack series has other “goodies” like the garbage truck, dumpster, scum drum and so much more, but I think if you’ve got other toys already or like Master 6, use whatever that is already on hand to create their own world, then really, you only ever need to get the characters.

Also, this will make a great “reward” type of thing instead of giving lollies! Has your child discovered the Trash Packs yet? What do you and they think of it?

*I was given the Trash Pack for consideration in accordance with the site’s Disclosure Policy.

I had this discussion a few months ago with Mr. C, about turning back time and if we were given a chance to do it all over again, would we choose the same path we chose now? My answer – no. Not that I regret my life now, in fact far from it, but what this current life has taught me is that life is mostly about choices and it takes US, the individual to take life by the horns and make it happen.

What would I change? For one, I would have moved to another country right after getting married to see what else is out there. To try and build some kind of a life and probably career elsewhere. I would definitely have used A LOT of protection to keep from getting pregnant until I was fully ready to start a family – I had my first child when I was 27 and I thought that was a pretty young age, considering I had graduated from Uni at the age of 24 (I went in as a mature student). I would have loved to have been able to travel more, see the world, make my mark somehow before settling down to have a family – the other two kids came about 2 years after each other consecutively.

Being a parent has taught me a lot. It has taught me that it is not an easy feat, no matter how many children you have had, it’s always different. It’s always a learning curve. When you think you’ve got it right, life throws you a curve ball and the you just have see how you can catch it or avoid it. I have to admit that it has been such a great journey for me, discovering myself, the people around me, and the way I can and have to survive. In many ways, it is just like the survival of the fittest. The strong survive, whilst the weak wither away in denial.

According to Mr. C I’ve got the “grass is greener on the other side” syndrome and maybe he’s right. Maybe I was wishing for something that I thought in my mind as being ideal. All I know is, life moved too quickly for me. I have no regrets, but I do wish I could have done a few things differently.

But, this is the life I have now and I guess, you try and work with what you’ve got. You appreciate what you’ve been given and I do, in many ways I do. Still, there’s no harm wondering what life would have been had I taken a different route.

How about you? If you had a chance to live your life all over again, would you change anything?

It’s that time of the year again. The time where we, as Mums revel in the fact that we’ve made it through another year and get recognised with handmade cards, handmade presents, presents bought from the school Mother’s Day stalls, breakfast in bed, or at least a nice sleep in. And yes, a sleep-in to those of us who have missed a decent night’s sleep since we first fell pregnant could mean anything from an extra 15 minutes lie in to an hour in bed, just chilling out.

I was fretting the other day about the fact that Master 6′s Auskick, which is usually held on Sundays, was going to have a “special” Mother’s Day match. That meant getting up on a Sunday morning, on a day where you would really love to chill out and take a break, to go out into the freezing cold and do some training with the kids at Auskick. As much as I love my son, that really isn’t my idea of fun – at all. I abhor anything to do with sports let alone getting up to do it with my boy. Sorry, no go. So when I decided to fret, or rather share my lament with a group of mothers at school the other day about having to wake up to go for Auskick this Mother’s Day and then told rudely by someone who isn’t even a close friend to “SUCK IT UP PRINCESS”, well, sorry, you just overstepped your boundaries. Usually I would shut up, smile and take it like a lady. But, that particular day, I didn’t feel much like being one. Instead I turned around and replied, “Well, you know what, I AM a princess and if it’s that ONE day that I get to be a princess especially having to run around all week, I think I damn well deserve it!” Let’s just say we left it at that. So no, you don’t go around telling someone else to “suck it up” when you have absolutely NO idea what they’ve been through – the sh*t they have been having lately. So yes, that ONE day I would love to get a small teeny tiny break and want to fret that I won’t be getting, I think I am at liberty to say what I felt.

It isn’t everyday that I get to enjoy not having to rush around, and yes, I know everyone else does the same thing and there are people out there with worse scenarios than having to be at Auskick on Mother’s Day at 9am. But if you can’t even share such simple things to make small chat, then I see no purpose at all in sharing anything really. Anyway, I digress, so what really does Mother’s Day mean to me personally? It’s about spending the day with my kids – AT HOME, about lazing around not having to do a thing just for ONE DAY! Not too much to ask is it? I don’t need to be wined and dined, I only need a nice cup of coffee – yes instant is fine – a piece of toast with some peanut butter spread, and just sitting there on my bed, reading some fan fiction before I rise, get ready and face the day with everyone. Simple really.

Red Rock Deli Corn Chips from $3.99

Oh and yes, I’ll be enjoying my day with some deliciously simple yet decadent Red Rock Deli corn chips, a bottle of red, and some lovely RNR…bliss…

What does Mother’s Day mean to you? And how are you spending it today?

**And I just received news that Auskick Mother’s Day match has been postponed to next Sunday due to the unpredictable Melbourne weather – Ahhh…bliss!

*I was given some Red Rock Deli Corn Chips for consideration in accordance to the site’s Disclosure Policy.