The Useful Box

The week that was (May 13-19)

noreply@blogger.com (Julie) — Sun, 19 May 2013 11:57:00 +0000

Astute observers may have noticed that I am not getting to blog as frequently as I once was. I'm missing it. I enjoy blogging. It is an opportunity for me to process thoughts and reflections (and hear from others who think the same, or differently), a way to record some of our family memories and a means of communication with friends online.

I suppose that the lack of blogging can serve as some sort of family record in itself - a record of the fact that I get very little time to myself these days. Or I should say, very little time to myself when I am coherent enough to string 3 words together. Having 4 small children, including a 6 month old who dislikes sleep has to take its toll on some things.

I am struggling with the parenting gig at the moment. Lack of sleep is never fun. I'm trying to make time getting to know each of my kids individually. With multiple children, it can be easy to fall into 'crowd-control' rather than parenting. All the while I'm feeling guilty that I don't have more of me to offer my kids. It is easy to forget that God is over all these things.

I'm reading a fantastic book on parenting and communication. My one qualm is that I'd like to say; "now, can you rewrite that section for dealing with 4 preschoolers?". I love the principles in the book, but find it emotionally exhausting to implement with 4 children. Sometimes I just want to scream; "get over it" instead of; "that must be frustrating for you", or "I don't have time for this right now" in place of; "It would be great if we could eat as many biscuits as we wanted wouldn't it?".

Last week I had my 4th car accident in about 18 months. God is so good, and none of us has been hurt in anyway. (Every accident has revolved around parking!). There are a few factors at play - a larger car, more driving and parking than I've ever done before (e.g. park at grocery store, then library, then preschool etc), and having kids to distract me from what I should be doing. But, for the first time, following the accident, I really felt down. For the first time I started to think maybe I really can't do 4 kids.

Having said all that, there are just too many precious moments with 4 small kids. These break up the hard moments. I sometimes try to write the precise moments on my mind - trying to remember the cute pronunciations of words, the exact intonation that made a particular turn of phrase so funny or endearing, the earnest or cheeky facial expressions that accompany particular actions. The moments are fleeting. Capturing what I can in photo and video doesn't really do them justice.

Nevertheless, here are some of our moments from the week that was:

Mother's Day prettiness

Homemade fruit roll-ups. (The kids made these with Nan. We will make them again. I hope to blog the instructions soon).

Getting our 'Montessori' on using natural play materials.

Miss 5 challenges Matt to a word search.

Getting out and about - a frequent necessity these days. Fresh air and 'exercise' do us all good.

Developing a love of books


A Saturday morning game of 'Snap'

How was your 'week that was'?

All the stuff I don't know

noreply@blogger.com (Julie) — Mon, 13 May 2013 21:53:00 +0000

A funny thing is happening in my life, as I get older. All the stuff I don't know.

The more I know, the less I know.

The more I apply the rules, the more I see the exceptions.

The more experience I have, the more I still need.

The more people turn to me for advice, the less advice I have to offer.

The more I try to make sense of things, the less sense there seems to be.

I used to know everything. You know, as a teenager. I don't know all that much anymore.

I used to know everything about parenting. You know, when I had only a small baby. I knew everything about how I would raise that baby to adulthood. I knew which parenting book I wanted to follow. I knew how to avoid the pitfalls that "other parents" didn't avoid.

Now, as a parent of 4 children, I don't always avoid the pitfalls. I suddenly don't know how to deal with every situation. What works with one child does not work with another. Even the parenting books don't have the answers. I have a 6.5 month old waking multiple times a night. You'd think I should know what to do by the 4th time around. I don't know much about parenting anymore.

I used to know a lot about Speech Pathology. I could answer your questions. I knew the best practice and I had confidence in my knowledge. I knew how to be a great clinician. But 13 years later x,y,z doesn't always work. People don't always respond like textbook case studies. The exceptions sear into my memory and make me doubt the 'rules'. I don't know everything about Speech Pathology anymore.

I used to know how blogging worked. I figured that bloggers with something interesting to say, with thought-provoking arguments, with great advice, and with accurate spelling and grammar would attract readers and interesting comments. It doesn't seem to work this way. I don't know much about blogging anymore.

I used to know how to live to please God. I used to think the way I lived could please him. But now, every time I stand up straight, I fall down again quickly. Every feeble attempt only seems to highlight my own pride, my selfishness and my absolute need of a saviour.

It seems strange that I should be getting wiser, but instead I know less and less.

Or, maybe true wisdom is to be found in all the stuff I don't know.

What did you know in the past, but don't know now?

Linking with Jess

"The Faraway Tree" 5th Birthday Party

noreply@blogger.com (Julie) — Tue, 07 May 2013 23:00:00 +0000

*Warning: long post*

We celebrated Miss 5's birthday over the weekend, with a party I've been really looking forward to. Our theme was "The Faraway Tree", based on the books by Enid Blyton. I think I had more fun organising the party than the birthday girl had at the party (though she had a great time too!)Here is how it all went down:

1) Invitations:

I blogged about these invitations back here. We used scanned images from the old illustrated version of "The Enchanted Wood" (the first book in the Faraway Tree series). I put the images together into a Snapfish card and added party details. 20 invitations were printed for about $21 (on 50% off sale). I was able to use spare invitations to create food tags for the party table.

2) Set-up and decorations:

Although (or perhaps, because) our house backs onto the bush, we only have one decent tree in our backyard. Obviously we needed to set-up the party under that tree! The food table was on one side of the tree, and the kids' eating table on the other.

I decorated the tree with bunting (The bunting I made for Miss 2's teddy bear picnic party last year), and with white, red and green paper lanterns (from a local $2 shop). My mother-in-law (who is a great op-shopper) gave us the large lace tablecloth a couple of weeks ago, suggesting it might tie in with the Faraway tree theme. (The tablecloth has some holes in it, and cost $3). It turned out to be a perfect backdrop, hiding our garden shed and storage area, and preventing little explorers from going to that area of the yard.

You might notice the mushroom-style garden table alongside the main food table. This was another $2 shop purchase, and was used for drinks - "Acorn-ade" (one of the drinks of choice for the Folk of the Faraway Tree).

The food table was covered with hessian (or burlap, as it is known overseas), wood pieces, pine cones and stones, as well as our $2 shop ceramic mushrooms. My husband cut slots into some small wood pieces to hold the food labels. (He rolls his eyes at my party-planning antics, but is still happy to help. Isn't he lovely?)

The food tags were made with a piece of packaging cardboard, part of some paper doilies and a picture from the original party invitation. You can see some close-up later in this post.

I set the kids' table with white plates, paper doilies, glass bottles and paper straws (the latter 2 were left from the Teddy Bears' Picnic). The centrepiece was a combination of logs, pine cones, stones and mushrooms. The kids sat on tree stump pieces, which I went far and wide to acquire (long story!). I covered these with hemmed fabric pieces I had done for the Teddy Bears' Picnic, and tied them with string. If these had been made for the purpose, I would have made them bigger. You can see that some are struggling to cover the top of the stump.

The Faraway Tree painting (mentioned here) provided a backdrop for the kids' table.

3) Food:

Of course, a Faraway Tree party would not be complete without Pop Biscuits, Google Buns and Toffee Shocks. These were not made strictly to Faraway Tree standards or recipes! Our Pop Biscuits were simply shortbread-style cookies, covered with melted white chocolate and 100s and 1000s. Our Google Buns were home-made hot cross buns with "g" on them instead of crosses. I had a disaster trying to make toffee! After 5 (yes, 5!) failed batches (one burnt, 2 with sugar crystals, 1 that set too quickly, and one that, for some reason, only made 3 toffees), I decided to use lollipops as toffee shocks. These lollipops have a sherbet centre, so make some sense.

To complement our genuine Faraway Tree food, we served Fruit Wands, Wooden Logs (chocolate biscuits) and Forest Berries (berry lollies). Then, my friend Thora turned up with some gorgeous mushroom cupcakes which were perfect, and just completed the table!

(Sorry, the shadows are a bit of a pain in these photos).

Our guests took a small box of lollies home with them, along with a Faraway Tree drawing done by Miss 5 (that was Miss 5's idea, too cute).

4) Costumes:

Guess what I was doing while watching "The Voice" over the past week? Making Saucepan Hats (a la, the Saucepan Man in the Faraway Tree). We called them "Saucepan man's Sensational Sombreros". (I'm a dork, I know.) You can see some of the party guests wearing them in the photos above. I also have a gorgeous little person modelling them below.

5) Games:

Again, fitting with the Faraway Tree theme, we played:

*Silky's Sweet Search (a treasure hunt)

*Moonface's Musical Cushions (aka musical chairs)

*Dame Washalot's Washing Relay

*Pixie's Pass-the-Parcel

6) Cake:

The cake was a mushroom, made using a square tin cake (with quarters stacked and trimmed) and pudding dish cake. The icing cover is butter cream, with ready-to-roll icing for decorating bits.

7) Gifts:

I wanted to include this, because it was my one regret about the party. My experience might be helpful for other party hosting parents!

Being undecided about what we wanted to do with gifts, we ended up letting Miss 5 open them as her guests arrived. That was a mistake! For one thing, I didn't really see what came from who and had to do some guesswork later. But worse than that was that 2 of the guests (who are more familiar with our family and are used to being at our house), and Miss 5, were quite keen on particular gifts and were running inside several times (leaving 3 other guests outside) to find and play with certain gifts.

Gifts are pretty exciting for a 5-year-old, and Miss 5 had been talking about them all week leading up to the party. We kept emphasising to her that "People are more important than presents", and that while gifts are exciting, seeing our friends is more exciting. (Neither Matt nor I are big on gifts, so this is easy for us to say honestly!) Opening the gifts up-front provided way too much temptation to make "presents more important than people". We won't be using that strategy again.

I'm happy to provide more information about where I sourced things for the party and websites for more ideas. Let me know in the comments, or drop me an email if you'd like more information.

And, if you have older preschool or primary aged kids and haven't discovered Enid Blyton, or the Faraway Tree, we highly recommend you check out The Enchanted Wood, The Folk of the Faraway Tree and The Magic Faraway Tree.

FIVE: The Birthday Interview

noreply@blogger.com (Julie) — Sun, 05 May 2013 22:44:00 +0000

I have seen this fabulous idea on a couple of blogs around the place, and thought I'd follow suit. This provides a nice record of what our kids are up to each year. If you have kids, you might like to do it to (feel free to use the same questions). I only wish I'd started it earlier with Miss 5.

{I also found some of the answers interesting - e.g. some of the books and toys that she said were favourites aren't necessarily on high rotation, Matt does not cook (much) and I don't really vacuum all day..., but I'm letting it stand with the answers I was given}

Who are your best friends?
Portia, [brother] and [sister], Gracey, Lilli

What makes you feel happy?
Mummy... and daddy

What makes you feel sad?
Nothing
Really? You never feel sad?
No

What do you like to do with daddy?
Riding in the wheelbarrow, and tickling daddy and wrestling daddy on the trampoline

What do you like to do with mummy?
I like helping you around the house

What is your favourite colour?
Um, my best colour is purple

What are your favourite books?
Well, I like "We're Going on a Bear Hunt", and "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" and "The Faraway Tree"... I like that as well. I like "The Wishing Chair" as well.

What are your favourite toys?
I like Polly Pockets, and Barbie, and I like playing with [brother] and [sister], who are really special.

What is your favourite place to go?
Crazy Maze

What does daddy do during the day?
He does the lawn mower. He does cooking... or watch TV.
But, where does he go everyday?
To work. But not everyday, 'cause on Saturday he doesn't go there.

What does mummy do during the day?
Vacuuming. You do driving in the car. And reading a book.

What do you do during the day?
I just like wrestling daddy on the trampoline. I like playing Polly Pocket. And I like looking at the garbage truck.

What do you want to be when you grow up?
I don't know... (with prompt) A Speech Pathologist Princess.

What will you do as a Speech Pathologist Princess?
I don't know what a Speech Pathologist Princess does

Where did 6 months go?

noreply@blogger.com (Julie) — Sun, 05 May 2013 05:34:00 +0000

Cooking with kids: chocolate balls (4 ingredients)

noreply@blogger.com (Julie) — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 07:27:00 +0000

It is supposed to be a cloudy, sometimes wet week here in Sydney. No better time to pull out 4 ingredients and do some cooking with kids. I recommend chocolate balls.

You need: 1/2 cup coconut, 4 tbs cocoa, 1 (250g) pkt of milk arrowroot biscuits and 1 (375g) tin of condensed milk. (Ignore the Vegemite in the background!)

Step 1: Place the milk arrowroot biscuits in a zip-lock bag, seal, and use a rolling pin to crush biscuits into crumbs. (And yes, my son is wearing a girl's apron. I haven't done much looking, but if anyone knows of a place to get some cute little boy aprons, let me know!)

Step 2: Combine the crushed biscuits, cocoa (4 tbs) and tin of condensed milk in a bowl. Stir until well combined.

Step 3: Roll tablespoons of the mixture into balls, roll in coconut.

Step 4: Place on a tray to set in the fridge.

Step 5: Eat (after 20 minutes or more of setting time).

Linking with IBOT

Scapegoating

noreply@blogger.com (Julie) — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 11:31:00 +0000

I have often been heard to say that having 4 small children is not the same as having 4 times 1 small child.

Under normal circumstances, when I'm heard saying this, it is a positive thing - a lot of the work of mothering required to care for 1 small child, is "doubled up" to cater for 4 children. For example; you have to cook dinner, whether you have no children, one or ten children - only the quantity changes. With one small child (of a certain age) regular sweeping under the dining table is a must. 4 children still use only one dining table. When rooms are shared (whether living rooms, bedrooms, bathrooms), the same amount of cleaning is required whether used by one child or ten...

In another sense, having 4 small children is sometimes easier than having one (or two who don't play together yet). As a parent of multiple children, I am not my child's only playmate. I don't really have to do a whole lot of playing at all. I often set something up, or make a suggestion. I might play for 10 minutes here are there, but the bulk of the play is now between siblings.

But in a third sense, having 4 small children is actually harder than 4 times 1. It is the compounding effect of 4 needs/ wants being expressed all at once. Lately, I am finding this compounding effect harder and harder to deal with. And, to my shame, I have only recently recognised that I often react in a very unhealthy way in the heat of the moment: scapegoating.

I read an illustration of exactly this in Loving the Little Years by Rachel Jankovic. She writes:

"Let's say that you are trying to get ready for church, and one child is disobedient (something petty, like not putting on their shoes when you told them to)... In that minute the baby starts crying, you see the clock and realise you are going to be late, you can't find the wet wipes or the baby's shoe... The baby is still screaming, so you are trying to rock the car seat with your foot while doing the hair of your middle child who will not stop bouncing... The tension is mounting. You may well be feeling hot and sweaty while your coffee is getting cold on the counter, untouched. At this moment, the child who didn't put his shoes on comes wandering back..."

And, what happens then? The shoeless child becomes the scapegoat. What starts as "Didn't I tell you to get your shoes on?" quickly results in the poor shoeless child bearing all the tension and stress of the whole situation - receiving a response way beyond what their action deserved.

In these kinds of situations, no-one has done anything "big". Getting distracted instead of getting shoes on, bouncing around instead of sitting still to get hair done, baby wanting attention. But the cumulative effect of all these things (+ the other jobs that need to get done) leads to stress.

Unkindly and unjustly, I have been putting the burden of my stress onto someone else. It is often my husband; "I thought I asked you to...", "Why didn't you...?", and it is often my children - particularly my eldest child :-(

This is the opposite of grace. This is the opposite of the Gospel. As Rachel Jankovic writes; "Christ takes our sins; He does not load us down with someone else's".

I'm thankful to have recognised my scapegoating. Now I'm praying for grace to deal with compound stress in a more healthy way.

The dating "advice" I won't give my daughters

noreply@blogger.com (Julie) — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 11:45:00 +0000

It probably seems presumptuous to sit back from the position of being happily married (for almost 10 years!) and dish out relationship/ dating advice. I don't want to be that smug married person. But, I came across this article (click for link) recently, and it really resonated with me. Though the article is called Why are Christians so bad at dating, I think it applies to a lot of non-Christians (particularly, sorry to say, women) as well.

I'll backtrack, for those who haven't read the other article.

As a young, late teen and 20-something woman, my primary purpose in dating was this: to find a husband. And, not just any husband, but a pretty-much-perfect husband.

I was fed (and took on for myself), a couple of lies during those all-important dating years:

1) Don't go out with someone who you can't see yourself marrying

2) Dating someone, without any serious intention is just messing around with their feelings

3) You will never be able to respect (and therefore never be able to marry, and shouldn't date) anyone who is less... than you (less intelligent, less gifted, less well-versed in the Bible...)

Following these kinds of "rules" made dating pretty scary, and gave me ridiculously lofty standards. In short, I took dating, and myself WAY too seriously. But, it wasn't just me. Many of my friends were the same.

To make things worse I attended an all-girls high-school, and didn't have a lot of male friends. I followed this up by attending a university campus with 80% females. There was not much potential at my church. Because I took the whole thing so seriously, I never really got to know many of the boys/men I met other places (who I didn't have ongoing contact with). Many were dismissed immediately as "not the type I could marry". The types that I thought "maybe I could marry" were also sought-after by every other single girl. (Since I had no idea about the type I actually could marry, having never dated, I had to assume that I could probably marry the best looking guys who had it all together).

Pity the poor guys who did ask me (or my similarly-thinking friends) out. If someone asked us out, it was pretty much a given (in our minds) that they wanted to marry us! And that was overwhelming and terrifying.

Thankfully, God put Matt in my path... more than once. He had to ask me out three times over about 5 years before I finally came to my senses and said 'yes'. (Actually, when I did want to say 'yes', I had to drop a lot of hints to get him to ask me out the 3rd time). (And, PS - he tells me he wasn't ready to marry me when he first asked me out! WHAT!!??) At first, I didn't think Matt was the type I could marry. I guess it is pretty hard to know something like that based on only a couple of conversations and observations (with a harshly critical eye) in a group setting. It is only by God's intervention that Matt bothered to ask again... (and again). And, I'm thankful also to a couple of friends who made me realise what I was missing out on!

------------------------------------------------

A couple of weeks ago, I was having a play date with some female friends from church. Most of them are younger than me, but have children the same age. Matt came up in conversation that day, and my friends were full of praise for him. I was flattered of course, but it also made me reflect...

About 16 years ago, terrified of having him think I wanted to marry him immediately, I wasn't prepared to give Matt a second date. Because of my silly attitude back then, I might have missed my chance. Because I wasn't able to just enjoy myself and have fun getting to know Matt back then, I dismissed him for the most superficial reasons. Reasons that were really non-reasons. Reasons that would have paled into insignificance if I actually took time to get to know Matt.

Now, 16 years later, Matt is the kind of guy I think any woman would be proud to be married to. He has only gotten better with age. I'm glad he persevered with me (and it didn't work out with the other girls he dated in between!). Obviously God had it all in hand.

I pray that my girls won't take themselves as seriously as I did. I hope they can enjoy getting to know boys/ men as friends, without hurting feelings, but without treading on eggshells either. I hope they will open themselves up to different 'types' and not dismiss others as 'not their type' before getting to know them.

Did you follow the same "advice" as me? How did it work for you? Will you be passing this onto your daughters?

Linking up with IBOT

Inner Health Plus: Probiotics and Kids

noreply@blogger.com (Julie) — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 10:26:00 +0000

At the beginning of the year, I got into one of those conversations you have with fellow parents at the pool. Our two eldest children were in a swimming class of 4. The mother of one of their classmates observed me putting ear plugs in Mr 3's ears, and a conversation about grommets, ear infections and Ear, Nose and Throat issues followed (her son has grommets too).

The mother soon started "selling" me a therapeutic diet plan she uses with both her children. The diet claims to target everything from attention-deficit-disorder, to Autism, to frequent ear infections. The diet is based on the assumption that many health issues can be traced to the gut. I can't recall the name of the diet now, but it involves eating a lot of fermented foods (such as sauerkraut) to heal the gut. I do remember that when I looked at the list of foods, I wondered what Mr. 3 would possibly eat if I put him on the diet.

Later, I was telling my Bible study leader (who happens to be a pharmacist) about the diet. She agreed that the diet was probably not necessary in our case, but recommended that Mr 3 start taking a daily probiotic to provide some support to his digestion and immune system. She felt that the probiotic would help with Mr 3's eczema as well as his ear infections. Mr 3 has been taking the probiotic powder in his milk for about 2 months now. Winter will obviously be a testing time, but I have noticed that Mr 3 seems generally more healthy now than he did a couple of months ago.

Today, I was reading an article (in the Women's Weekly) about the trend against immunisation (which is another story). At the end of the article, Dr. Kerryn Phelps summarised, giving her opinion on providing the best health care for your child. She mentioned sticking to the prescribed government immunisation schedule, providing plenty of opportunity for exercise and outdoor time, a healthy diet and a daily probiotic. It was pleasantly surprising and reassuring to read that probiotics may now be recommended by those who adhere to conventional medicine (not that I have anything against non-conventional medicine if it is supported by research or strong anecdotal evidence).

Probiotics may be something to consider for your children, particularly if they suffer from recurrent illnesses or allergies, or if they take medication which might compromise their natural gut bacteria. I am now also giving probiotics to Miss 4 and Miss 2, as a form of preventative medicine.

Do you/ your kids take probiotics? Or have you heard much about them?

The week that was

noreply@blogger.com (Julie) — Sun, 14 Apr 2013 04:39:00 +0000

This poor caterpillar found its way onto our trampoline. By the magic of Google, we managed to keep it alive for almost a whole day. (Sorry, nature lovers).

We walked in the rain. Miss almost-5 is finally getting some return on her umbrella investment. (She bought this umbrella with birthday money last year, and it has had little use).

It is never too early for books, even if you dribble on them.

We always have willing helpers when turning the compost.

She's waving!!! (No, just flapping about... but let's interpret it as a wave)

We're learning about the world with this great felt map from ALDI. And, I do mean we. I was heard many times yelling out; "Matt, Lake Victoria is in Africa, right?" or similar. There are some benefits in being married to a Geography teacher (though, to that he would say; "Geography isn't all about maps, ok?")

Best breakfast of the week. I like my pancakes with frozen raspberries, greek yoghurt and a drizzle of maple syrup. How do you like yours?

It is always comforting to be treated by a doctor wearing only underwear.

Having lunch with a chef.

How was your "week that was"?

New play space

noreply@blogger.com (Julie) — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 11:14:00 +0000

There are many things I love about living in a small house with small children:

* less cleaning

* easy supervision (they can't go too far)

* the necessity for our kids to learn about sharing spaces, compromise and negotiation

* close access to children during night wakings

* being 'forced' to stay on top of decluttering and organisation...

There are also some things I don't like:

* negotiating over the toilet (especially now that we have 5 toilet-users here - one of whom is new to the experience, and can't be trusted to wait)

* not being able to escape the noise

* constantly tidying to create clear walkways

* not having a designated play-room, so toys are hidden in most rooms...

It was a thrill for us (mostly for me) to create a new play space a few weeks ago - almost like a play-room. We recently installed clear cafe blinds around our deck, making the space waterproof, and more protected from wind and cold.

The deck has become our updated messy space (the white sideboard is full of art and craft supplies). Though the sideboard isn't really designed for the outdoors, it will be protected from rain. It wasn't too expensive, so I'm not worried if it's lifespan decreases a little from being outside.

I'm trying to encourage use of the new play space by setting up regular play/ activities out there as often as possible. I love that I can leave toys set-up/ spread out there all day and not feel like I have to clean up. Out of sight, out of mind! It is really almost as good as having a play-room.

Do you have a designated room/ area for play? How do you organise your play space?

Hiding behind my kids: confessions of a boring mummy

noreply@blogger.com (Julie) — Sun, 07 Apr 2013 11:40:00 +0000

Over the weekend, we invited some of my husbands workmates and their partners over for a BBQ. Among our guests were some younger than us (in their 20s, childless), some a little older (in their late 40s, with teenage and adult children) and some still older (in their 60s, with adult children). None of our guests were in the same life stage or demographic as me.

In the past, this hasn't really bothered me. But, during our weekend BBQ, I struggled. Maybe it was the demographic/ life stage thing. Maybe it was that I have no shared history with any of our guests (apart from having met them briefly at Matt's work events). Maybe there was little to immediately provide a connection or conversational fodder. Maybe I was just feeling overwhelmed by the number of guests.

There was a fair bit of teacher-talk, to which I had no contribution. (Sorry teachers, but I'm sure there is no other profession where there is so much 'shop talk' outside of the actual workplace!). There were in-house, workplace-related jokes. There was talk of international travel - I don't have much to add. I have nothing to contribute to sport talk. I'm embarrassingly behind in my knowledge of world affairs. I haven't read many good books lately, or even watched any new movies. If you take me away from kids and their development, parenting or house-keeping, my knowledge-base is not very current.

Everyone was lovely, and it was a nice afternoon. I even had a couple of okay conversations. But, for the first time, I felt conspicuous in my mummy-ness. I felt uninspired and uninspiring. I felt like I had nothing of interest to contribute.

So I hid.

I hid behind my children. I hid behind busyness. I let my children tell the stories I might have told. I let my children have the conversations I might have had. I let them entertain the guests with dress-ups, and trampoline demonstrations. I busied myself giving attention to our kids - getting their lunch, and helping them get toys down, and put dress-ups on... I busied myself putting food out, and getting drinks and loading and unloading the dishwasher. I avoided the conversations I probably could have had.

4 small children make 'hiding' easy

It is busy being a mum to small children. It is hard to have uninterrupted conversations. It is hard to connect with new people, particularly those who don't understand the interruptions. But it is also easy to hide. It is easy to busy ourselves with our children, to avoid connecting with others. Though it is not unreasonable to put our children's needs before others, it is easy to avoid relating to others, because they might find us boring, or unlikable, or uninspiring. It is easy to put our own needs for comfort, or popularity, or wanting to be admired above the needs of others - who desire to be listened to, or talked to, or cared for. Sometimes our children can provide the perfect excuse for our own selfishness. Or maybe it is just me?

Do you feel like a boring mummy? Do you ever use your kids to 'hide'?

Faraway Tree Party: Inspiration

noreply@blogger.com (Julie) — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 03:29:00 +0000

For those who follow over on The Useful Box Facebook page, our latest party-planning ideas will not come as a surprise.

Miss 4 is turning 5 in May. We weren't planning on having a party for her this year, as she had reasonably large Princess party last year. But, when she asked for a Faraway Tree birthday party (based on the Enid Blyton series), I couldn't resist! If I don't take the opportunity now, she may change her plans by next year, and I'll miss my chance for a Faraway Tree party. (Yes, it is as much about me as about her!)

After I explained to my husband that party-planning is an enjoyable hobby for me, not a stress, he graciously agreed to a 5th birthday party (though he cannot understand having this as a hobby.) The jury is still out on the size of the party (maybe just a couple of friends), but that hasn't stopped me planning.

For once, Pintrest and Google images did not have a lot of inspiration to offer for a Faraway Tree party - probably because the Enid Blyton series is not as well known in the US? Instead, I am taking inspiration from this picture (drawn by Miss 4 - her vision for a Faraway Tree party):

For those unacquainted with the Faraway Tree, this is a scene from "The Land of Birthdays" chapter. The Faraway Tree is decked out with bunting. The 3 children (Jo, Bessie and Fanny) are wearing dress-ups.

Further inspiration is from the gorgeous pictures in the old(er) illustrated version of "The Enchanted Wood". I used scanned images from the book to create the invitation. My dad scanned the images for me (we don't have a scanner) and saved them as jpeg files. I could then resize, crop and edit as with normal photo files and create a card in Snapfish. The cards were originally about $1.90 each (with a minimum purchase of 20), but with a 50% off sale (sales are quite frequent on Snapfish) , I paid about $21 for 20 cards, including postage. I thought that was reasonable. It is difficult to tell the quality from this picture, but the invitations (and quality of the images) look great.

There is probably some sort of copyright related to these images, so this isn't the sort of thing you could sell or reproduce in quantity. I think a couple of invitations for a party is probably okay!

The table below was on sale at our local "Reject shop" for $30. I almost stumbled over it walking down the street, as they had it out the front of the shop, trying to get rid of it. It is made of a similar ceramic to garden gnomes etc - it will double as a cute garden table for the kids after the party. I have seen similar-looking sets with table and chairs online for about $300 - well beyond my decorating budget!

In terms of seating, we have a friend from church, who is a tree lopper. I've asked him to set aside a few pieces of tree trunk for me next time he does a big job - simple (and free!)

These smaller mushrooms (about 20cm high) were $2 each. Good for table decorations.

Some sort of table set-up like this one below would be cute - maybe not quite as much grass/ foliage, and more wood pieces instead. There are often fallen branches around the streets here. I asked Matt to keep a lookout for one that he can chop up to make some natural wood blocks (we can use them for play afterwards):

Of course, I will recycle the bunting I made for Miss 2's teddy bears' picnic. This bunting will show up in a lot of birthday parties here from now on.

Finally, my helpers and I have been busy, painting a backdrop. I can't really paint or draw, and I know my limitations (note that there is nothing complex in the painting), but working on this was a lot of fun!

What is your party policy? (Every year, every second year, only significant birthdays...?) Any more ideas for a Faraway Tree Party?

Easter Traditions #3: Easter Sunday

noreply@blogger.com (Julie) — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 19:00:00 +0000

As usual, we have had a busy, but wonderful Easter weekend.

After church on Good Friday, we enjoyed the company of my family (parents, brother and sister-in-law) on Friday. In addition to remembering Jesus' death, we celebrated my brother's birthday.

We continued our Easter readings on Good Friday and Easter Sunday. Thanks again Petrina. The kids absolutely loved them - especially the song ideas which accompanied each reading!

Even Miss 4 months got in on the act with visual aides:

On Saturday night, I raced around preparing for Easter tradition #3 - a "Jesus is Alive" party on Easter Sunday:

We started celebrating at breakfast time:

... continued with an egg hunt after church:

My brother-in-law was on hand to help Miss 4 months!

And kept celebrating at dinner time:

The Easter Sunday reading called for a celebration with streamers (check), and musical instruments. Although everyone was tired, this was a total hit with our kids... and a great cause for celebration.

{On a side note, this year there has been a popular Facebook meme aiming to discredit Easter as a Christian celebration (see more in the article I have linked below). Some people may think that discrediting the origins of Christian celebrations discredits the whole message of Christianity. In fact, not many Christians claim Easter or Christmas as our original celebration. But we do attach a unique meaning to these celebrations - remembering and celebrating Jesus. His death and resurrection is the crux of Christianity - without these events, our faith would be meaningless. We do well to remember and celebrate - even if the timing of our celebrations may be "borrowed".

Click here for an interesting article (not an article that I agree with mostly, but it does raise some interesting points!)}

How did you celebrate this Easter?

Linking with Jess for IBOT

Easter Traditions #2: Passover Meal

noreply@blogger.com (Julie) — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 21:23:00 +0000

Tonight we will celebrate our family passover meal. On the Thursday night before Good Friday, for about 3 years now, we have shared this meal, as we remember Jesus' death for us.

The passover was/ is a Jewish custom, originating in Old Testament times when God saved his people from slavery in Egypt. You can read more about that here (click) in Exodus chapter 12. The passover is also the meal that Jesus celebrated with his disciples the night before he died. You can read more about that in Mark chapter 14.

As Christians, we take the passover with extra significance. Jewish people still celebrate it (I believe) as a reminder of God rescuing his people from slavery in Egypt. Christians remember God's rescue back then. We also remember God's ultimate rescue of all people from slavery to sin. God's rescue of us comes through Jesus, who, in his death was our passover lamb.

When we share the passover, we are not sacrificing the lamb, or believing that the lamb becomes Jesus' body or anything like that. We do it as a simple reminder, accompanied by Bible reading, explaining how Jesus rescues us.

The Jewish custom of Passover calls for an involved series of traditions and rituals, with special attention to the food, serving dishes etc. Ours has 5 key elements: lamb, bitter herbs/ greens, unleavened (yeast-free) bread, red wine (for the adults) + the Bible.

This is (broadly) based on the instructions to God's people in Exodus 12 and Mark 14, but again, we have freedom. Really, you could share a meal to remember Jesus' death with Coca-Cola and chocolate (probably not great from a health perspective though!). Remembering is the key.

I hope and pray that your family will remember Jesus too this Easter... however that happens for you. If you would like to see some other celebrations/ traditions we will be using to remember Jesus this Easter, look at this post (from last year).

Gross Motor Development: Animal Walks

noreply@blogger.com (Julie) — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 19:00:00 +0000

Mr 3 is currently seeing an OT (Occupational Therapist) to help him with mild delays in a few areas of motor development.

Along with a couple of other things, Mr 3 was assessed as having slightly low muscle tone through his trunk and upper body. This means that he can fatigue quickly when it comes to completing both fine and gross motor tasks (swimming, running and sport, drawing and cutting). Even with a small amount of therapy and home practice so far, he has made significant improvements. I am now noticing that he is just as keen to participate in outdoor and active play as his sisters, or any other child.

For improving muscle tone, the OT encouraged us to play at home with various "animal walks". These help strengthen the upper body and core muscles. These exercises are particularly recommended for children like Mr 3 (with low muscle tone), but they are a beneficial and fun gross motor activity for anyone. (And, as a side benefit, they are a pretty good workout for mums - if your knees can stand it!).

To make this activity even more fun, we were encouraged to create obstacles (large cushions) to crawl over. Uneven surfaces force the trunk muscles and limbs to work even harder. We have enjoyed racing each other across the lounge room.

Animal Walk #1: The Bear (or you can name it after any taller animal - Mr 3 calls it the brontosaurus). Walk on hands and feet, with feet as flat as possible on the floor.

Animal Walk #2: The Crab - on hands and feet, with stomach facing toward the ceiling. This one is really hard work!

Animal Walk #3: The Snake - use core muscles and elbows to slither along the ground.

Animal Walk #4: The Dog (or the stegosaurus, according to Mr 3) - basic crawling position. We were encouraged to do lots of crawling in general. I can't do this one for long myself - my knees just don't cope, especially on floor boards!

Animal Walk #5: The Frog (I didn't get a photo of this one - jumping in the crouched position)

Animal Walk #6: Donkey Kicks - best done on a trampoline, or lounge or bed - jump forward onto hands, kicking legs out behind you.

Lots of general rumble play was also encouraged. Rumble play helps develop body strength. It also provides general proprioceptive (body awareness) input, important for optimal sensory processing, brain development and functioning. Rumble play is Matt's domain... mostly because I prefer not to get hurt!

Although Mr 3 is generally a very gentle boy, it was interesting for me to reflect that when Matt is less available to engage in rough play with Mr 3 (due to work or other commitments), Mr 3's behaviour becomes a little more erratic and he tends play "rougher" with his sisters - not in a good way. I don't notice the same effects with the girls - though rumble play is recommended for girls too.

Mr 3 is thrilled with his OT sessions and even pretty keen to practice at home. Miss 4 and Miss 2 also enjoy practicing. For those with toddlers, preschoolers, or young primary-aged children, you might have fun with animal walks at your place too.

Disclaimer: I am not an OT. Animal walks were recommended to us as being beneficial for children with and without motor delays. For more specific details, rationale, individually tailored exercises, or if you have any other concerns about your child, I recommend consulting an Occupational Therapist!

I'm linking up with Jess for IBOT

The hardest thing about parenting right now

noreply@blogger.com (Julie) — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 02:52:00 +0000

What is the hardest thing about parenting for you right now?

My answer to this varies at least every 6 months or so. It depends on how old my kids are, what they are doing - physically, cognitively, emotionally, spiritually. It depends on my own energy levels, mental state, outside commitments etc.

But right now, the hardest thing about parenting for me is availability.

I cannot be available to all my children, all the time. It shouldn't bother me so much, but it does.

There is no prescriptive answer. I know that it is impossible for one person (me) to be available to 4 people (my kids) all the time. I know that it is actually not in my kids' best interests for me to be available to them all the time. But I struggle with knowing exactly how much is enough, how often I should expect them to work through emotions, or sibling conflicts or solving problems without me, how often I should intervene, how much I should explain and how much I should let them discover on their own...

It is different for each child, and it is different for each child on different days. My eldest child could easily sap me of all my emotional resources on her own. Then, I have 3 other children.

At the moment, all the other 'stuff' of parenting pales in comparison for me. Organise 4 children to be out the door for school drop-off and pick-up... I can do that. Get the whole family to church on time most weeks... yep, got that covered. Do all the monotonous chores over and over again (like sweeping under the table 6 times daily)... I don't love it, but I can do it. Organise a calendar of medical appointments, play-dates, preschool, swimming, Bible study for 5/ 6 people... that's a cinch.

Availability - when, where, how, how much, who... that's a struggle.

What's the hardest thing about parenting for you right now?

Hints that you have a large family (in case you couldn't tell)...

noreply@blogger.com (Julie) — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 01:34:00 +0000

Some of these also apply to people with 1 child (or no children). Some are unique to those with 3+ children. Feel free to add your own in the comments:

1) You take half of your children with you to an appointment and you feel strangely normal.

2) You can't remember what quiet sounds like.

3) You are becoming very skilled in conflict resolution.

4) Your family has two medicare cards. Seriously.

Excuse the horrible re-touch job!

5) It costs you half a week's wages to visit an indoor play centre, or the movies, or a fast food establishment

6) For the above reasons (and others), you spend a lot of time at parks, or at the library.

7) Not many people are prepared to mind all of your children at once

8) You hear the phrase "are they all yours?" or "you have your hands full" more frequently than "how are you?"

9) You spend a lot of your day saying "just a minute"

10) You hold your bladder for hours on end, because you never quite get a chance to get to the bathroom

11) Your mother-in-law asks your husband; "you aren't going to have anymore kids are you?!" about once a fortnight.

12) No-one would ever believe that you once knew the pain of infertility

13) You feel amazingly, overwhelmingly blessed

14) You often get to the end of the day feeling that you have failed someone or something

15) You are learning to be satisfied with "good enough"

What would you add?

Friday night dessert: Pear and Almond Tart

noreply@blogger.com (Julie) — Sun, 17 Mar 2013 10:07:00 +0000

There is always a bit of tiredness-induced angst in our household on a Friday night.

As those on Facebook may already know, Thursdays and Fridays are preschool days here. Although Mr 3 loves preschool, he in particular, is exhausted by it. An exhausted Mr 3 means a Mr 3 who bursts into tears at the drop of a hat. And there are lots of 'drops of hats' here on Fridays.

After enduring a few post-preschool Fridays, it became clear that our family needed something (apart from crying) to look forward to on Friday evening. So Friday night has become DESSERT NIGHT.

Friday night dessert night also ties in perfectly with our weekly schedule. With Miss 4 and Mr 3 at preschool, it gives Miss 2 and I a perfect opportunity for some one-on-one cooking time.

On the menu this week was Pear and Almond Tart. If I do say so myself, it was delicious!

You need:
Pastry:
1.5 cups plain flour (I used 3/4 cup wholemeal and 3/4 cup white flour)
125g butter, chopped
2 eggs
1 tbs water
(More flour and/ or water depending on the consistency of your dough)

Filling:
125g butter
1/2 cup caster sugar
2 eggs
1/4 cup plain flour (again, I used wholemeal)
125g almond meal
3 large pears, peeled and sliced
1/4 cup jam - I used my friend's homemade apple and cinnamon jam (Thanks Thora!), but apricot or a marmalade would work.

Method:
1) Preheat oven to 180 degrees C (moderate). Grease a shallow 25cm (approx) diameter pie dish.
2) Combine the flour and butter in a food processor. Mix until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add eggs and water and continue to blend until a dough forms.
3) Remove the dough onto a floured surface and knead until smooth. Add more flour or water as needed.

4) Roll out the dough and line the baking dish. Place the dish in the fridge.

5) For the filling: Cream butter and caster sugar in a bowl until well combined. Add eggs, flour and almond meal and stir until combined.

6) Meanwhile, place (peeled and sliced) pears into a saucepan and cover with water (pears should be just covered). Place over high heat until water boils. Reduce heat and simmer for approx 5 minutes, or until pears are soft. Drain and allow to cool slightly.

7) Spoon the almond meal mixture into the pastry crust. Arrange the pear slices around the edge of the tart.

8) Bake in moderate oven for 40 minutes, until golden and firm.

9) You may choose to eat the tart this way, but adding a jam glaze adds an extra level of yumminess! Warm the jam/ marmalade in the microwave for 10-15 seconds. Spread the warmed jam over the tart.

10) Enjoy. Best served warm with a spoonful of cream, or creamy yoghurt, or ice-cream.

Outdoor Play: Kids' Car Wash

noreply@blogger.com (Julie) — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 09:21:00 +0000

We took advantage of a sunny afternoon last week and set up a "car" wash in the backyard. It always amazes me how a bit of water can make an activity last 4 times longer than it otherwise would.

In a highly unusual turn of events, Mr 3 was asleep during this activity (he has an afternoon sleep less frequently than anyone else in our family, including me!), so it was just the girls this time.

Set up was easy - a bucket (or in our case, a box), a couple of sponges, some soap and water, a hose and some bikes/ cars to wash.

Then I pretty much left the girls to it. I obviously had no expectations that things would actually be cleaned (and they weren't)!:

Things got quite messy:

Until it was time to hose off:

Meanwhile, the littlest and I enjoyed some quality time watching from the (dry) deck:

The littlest is now 4 months old, growing very well (as you can probably see - she is topping the charts for weight, length and head size), and still as charming as ever.

If you have a spare sunny afternoon, I highly recommend a car/ bike wash.

Putting first things first

noreply@blogger.com (Julie) — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 21:49:00 +0000

The morning I turned 34, things weren't going well. I spent my time doing all the regular morning stuff - breakfast, kitchen clean-up, hanging washing, packing lunches (for kids to take to our church play-group), drinking coffee, taking vitamins, wrangling children. I had a chocolate slice prepared to take for morning tea at my Bible study group. (I put myself on the roster on my birthday so I wouldn't forget). I was enjoying the feeling of getting there. It looked like my to-do list would be done before we needed to leave.

Then a spanner was thrown. Mr 3 opened the fridge and (accidentally) dumped the chocolate slice all over the floor. I took one look at the slice and burst into tears. I recovered and made an emergency batch of muffins - just in time to go. On the way to Bible study I remembered that I was also supposed to bring milk. I sorted that out by driving by our local corner store - though that was not without incident either.

The morning, like most, was rush, rush, rush. I arrived at my group only about 5 minutes late, but very flustered. As it turned out, someone else had the roster mixed up, and had also brought milk. Another person on the morning tea roster had brought so much food that my muffins were barely touched (and nor was a lot of the other food). In short, all my rushing around and elevated anxiety levels that morning had been a waste of time.

It is easy for me to get caught up in details. Details like:

*making yummy and impressive morning teas

*spending too long getting the kitchen 'perfectly' clean

*dreaming and scheming about a house renovation

*looking at Facebook and blogs...

It makes me forget what is important. Important things like:

*spending time reading the Bible and praying

*hugging my children

*taking the time to calmly work through sibling fights instead of just yelling at everyone

*devoting specific time to my husband when the kids are in bed instead of talking to each other over our laptop screens

*making sure I'm giving my body healthy, complete meals instead of eating leftover chocolate slice (from the floor) for lunch...

Sometimes getting caught up in details seems worth it. The morning tea is appreciated by my friends, the kitchen stays clean for more than 10 minutes or I get to read news of a friend having a baby on Facebook. But often, the focus on details means negative consequences - irritation upon irritation, a feeling of general anxiety and lack of peace, feelings of regret over time wasted.

Focussing on the important things sometimes doesn't seem worth it. No-one is going to compliment me if I read my Bible like they will if I make them morning tea. The kids start fighting again 10 minutes after I've spend so long on conflict resolution. "Important" tasks or news on the computer screen is calling me away from my husband. My body would rather be fed with sugar than salad. But the long-term consequences of the important things are worth it - getting to know God better, peace that my problems are in God's hands, teaching my kids to interact well (albeit slowly!), loving my husband more and more, feeling better in my (healthy) skin.

One of my important things!

The details still grab me, more often than not. Don't get me wrong - I'm still going to be on Facebook, and I'm still going to make nice treats! But, I'm working on putting first things first.

Linking with Jess

Outings with kids: Woronora (Sydney)

noreply@blogger.com (Julie) — Sun, 10 Mar 2013 11:06:00 +0000

Despite being a wonderful dad, Matt is not all that great at being at home with the kids. He doesn't have much inclination towards preschool play or art and craft or preschool sport. He freely admits that he would never enjoy being a stay-at-home-dad. Because he doesn't enjoy doing kids' activities at home much, he does a family outing very well. When it comes to finding and organising cheap family outings, Matt is the king.

Matt first took me to Woronora when we were dating. It is a pretty small, relaxed place, but there is plenty to do there. In our dating days, we hired a canoe and rowed our way along the Woronora river. We found a (relatively private) rocky enclave where we could pull our canoe onto the sand and stop for a picnic lunch. It was a fun, romantic and not very expensive date - much better than the movies! Woronora still offers canoe and kayak hire at the Boatshed. As well as being a great date, this would be a great option for those with older kids, or for an outing with friends.

Over the Anzac Day long weekend last year, we went to Burnum Burnum Sanctuary on the Sutherland side of the Woronora river. Burnum Burnam offers a large playground for kids, a bike track, walking paths along the river, barbecues and sheltered eating areas. Although it can get busy on weekends and public holidays, there is usually enough room for everyone.

A couple of weeks ago, a friend sent me a link for the new Lemon Squeezy Cafe on the Menai side of Woronora. (Thanks Lauren!) This cafe seems to be getting a lot of attention among parents (at least on Facebook) at the moment. One rainy Saturday, we decided to take some time out to check it out.

The cafe is designed to be kid-friendly. There are designated play areas with dress-ups, blackboards, a doll-house and play food. Many of the kids around us were playing on ipads. These are available for hire at Lemon Squeezy if that is your thing. The owners didn't seem to mind when toys were moved around the cafe, or spread over the floor (within reason - though one of the owners seemed to be on almost constant pick-up duty). This made it a very relaxing place to be as a parent.

We went to Lemon Squeezy for an afternoon coffee. The coffee was good. Although we didn't eat a meal there, the lunch menu sounded nice. Matt was a little exasperated when he was served by a young person (not the owner) who seemed to need a bit of prompting for the basics (e.g. When Matt asked for banana bread, it was brought un-toasted, then brought back without butter. This was quickly remedied but we felt like nags having to ask for a few things like this.) I'm sure the person who served us is getting more experienced!

You do need to book for Lemon Squeezy if going for a meal. The cafe doesn't seat many and seems to be booked out quite frequently (a good problem to have!).

There is only one set of swings on the Menai side of the Woronora river, but there is a better park on the Sutherland side (as well as Burnum Burnam sanctuary). Prince Edward Park is another park in Woronora. It has a smaller playground than Burnum Burnam, but also has a short bike path near the river. It is right near a pedestrian bridge, so you can take a short walk and get a good look over the river.

Woronora is a great place for a half or full-day outing with kids. The addition of the Lemon Squeezy cafe provides even more incentive to get down to Woronora.

Have you been to Woronora or Lemon Squeezy? What did you think?

Coconut cinnamon scrolls - accidentally dairy-free

noreply@blogger.com (Julie) — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 02:33:00 +0000

On Monday night, I decided to have a go at Cinnamon Scrolls a la The Organised Housewife.

Yes, they were delicious. My husband certainly thought so. I was getting a little worried that I may not have enough scrolls left to take to play-group on Tuesday as Matt was enjoying them so much.

This is what happens if you are too impatient to let them cool before icing them.

But, the point of me sharing this story is to tell you that I inadvertently (and with good results), made the recipe dairy-free. Actually, mine were not quite dairy free, but a little tweak would easily make them dairy-free. We are not dairy-free in our house, but I know some who read here are (and, even if you aren't, they still taste good this way!)

The original recipe from the Organised Housewife (click to view it) calls for 1 and 1/4 cups of thickened cream. But, like many people, I did not have thickened cream on hand at 9pm on a Monday night. I did have coconut cream. It made a great substitute. The only other dairy in the recipe is butter (which can easily be replaced with Nuttelex spread), and a tablespoon of milk for the icing (which can be substituted with boiling water.

So, here is the dairy-free version:

Ingredients:
Dough:

2 cups plain flour + 2 tsp baking powder (I used 2 cups self-raising flour)
More flour for dusting/ kneading (up to 1/3 cup)

2 tsp caster sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup coconut cream

Cinnamon Mixture:
1 tbs nuttelex (or butter if not dairy-free), melted

2 tbs sugar (any type works)

2 tsp cinnamon

Icing:

1/2 cup icing sugar

1 tbs boiling water (or your choice of milk e.g. rice milk, soy milk, almond milk for dairy-free)

Method:

Pre-heat your oven to 180 (degrees C - a moderate oven)

Put flour, caster sugar, baking powder (if using) salt and coconut cream in a bowl

Mix with a wooden spoon until just combined

Move this dough to a floured surface and knead until smooth

Roll dough out into a rectangle of about 20cm by 30cm. It will be about 1.5 cm thick.

Brush the dough with the melted nuttelex or butter

Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon (combine first if you want to)

Roll the dough from the longest side to make a scroll

Cut approximately 2cm slices (mine made about 12 - keep the rougher looking end bits to eat at home, or give to your kids!)

Place slices on a tray and bake for 20-25mins, until golden

If you are not impatient like me, let the scrolls cool

Make your icing by combining the icing sugar and boiling water

Pour icing over the scrolls

Enjoy!

{Edit: Notes on the dough: Thanks to your feedback, I decreased the amount of coconut cream in the recipe to one cup. Begin with 2 cups flour, but add more flour as required. The dough should not be sticky when ready to bake. Dust your surfaces, rolling pin and fingers liberally (with flour). Knead until dough comes together well. Some brands of coconut cream are more runny than others. I used the "Asia Specialties" brand, found at ALDI stores. If your dough seems too sticky, you may have a runnier coconut cream. Add more flour as required.

Here is my dough, ready for cinnamon mixture:

On trying the recipe again, I used Nutella (hazelnut/chocolate spread) instead. The dough was smooth enough to be able to spread the Nutella easily, then roll:

Finally, avoid over-baking. The scrolls should be just beginning to brown on top/ sides when you take them out of the oven. The consistency of the finished scroll should be similar to a soft, fresh scone.}

Speech Pathology stuff: Stuttering

noreply@blogger.com (Julie) — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 21:59:00 +0000

Miss 4 is currently having Speech Pathology for stuttering. Yes. I'm a Speech Pathologist and I now have 2 children in Speech Pathology! Funnily enough, almost all my Speech Pathologist friends have had intervention for stuttering with at least one of their children.

This is probably partly because we Speech Pathologists are attuned to listening for stuttering (and other speech disorders). I have had several non-Speech Pathologist friends express their surprise that Miss 4 is having intervention ("What? She's not stuttering!") All my Speech Pathology friends who have heard Miss 4 talk for any length of time have noticed the stutter. It is also partly that stuttering tends to occur in preschoolers who have either (a) poor language development or (b) above average language development. It is perhaps comforting to note that Speech Pathologists often have children with above average language development (at least in the preschool years). Obviously the language development strategies we learn at uni, and teach other parents tend to work!

I was recently part of an online conversation that reminded me how many misconceptions there still are among the general community about stuttering, particularly stuttering in children. I hope I can provide some general information that will be helpful to parents of young children, particularly those seeking out intervention for stuttering.

What is stuttering?

Stuttering is a speech disorder characterised by:

(a) repetition of sounds in words (e.g. d, d, d, daddy) and/or,

(b) repetition of whole words (e.g. I, I, I, I... went shopping) and/ or,

(d) prolongations (stretching out the first sound in a word e.g. m_mum) and/ or,

(e) blocks (appearance of being 'stuck' before sounds come out in a word e.g. _ mum)

Secondary behaviours - eye blinking, grimacing, body movements etc may also be present.

Stuttering can vary in severity from mild to severe. Severity is usually determined based on the number/ percentage of syllables stuttered (related to the total number of syllables spoken), as well as based on the types of stutters present. An individual's stuttering severity can vary according to different environments, speaking situations, levels of fatigue, sickness etc. Severity is particularly variable in young children who stutter.

Why is my child stuttering?

The cause of stuttering is unknown. There does seem to be a genetic link, given that stuttering often runs in families. Despite previous misconceptions, parental input (or lack of it) does NOT cause stuttering.

Will my child "grow out of it"?
Maybe. It is true that many children who stutter will recover naturally, without Speech Pathology intervention. Some children will only experience a brief period of stuttering (up to a couple of months) as they are learning to speak, with a burst in language development, or some other transition period.

For children who have been stuttering for 12 months or more, it is impossible to predict which children will 'grow out of it' and which will not. Severity, amount of time since stuttering onset and/ or type of stuttering is not a reliable predictor of natural recovery (e.g. some with mild stuttering will not recover, and some with more severe stuttering will).

Speech Pathology intervention is recommended, and shown to be most effective in the preschool years (prior to age 6). Parents of children who have been stuttering for 12 months or longer are advised to seek the advise of a Speech Pathologist.

What treatment should we receive?
The "Lidcombe Program" has been shown across clinical trials to be the most effective treatment for preschool children who stutter. The program is most effective prior to age 6, but has also been effective for some older children.

It would be unethical of me to go into detail about the Lidcombe program. The specific content of the Lidcombe program is only outlined to parents when they are attending Speech Pathology sessions for stuttering intervention. This is mostly because, while the general intervention approach sounds simple, it can easily be misapplied, to the detriment of therapy progress. Regular Speech Pathology consultation in the initial period of treatment is imperative.

Parental involvement is non-negotiable. Parents are required to take daily ratings of their child's stuttering severity, as well as completing daily home therapy tasks. Speech Pathology sessions are initially attended on a weekly basis, and gradually decrease in frequency.

Please feel free to ask any questions in the comments below or email me: julie@theusefulbox.com

Please seek the advice of a local Speech Pathologist if you have any concerns about your child's speech.

Linking with Jess

Easter traditions #1: Family Bible Readings

noreply@blogger.com (Julie) — Sun, 03 Mar 2013 08:28:00 +0000

It is under 4 weeks until Good Friday. It seems that some organised people (and shopkeepers) have been preparing for Easter for weeks already.

I love how Easter and Christmas give us the opportunity and the impetus to focus as a family on some important truths about Jesus' life, death and resurrection. Of course, as Christian parents, we are seeking to teach our kids to love, trust and follow Jesus all year round... but having our whole society (here in Australia) celebrating at Easter and Christmas tends to give Matt and I a little push to make sure our kids understand the real events that Christians remember and celebrate at these times.

As a family we don't completely dismiss all the non-Jesus parts of Easter. We still enjoy a chocolate egg or two, or too many. We have a family egg hunt and we enjoy hot cross buns. We have been (and will be in future) to the Sydney Royal Easter Show. We enjoy a good old Aussie long weekend as much as anyone!

We also try to make Easter a time to remember what marks us out as Christians - that we have a saviour who died for us, who asks nothing of us for our salvation, but whose gracious gift enables us to live for Him. We remind and teach our kids with Easter Bible readings in the lead-up to Easter, by attending church on both Good Friday and Easter Sunday and by celebrating Jesus' resurrection with a "Jesus is alive" party. Last year we also made an Easter Garden.

Our Bible readings for the past two years have been focused around using the Resurrection Eggs. There is a booklet of readings with the eggs, but I modified some passages slightly to accommodate younger children and shorter attention spans. You can find our list of readings here (click).

This year, we are mixing it up a little, and using a fantastic booklet of child-friendly readings. These were put together by Petrina. To follow Petrina's readings to the letter, you needed to start a couple of weeks ago (There are 5 once-weekly readings, then 7 daily readings). We will be doing all of them in the 2 weeks before Easter instead. Petrina's booklet is available to download (for free) in full. Each reading includes activity ideas, questions, song ideas and a short prayer. Click here if you would like to view, download and/ print: Booklet of Easter readings.

We are able to use most of our resurrection eggs with these readings, as well as (or instead of) the activity/ visuals suggested by Petrina. If you don't have (or don't like) resurrection eggs, you might like ornaments to accompany Easter readings which I found online. You don't really need the eggs or ornaments. You can make your own visuals, or use readings without visuals (particularly with older children).

If you are a Christian parent, Easter is such a great time to teach your kids, and this booklet is such a great resource. I realise that some Christian parents don't have the time or opportunity to spend a bit of extra time on this at Easter. Please don't feel any guilt if you are in that position - Easter is all about how Jesus sets us free from that kind of guilt! If you do have the opportunity (or can make the opportunity) however, I hope you find these readings bless you like they have blessed our family the past couple of years.

Does your family have any Easter traditions (Jesus-focused or just plain fun)?