Dunkin' Delphi

BallFiend: Delphi's all wet again. He fell in the terrlet (that's how BallFiend pronounces 'toilet'). I picked him out and dried him... (groans from DeepSpice and me) and the ball fell in and I picked it out and washed it... (more groans, as we steel ourselves to deal with the clean-up).

Delphi, with us at the beach
(some hours prior to the aforementioned dunny-dive)

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The things we do for our offspring!

This is an email I have just sent to BallFiend's kindergarten teacher. I think this is the strangest email I have ever had to write!

On 22/10/2011 3:47 PM, Stompy wrote:

Hi D.

BallFiend got a bit upset when he got home on Friday because he realised he had left his 'bead boxes' behind in the kinder room. He said he made them to put beads in (I'm assuming he did so at the craft table).

Apparently the two boxes are brown and are identical size/shape, however BallFiend then squashed one up as part of the creative process. He showed me how big they are with his hands... I'm guessing about the size of a shoe box. They have sticky tape and various other things stuck on them and a hole for the beads to go in.

If they are still there on Monday (assuming you can identify them!), would you be able to put them aside for him? (And if you can't find them, I suspect he will have forgotten about them in a few days time anyway).

thanks,
Stompy

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Human canvas

DeepSpice just pointed out that my elbow has been drawn on.

Earlier today, I gave Thumper paper and a black pen so she could do a drawing. She sat at the kids table, which is right next to my desk, and scrawled away for a few minutes. Then when she finished, I took the pen away and put it safely out of reach (a lesson I have learned due to previous occasions of crayons and permanent markers being used to graffiti our walls) .

So now I am wondering: how the hell did she managed to walk over to me and draw on my elbow without me noticing it! What is this child? Some kind of blonde-haired, body-art-loving ninja ?

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Anyone fancy a pigeon?

During dinner last night, we heard a strange sound coming from the back of the house, so DeepSpice went to investigate. There was a pigeon on the back deck, huddled in against the corner of our house. The kids thought it was quite interesting, I just thought it was annoying. I hate wild pigeons with a passion. They are disgusting, filthy animals (and I wish people would stop feeding them at the mall where I shop!). 

However, as it didn't try to get away when we went near so we guessed it was tame and on closer inspection we could also see it had an injured leg and wing. Now, I also don't particularly like any animals kept as pets - dogs, cats, birds, whatever. As I write this post, the neighbour's dog is yapping away and driving me crazy. And I still bear a grudge against the various wild birds that have made their way down our chimneys in the past. So the last thing I want to have to deal with is someone's injured pet pigeon. But I am not inhumane, and so began the long night of phone calls to try and find out what to do... 

First I rang the local council's after hours emergency line. They told me to ring Wild Life Australia. Wild Life Australia gave me some numbers for various local pigeon societies: the Melbourne Pigeon Society, the Victorian Pigeon Society and the Dandenong Pigeon Society. I did, of course, also search the Web and came up with a few somewhat helpful pages: the Australian National Pigeon Association and the Victorian Racing Pigeon Union. But they all assumed that I wanted to feed and care for this 'found' pigeon. I didn't - I just wanted someone who actually cared to come and get it.

So I started working my way through the list of phone numbers - first M. who told me to call him back in the morning to get the number for someone else. So next I rang J. who told me to call K. He said it was going to be unlikely that anyone will take the bird, because there is currently a contagious pigeon virus around and so the authorities have banned all pigeons from being released or moved. Great. Luckily though, K was happy to take the bird and said I could drop it over to him the next morning (assuming the bird lived through the night, about which I was doubtful). 

This morning, after checking that the bird was still alive (it was), I packed the car with kids, snacks, nappy bag and the pigeon and started on our 26 km round trip to deliver the bird. When we arrived at K's house, he was waiting out the front. He was a lovely old chap, a great-grandfather and clearly a bird lover, as he showed me and the kids around his many cages (aviaries?) of birds - cockatiels, parrots, canaries, finches and enormous Canadian pigeons that you can pick up for the bargain price of $2000 each! 

The kids got bored and wandered back towards the house, leaving me stuck with K. and having to feign an interest in all the birds. Suddenly, K. disappeared through a doorway and returned with a pigeon that has curly feathers. (I have to admit that was quite interesting as an example of selective breeding.) When I eventually made my way back to the house, I found Thumper sitting on the knee K's wife having a lovely chat and BallFiend persistently asking if he could come into the house. I dunno, kids these days - no manners! K. on the other hand wanted to offer the kids lemonade. However, it was time for us to go, as I had to get BallFiend back for kindergarten (I am so glad that the term break is over!), so we said goodbye and headed home. 

Now all that is left to do is clean up the bird shit from the back deck and clean the back of the car. I am really sick of cleaning up shit. I really hope this is the last time I have to have anything more to do with birds... unless it is roast chicken.   

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A wobbly start

BallFiend has just discovered that one of his bottom teeth is a little bit wobbly! He is, of course, thrilled.
I am, of course, filled with sadness as yet another vestige of my first child's babyhood is relegated to the past.
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Conversation starter

I've talked with BallFiend on many previous occasions about human reproduction, as has DeepSpice. So far it has just been the very bare basics. We have followed the philosphy of trying to answer the question that has been asked (and only the question asked!) as simply as possible. Leave it at that. Never elaborate. (A tip sheet on talking to kids about sex , published by the WA Department of Health, gives some good guidelines for handling this stuff.)

So he already knows that men have 'seeds' and women have 'eggs' and he know the correct names for various body parts.

Anyway, I was driving home from the shops, with both kids in the backseat when BallFiend pipes up, and completely out of the blue starts asks "So how do you catch the seeds? Do you catch them in a bucket?"

He got a very long silence in reply as my mind played through several answers that, whilst I knew would be funny, wouldn't be appropriate to give to a 5 year old. Would have broken the "Never elaborate" rule for starters!
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Striving for balance

Thumper: Put your spoon on your head!
(giggles and mirth erupts) 
BallFiend: Put your marble on your head!
(more giggles and mirth)
 Thumper: I don't have my marble, silly! It's under the couch.
(even more giggles and mirth)
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