As easy as buying a new epipen

Here's why it took about 4 hours over several weeks to get BallFiend a new epipen...

1. Go to GP to get new script and anaphylaxis action plan - this took about 1 hour (including the 40 mins waiting time because the doctor was running behind).
   
2. Go to Pharmacy to purchase epipens. Realise as I hand over the script that the GP has only written one epipen on the script (It should be two - same thing happened last year; hopefully I will remember when we return to the GP for a new script next year!). So pharmacist has to phone GP for authorisation to release a second epipen. GP is not available so pharmacist leaves a message and says she will call me once the epipen is ready for collection. About 30 mins.
   
3. After waiting for two days with no call from the pharmacist, phone Pharmacy to check if GP has authorised second epipen. Yes epipen is ready for collection. That took 5 mins (of which 4 mins is waiting on hold).
   
4. Return to Pharmacy to collect second epipen. About 30 mins.
   
5. Prepare Anaphylaxis Action Plan - take a new portrait photo of BallFiend, adjust size to fit the square on the Action Plan, print photo and stick it on. Scan the action plan. Print copies for School, cubs, etc. 60 mins.
   
6. Upload new action plan onto BallFiend's online health information form for Cubs. 15 mins.
   
7. Update first aid kits (Home and School ones) - insert new action plans and put in new epipens. Mark old epipens as expired. 15 mins.
   
8. Return expired epipens to pharmacy.
   
9. Update details on the online reminder service ("Epiclub") with the new batch number and expiry date. 10 mins. 

How to sleep-in when you have kids

This is what it takes to get a sleep-in around here...

1. Just before kids go to bed we give them instructions for the next morning... what they can and cannot do, not to wake us up unless it's an emergency, discuss which things constitute an emergency, practice closing the bathroom door quietly and NOT slamming the toilet lid down, etc.

Later, DeepSpice and I litter the house with reminder notes* before we go to bed.

* this is a technique deeply ingrained in me as a result of growing up the regime of StompyDad.

2. The kids get up in the morning and read them (hopefully), and even follow the instructions (she says, even more hopefully).

Results:

This sytem works sometimes and we get to sleep in undisturbed by doors slamming, bickering, kids coming in asking for help to install Minecraft mods, etc., etc.

And when we get up, we have two kids who (although now square-eyed) have actually eaten something so are not completely feral and hangry. 

This morning, when I got up, I found a note from BallFiend on my desk. When he took the Weetbix out of the pantry, he had seen the bags for baking chocolate chips I had hurriedly dumped there yesterday whilst I was moving stuff around when looking for something else at the back of another shelf.

--

Code

BallFiend came home from school today and said "Mum, I want to learn to code."

Ah, that's my boy!

Of course, the reason he wants to learn to code is so he can make his own mods in Minecraft.

I'm OK with Minecraft as a gateway to geekery.

--

Portrait of Woofer

Thumper's picture of BallFiend's toy dog, in chalk on the driveway:



--

Thumper's kindergarten artwork archive

An archive of Thumper's various artworks from her kindergarten year (2014). Photos not taken till February 2016 (coz we're slack).

A bus. March 2014.

Left: a boat. Right: A sunny day.

Left: a magic wand. Right: a collage.

Soundwaves

Charcoal drawing.

Left: a campsite. Right: a collage with noodles, two bowls and a seat (March 2014).

A forcefield around a bowl of noodles.

Another collage

A box of sweets.

More collage.

Faces.

Crocodile (from a craft kit). 

A shaker (2014) and a collage (2015). 

Yet another collage (made at home, not at kinder).

A collage and a shaker.

 --

Thumper's art and writing, 2015

Some of the things Thumper produced during 2015 (first year of school - prep)...
(Photos taken in Feb 2016.)

A 'mythical creature' (made at school).

worry dolls (made at school)

Some writing (done at home) from June 2015:
a sword with labels;
random writing

--

Possum vs Campervan

Thumper's writing is really coming along nicely. I love that she enjoys writing. 

Once I saw a possum it

jumped on to my head then

it jumped on to the campervan.

--

Thumper's artwork archive

Just 'saving' a photo of some of Thumper's 'art'. She has agreed we can just keep a photo of these ones. They are from when she was around three to four years old. 

"My dog" featuring a belly button.

"A dog"

"A zombie with teeth and eyes; it stops tennis balls going in its mouth. It stuffed vegies in there, that's why there are holes."

"A giant zombie in his car."

--

An observation

"A human who is alive should be called an undead zombie."

- Thumper

--

DIY fringe

Thumper modelling her new 'Brunswick' fringe. 

Well, that's another childhood 'rite of passage' to tick off... sigh. 

At least it's not the day before school photos I suppose.

--

Dir dad

Thumper was very upset about DeepSpice leaving this morning to go off to work. In an attempt to help her calm down I suggested she could write him a note or draw him a picture during the day at school. She immediately left the room and promptly returned with a blank card that she just happened to have in her school bag. (Actually it was just an A4 page folded in quarters. No idea why it was in her bag though.)

She announced she would make him a card. Then more tears ensued while I convinced her that we didn't have time to do it right now as we needed to leave for school 10 minutes ago. 

"But I might forget!" she wailed, "and I love dad the best of all my dads and I miss him soooo much!"

I pointed out that DeepSpice is her only dad, but she corrected me:

"I have two grand-dads, but I love DeepSpice the best."

I promised her that if she forgot, she could make the card after school.

We got to school just a few minutes late, with Thumper in a much happier mood.

She did, of course, forget about it during the day at school. But as soon as we got home after school, making the card was her top priority. 

"Dear Dad. I hope you had a fun time at work. 

I missed you very much. From Thumper"

I think DeepSpice and I are doing something right.

--

Breathe!

Thumper: "Dad, I know the difference between suffocating and drowning."

And she went on to give a very accurate and descriptive explanation. Macabre little freak. 

--

Visionary

"Dad, how come your eyes are apart but you can see things together?"

- Thumper

--

About Mum

There is a thing that's been going around on Facebook recently where you ask you kid(s) a bunch of questions about their mum. So here's how mine responded...

What is something Mum always says to you?

Thumper (age 5 yrs, 9 mths): I love you.

BallFiend (age 8 yrs, 10 mths): I love you.

What makes Mum happy?

T: Being nice. Chocolate.

B: Me.

What makes Mum sad?

T: When I get angry at you... like you feel a bit, like, embarrassed.

B: Me being stupid and annoying and disobedient.

How does Mum make you laugh?

T: Say funny stuff.

B: Tell jokes.

What was Mum like as a child?

T: Little.

B: I don't know.

How old is Mum?

T: Fourteen.

B: Forty.

How tall is Mum?

T: About as tall as the door [whilst pointing to the door].

B: About a metre and a half.

What is Mum's favourite thing to do?

T: iPad... play the fishy-lolly game. [That'd be Candy Crush Saga.]

B: Probably be happy.

What does Mum do when you're not here?

T: Go out... ABA meeting. Cheekily, sneakily go out.

B: Usually, if I am not here... something like work.

[I think they both missed the part of the question 'when you're not here'!]

If Mum became famous what would it be for?

T: Getting lots of money.

B: How well you cook stuff. You cook really good bread and cakes and stuff.

What is Mum good at?

T: Yoga, 'cause you've done it lots of times.

B: Cooking 'cause of your good cooking skills 'cause you make really good food.

What is Mum not good at?

T: Trying to hide in small places 'cause you're quite big.

B: Playing Minecraft 'cause you've only played it about once.

What is Mum's job?

T: Work... going to work. To get money. Work on computers.

B: Umm... I don't know. Doing phone calls and stuff I guess.

What makes you proud of Mum?

T: You're very brave.

B: That you love me.

What's Mum's favourite food?

T: Ice cream.

B: Chocolate.

[Chocolate is the correct answer.]

What do you and Mum do together?

T: Go out places... the animals, the zoo.

B: Happy, fun stuff... Go to school together. Ride bikes together. Go to Phillip Island.

[Umm, no Thumper, we haven't been to the zoo in well over a year. We did however just return from a long weekend at Phillip Island today.]

How are you and Mum the same?

T: We have both got light skin.

B: Probably that we sort of, like, have the same colour skin. 

How are you and Mum different?

T: We don't have the same hair colour.

B: You don't play Minecraft very much and I play it quite a lot. Also different clothes. Girl and boy... so basically male and female.

If your Mum was a cartoon character who would she be?

T: Pikachu.

B: Road Runner

[Huh? Huh!?]

How do you know Mum loves you?

T: 'Cause you say it all the time.

B: Because you say it. 

What does Mum like best about Dad?

T: He's sometimes kind to you.

B: That he loves you. 

[Thumper, 'sometimes' is a bit of an understatement!]

Where is Mum's favourite place to go?

T: Movies.

B: Home.

[BallFiend is correct. Thumper is way off - I hardly ever go to the movies - definitely not a favourite place to go.]

How old was Mum when she had you?

T: Ten.

B: [after a few minutes pause while doing some calculations on his fingers/in his head] 33 or 32.

-- 

Sarcastic things

BallFiend: What's for dinner, Mum?

Me: Things on a plate.

BallFiend: That's very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very... informative.

Me: That's very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very sarcastic.

--

Mother's Day 2015

Mother's day card, 2015, showing Thumper's developing writing skills during her first year at school. (Photos taken February 2016).

I love mummy
cos
she
is
awesome
I love mummy

Mummy is [cro]
of mum
[be y] awesome
hooray hooray
hooray hooray
hooray hooray

--

Carrot sticks

"Thumper, did you say you are a carrot-eating twig, or a twig-eating carrot?"

- BallFiend

--

Mind-body connection

"How can your brain trick your body when your brain is part of your body?"
- Thumper

Thumper asked this question the day after we had been to the supermarket and BallFiend had walked past tubs of peanut butter on the shelf. He started coughing and said he thought he was having an allergic reaction (he is actually allergic to peanuts). I explained how our brains can think that something is happening in our bodies and that can cause the feeling that it is happening. Obviously Thumper was listening carefully at the time.
--

Anatomical difference

"Ouch! That hit me where my testicles are supposed to be."

- Thumper, whilst rough-housing with BallFiend.

--

Ouch, that smarts!

"Dad! If you don't let me have a chocolate, I'm going to punch you in the testicles!"
-- Thumper