Catch-Up

Always catching up, lol...

A busy week- our ad was due to start screening on Sunday- we're yet to see it on tv, but have now had it e-mailed. When I see it online, I will post a link to it. I don't look as awful as I had supposed- and really, I *did* see the footage they were getting...amazing what they can do.

I'm on the opening page when you log on here...the woman who has just completed a duathlon. The sad bit is that there was too much to fit in, so the bit with J-Man and Princess in was cut. They still got paid (J-Man), and filmed (Princess), so aren't worried about not appearing in the ad. If we look really closely we can see one of their faces in the background- but can't tell which one, lol. We can see the sign Princess made to cheer me on- we might see them better on a large (tv) screen, so will still look out for it every now and then.

I'm also going to possibly be on a bus stop ad and in a newspaper for the same people, which is exiciting- but mostly because it means getting paid some more. So easy to spend spare money, alas.

We've finally taken our camera in to be repaired- it was purcahsed in December and has had issues from the start- we've just taken an extraordinarily long time to take it in for repair (still under warranty). I tell myself it is hard not having a camera for special shots, but really we haven't had one for ages- it has been so tempermental.

Tombliboo has been so happy since I stopped having dairy, and it has been sad not to capture him on film- he seems to be smiling all the time, and reminding me so much of J-Man at the same age. He is very in to counting at the moment. He will count objects up to 9, and by rote to 10- but at the moment he always misses number five. He will count anything he sees, and I have noticed him several times ocunting the springs on the trampoline. He gets to 10, then starts back at 1, or else goes back to the first one he counted as though ther couldn't possibly be more than 10.

Princess had a blast spending *all* (!) her ad money the other day. She was already spending hours a day in her room playing with her new Polly Pockets from her birthday, and now she has even more bits and pieces. She has ordered a Pink (of course!) Nintendo DS, which was really J-Man's idea. Odd, since he wished for a ds for ages, then got one and doesn't touch it...he likes the idea that they will be able to "chat" on their Nintendos when they are in the same room. Princess isn't quite up to that stage with her reading and typing yet, but she'll work out a way if it's what she wants to do.

J-Man has been heavily in to WoW lately. It has been hard for me. I have found myself getting more and more annoyed that he is happy to sit in front of it from morning until night. I don't normally voice those sorts of concerns allowed, preferring to ride the rollercoaster a bit, knowing that things always even out in time. I haven't even been quite sure what my issue is...for a while I was bothered about the pointlessness of it (as though I never do anything that is pointless, or jsu tslightly unimportant) and then the lack of vitamin d, and then relationships issues between him and Princess, and then with a close friend.

I don't feel like I've given it half the amount of thought I need to...but it seems to me there are several things going on that need attending to. Mostly, he is not getting enough time with me alone, and with his Daddy (not playing WoW). This is not to say WoW isn't exciting- it is...but I think, too often, it is a "second-best" as far as things-he-would-like-to-be-doing go.

Then, before I have a chance to talk to him about it, he pre-empts things by saying he thinks he would like to quit WoW. Not because he doesn't like it, but because he wonders if it is taking too much of his time. I suspect he needs something "new" to grab him- not sure what, btu I'll be looking out.

Tonight, I read this article about WoW, and the bit that struck me was here..."Unschooling does not mean leaving children to watch television or play World of Warcraft on their own all the time — that's called "neglect".

And that is the thing that has been niggling me...isn't it just a case of un-parenting, to leave a child playing a computer game all day. YEs- I brought him food...yes- I spoke to him when we were in the same room...yes- I listened to (seemingly endless) details abotu WoW when he was off the game...yes- I played with him or watched him when he asked. But mostly, I wasn't there. It didn't feel like usnchooling at all. It felt like I was losing him.

I've just bought a baby-bikeseat on Trade Me and hope to take Tombliboo for bike-rides. J-Man can come too, and Princess when she learns to ride her bike. I noticed today that her bike has been stolen :0( so she will need to use J-Man's old bike, which is a better size for her anyway. That will probably be our project this week. I've registered for my very first (and, let's face it...probably only) duathlon. I don't know how I will do it frankly...well, i know I will do it, even if I have to walk it- but I can't picture it at all...the problem really is that running is s.o.o.o.o.o.o.o. b.o.o.o.o.r.i.n.g, or is it just me?

I think I need an i-pod...but I would get bored of music too, though I think there must be some way to listen to stories, and that could pass the time. If I didn't have to think about how many minutes of my life I will never get back, I might be able to tolerate a bit of a run.

We (or really I) had a garage sale this morning...no advertising (lest people arrive before 7am, and because I wasn't sure I would be organised) so it was a little light on customers. I think we'll have one next weekend as well, and try to get rid of more stuff. Tonight we celebreated getting paid for the ad by going out for dinner- to a real restaurant with actual menus.

Ahhhhh.

The real difficulty was always going to be Tombliboo...he is not a sit-still kind of kid, nor is he the type of child to just stop blowing out the candles at every table just because Mummy said so.

Sadly, our first choice of restaurants was actually being refurbished, so we needed a plan B...which we didn't have. We drove around far longer than we should have, until Tombliboo was saying "Hunger...chicken...(po)tatoes...I eat....food", and I wondered if we might be setting him up to "fail" by making him so hungry he was not going to be able to wait.

We found a place, got the menus, I ordered bread before I sat down, and hoped for the best...but the bread didn't come...and things really didn't look good. Tombliboo wasn't happy about sitting still and there was a couple sitting near us with a young woman giving me (us?) evils- not cool.

It all worked out though, between the pair of us taking Tombliboo for walks outside, and me finding an (old) packet of raisins in my bag. I had had the foresight to take a book for him, and a couple of toys- so they went down well, until Shrek literally went down well, or more accurately- across (the table) well.

It was a delicious meal all round, and the "big" kids loved it. We were going to get dessert when it became abundantly clear that Tombliboo didn't want to stay any longer, so we headed to the supermarket for much the same desserts as we would have had at the restaurant. It was brilliant not having to count up how much everything was, though I really can't help it!