Why change if it ain't broken?

They have changed the schedule at Wild Man's preschool this year. Instead of finishing the day with group time inside the kids now have free time from 2.30 to 3pm and we can just pick them up whenever suits us in that time.

I don't like it.

Last year, when they finished with group time inside, my favourite part of the whole week was seeing Wild Man come to the door with all the other kids. He would spot me waiting for him and his whole face would light up.

It was pure mothering bliss.

I also miss having time to catch up with the other Mums. Having to wait for the kids outside was really social. They kids didn't come out until 3pm so we all had a chance to have a few minutes chat. Now, everyone just tends to grab their kid and go.

My other concern is that the old way seemed safer. I know the teachers provide excellent supervision but surely having all the kids leave from the same door at the same time decreases the chance that a child could leave with someone they aren't supposed to?

And I think it is better for kids who will be going to school next year to learn about finishing as a group and leaving the classroom as a group? (although I can see that the new way would be better for Mums who need to pick up early so they can be on time to collect their school aged children).

Mostly though, I just really miss seeing my beautiful little man's happy smile when he looked out the door and saw me waiting for him.

What is your favourite moment in the week?

You can call me Samuel Johnson!

Samuel Johnson

For those of you who haven't, um ... seen Blackadder, Samuel Johnson is the guy who wrote the first proper dictionary.

His book was called A Dictionary of the English Language and it took him nearly nine years to complete. Obviously it was an amazing achievement but I didn't quite comprehend quite how amazing it was until recently.

Wild Man wants to know what words mean.

All the time.

It's driving me crazy.

The problem - apart from the endless questions and stream of consciousness conversation that is part of life with a three year old - is that it is hard to define words, especially if you have to assume the person also doesn't know the words that might help you understand the first word.

For example, the other day Wild Man asked me what a metre is.

The easy answer is that it is 100 centimetres.

But Wild Man doesn't know what centimetres are either! And so suddenly explaining what a metre is becomes a serious challenge.*

And that's why I have this sudden, overwhelming admiration for Samuel Johnson.

It is seriously hard to define a word, let alone a whole dictionary full of them.

* In case you're wondering a metre is one very big step by Mummy.

When your 3 year old finds money who does it belong to?

Yesterday Wild Man and I were in the Botanic Gardens in the city when he suddenly announced he needed to do a poo. Of course there wasn't a toilet in sight and as we have had a few accidents recently I resigned myself to taking him into a garden, behind a bush and getting him to go into a plastic bag - nice.

As you can imagine I was feeling a little sorry for myself at that point!

When we went into the garden (apologies to the amazing horticulturalists who work there, I know it is against the rules but this was seriously desperate times) Wild Man commented that the bush had red berries and money on it and could he eat the berries.

I was more concerned with the matter at hand and pretty much ignored what he said.

After the toileting was done I started ushering Wild Man out of the garden when he suddenly said 'Don't forget the money."

I said "Oh sweetie, it won't be money it will just be shiny rubbish."

He said "It IS money - look."

And I did and lo, there was a $50 note in the bush.

No one else was around and it seemed to have been there for a while so we took it.

But who does it belong to?

Me or Wild Man?

Clearly it was him that found it but he already has more toys than any three year old could possibly use and he gets lots of treats and outings and frankly doesn't need any more.

Plus he had just got to the end of a star chart (ironically for using the toilet) and been rewarded with a Fireman Sam DVD.

In the end I figured it could pay for the 'special big boy's day out without Princess' that we were enjoying in the city and also gave him $5 for his money box.

After all, he doesn't really understand the difference between $5 and $50 yet.

Plus if he used the money to buy the fire engine he has been eyeing at the shops what will Santa bring him for Christmas?

Was that the right thing to do? Whose money do you think it was?

Too old to be nudey rudey?

Last week we were at divine Clifton Gardens with my extraordinary Mum.

She is an amazing Mum and an even better Grandma and I am constantly in awe of her. She is all about letting kids be kids, get dirty, climb trees, be outside and so on.

So, when Wild Man stripped off for an impromptu swim, I was completely astonished when my Mum said "He'll be too old for that soon, you know."*

Seriously, three and a half is too old to be nude at the beach?

I was astounded that she thought that because it hadn't even crossed my mind. Perhaps I'm in denial about how big my little man is getting.

It also made me really sad. Playing naked in the sun is such a lovely thing in a child's life and I don't want it to be over for Wild Man yet.

And it isn't. Not yet.

I hope people aren't offended by it, and I do take my Mum's point that on a crowded beach in the middle of summer kids should probably wear swimmers, but if it happens that we end up somewhere that Wild Man can swim and he wants to strip off and play in the water I'm OK with that.

But clearly the time is coming when he is too old to paddle nudey rudey (as he calls it). And perhaps it is sooner then I thought.

But how do I know when that time is?

Perhaps it is when they start school? Or become self conscious themselves?

I've asked around at preschool and no one seems to know, except that the Mums mostly think it isn't yet.

Clearly opinions will differ widely on this. But do they split along generational lines? Or parents of young kids versus people who don't have young kids? Or conservative versus laissez-faire?

And is the time to stop different for boys and girls? Would I feel differently if it was Princess who was three and naked?

Who would know.

My plan is to take it day by day and assume that I'll stop him before he's 18!

So, what do you think the cut off age for playing naked is?

*In my Mum's defence ...
1) We had swimmers with us
2) She did clarify that it was less of an issue if not many people are around
3) Part of her point was that he needed to get used to wearing swimmers all the time for when he is older
4) She isn't offended by naked kids, she just thinks that there comes a time when swimmers are more appropriate.

There must be a better way ...

Last night my 3-year-old and I waited for two and a half hours so he could see a doctor.

The frustrating thing was that, once we got in to see the doctor, we were only there for about a minute because my son clearly had conjunctivitis and needed a prescription. That's all and I had already figured it out for myself before we even walked in to the centre.

The whole thing was an exercise in frustration.

Why would you only have one doctor working on a Thursday night?

Why isn't there some kind of fast-track queue for small kids? If I had been waiting for myself I definitely wouldn't have minded if, at 9pm, a 3-year-old went in before me.

I don't condone handing prescriptions out willy nilly but did we really need to see a doctor? Couldn't a chemist have identified the muck coming out of his eyes? Or perhaps the medical centre nurse?

It just all seemed totally ridiculous and like a massive waste of everyone's time.

The whole experience made me so grateful that we are in a socio-economic position that means we usually see our lovely local doctor who knows us and the kids know him.

And it also made me think that no wonder the medical system and hospitals in particular are in crisis if a two and a half hour wait for a 30 second consultation is the access point for the general public!

Especially because our last out-of-hours attempt to see a doctor was with the home visit service that our local doctor refers you to at night ... there was a six hour wait for that one and we ended up taking Wild Man to hospital.

OH NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! Various people, having read this post, have just emailed me and told me you can now get kids conjunctivitis drops over the counter. *sob* All that sitting there for nothing : (

Have you had bad experiences trying to find a doctor for your kids after hours?

Why motherhood is like making Donna Hay Vanilla Cupcakes

Donna Hay Vanilla Cupcakes are the perfect analogy for motherhood!

Yesterday was the first Mother's Day that Wild Man has really been aware of and he was beside himself with excitement.

His preschool had a Mother's Day stall and he chose me the Donna Hay Vanilla Cupcake pack. They came wrapped in paper he had painted himself and he was so cute about the whole thing that I got quite teary.

We had a nice relaxing morning and after lunch Wild Man insisted (in fact that should probably read INSISTED!!!) that we make the cakes.

Not exactly the Mother's Day afternoon spent lying on the couch that I had hoped for.

My husband took the opportunity to clean the gutters and Wild Man was so excited about baking (never a calm experience with him, bless him) that he woke Princess up.

Today the delicious cupcakes are being consumed by the whole family.

To me that's exactly the way motherhood is.

Even when something is supposed to be for you, you give and give and give to the people you love. And you are glad to do it.

I didn't want to make cakes yesterday but Wild Man did, so that's what we did. And ever though they are theoretically my cakes (lets ignore the pros and cons of eating 12 massive cupcakes) my whole family is enjoying them.

And I don't mind at all.

That's motherhood for you.

When you have your first child something amazing happens to you and suddenly you are the happiest when you are making the people you love happy, even if it is at your own expense.

So happy belated Mother's Day to all the amazing Mums out there. No wonder we are all so bloody tired!

What did you get for Mother's Day? And did you get a chance to have a rest?