Desperately seekin inspiration – again

It’s another long gap between posts. As I start on the ritual checking of my oldest son’s adventures on Jivin’ Jimmy in Japan it occurs to me again that surely one should be able to find inspiration in one’s daily life and not just take it for granted in its mundanity. Or if it’s mundane, do something about it!

There’s J in a new country where every day is a new adventure – because it’s different, the challenge of making the shower work is an amusing story in itself. I’m thinking praps I should really commit (again) to the blog thing, partly to entertain the Jimmy.

So … what can I say. The O-one has taken to recording on his podcast his uni readings – this means reading it all out loud for hours. It may well be a good idea, but he certainly does like the sound of his own voice! He came home close to 5am Saturday (propping up the bar of the old Transparent chum) but to be fair, he did manage to go out with the grandparents and assist them in buying a new TV and DVD. That’s a task that takes massive patience!

The tall-T remains permanently attached to his laptop and buried in his room. I do find it kinda strange coming home and everyone is locked off in their little electronic spaces. A call from Telstra has meant that we have finally officially upp-ed our useage so we’re not paying thru the nose for extra downloads – god know why we hadn’t sorted that before!

And the old-one is attached to the sport on the TV or cacklin over QI. No film festival for us!

Train spotting and me

It’s a mystery sometimes how your children view you. Take Friday night. I came home from a long day at work – ready to chill out in front of “NZ Top Model”.

Husband was at rugby. Middle son insisted I read law essay immediately and then didn’t like my feedback. I thought I had REALLY extended myself given that I spend all day reading, writing, editing and thinking. That’s gratitude for you!

I was really really ready to “chill lax” as my kids say.

Anyway so I got to see the beautiful young things and one get voted off, and then  the 16-year-old and I discussed movies to view or download. It’s not easy to find a common ground with a 16-year-old boy. But I know that in a few short years my baby will leave home so I must treasure these moments he wants to share with me, good caring mom that I am.

But why – why did he think “Trainspotting” would be just the ticket? He had seen it before – I hadn’t. Deliberately. Because I knew what it was about and had heard about the really disgusting bits. So who needs it?

Anyway we watched it. Actually it wasn’t as bad as I had thought it would be. But I still don’t get quite why he thought it would be really my “kind of a movie”!

You should have hothoused us!

It’s holidays – the 20-year-old has come home to live for a bit and we’ve had a few conversations about careers, success and what to do with one’s life.

Imagine my astonishment when both the 20-year-old (the free spirited liberal folksinger who has recently completed a BA) and the 18-year-old (read: polar extreme to the previous, ie right wing, materialistic, conservative in clothes, values, music etc) both said “we should have  been hothoused”.

What – you mean forced to play the piano or learn French or whatever as 3-year-olds? Absolutely right apparently. But I gave you lots of opportunities to learn things – you did all the sporting things, swimming lessons, cubs/scouts etc and other things when you showed interest – gym, guitar lessons, karate, circus lessons one holidays, to name a few.

Nope not enough. Haha! Believe me it felt like enough dealing with three small boys and part-time work/later full-time – remember the time when the 2-year-old fell in the deep end of the pool when you two were having lessons at the BGI?

Anyway apparently, to be successful (according to latest book by Malcolm Gladwell which I haven’t actually read) you need to start early. You need to be practising and learning all those extra skills for years and years as a child so you get really really good. Success breeds success and hard work pays off.

So I recounted this conversation to my friend and she said that exactly the same thing has happened to her. For years and years they tried to interest and cajole their daughter into learning music, which was of huge importance in their family. The girl totally refused. Now, as she leaves secondary school she says: “oh you should have forced me into learning an instrument – it’s all too late now”.

It’s a sad blow for us middle-class sap parents who wanted our kids to enjoy their childhoods. We should have toughened up apparently. Oh well – my children are going to hothouse their kids eventually, so good luck to them!

The sad story of the sesame seed bun – banned!

My 15 year old son has been very disappointed with my weekly grocery shops over the last few months because I return without two items that he especially enjoys. Coffee milk (2 litres) and sesame seed buns.

A small thing maybe – but he’s  a 6 foot 4 in teen with a big appetite and my kids have always been milk drinkers and it’s a family ritual – fresh bread for Saturday lunch. The sesame seed buns actually became a favourite at the grandparents – and I imagine they have been around for decades.

But no more.

For a long time, I just thought that because I shopped reasonably early on a Saturday morning that somehow they were not putting out the coffee milk (another weekend treat) or the said buns by say 9am. Recently I decided to take action, and emailed Thorndon New World to express my displeasure.

I got a response – that was good but … apparently Fonterra has replaced 2 litre coffee milk with strawberry milk – not the same appeal at all in my household, but I have to accept that as presumably a commercial decision.

But sesame seeds. There’s a risk of cross-contamination because of the allergens associated with them so they are no longer being produced. This seems to me to be ridiculous – having to cater for the tiny tiny minority of people with a sesame seed allergy – means everyone else who enjoys the taste and health-giving qualities of sesame seeds misses out.

I feel sorry for people with allergies – but like any health issue, ultimately it’s up to the person afflicted to take responsibility for managing that condition. And sorry to sesame seed sufferers – but stopping baking buns that have been around for decades seems really really stupid.

Like – has anyone ever even had an allergic reaction because of a cross-contamination from a little bun?

May be consumers should start fighting back!

“Mommy” blog – not really …

My blogging advances slowly but decided to switch to WordPress because it seems to have cooler features that are easier to understand. The other day I read (on a blog)  about someone talking about men writing “business blogs” and women the “mommy blogs”. Responses were indignant – but it does reflect on the division between the sexes.Yes I’m a working mother who reads plenty of blogs related to my profession … but during the working day, I’ve also got in the back of my mind the “chores” ie txtg teenagers to remind them of stuff, lists of things to do at lunch time or phone calls to make and of course what to cook for dinner.Why? Well that’s because working mums have to multi-task. Meanwhile – the husband concentrates on his important work – joke!Girls can do anything – and they can end up feeling they are doing everything!