Visiting the dentist

Our family dentist is fantastic. She really focuses on making having a check up to be a fun experience for the children. All 3 children go in together and she encourages them to have a ride in the fun chair, brush the teeth of a toy crocodile, and learn a bit about dental hygiene.

She has totally won over my usually shy eldest child, and convinced both boys to climb up into her chair. The baby of course wanted to brush his own teeth with a giant toy toothbrush but that's all good. And the dentist is so thoughtful that she took a picture of my kids being cute and emailed it to me! I'm pretty sure visiting the dentist wasn't half so much fun when I was a child!!

Father's Day

The kids (and me) did let Daddy have an extra half an hour of sleep but then he had to get up and do fatherly duties (like falling asleep with a toy car being wheeled across his belly!).

Poor Daddy had to look after all 3 munchkins whilst I was at work. Hopefully he enjoyed all of the hand-prints and cards which he received.

He is an excellent father and bears the burdens of caring for 3 small ones incredibly well. He puts up with working 40-50 hours a week, living on 5-6 hours sleep a night, knowing he is currently the least favourite parent and then having us all accuse him of being grumpy :-)

So Mr Hastie let me say that we all love you and thanks for being such a fab dad!

Message to the World Cup

Dear readers, I very rarely re-post stuff from other people, but this is a special and timely message. It was written by the world council of the Baha'i Faith community at the request of the President of Brazil, for the opening ceremony of the football world cup. Happy reading...
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Her Excellency Ms. Dilma Rousseff,

President of the Federative Republic of Brazil

Your Excellency,

In response to your kind invitation, we take pleasure in sending the following message on the occasion of the opening of the 2014 World Cup.

We extend our heartfelt greetings to the people of Brazil as they welcome the representatives of so many countries to their homeland for a celebration of sporting prowess. Few occasions can claim to embrace so wide a cross-section of humanity, comprising peoples of varied ethnic, religious, and cultural backgrounds. It is clear to every observer that the sport that has brought these nations to Brazil is only strengthened by the marvellous diversity of the participants. To rejoice in this fact is to reject prejudice in all its forms. Truly, nothing is more striking about this extraordinary footballing spectacle than its capacity to reflect the global culture that has emerged in this age. And in summoning together the nations in friendship, it powerfully suggests that collaboration and common endeavour are possible in all things.

Humanity today is bound together in a global civilization. As the world advances in its organic evolution, let it reflect at this moment on the many qualities that the Brazilian people so admirably embody. For the path to peace will require expansive hearts, a passion for progress, unbounded creative energy, great resilience, a strength forged from diversity, and minds enlightened by the spirit of the age and inspired by the quest for justice. The peoples of the world are as variegated flowers in one splendid garden. Is any nation more fit to demonstrate this simple but essential truth than Brazil? In the vibrant, interwoven colours of this land the world can imagine its own dazzling future possibilities.

A sporting contest, even one on such a scale as this, cannot obscure the severity of the challenges that confront humankind. But in the weeks to come, we hope that observers everywhere—especially the youth of the world—will take heart from the many examples of team work, fair play, valour, and earnest striving that are sure to surface in the tournament. God willing, they will aspire to show those same qualities in their lives, in service to their communities, and in the promotion of peace. Whether labouring for the elimination of every trace of racism and discrimination, championing the equality of women and men, or seeking to advance justice, the efforts of every member of the human family are necessary. Constructive change is possible everywhere. Man, woman, youth, and child—all have an essential contribution to make.

We anticipate a time when competition among the nations may be a phenomenon chiefly witnessed in the sporting arena, whereas interactions on the global stage will be dominated by cooperation,reciprocity, and mutual support. We pray that this present occasion will redound to the honour of the great nation of Brazil as hosts and that the event will inspire not only passing fellowship but lasting solidarity among all who participate and the countless millions who spectate.

- The Universal House of Justice

Things The Kids Did Today Which Made Me Laugh!

...they can be a total nightmare to look after, but they also make me laugh! Here are today's episodes:

1) I just caught my toddler dipping his hand into the leftover cat food. I shrieked 'NO!!!' and leapt to knock a lump of jellied fish out of his podgy hand and then examined his mouth for evidence. He either hadn't sampled any, or had finished chewing.

2) The same toddler (H, aged 19 months) discovered at dinner time that he could hold a piece of penne pasta in his lips and make it into a whistle by blowing through it. He made us all laugh so the other children wanted to join in. My 5 year old did the same thing, but my 3 year old didn't quite seem to understand and so put pasta between his lips and then said 'nee nah' like a fire engine :-)

3) The husband and I were woken up this morning by the sound of children giggling and babbling. After ignoring it for a while we (OK he) investigated and found that our 3 year old son had climbed into his baby brother's cot (in a different bedroom) and they were happily playing together.

Getting a job

I weighed up some of the pros and cons of returning to work in a previous post To work or not to work. Now I've had a part-time job for a couple of months I'm reflecting on how it's working out.

My last 'proper' job came to an end just before I got pregnant with baby number 3, so I didn't have a job to return to. I run my own business and so have continued to work on that, but the pressures of paying the bills on a regular basis and my husband wanting to re-train and change his career have led me to look for a part-time job. Luckily when I was visiting my favourite local family park I saw an advert for someone to work in the entry kiosk. I charmed and CV'd my way into the job and now work at least 1 day per weekend a few days during the school holidays.

I only work on days where my husband is available to look after the children so there are no childcare costs. It does eat quite dramatically into our family time, but I guess I have to prioritise keeping a roof over our heads.

The first couple of days of work were seriously a MAJOR REST! Only having to look after yourself without looking out for 3 little people, being able to drink a cup of tea whilst it's hot, and having some adult conversation were huge pluses. I totally loved coming home to find my husband had cooked dinner (or a couple of times spent half my days earnings on a takeaway..) and begun to get the children ready for bed. It is great to know that he now understands what it is like to spend 9 hours alone with 3 children aged 5, 3 and 1. That helps.

Now I'm finding that my guilt for spending time away from the children is creeping in. This half term I'm working 5 days, but we are taking the children to CBeebies Land at Alton Towers for 2 days in the middle, so I imagine they'll mostly remember that! Guilt seems to be an emotion that goes hand-in-hand with parenting, and I'm striving to keep it at bay so there is just enough guilt to motivate me to try harder but not enough to make me sit and cry in the corner :-)

In general I am enjoying having a job as an extra dimension to my life. It is a relief to have a teensy weensy bit of time away from my beloved children, and it is necessary to earn money. I'm able to be there to take my daughter to school and pick her up every day, and my husband and kids regularly come to the park to visit me and enjoy themselves.

In my lovely uniform...