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Oct. 9th, 2012 08:55 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
peneThat was essentially a perfect though enormously busy weekend.
Friday night was ordinary, Robbie was home late, I was reading to the kids when she arrived, then they went to bed and Rob and I ate pizza and watched Homeland on tele.
Saturday morning was too rainy for Little Athletics but there were a million chores to be done. The boys and I played while I did the laundry and cleaned the house and washed the dog. We did some puzzles, Joss built things out of lego, Joss and I raced Mario Karts. Robbie slept in a bit then got a new car seat fitted. Joss got a hair cut for school pictures. Then it was swimming class for Joss over at the Stadium. After that we whipped home to get everything sorted so we could leave at 6:30 (leaving my little sis Ros in charge of the boys so the house had to be tidy, she's amazingly so).
Joss prefers other babysitters. Our local friends. Mostly, I think, because Ros is strict and less inclined to play hide and seek and keep him up late. But he groans "I know" when I tell him she's his aunt and she loves him and I love her.
***
We went to Red Lantern in Surry Hills for dinner with two other couples, parents of Joss' friends but unarguably also our friends. They are creative and interesting editors and technical directors and just delightful company, everyone talking and laughing and so comfortable after four years of socialising together over birthday cakes and sleepovers and babysitting emergencies. Joss has good taste in closest friends and we all seem commited to maintaining the relationships.
Red Lantern was lovely, though very precise about timing (we had the table from 7 to 9pm). Especially good was the way they gave our very own tiny plated vegequarian options for any meat dishes. Also Bess' two bottles of $200 champagne. We headed to a little cocktail bar afterwards and talked over pink drinks.
***
Then Sunday we packed the pram with our gear for a day and walked down to Summer Hill's street fair to explore jumping castles, bump into neighbours and friends, eat delicious falafel, go to the park and climb. Our neighbours invited us back to their house afterwards so we didn't get home until 6.
Sunday night I made pasta with tomato and ricotta sauce and garlic bread and we watched the disappointing movie The Five Year Engagement. So disjointed. So disappointing after loving the equally quirky and also gorgeous Lars and the Real Girl.
Lars and the Real Girl. We loved it enormously.
And I missed the Australian women and the West Indies men winning the world cup cricket for a night's sleep. But how thrilling that both those teams won - West Indies first world cup win in 30 years.
***
I become quickly infuriated by the way parents speak online. In person I don't find parents so judgemental, we're all doing what we can, all the kids turn out okay, and my friends range from baby-wearing stay at home to double income frequently away for work but they all have insights and they all love their kids. But online people feel freer to express themselves in "I can't believe any parent would---" terms and criticise the child and the parent or even suggest children should be taken away from parents. It makes me a little bonkers.
***
There are a couple of men we have been valuing in Joss' life. Of course, my friend Scott, who makes such an effort to spend time with Joss and who Joss adores. But also the local father of two girls who professes that he'd love a boy and loves playing soccer or skateboards with Joss and a neighbour with no kids but with a clear interest in them, who spends ages poring over sciencey things with Joss and talking sensibly with him. As of next year Joss will lose two male role models, his teachers Anthony and David (apparently David knows more about ants than I do...) who are exceptional and thoughtful men who think about the world beyond them and introduce critical and moral thinking and who've brought a lot of good sense and gardening and cricket and vocabulary to Joss. It seems important to ensure we maintain what we can.
Women in Joss' life have also introduced critical and moral thinking and good sense and gardening and vocabulary and cricket, just to be clear I'm not saying this is a man's domain.
***
Friday night was ordinary, Robbie was home late, I was reading to the kids when she arrived, then they went to bed and Rob and I ate pizza and watched Homeland on tele.
Saturday morning was too rainy for Little Athletics but there were a million chores to be done. The boys and I played while I did the laundry and cleaned the house and washed the dog. We did some puzzles, Joss built things out of lego, Joss and I raced Mario Karts. Robbie slept in a bit then got a new car seat fitted. Joss got a hair cut for school pictures. Then it was swimming class for Joss over at the Stadium. After that we whipped home to get everything sorted so we could leave at 6:30 (leaving my little sis Ros in charge of the boys so the house had to be tidy, she's amazingly so).
Joss prefers other babysitters. Our local friends. Mostly, I think, because Ros is strict and less inclined to play hide and seek and keep him up late. But he groans "I know" when I tell him she's his aunt and she loves him and I love her.
***
We went to Red Lantern in Surry Hills for dinner with two other couples, parents of Joss' friends but unarguably also our friends. They are creative and interesting editors and technical directors and just delightful company, everyone talking and laughing and so comfortable after four years of socialising together over birthday cakes and sleepovers and babysitting emergencies. Joss has good taste in closest friends and we all seem commited to maintaining the relationships.
Red Lantern was lovely, though very precise about timing (we had the table from 7 to 9pm). Especially good was the way they gave our very own tiny plated vegequarian options for any meat dishes. Also Bess' two bottles of $200 champagne. We headed to a little cocktail bar afterwards and talked over pink drinks.
***
Then Sunday we packed the pram with our gear for a day and walked down to Summer Hill's street fair to explore jumping castles, bump into neighbours and friends, eat delicious falafel, go to the park and climb. Our neighbours invited us back to their house afterwards so we didn't get home until 6.
Sunday night I made pasta with tomato and ricotta sauce and garlic bread and we watched the disappointing movie The Five Year Engagement. So disjointed. So disappointing after loving the equally quirky and also gorgeous Lars and the Real Girl.
Lars and the Real Girl. We loved it enormously.
And I missed the Australian women and the West Indies men winning the world cup cricket for a night's sleep. But how thrilling that both those teams won - West Indies first world cup win in 30 years.
***
I become quickly infuriated by the way parents speak online. In person I don't find parents so judgemental, we're all doing what we can, all the kids turn out okay, and my friends range from baby-wearing stay at home to double income frequently away for work but they all have insights and they all love their kids. But online people feel freer to express themselves in "I can't believe any parent would---" terms and criticise the child and the parent or even suggest children should be taken away from parents. It makes me a little bonkers.
***
There are a couple of men we have been valuing in Joss' life. Of course, my friend Scott, who makes such an effort to spend time with Joss and who Joss adores. But also the local father of two girls who professes that he'd love a boy and loves playing soccer or skateboards with Joss and a neighbour with no kids but with a clear interest in them, who spends ages poring over sciencey things with Joss and talking sensibly with him. As of next year Joss will lose two male role models, his teachers Anthony and David (apparently David knows more about ants than I do...) who are exceptional and thoughtful men who think about the world beyond them and introduce critical and moral thinking and who've brought a lot of good sense and gardening and cricket and vocabulary to Joss. It seems important to ensure we maintain what we can.
Women in Joss' life have also introduced critical and moral thinking and good sense and gardening and vocabulary and cricket, just to be clear I'm not saying this is a man's domain.
***