DorkyDad went to Canberra for a work event earlier this week, and on his way out the door to the airport he said to me, “You have to write a DorkyMum post. Even if it’s just a post about why you’re not blogging, you have to blog…”
So I’m doing what I’m told. (Pretty sure it’s just because he wants an excuse to wear this nifty t-shirt I bought him a few years ago…) But anyway, here are some things I’ve done over the last six weeks, none of which are blogging. Continue reading
First he learned the basics: how to smile, and then to laugh.
He learned how to sleep, to sit, to hold a spoon. To grab his own toes, stick a fist in his mouth, clutch a blanket tight when he needed comfort. He learned to crawl and walk, and then to run, to jump, to stretch up high like a tree and crouch down low like a lion. He learned to make noise with a ladle and saucepan, to build towers and knock them over, to roll a ball, and then to throw it.
How foolish I was to think that was it. It does not stop at one year, or two. The learning continues, every day, forever. Continue reading
September has always been a favourite month of mine.
In my head it has always felt like a time of new beginnings. When we lived in the northern hemisphere that seemed at odds with the fact that it marked the start of autumn – a time for closing in rather than reaching out – but perhaps I associated it with the start of the academic year.
Now that we are in the south, September really does signify something new – it is the official start of Australian spring. You would not guess that to look at Mount Wellington, which still has a generous covering of snow on the peak, but the increasing noise levels from the birds in our garden and the lighter mornings are both giving a hint of what’s to come. Continue reading
We’ve just had two weeks of school holidays here. I had thought – given that it’s the middle of winter – it might be one of those breaks where time would drag and boredom would kick in after a day or two, but if anything the opposite was true. The fortnight flew past and when DorkySon went back to school on Monday it seemed far too soon.
He is a boy after my own heart. On the last day of term I asked what he wanted to do for a celebratory treat. He replied that he’d like a visit to the bookshop, then fish and chips and ice cream. So that’s what we did, followed by a beautiful early evening walk along the Hobart waterfront. DorkySon rarely comes out with us in the evenings – he still likes to snuggle into bed before 7 – so it is rare for him to be out in the dark. He loved the lights, and the live music that was being performed in Brooke Street Pier. Continue reading
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We are in the car. Why do these conversations always start in the car?
DorkySon: I don’t think I want to eat blueberries anymore.
Me: Why not? I thought you liked them.
DorkySon: I do, but they always roll off the plate.
Me: They don’t if the plate is sitting on the table like it should be.
DorkySon: Also, I didn’t really want to tell you this, but do you know what I do with them when they roll off the plate?
Me: … No. What do you do?
DorkySon: I hide them behind the shelves in the den.
Me: Lots of them?
DorkySon: Mmmm. Quite a few.
Me: That’s not a very good idea. We might get ants or mice in the house trying to eat them.
DorkySon: Perhaps when we get home I should show you…
Me: Perhaps you should. Continue reading
