Little Men in My Library

Flicking through a catalogue this morning I saw this:

It’s a Laugh ‘n’ Learn ‘I can play’ case.

“What?! “

Yes you read correctly.

It’s a case for your infant (that’s six months and up) to store your iphone or ipod so they can safely play with it.

I’ll admit that I choked a little on my hot cup of tea as I snorted out a laugh and gagged in horror, both at the same time.

This is what the world is coming to.

And I thought the Baby Genius and Brainy Baby Dvds were the most ridiculous item people could come up with.

I was wrong.

Wife and Homeschooling Mumma:  Dearest I’m feeling a little crook.  How about you organise a relief teacher for me for tomorrow?

Hubby and terrible comedian:  No, I can’t do that but…tell you what…I’ll let you stay home.

Amused Homeschooled Little Men:  Hehehehe.  Cackle cackle.  Snort.

It upsets homeschooling mothers when people imply that they are some sort of perfect super parent, keeping their children by their sides 24/7, parenting and educating them.  We know that we are just parents like they are, doing our best for our children.  We’ve just taken the unusual step of taking education into our own hands, an option school parents have too if they are bold enough to take it.  Homeschoolers generally don’t like the super mum title as it makes them feel like they have to carry on the facade of the super hero and hide their weaknesses.

What disturbs me is that homeschoolers often then turn around and do something very similar to other hoomeschoolers.  You see it time and time again.  Someone doing it tough, ‘knocks down’ and invalidates the positive homeschooling experience of another.  A homeschooling mum who presents a positive, cheerful facade and who works really hard to stay on top of things is stereotyped as “unreal” and “too perfect”.  Too many homeschoolers feel the need to knock them down to a ‘normal’ level, which is of course the same level as themselves.  I think this kind of thing is totally unfair.  No, it hasn’t been done to me but I just feel terribly for people who work hard and focus on their blessings, and I want to speak out for them.  I want to congratulate them on their positive and hard working approach to life.

When I see a magazine cover with a large family on the front, all dressed beautifully, in an immaculate house utilising a super organised homeschool program, I don’t think “too good to be true”, I think “wow what an inspiring family”.  I know their lives aren’t always rosy, that they struggle with the same imperfections we do, but I can see that they work hard on focusing on being joyful and they’ve worked really hard to walk through some daily obstacles.  It’s unkind and really quite selfish for us to invalidate their hard work and joy in life, to bring them down to our level of struggle.

No they haven’t “got it all together” as people claim but they are doing a great job with the cards they’ve been dealt.  They ooze joy and contentment, not because their life is all rosy but because they choose to be positive.  We all have the choice to be upbeat or downtrodden.  Sadly there are those who choose the negative, unproductive, woe-is-me path and enjoy company.  This sit-down-and-wallow focus is often responsible for many of their obstacles and drawing others into their pit isn’t going to help them dig themselves out and move on.  Might seem a little harsh but tough love hurts.  I’m sorry.

We are all walking the very same path.  We can all relate.  We all have children of varying temperaments.  We all have housework that needs doing.  We all have our own unique obstacles.  The only difference between us is our focus and how hard we work to move through life’s obstacles.  It’s incredibly mean to make those who focus on the positives in life and do the best they can with what they have, feel bad for having a better experience than others.  These are the people who may just have the key to help you move through your obstacles.  Don’t crush the key.

Don’t try and level the playing field.  It’s not okay for the tall poppies, who worked hard to grow to great heights, to feel like they have to bend and wilt to make the rest feel better about themselves.  I think we should spend more time rubbing shoulders with the tall poppies so we can learn how to grow like them.  Rub shoulders with stunted flowers and you’ll stay in the shadows and remain a dwarf.  Look up and feel motivated and inspired, but don’t compare and try to be exactly like them.  Everyone is unique.  Be you, embrace your own situation but admire and strive towards the positive, joyful, hardworking focus of those who make this homeschooling thing look easy.  It is no ‘easier’ for them than us, but they just keeping putting one foot in front of the other.  Sometimes that’s the best thing to do.  Just keep on keeping on until the scenery improves.  Learn from those who seem to have quite a bit of it all together.  Don’t knock them flat.  Knocking others down doesn’t make you any taller.  Help each other up.  Help each other grow up towards the Son.  Reach up to Him yourself and He’ll give you a hand up.  He’s already reaching out to you.  I’d suggest that many of the tall poppies already had this heavenly hand up.

Look up, reach out and I guarantee you’ll see growth.

We have driven past this museum so many times and always said, “One day we should visit that museum”

…well “one day” finally came.

There was a LOT more to see than I had imagined,

including Jessica Watson‘s “Ella’s Pink Lady”.

Many of the boats were open to explore, except this gorgeous steamer called “Forceful”.  She was my favourite.

The grand exhibit was, of course, the HMAS Diamantina.

There was so much to explore on the ship.  You need several hours to see everything properly.

The boys’ favourite feature of the ship was their guns.  Brayden was under the impression that it would actually fire.  Yes, he had his fingers in his ears.  Hehehe.

We eventually convinced him it was safe and both boys enjoyed rotating and raising the guns.

If you do intend to visit the museum leave your prams, heels and short skirts at home!

You’ll be squeezing through small spaces,

and up and down lots of steep ladders.

Of course that’s half the fun for kids.

There were so many interesting rooms and places to explore on the ship.

Some places were a little treacherous but that just added to the fun.

Apparently there were 160 marines on this ship yet I didn’t count anywhere near enough beds, even if only a third were sleeping at a time.

There were even less showers and toilets….around tenish maybe

…and hopefully there aren’t more than three sick folk at a time!

I wouldn’t enjoy living under those conditions.

I just loved the little curtains on this single porthole.  There must have been a woman on board.  That’s the only way I could explain it.  Hehehe.

You can also climb the many steps down to the dry docks below the ship.  That was awesome!!  The pictures don’t do the grand scale justice.

There not a whole lot holding up that ship…aside from my three super heroes, and a few cement stacks topped with a couple of planks of wood

Last year this whole area (yes, the dry dock too) was under water during Brisbane’s 2011 floods.  The clean up would have been a mammoth task.

(This is Brayden standing in a building alongside the ship and you can see the 2011 flood marker above him).

For the next month or so there is also a very small Titanic display at the museum.

This is the only ‘authentic’ Titanic piece of memorabilia.  It’s a book that belonged to Edith Brown who was on the Titanic when she was 15.  She took this little book with her on the lifeboat.  The water stain happened when a man jumped into their boat from the ship. Edith Brown lived in Brisbane for a period during her 100 year life so her story was rather interesting for us.

If you happen to be going past the Maritime Museum (it’s at the very far end of Southbank near the Goodwill Bridge) we highly recommend a bit of a visit.  We thoroughly enjoy our visit and would happily visit again. 

Sorry folks.
These are exclusive and priceless and can’t be purchased anywhere.
And no, you can’t have mine!

We’re back!!

What?  You didn’t know I had been missing!!

Well we left town and drove 5 hours out to Goondiwindi

to spend 10 hours in a pub.

Why?!!

Oh I asked myself the same thing many times, particularly as the hours ticked by ever so slowly.

But it was Great Grandma’s

90th birthday party so we had to be there.

It wasn’t a totally foreign and uncomfortable weekend.

We thoroughly enjoyed the ten hours of driving.  We listened to several audio stories – War Horse, Farm Boy (the sequel to War Horse) and The Hatchet.

We overtook numerous road trains

and caravans…and then had to re-overtake them after we stopped at rest areas.

No, no portable dvd players needed in our car.

Our little men are great travellers and there’s always so much to see outside the windows.

We loved the fields of cotton.  Field after field passed by.

Farmers were in the process of harvesting the cotton

and preparing the bales for transport.

I suspect the boys and I will research cotton production this week, while we’re all so interested in it.

So that’s where I’ve been and what I’ve been up to.

I’m so glad to be home though and I hope it’s a really really long time before I have to spend time in a pub again.

However we’ve all sorts of driving hopes and dreams for the future.

We’d really like to see more of our lovely country.

Today we went to the Botanical Gardens for a presentation about how the bush provided the Aborigines with all their needs.  Prior to the excursion my little men and I had been watching episode after episode of “Bush Tucker Man” so we were very keen to see some of these native foods and perhaps sample some of them too.

Our wonderful education officer, Rana, was great with our little group of homeschoolers.  Understanding that our groups are particularly multi-aged, not as large or outspoken as school groups and without a common set of learning experiences can be a challenge but our guide is always flexible and confident with managing our unique group.

Rana showed the children several Aboriginal artifacts and queried the children as to what they may be, how they might have been used and what they were made from.

The boys and I had spent the previous week reading about and studying Aboriginal culture so we were pleased to see these items first hand.  I was also impressed that Brayden offered answers to several questions.  He’s usually content to sit and listen, allowing others to answer all of the questions, although he too knows many of the answers.

Then we were off on our walk around the gardens to see what we could find.

The children, with clipboards in hand, recorded the plants Rana showed them and noted their use and the part of the plant that was used.

We saw so many amazing sustaining plants.

This is the grevillea whose nectar is very sweet.  It was sucked from the flower itself or soaked in water to make a sweetened drink.

The children enjoyed exploring the texture of the Sandpaper Fig which was, as you can imagine, just like sandpaper.  The children (and I) also enjoyed crushing and smelling the scent of lemon myrtle leaves.  Delightful!

The Hop Bush leaves could be chewed as a toothache remedy.

The elegant Banksia was also great for sweetening a drink or enjoying the nectar directly.  Its bristles also made a great hair brush.

The children used their senses to explore a piece of paper bark from the Melaleuca tree while Rana shared the many uses of the Melaleucas or Paper Bark trees.   The bark could be wrapped around food to keep it moist as it cooked, the leaves could be soaked in water to produce a medicinal drink and the bark could also be used in shelters.  That’s just the bark.  The tree had may other uses.  The resourcefulness of the Aborigines and the complete sustenance of nature is amazing.

As we walked through the gardens amongst the many animals we were lucky enough to see a Spoonbill, named for its unusually shaped bill.  I hadn’t seen one before.  It’s a handsome creature.

We won’t mention the large Golden Orb spider that one of our children walked right into.  I mean, this thing was massive and it landed right on her.  Me, I’d have died on the spot.  My skin is all goose bumpy just thinking about it.

After our walk through the gardens we returned to the Information Centre to taste some native foods.  The children were more adventurous than I imagined they would be.

Many tried these bush tomatoes, and many spat them out.  Hey, it’s the courage to try that counts.  Having tried them myself I can safely say we won’t be including them in our daily diet either, thank you very much!

The children much preferred the sweetened jams and jellies on offer.  Ethan, however, is ever the cautious one when it comes to something new.

It was such a wonderful morning and we learned so much.

We’re not sure we’re quite ready to switch supermarkets though but this free, totally organic and unprocessed food supermarket certainly seems like a great alternative.   The Aborigines would have not only survived but thrived on nature’s smorgasbord.

Today I was April’s guest on her blog, Learning Alongside. I really enjoyed sharing our homeschool journey with April.  It was a lot of fun pondering over my responses and I felt completely honoured to be asked and to be featured first.

Even if you have no interest in what I have to say (totally understandable…hehehe) go over and visit April’s blog.  It’s one of my favourite blogs.  I find it hard to find Aussie homeschool bloggers who I can relate to and who update their blogs regularly enough to hold my interest.  Learning Alongside ticks all of these categories for me, although she costs me a lot of money when she blogs about great resources.    Hehehe.

Enjoy your visit  

On Saturday we went to see the Mummy exhibit at the museum.  We’ve had tickets since before the tickets were released…from a special pre-release sale.  Yes, we were keen.  Super keen in fact.   The way we figure it, you don’t have an exhibit come all the way from the world famous British Museum and not visit it.  Of course we’re also history buffs and appreciate the antiquity of what they are exhibiting.

When people have asked if I recommend a visit, since people are cringing at the price, I have advised (well I really can’t comprehend not wanting to go) that it really depends on their appreciation of Ancient Egyptian culture and artifacts that are thousands of years old.  If their complaint is merely the price, then I remind them that this is something we’d never normally see in Australia and the price is a lot cheaper than flying overseas to see them.

I do think you need to prepare children for the visit though.   Borrow some books from the library or watched some documentaries and familiarise your children with the types of things they might see.  We did this with our little men and it made all the difference to our visit.   They were familiar with the process of mummification, some of the common idols, the story of the Rosetta Stone, and general life and beliefs of Ancient Egyptians.  So when they saw firsthand the things we had read about they could connect more easily with it.  We actually studied Ancient Egypt several years ago but a quick refresher fortnight bought these concepts back to the forefront of our thoughts.

What can you expect for your money?  The exhibition is divided into two sections – a movie theatre and the exhibit room.  As you enter you are first led into the theatre to watch a 3D movie.   (Line up 30 minutes prior to your allocated time to get seating close to the front as you are seated according to your position in line).   At a guess, the movie is around ten to fifteen minutes long.  It does involve a tad of nudity…well, they briefly seek out the gender of the mummy and it is clearly male but seriously mummified bits and pieces are hardly nudity.

The 3D movie was wonderful.  As the key mummy, Nesperennub, has not been unwrapped or removed from his cartonnage, CT scanning has been used to create a virtual unwrapping.  It’s absolutely amazing.  They show you all sorts of views of the different layers.  At one point you travel through the spinal cavity and up inside the head where you can see the detail of the eroding of the skull by blood vessels over time.  It’s that detailed.  The narrator talks the audience through the process of identifying information about the person, Nesperennub, using clues from the mummy itself and the hieroglyphs on his cartonnage.

At the completion of the movie you are shown through to the main exhibit.  It’s larger than I imagined and contains more than just the mummy of Nesperennub.  You are allowed to explore the exhibits at your own pace and aren’t rushed out when the next group enters.  There’s also very knowledgeable and enthusiastic exhibit guides there to answer your questions.  They answered several of our questions.

Amongst the artifacts you’ll see various idol statues, mummified animals, several mummies in addition to Nesperennub, canopic jars, lots of amulets, bits of the Book of the Dead and hieroglyphs galore.   As you are looking around, it’s really hard to get your head around the age of what you are looking at.  In Australia something that is a hundred or two hundred years old is pretty ancient, but these artifacts make our Aussie artifacts look like spring chickens.  We were just in awe.  I don’t think the children could really grasp the antiquity of the items but it was still pretty interesting for them, especially after a little study of Ancient Egypt.

For a gold coin donation, you can collect an activity pamphlet for the children.  It’s very simple and includes a few “hunt and find” type challenges as well as a couple of puzzles and questions.  We found it helped to pass the time in the queue to enter the exhibition.  However my boys weren’t terribly interested in using it inside the exhibit.  The artifacts themselves held their attention enough.  Plus, as the museum always does, the “hunt and find” ‘challenges’ had great big indicators on the artifacts so you couldn’t miss them, removing all element of a challenge.

In the museum store and at the end of the exhibition there are great souvenirs to tease and tempt you.  We couldn’t pass them by without collecting two papyrus activity sets.  They contain an image to colour, a blank piece of papyrus and also papyrus reeds to make your own paper from.  What impressed me was that they were actually made in Egypt.  We can’t wait to try these out.

We also purchased the souvenir guide book.  I plan on reading this to my little men.  It’s not about mummies in general but specifically about Nesperennub and the artifacts within the exhibit.   After reading it I think we may just be tempted to go back for a second visit….very very tempted.

P.S.  Make sure you pre-book to avoid the massive lines at the museum.  When we were there on Saturday they completely sold out of tickets before lunch and a lot of disappointed folks missed out.

Ethan has been enjoying the “Spy Dog” series by Andrew Cope so when we saw another title (one which included another story on the flip side) we snapped it up.

When it arrived we got more than we bargained for…

A WHOLE box of the same title.  That’s FIFTY of the same book.

Seriously, we only wanted one.  We only paid the price of one.

Now begins the process of rectifying the situation with the supplier who has clearly made a bungle.

It could only happen to me.

Postscript:  The supplier just contacted me.  It’s no mistake.  I purchased a “stockpack” from World Book Day so the price and number of books was correct.  What a treat!  Now begins the fun of sharing them around.  Hubby has taken most of them for his class but the boys are now making lists of friends they’d like to give them too.