Barbie?

The wonderful Nicole from Highlights to Housework often poses some thoughtful questions. Many a time I have read one of her posts and thought yes that is very true, I should write about that as well. Today however I have finally been compelled to actually do so.

So what did she say that managed to fill me with so much motivation?

Head over here to find out.

In short though she raises the question of whether Barbie dolls are an appropriate toy for young girls.

As the mother of young girls you can understand my interest. I too am torn between my adult beliefs and childhood memories.

As a child I had an interest in Barbie and her friends. I think the most my collection ever totaled was five, possibly six. I had two Ken's (one of whom was a cowboy who I had the hots for! I can clearly remember thinking I am going to marry a big strong man like him), the other was some jungle explorer or something. He had straight arms and was not nearly as buff as the cowboy. To keep them company there were a couple of different ladies. Including a lovely Spanish dancer who had shiny jet black hair that I just adored.

Unfortunately though my Barbies felt that the grass was greener so to speak. My friends seemed to have much more glamourous dolls, clothes and accessories than what mine where. You see their Barbie got to keep up to date with all the latest trends and fashions while my poor little crew had to make the best of what they had.

Despite this I still spent many an hour playing the with my little Barbie world.

As a women of the late nineties and a mother in the noughties Barbie is not someone that I actually rush out to encourage. After all she is blonde, has big boobs, a small waist and seems to get handed everything on a silver platter.

My eldest daughter managed to escape her early childhood without the Barbie influence. She was given a few here and there but never really developed much of an interest. Number two has shown a stronger inclination to the blonde bombshell only her preferences have been for the Fairytopia range of doll that comes with scented coloured hair.

Sure she has stood the test of time and survived this and that but still does that make her an appropriate toy for the next generation of women to lead the world? Though if she is to be rendered null and void and out dated, then who shall replace her? Polly Pocket? Bratz? I think not! Perhaps after all it is a case of better the devil you know.

So many ideas and so little time.

Why is it that ideas always seem so good at the time? LIke writing this posted seemed like a good idea but then when I started....hmmmm...

But here I am...struggling somewhat but here I am.

You see I really do want to be a writer. I spend large portions of my day where I think of wonderful things that I could write about yet when I actually go to write I am left with little more than this drivel.

So why don't I write as soon as an idea pops into my head I hear you ask? Well as a mother of three that kind of luxury is not one I have. Actually the being a mother part is not really the issue. The issue is with my shorter than short memory span. Heard of ten second Bob? Well I am like twice as bad as him. This means that should I leave the washing I am hanging out to go and scrawl down my latest great idea I will inevitably forget about hanging out said washing. Which will not become apparent till bedtime when we go to climb into bed only to be greeted by a bare mattress as the sheets are still waiting to be hung out.

Oh the trials and tribulations of life hey?

Tis the season...

I can not believe how incredibly busy the festive season is.

With around eleven days till the big man himself arrives my little part of the world has flown into a flurry. There has been Christmas concerts, school dances, lunches, bring a plates, morning teas...the list is almost endless. Especially for mother's such as myself who feel the need to be on every possible committee as well as agreeing to host an end of year joint party for daughters one and two.

Please don't think I am complaining though.

I love Christmas with all my heart. I truly find it to be a joyous and wonderful time. Some of my strongest memories revolve around the day. This year I will be having lunch in the Ballroom at the Casino. It all sounds rather lavish and I hope that turns out to be true.

Today was the first day of the school holidays. A much anticipated event in my diary. While taking my mum to work rather early (for me) in the morning was not an ideal start the remainder of the day was more than just enjoyable.

I managed to achieve a few little tasks here and there. I did a bit of baking with the kids. Well actually with the next door neighbour's kid but it was all good. I now have some of the yummiest shortbreads I have seen for a while. To top it all off I have some fresh milk to really enjoy it with. What more could a gal ask for?

Well speaking of this yummy treats....

Dear Santa

Little Miss L who is nine, typed up the following letter to Santa. It was just too priceless not to share. The only part I have changed is her name and a few formatting issues.

dear mr santa claus

I am writing to you to day to advise you of the present that I would like to resive for christmas this year. In my opinion I would like a laptop for christmas because I think it is a great piece of technology.

I would like a laptop for christmas because I would be able to research for my homework so I could finish it on time and the teacher would be happy with me.

I think I should get a laptop for christmas because I can look for games to play outside with my friends and family on special days like for e.g. mothers day, fathers day and Australia day.

Mum and dad like to be active and run and play outside I agree with them on this matter. So by owning a new laptop I can look for new better improved games to play outside with my friends and family.

In conclusion I think laptops are a great piece of technology and I would really like to resive one for christmas this year.

Kind regards

Little Miss L

Still trying

Ok so I have not exactly been making the 8333 or whatever it was a day. In fact at this point in time I have only just managed to pass the 2000 mark. Leaving me a mere 48 000 words to write in under 2 days. I am tipping that it is not going to happen. I would love to think that I could but as a mother I just can't step away from my duties for that amount of time. Even if it were possible to find someone else to care for them for that time I still could not bring myself to do it. Especially not for the babe. Plus two days without sleep is pretty hard going for old ducks like me. Actually it is not so much the first two days but it is the third day that is the trick because that would be sleep day and sleep and mothering are not the best of friends, especially not if both have been absent for two days.

Having said that though I am not just going to throw in the towel and stop writing. I know that I have missed a few days and I know that I am well of target but you have to agree that recent days, have seen a slight increase.

So in a bid to maintain and possibly even increase my written words I am going to leave my on going tally of words just to see when I do actually achieve the magic 50,000 mark.

In my last post I called for suggestions of goals to set to make up for my premature 21^st post. Perhaps I have just found it.

Hmmmm

Maybe I should run a poll?

2398

Oh dear :(

So maybe my 21 party was a tad early.

Officially I only have 19 posts (including this one).

How could such a tragic mistake occur? I hear you ask, well really it is quite simple. When I log into Blogger and am taken to my dashboard I am given a list of all my blogs and the number of posts on each one, as well as the date of the last entry (if you are a blogger I know that you know all this but I am hoping I can draw some non blogging readers as well so please bear with me)...Anyways it is here that I saw I had 20 posts not realising that it was a total of 20 post attempts, regardless of whether I have published them or not.

So now the next question to answer is how did this all come to my attention?

Well that to is also rather simple. When I went to see how my 21st post appeared once I had hit the publish button I noticed the column on the right that shows the total of my published posts.

So now the question is what to do? Even when I reach 21 published post I can't really re-celebrate the event so I need to find a challenge to achieve...hmmm... suggestions?

I am 21 again!

Well in a way...

This will be my 21st post on this blog.

I have just spent the past I don't know how long but a very long time searching for an 'easy' way to put some streamers up to celebrate. As you can see by the absence of such streamers my efforts were not very successful. The result of my failings is the pathetic attempt at a post as now I am off to bed.

The back log of existing failed posts it too large to add another to it :( I promise more for tomorrow. In the meantime you could check out here and here. I am not going to tell you what they are, you go check it out for yourself :)

Actually if you are still reading and haven't clicked the yet beware. The first one has a stupid ad dishwashing liquid on it that talks to you. On my old PC this would not have been an issue as I never had any speakers so I wouldn't have heard a thing. My flash new iMac with it's inbuilt speakers means I can now get the audio experiences of the Internet as well. This has proved to be both good and bad.

So why didn't I delete the first link and replace it with something that wouldn't scare the bejezes out out of those with the sound on? Well it also contains an interesting read about a sinful pleasure. Being the reformed smoker that I am I can understand where this is coming from. I miss the time I spent smoking as well. I know technically I have more time as such now but to me having a smoke was a process that I totally enjoyed and do occasionally miss. I can't not see me returning to my filthy ways but there will always be a part of me that gets the whole smoking being cool thing.

Now to find the second link :)

May they Rest In Peace

Tragically 27 men just lost their life. Another mine collapsed, only this time they did not make it out alive. After the recent efforts in Chile, China and not so recently Tasmania I think that a lot of people just assumed the New Zealanders would be successfully rescued.

My heart goes out to the families and loved ones who are suffering at this terrible time.

If by chance you have no idea what I am talking about you can read more here

Stop Wasting TIME!!!

That is what I need to have shouted at me on a regular basis.

Of course that is easier said than done, especially since for the most part of the day I spend my time with those unable to use the English vocabulary as needed.

Finding my inner voice is not always either and even when found it can be hard to hear. I wonder why that is? Possibly because there are so many different mediums and messages going in that it all just becomes a jumbled mess. Actually it is even more than just going in, there are messages being sent as well as processed and digested.

Right now as I sit here typing I can hear a car motor running right outside my front door, the music of Meatloaf as he sings "For Crying Out Loud" Summer screeching and...

oh wait that has all changed now. I got caught up looking for the link above, sending a fb message, and then put a child back to sleep...

So where was I?

NaNoWrimo. 8333 words a day. Right

As a starting point for an idea - write a story to match the name of the last song you heard

Van Morrison's Days Like These is playing now so I guess that will be the first cap of the rank so to speak!

759

*Unfortunately time did not permit me to get much out but I promise it will be out soon

Let's get started

Ok here is what I am going to do. After much thought, well actually maybe only a little, if much thought had of gone into it I might have come up with a different decision. Anyway. Even though there is barely a week left in the month. And even though I will need to churn out just over 8 thousand words a day, I am going to give it a go. Right here on my pretend parenting blog I am going to try and post a novel in less than a week!

How exciting!!!!!

Now because at this point I am slightly desperate for words they will not exactly be a novel as such. The majority of words will come from a fiction based thing but I can not guarantee that it will be coherent or the one story. This late in the game I think I am allowed to use a few rule stretches. As such post such as this and the one below will be included in the total.

Now that is out the way let me see how much I have gotten out the way already

514

Some things seems to never change

Of course they do but at times it just doesn't seem like it. Like my writing. Or rather lack there of. When I started this blog I promised myself that I would not bore my readers with the constant barrage of complaints about me not writing that seemed to fill my other blogs. Yet here I am, a mere 17 posts into this new venture and the only words I seem to be able to type out are about me complaining...gggrrr...

Maybe now that I have that out the way I can move on to other things. Though as you can imagine I have plenty of viable excuses for not regularly finding the time to write (here or anywhere else for that matter). After all I am incredibly busy. A SAHM is no easy task. There are committees for Parent Wellbeing, Fundraising, Finance as well as helping out in classes and of course all the usual mum/wife/just generally looking after people, but moving along again.

This of course is now the 23rd day of November, and as I have previously mentioned that means NaNoWrimo (note to self must go back and finish NaNoWrimo post as at this point in time it is has not been published) I know that there is still 7 days left in which to write and therefor I technically still have time to finish I am just not sure I really have it in me. After all to come up with fifty thousand words before midnight on the the thirtieth I would need to spit out an average of 8333 a day. Not impossible really but would certainly take some dedication.

Gosh that really will take some doing...This little effort is just over 300 and has taken the better part of an hour...I don't think I will even waste my time on doing the maths to work out based on that how many hours my 50 thou will take :(

324

How Art Thou Spunk Rat?

Ok so this post is a bit tricky. I actually started it on the 22nd of October. Today is actually the 24th of November. Between then and now I actually have a totally of five posts that I started but for one reason or another never actually got around to posting. Part of my own personal blogging rules for this blog is that no post will go unpublished regardless of how long it may at times take.

I am currently partaking in a writing challenge (of sorts). While the rest of the participants are feverishly trying to write at least 50,000 words that will form a novel I am just trying to get out the number totally oblivious to what the words may actually form. As such I am able to include the drivel which you are currently being subjected to (thanks for reading by the way).

The reason for my adaptation to the official rules is the fact that rather than try the novel feat in a month I have left myself with little under a week. I have recently passed the first thousand mark so at least I am on my way. The thing that I will struggle most with I think is finding the time to stay coherent. See I know I can make some time in my day but it is not without interruption which is the tricky part.

See this morning I was flying along, I had the first few paragraphs of actual fiction out but then the baby woke, the washing machine beeped and before I knew it, it was time to pick up cherub number two up from her transition trial. By the time I returned to write any idea that was once stored in my head had successfully disappeared.

So here I am.

Trying to come up with some meaningful words but unable to think long enough to get an idea. To me though the most important thing is that I write. As long as I can get something, anything really, it has got to be better than nothing!

So why the title? A long time ago, it feels almost like a life time ago actually, I had a significant other that would affectionately refer to me as his spunk rat. It was a very complicated time in my life and I will save you the detail for now, as a result of it all though I tried my hand at poetry and How Art Thou Spunk Rat? was one of my first pieces I felt I could share with the world.

When I first began to delve into the world that is Internet writing I had it published on a site called Triond (runs off to find link) though I titled it "Torn within a love affair" I also used a pen name Campbell Ray. I had forgotten how much I actually like that name. Those who know me very well in the real world will know why the Campbell, and as for the Ray, well I guess I just like the way it sounded.

Well once again my time has run out so I will bid you adieu

1553

Flash Fiction Challenge

Some time ago, while idly whittling the time away on FB, I stumbled across an ad that caught my attention. It was calling for entries for something known as flash fiction. Having a deep aspirations of one day making it big in the world of writing I decided to investigate.

I found myself being taken here, where before I knew it I had filled in the entry form and began not so patiently waiting for the first challenge to be set. Finally the long awaited day arrived. And when I say finally I mean a good 14 hours after the date set out on the website. (One of the many joys of living in Australia is that for the most part we are ahead of time)

Anyway for the next 24 hours I pondered on what I was going to create. For the past month I had been dreaming of creating a literary piece that would leave the judges blown away with the prize money all but in my pocket. Now that the time was actually here I struggled to even conceive a notion of a plot that was set in a homeless shelter, mentioned a fishing net and was a mystery.

Not wanting to be a quitter (or waste the entry fee) I managed to submit a charming little piece which I titled Sally and the Psychic Not exactly the most imaginative title I know, (actually the judge's comments were the title is to literal and thesis like) but it was the best I could do at the time.

While on the one hand I felt some sense of achievement in being able to produce something in under 48 hours, there was also a part of me that felt I had not done enough. Truth be told I probably only spent a total of 8 hours creating my work of art and at the end of it all I realised it would possibly not be the winner I had been dreaming of.

For the following weeks while I waited for the results to be posted I tried not to beat myself up too much. What was done was done. All I could do now was make sure my next attempt was an improvement.

As it turned out I had my efforts were worse than I expected. I failed to score at all. You could only imagine the disappointment that I felt. I tried to let it all go though as it was only 24 hours till the next round began. With all the best intentions I was certain I could still make it to the top five. These best intentions were quickly shattered when I saw I need to come up with a court room drama that mentioned a remote control car. One hour before the deadline for submissions closed I some how managed to send of Death by Accident

This time there was no pride. Just shame I had not been able to come up with something better. I felt my efforts were nothing more than just an entry. I was glad it was an electronic submission as it really would have been a waste of paper to enter such tripe.

I felt no anticipation for the results to be posted this time as I was certain that I would again fail to reach a score. There was a little disappointment when I received the email saying the results posting was delayed as I did just want it over and done with. However there was much surprise when I discovered I had actually been assigned 12 points. In the scheme of things this means out 22 writers I came in seventh place. Which given my effort levels I think is not too bad.

The best part of all of this is that I think it may actually be enough to spur me on a little...after all Nanowrimo is only a few weeks away now....stay tuned...

Habits

For the most part it appears as if people think of a habit as something negative. By this I mean our habits are generally seen as things that we need to break as opposed to forming.

For example I put great effort into kicking the disgusting habit known as smoking. Which I must say is something I have proudly succeeded in. However forming the habit of writing on a regular basis is something that I am still to master... perhaps if were to think of it as breaking the habit of wasting my nights be idly clicking away on the old FB.

That is it for now... Sally Pearson is about to race in the 100 mts hurdles ... fingers crossed it works out better for her tonight

Childcare

Read with caution, one eyed opinion to follow...

Child care is something I feel rather passionately about. As I imagine many mothers do. To me the best person/people to care for children are their parents. Well at least most of the time, barring drunks, drug addicts and those who willingly neglect the blessings that are sent to them.

I do not believe that children, should be sent to child care centres and quite frankly I struggle to understand how a mother can return to the workforce and leave her six week or even six month old baby in the arms of strangers. Aside from the obvious lack of breastfeeding opportunity it just doesn't seem fair to either party.

I understand each to their own and all that and I know that not all mothers can or want to breastfeed and that is their right and blah blah blah but I am sorry for not truly being able to accept it. To me, part of being a mother is the selflessness. It is waking up at ungodly hours to feed, soothe a new little soul as it adjusts to this world without complaint or grudge. It is going without at times in order to meet the needs of others. It is a devotion and love that can be draining and at times hard but also beautiful and more rewarding than anything else life can possibly throw at you.

As I sat down to write this post, an ad for a forthcoming current affairs show came on the old box. I didn't quite catch all of it but I did manage to here a group of mothers complaining about the rising cost of child care. I could feel my blood begin to boil as I questioned whether these mothers really needed to work especially if they were going to then complain about the excessive cost of paying someone to care for their flesh and blood.

As a society we have been conditioned to believe that self worth is gained through employment. Value as a person is often based on employment levels and achievement. Not nearly enough credit is given to mothers who choose to remain outside the traditional workforce to bring up their children. Instead mothers feel forced to deposit children in mass produced cages each and every day while apparently qualified carers tend to the needs of up to ten children at a time.

Now I must admit that I do know some wonderful people who work in this industry and they are passionate and caring people who genuinely feel for the children that they look after. However they are still not the parents of these children. I guess my biggest gripe with childcare is that to me it defies the point of having children.