I think Cuddly pooped on my pinky.
Hello there. I hear there is snow and ice in my homeland. Ahhh, it sounds so lovely from here. My mom said she had about five inches, almost knee high on Genevieve. It’s strange having a child that won’t see snow or experience real cold until she’s almost two. Right now she is at my feet tearing apart my bedside table, which for her is the ultimate entertainment, besides chasing chicks on her knees.
On a broader note, our new Prime Minister is moving fast to prove himself. As his first act of government, he signed the Kyoto Treaty, leaving the USA alone in their refusal to sign. Matt told me the other day that Australian power stations are actually the worst polluters per capita on the planet, so signing Kyoto is at least a symbol that we want to change. Who the we is, that’s a question. I don’t have the brain space these days to keep up on much but I heard that somewhere in Sydney they are about to spend oodles of dollars on creating a desalination plant, to make the ocean drinkable. It will use so much energy that it will need its own power station. This certainly demands more energy than installing rainwater tanks. The whole rainwater collection system is new to me, but it seems so logical, even in a place with low rainfall. We have a tank because that’s just what you do here, out in the country. But in town, about a mile away everyone has “town water,” which is your average city water system. In many cities, it was forbidden to have rainwater collection but that it starting to change.
Speaking of rain, we’ve had a few showers this week finishing off last night with a big bang. A great thunderstorm lit up the bedroom with lightening flashing every few seconds. The rain has brought back the mosquitoes in great number making life a little more interesting. The garden is loving the rain showers. Since I last wrote, we have gotten our first cucumbers and tomatoes. The cucumbers are significant since I have not bought any since last summer. Some veggies I will buy out of season like tomatoes, peppers, green beans and onions because I can not go without. Jacinta, Genevieve and I all shared the first beloved cucumber down in the garden. Another first is the purple beans, Jacinta’s favourite. What a lovely plant to watch, with its purple flowers, vines twisting all over each other, and finally the deep purple beans dripping off the ends like icicles. Watching this plant grow is almost as awesome as watching Jacinta excitedly eat beans in the garden again.
Having some munching options in the garden could be the reason that Jacinta dislikes missing a day in the garden now. Getting more than five strawberries means you have to stay away from the garden for a few days. This is the upside of neglect. So today after a few sick days, we picked over twenty strawberries! We also realized the apples were disappearing so they had to be ready to eat. Thus we picked the remaining four Golden Dorset apples and called it a harvest. They were very tart and crisp, and from our tree! That will make any apple great for me. They are a tropical variety, how else could you pick an apple at the start of summer?
How about getting colds at the beginning of summer? I suppose germs are germs and can come around any season of the year. It just seems strange in this heat to me. I enjoy having “lazy days” at home with the girls, confining ourselves to our own little plot of earth. Mary and Keith have been on vacation all week so it was just Matt and I and the girls. We made herbal cough syrup, vegetable soup, bread, and sage, thyme and licorice tea. Babies are so easy to please. Genevieve chugs her herbal tea in a bottle with no honey and will eat soup and any vegetable you put in front of her: even zucchini, onions, and squash. Jacinta, a discerning and normal three-year-old refuses soup based on its title, and most vegetables based on their color or texture. She will only drink herbal tea if it is sweetened with a huge spoon of honey. I gather she is normal, but I want so badly for her to keep her mind open. I have just realized that in my efforts to plant food openness in her, I am scaring her. So, I am trying very hard to be grateful for what good food she does eat and stop lamenting and tormenting her for not eating barley soup, zucchini, non-fried fish, and cooked green beans. She is only three. I just have so many food issues tied up inside, one of which is comparing her to a Senegalese child who would eat whatever came out in the big bowl at lunch and say thank you after filling her belly, whether or not she liked it. There it is, I’ve admitted my error. We are not Senegalese, we are American-Australians, yes, yes, yes. Wish me luck in chilling out or perhaps wish Jacinta luck at dinner time.
On our few sick days we read stories, drew pictures, and went through clothes and toy boxes. This is actually a task Jacinta loves, and of course Evie does too because she can pull everything out and play in the mess. Trying to ease the disease in sick children through cooking, rest, herbs and homemade medicine is rewarding, but of course a bit tiring. Even with the luck of having Matt at home to jump in and help out, I felt a bit crowded by the end of the day. I never thought I’d actually want to shake off extra cuddles and physical closeness, but it’s hot right now. Their colds have gone now, and I’m realizing it’s not sickness that brings on Jacinta’s need to drag on my leg, it’s her sister.
Jacinta is a keen observer. I think she is picking up on the soft vibes we emit for Genevieve and feeling injustice. Being three, unfortunately, is an important age to learn discipline. Of course Jacinta is praised for many things, but she feels harshness in our correction of her speech, actions, and manners. Right now we are all working on ridding the obnoxious, “WHAT?” from our speech. Matt, Jess and I all say it. Mary started working with Jess on it. Matt and I thought we might try too, so one option is, “I beg your pardon?” Another is, “Yes mum?” These are not very American expressions. What are we taught to say instead of “WHAT?” in the USA? I honestly can’t remember.
One of Jacinta’s recent methods of dealing with Evie jealousy is to overdramatize any pain she endures, especially pain caused by her little sister. Genevieve is learning to pull up on things and Jacinta is one of those things. “OWWWWW! She pushed me!” If she bumps her head on the table, or whacks her knee on the bed she’ll scream like a baby for a few minutes, and then follow the scene up by whining for the next ten minutes, milking us for all we’re worth. It’s hard to know whether to play into her game or make her buck up and deal. I try both ways, no reports on which seems better. In general though, I tend to scoff at her insecurity, if not out loud she surely feels it. I was a little sister. How can she not know how much we love her? She must. My God, if only she knew. She thinks I’m mean when I brush her hair and when I dress her, because I make her either stand up or sit still. I could say it’s tough love, but I’m not that tough. I guess every parent has to let the ogre out, otherwise the kids turn into little brats. Although, even with the ogre out, they might still be brats. We can only try.
Besides the few trying moments in discipline, of course we’ve had many joys this week. We spent two days out at a lovely beach just relaxing in sand, playing in rock pools, running, crawling, and swimming through shallow water, hiding in the shade beside little caves, picnicking, swimming in the strong river current. We enjoyed the first of the local watermelons and feasted on frozen blueberries. We often talk about things that might happen in the future, like going to school or sleeping on the top bunk. For a while Jacinta would say, “Maybe when I’m four.” Everything was going to happen when she turned four. Well this week, it became, “Maybe when I’m forty.” She asked me, “When do you think I’ll be able to reach the top shelf?” I told her she’d probably be able to reach it when she was about eleven years old. She disagreed, as she must, “Maybe when I’m forty.”
Another source of entertainment this week was the chicks. As a part of our gardening outing now, the girls and I stop in the chick pen to give them chickweed and play a bit. Sometimes Jacinta will just go down on her own and play (poor chicks). Evie can’t get enough, she’s in heaven down there, but I keep a close eye on her. She crawls fast enough to catch them and her grip would break their little necks instantly. That’s all we need, more dead chickens. With Keith gone this week, we have been caring for all of the animals. So not only do I need to feed my girls, but also the dog, the chickens, the chicks and Mary’s birds. It’s fun, but just four more tasks. Matt does a lot of it too. Jacinta loves putting the chicks out in their pen each morning. The other day she stayed down and played with them a little bit and came up on her own for breakfast. I reminded her to wash her hands before eating. She replied in the calmest tone ever, “Oh yeah, I think Cuddly pooped on my pinky.” My little farmer girl
Evie doesn’t mind the dirt either, to the contrary. She’d chew the bottom of every shoe in the house if we’d let her. It is a strange fetish, perhaps it’s the rubber. She has started wearing shoes because she is standing and trying to walk so much. Little Genevieve has figured out which plants have little red strawberries hiding in them. So now she’ll stand up at the edge of the terrace and pick any strawberry no matter how white and eat and eat and eat. There’s gotta be some old saying about how bad white strawberries are to eat, but I haven’t heard why yet. People always have warnings about eating under ripe fruits and vegetables, but my kids and I haven’t ever gotten sick from them. I really would be interested in any hard facts on eating under ripe produce or rinds on melons. I’m sure there is some truth to certain fruits and veggies, but for the moment I think it’s all old wives’ tales. Last week we ate some fresh kidney beans, then I read on the internet that fresh kidney beans are poisonous. It didn’t say why, but we didn’t get sick, unless that’s where the cold came from…
Genevieve’s big task this week is learning to sleep. She had been waking almost hourly for milk and cuddles, out of habit. The community health nurse offered me a few good words and I grabbed them with glee: “there is physically no need for a baby eating solids to wake in the middle of the night.” She told me that a few hard nights would probably result in Evie sleeping through the night. We never had the guts to try it with Jacinta, but now my lack of energy in the day has given me the guts. The last few weeks we were rocking her in the stroller, and this week we are “training” her in her crib. Mary kindly offered her bedroom so Genevieve and I have moved to the other end of the house. I have my guitar and my knitting. I just sing her back to sleep each time she wakes, touch her through the crib wall and let her know I’m here. The first night was a bit rough, but honestly, listening to her scream wasn’t that hard given the potential reward. I slept so well in between her waking moments. Each night she sleeps better and I wake up more energetic each morning and have more love to offer the girls throughout the day. This can only be a good thing.
Matt is surely enjoying my two-thirds of the bed while I’m at the other end of the house. He wakes up early with Jacinta. They have breakfast, read stories and play while Evie and I sleep. I think it’s a good arrangement, at least for a week. Matt had a couple of days teaching and spent the rest of the week poking around for work opportunities, as usual. He took the girls out a few times and left me alone to do a little gardening and listen to the silence. He also built a really long bench on the front porch, about seventeen feet long, up against the house. So although we haven’t much of a guest room, there is now room for you all on our new bench. Come one come all!
Lately it has been taking me three nights to write my journal, given my lack of energy in the evenings. But I am hopeful that next week, I will be able to say I have a baby that sleeps. Again, wish me luck. I am already feeling hopeful and energetic, given my last two nights. I spent the week purging, going through boxes preparing to give away loads of baby clothes. I LOVE getting rid of things, but of course, giving them to folks who will appreciate them as we did. It’s slightly sad, saying goodbye to the sweet little outfits that warmed our little girls bodies for a short while. But as I wish for Jacinta, I’ll just have to buck up and deal, won’t I?
Another bittersweet joy I had this week was finishing yet another Barbara Kingsolver book, The Prodigal Summer. I hate finishing a great book, because it’s over. I never look to see how many pages there are or how many I have left because I don’t want to be saddened as the page numbers increase. The way this woman weaves a story, wow. I am by no means an avid reader but in my limited exposure to writers, I think she is just amazing. It’s as if she is braiding hair with strands of animals, plants, current events, society, culture, politics, and human nature all into a lovely readable story. I delve into America’s reality through her eyes and I love it. I have read everything she has written, and since I haven’t found another author to love, I am rereading her novels. This is surely a new me, rereading something. It’s not so bad
Well, Christmas is coming quick. I just realized how close it was the other day and that we are going away for a week in just a few days. Matt will work for his sister Louise for a week in Canberra while the girls and I do some touristing. We’ll stop in Sydney to visit friends and be back by Christmas. Summer still doesn’t seem Christmasy to me yet, but I’ll dream of you all in the snow and hopefully catch the vibe. Let me know if you can recommend any good authors.
Peace,
Shana
On a broader note, our new Prime Minister is moving fast to prove himself. As his first act of government, he signed the Kyoto Treaty, leaving the USA alone in their refusal to sign. Matt told me the other day that Australian power stations are actually the worst polluters per capita on the planet, so signing Kyoto is at least a symbol that we want to change. Who the we is, that’s a question. I don’t have the brain space these days to keep up on much but I heard that somewhere in Sydney they are about to spend oodles of dollars on creating a desalination plant, to make the ocean drinkable. It will use so much energy that it will need its own power station. This certainly demands more energy than installing rainwater tanks. The whole rainwater collection system is new to me, but it seems so logical, even in a place with low rainfall. We have a tank because that’s just what you do here, out in the country. But in town, about a mile away everyone has “town water,” which is your average city water system. In many cities, it was forbidden to have rainwater collection but that it starting to change.
Speaking of rain, we’ve had a few showers this week finishing off last night with a big bang. A great thunderstorm lit up the bedroom with lightening flashing every few seconds. The rain has brought back the mosquitoes in great number making life a little more interesting. The garden is loving the rain showers. Since I last wrote, we have gotten our first cucumbers and tomatoes. The cucumbers are significant since I have not bought any since last summer. Some veggies I will buy out of season like tomatoes, peppers, green beans and onions because I can not go without. Jacinta, Genevieve and I all shared the first beloved cucumber down in the garden. Another first is the purple beans, Jacinta’s favourite. What a lovely plant to watch, with its purple flowers, vines twisting all over each other, and finally the deep purple beans dripping off the ends like icicles. Watching this plant grow is almost as awesome as watching Jacinta excitedly eat beans in the garden again.
Having some munching options in the garden could be the reason that Jacinta dislikes missing a day in the garden now. Getting more than five strawberries means you have to stay away from the garden for a few days. This is the upside of neglect. So today after a few sick days, we picked over twenty strawberries! We also realized the apples were disappearing so they had to be ready to eat. Thus we picked the remaining four Golden Dorset apples and called it a harvest. They were very tart and crisp, and from our tree! That will make any apple great for me. They are a tropical variety, how else could you pick an apple at the start of summer?
How about getting colds at the beginning of summer? I suppose germs are germs and can come around any season of the year. It just seems strange in this heat to me. I enjoy having “lazy days” at home with the girls, confining ourselves to our own little plot of earth. Mary and Keith have been on vacation all week so it was just Matt and I and the girls. We made herbal cough syrup, vegetable soup, bread, and sage, thyme and licorice tea. Babies are so easy to please. Genevieve chugs her herbal tea in a bottle with no honey and will eat soup and any vegetable you put in front of her: even zucchini, onions, and squash. Jacinta, a discerning and normal three-year-old refuses soup based on its title, and most vegetables based on their color or texture. She will only drink herbal tea if it is sweetened with a huge spoon of honey. I gather she is normal, but I want so badly for her to keep her mind open. I have just realized that in my efforts to plant food openness in her, I am scaring her. So, I am trying very hard to be grateful for what good food she does eat and stop lamenting and tormenting her for not eating barley soup, zucchini, non-fried fish, and cooked green beans. She is only three. I just have so many food issues tied up inside, one of which is comparing her to a Senegalese child who would eat whatever came out in the big bowl at lunch and say thank you after filling her belly, whether or not she liked it. There it is, I’ve admitted my error. We are not Senegalese, we are American-Australians, yes, yes, yes. Wish me luck in chilling out or perhaps wish Jacinta luck at dinner time.
On our few sick days we read stories, drew pictures, and went through clothes and toy boxes. This is actually a task Jacinta loves, and of course Evie does too because she can pull everything out and play in the mess. Trying to ease the disease in sick children through cooking, rest, herbs and homemade medicine is rewarding, but of course a bit tiring. Even with the luck of having Matt at home to jump in and help out, I felt a bit crowded by the end of the day. I never thought I’d actually want to shake off extra cuddles and physical closeness, but it’s hot right now. Their colds have gone now, and I’m realizing it’s not sickness that brings on Jacinta’s need to drag on my leg, it’s her sister.
Jacinta is a keen observer. I think she is picking up on the soft vibes we emit for Genevieve and feeling injustice. Being three, unfortunately, is an important age to learn discipline. Of course Jacinta is praised for many things, but she feels harshness in our correction of her speech, actions, and manners. Right now we are all working on ridding the obnoxious, “WHAT?” from our speech. Matt, Jess and I all say it. Mary started working with Jess on it. Matt and I thought we might try too, so one option is, “I beg your pardon?” Another is, “Yes mum?” These are not very American expressions. What are we taught to say instead of “WHAT?” in the USA? I honestly can’t remember.
One of Jacinta’s recent methods of dealing with Evie jealousy is to overdramatize any pain she endures, especially pain caused by her little sister. Genevieve is learning to pull up on things and Jacinta is one of those things. “OWWWWW! She pushed me!” If she bumps her head on the table, or whacks her knee on the bed she’ll scream like a baby for a few minutes, and then follow the scene up by whining for the next ten minutes, milking us for all we’re worth. It’s hard to know whether to play into her game or make her buck up and deal. I try both ways, no reports on which seems better. In general though, I tend to scoff at her insecurity, if not out loud she surely feels it. I was a little sister. How can she not know how much we love her? She must. My God, if only she knew. She thinks I’m mean when I brush her hair and when I dress her, because I make her either stand up or sit still. I could say it’s tough love, but I’m not that tough. I guess every parent has to let the ogre out, otherwise the kids turn into little brats. Although, even with the ogre out, they might still be brats. We can only try.
Besides the few trying moments in discipline, of course we’ve had many joys this week. We spent two days out at a lovely beach just relaxing in sand, playing in rock pools, running, crawling, and swimming through shallow water, hiding in the shade beside little caves, picnicking, swimming in the strong river current. We enjoyed the first of the local watermelons and feasted on frozen blueberries. We often talk about things that might happen in the future, like going to school or sleeping on the top bunk. For a while Jacinta would say, “Maybe when I’m four.” Everything was going to happen when she turned four. Well this week, it became, “Maybe when I’m forty.” She asked me, “When do you think I’ll be able to reach the top shelf?” I told her she’d probably be able to reach it when she was about eleven years old. She disagreed, as she must, “Maybe when I’m forty.”
Another source of entertainment this week was the chicks. As a part of our gardening outing now, the girls and I stop in the chick pen to give them chickweed and play a bit. Sometimes Jacinta will just go down on her own and play (poor chicks). Evie can’t get enough, she’s in heaven down there, but I keep a close eye on her. She crawls fast enough to catch them and her grip would break their little necks instantly. That’s all we need, more dead chickens. With Keith gone this week, we have been caring for all of the animals. So not only do I need to feed my girls, but also the dog, the chickens, the chicks and Mary’s birds. It’s fun, but just four more tasks. Matt does a lot of it too. Jacinta loves putting the chicks out in their pen each morning. The other day she stayed down and played with them a little bit and came up on her own for breakfast. I reminded her to wash her hands before eating. She replied in the calmest tone ever, “Oh yeah, I think Cuddly pooped on my pinky.” My little farmer girl
Evie doesn’t mind the dirt either, to the contrary. She’d chew the bottom of every shoe in the house if we’d let her. It is a strange fetish, perhaps it’s the rubber. She has started wearing shoes because she is standing and trying to walk so much. Little Genevieve has figured out which plants have little red strawberries hiding in them. So now she’ll stand up at the edge of the terrace and pick any strawberry no matter how white and eat and eat and eat. There’s gotta be some old saying about how bad white strawberries are to eat, but I haven’t heard why yet. People always have warnings about eating under ripe fruits and vegetables, but my kids and I haven’t ever gotten sick from them. I really would be interested in any hard facts on eating under ripe produce or rinds on melons. I’m sure there is some truth to certain fruits and veggies, but for the moment I think it’s all old wives’ tales. Last week we ate some fresh kidney beans, then I read on the internet that fresh kidney beans are poisonous. It didn’t say why, but we didn’t get sick, unless that’s where the cold came from…
Genevieve’s big task this week is learning to sleep. She had been waking almost hourly for milk and cuddles, out of habit. The community health nurse offered me a few good words and I grabbed them with glee: “there is physically no need for a baby eating solids to wake in the middle of the night.” She told me that a few hard nights would probably result in Evie sleeping through the night. We never had the guts to try it with Jacinta, but now my lack of energy in the day has given me the guts. The last few weeks we were rocking her in the stroller, and this week we are “training” her in her crib. Mary kindly offered her bedroom so Genevieve and I have moved to the other end of the house. I have my guitar and my knitting. I just sing her back to sleep each time she wakes, touch her through the crib wall and let her know I’m here. The first night was a bit rough, but honestly, listening to her scream wasn’t that hard given the potential reward. I slept so well in between her waking moments. Each night she sleeps better and I wake up more energetic each morning and have more love to offer the girls throughout the day. This can only be a good thing.
Matt is surely enjoying my two-thirds of the bed while I’m at the other end of the house. He wakes up early with Jacinta. They have breakfast, read stories and play while Evie and I sleep. I think it’s a good arrangement, at least for a week. Matt had a couple of days teaching and spent the rest of the week poking around for work opportunities, as usual. He took the girls out a few times and left me alone to do a little gardening and listen to the silence. He also built a really long bench on the front porch, about seventeen feet long, up against the house. So although we haven’t much of a guest room, there is now room for you all on our new bench. Come one come all!
Lately it has been taking me three nights to write my journal, given my lack of energy in the evenings. But I am hopeful that next week, I will be able to say I have a baby that sleeps. Again, wish me luck. I am already feeling hopeful and energetic, given my last two nights. I spent the week purging, going through boxes preparing to give away loads of baby clothes. I LOVE getting rid of things, but of course, giving them to folks who will appreciate them as we did. It’s slightly sad, saying goodbye to the sweet little outfits that warmed our little girls bodies for a short while. But as I wish for Jacinta, I’ll just have to buck up and deal, won’t I?
Another bittersweet joy I had this week was finishing yet another Barbara Kingsolver book, The Prodigal Summer. I hate finishing a great book, because it’s over. I never look to see how many pages there are or how many I have left because I don’t want to be saddened as the page numbers increase. The way this woman weaves a story, wow. I am by no means an avid reader but in my limited exposure to writers, I think she is just amazing. It’s as if she is braiding hair with strands of animals, plants, current events, society, culture, politics, and human nature all into a lovely readable story. I delve into America’s reality through her eyes and I love it. I have read everything she has written, and since I haven’t found another author to love, I am rereading her novels. This is surely a new me, rereading something. It’s not so bad
Well, Christmas is coming quick. I just realized how close it was the other day and that we are going away for a week in just a few days. Matt will work for his sister Louise for a week in Canberra while the girls and I do some touristing. We’ll stop in Sydney to visit friends and be back by Christmas. Summer still doesn’t seem Christmasy to me yet, but I’ll dream of you all in the snow and hopefully catch the vibe. Let me know if you can recommend any good authors.
Peace,
Shana
posted by Matt & Shana & Jacinta & Genevieve Henry at
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