Rambles from World's End

There is one lesson I believe is very important to teach my children and that is the importance of seeing something through to the end.   When the Butterfly asks to do something that will take time and dedication I always make a point of telling her she has to finish what she begins. I do not believe that she will learn anything if she does not follow through to the end. Which is not to say she doesn’t try to get out of things, like mopping the kitchen floor, once she starts and realises it’s a lot harder than it looks.   When she was little, I was happy to help her finish, but now with her at school  whatever she starts she has no choice but to finish on her own. Last cricket season the Butterfly was very eager to play cricket but half way through the season she began to make noises about not playing. Now as much as I would have been very happy to have my Saturday mornings back I dug in my heels and told her she had to see the season through. My main point was...

As one daughter leaves her baby years behind the other hurtles through the terrible twos with the speed and force of a tropical cyclone. What a handful of nonsense our beautiful calm little Lollipop has become In company she retreats into herself and climbs onto my lap to bury her head in my neck in the hopes of not been seen by strangers. Or, with some coaxing, she will sit with her sister in her bedroom and play. But alone with her family she is almost unstoppable. The neighbour’s cat has begrudgingly given up his sunning spot on our trampoline because the Lollipop has trapped him in there a few too many times. In her delight and eagerness to touch the cat, I think she has almost dislocated his tail or maybe dug an eye out. Fortunately for her he is a placid old boy who never retaliates, just tried to run away. She had figured out that to get into her sister's room where all the fun stuff, like felt tip pens and paints are, she just has to pull down the door handle. To ...

It’s the beginning of the October school holidays; I should be relaxed and looking forward to stress-free mornings and no packed lunches. But I’m tense and in limbo I am expecting rain and cabin fever, lots of fighting and far too much children’s television. In my desire to put off opening the curtains and see the rain I began to unpack the dishes from a dishwasher I had forgotten to switch on the night before. “Here please take your juice.” I said to the Butterfly while I tried to disengage my leg from a Lollipop who was insisting on a chocolate at six in the morning! To which she calmly replied “Actually mum I am guessing that’s actually Papa’s coffee you’re giving me!” I put the kettle in the fridge, who hasn’t? I filled the sugar bowl with rice, tried to dress the Lollipop in the Butterfly’s clothes and even put my underwear in the Butterfly’s draw. I took the wrong trolley babies and all while their mother happily filled my trolley with her shopping. I gave the Mauritian...

It is a lazy Sunday morning; it is a warm spring day. The girls are squealing at each other as they run through the sprinkler enjoying the feel of icy water on sun warmed skin. The kettle is boiling, the dishwasher is thumping, and the washing machine is hissing the housework never stops. The Mauritian is slouched on the sofa listening to “Ole Blue Eyes” as he beseeches “Come Fly with Me” through custom-built loudspeakers. I should be attending to the mountain of unsorted laundry that has accumulated this past week but such gorgeous weather finds me outside in the sun reflecting on life and living. I should be playing mother and satisfying the hunger of my two children but I am too content to move. I would not have believed it if I had been told that one day I would be this happy, that life, as complicated as it is, would ever be this good. Now don’t get me wrong there are days when I could quite easily chuck it all in and become a hermit. There are times when things are just to...

The children of Central School ushered in the spring with their annual school cross-country event today. The Lollipop and I strolled up to the park to support the not-so-keen-to-run Butterfly. We were well equipped with juice, snacks, and a picnic blanket to relax on while we waited. Boy did we wait! Against the norm for the school, they were running horribly behind schedule and things seemed a little disorganised. This did not suit our Lollipop, who had sat happily on the blanket chomping on her picnic brunch but an hour of waiting was enough. Eventually the Butterfly and her class got their turn to do their cross-country run and true to form, our Butterfly was the slow and steady tortoise who brought in the rear. Her little cheeks were glowing red and her forehead was shiny with sweat but she still managed to crack a smile and waved enthusiastically at her sister who was jumping about squealing with delight at having seen her. I was doubly proud of her today because she really wa...

Easter this year was shaping up to be bright and warm and cheerful but true to Easter weekends of memory Sunday it rained. Still Easter Sunday has been warm and cheerful despite the rain. Very different from most Easter weekends I remember. I've never found Easter memorable here it’s always been a bit heavy and dull. While I was charging around the house on Saturday morning, trying to do housework around the family I was reflecting on why Easter holds little meaning to me now. Just to clarify I am not talking from a religious perspective but merely from my own human perspective. I think now that I can look back with no emotion I realise that our first Easter here was rather horrid. Though physically we had moved countries and into our new home and for the Mauritian a new job, emotionally we were still way behind. We were lonely that Easter, it was cold, raining and damp. We were very unprepared for how cold it would be, we were expecting to be cold we just had no idea how cold...

Like her mother before her the Butterfly is not the most agile or athletic child. Unlike her mother, however she is enthusiastic and game for almost anything. The Butterfly will give it a go if everyone else is.   The Butterfly loves themed days at school and has happily dressed up as a pirate, a Christmas elf, or a Butterfly Princess and worn a bazaar wig to a disco. Her first month at primary school she took part in the school cross country with boundless enthusiasm. The Mauritian was instructed that she needed new trainers and I was told she needed comfortable clothes to run in. The Mauritian bought her a brand new pair of trainers; I just dressed her in her same clothes. In the days before the event, the children trained daily with their class and we were given a daily report of her progress.   My heart almost burst with pride on the day, she put her head down and just ran. Two circuits of the cricket field at Pukakura Park and not once did she stop to walk or get...