Thursday, January 19, 2006












I don't have anything much to say today, so I grabbed the camera and took a few random photos. Welcome to my life! (or at least, my back yard!) It's a dismal wet sort of day, but I'm finished work for the day, and had a great morning, so no grey skies are going to dampen MY spirits!

Evidently my children are feeling pretty peppy, too. Laura has been doing some avant garde artwork which she has displayed on the back deck. I think I prefer Laura's usual paintings of flowers and girls and love-hearts but I'm sure Sharon's previous art college tutors would go crazy for the random blobs!

Thank you everyone who commiserated with me over the 'lack of sleep' post. Though I'm not sure I wanted to know that it only gets worse when kids are teens...maybe there's an easier stage in between then and now? (say yes, just say yes dammit!!). Last night the 'bad man' came to Louey again during sleep, but this time instead of getting up and down to my nightmaring daughter, I resorted to my old standby trick of plopping her into our bed, banishing poor Fatty to Louey's bed, and thus we all slept. (actually, what am I saying..'poor Fatty' for?! He slept alone, in comfort, undisturbed!!) The next two times Louey woke, I could reach out with sleep-drugged arm and comfort her without moving any other part of my body. That's my style of child care!

Hope you're all having a good week. And Heather, get well soon.

12 comments:

Sharon said...

The artwork is beautiful! I love it.

I love your camera work,too.

Sandy Hatcher-Wallace said...

I hope the nightmares end soon, but that seems to be a normal childhood dilema.
Experts say not to bring children into your own bed, but I find that children who occasionally sleep with a parent are very cuddly ,affectionate & loveable children.
You sound like a great mother.

Take more pictures...All of us over here in the U.S. who are not fortunate enough to be able to travel to Australia, are curious about what your back yard looks like. We did get a peek with the picture of the possum in what appeared to be a sort of a palm tree.

Motherkitty said...

I'm sorry your kids have a lot of nightmares. That must be hard on the entire family. You all seem well-adjusted, though. Loved the pictures, especially the cute doggie.

Heather said...

Great pictures, great artwork! Your backyard looks like a nice place to unwind after a long day.

Thanks for the well wishes! I am a little better today. ;-)

Mackey said...

Have you ever tried Dream catchers for the kids?? It's weird but they seem to work, I don't know if you have ever heard of them but the natives use them.
When my son was younger he used to have horrible dreams so we thought"What the hack" Let's try one. We hung it over his bed & I think he has had 2 or 3 nightmares since we hung it there! (Which was 6 years ago)
Here is a link to a site that explains them.
http://www.dream-catchers.org/

TUFFENUF said...

I agree with Mac about the dream catchers. I got one and explained the theory to my young son and hung it on the wall beside his bed. He did not have many nightmares after that. I don't know why it worked, maybe just that he believed it would (placebo effect).

Susan Tidwell said...

Yes, there is an easier stage between, after they get a little older and more self-sufficient, and up until about age 12 or 13 - when the hormones kick in. That's a pretty good stage. But it's downhill after that for a while!

Sandy Hatcher-Wallace said...

My husband made and hung a dream catcher over our bed and I haven't had a nightmare since.

Michelle said...

I am with you..I don't care who is in whose bed at our house so long as EVERYONE is sleeping!!!

Jellyhead said...

I've heard of dream-catchers...in fact my mum has one up at her farm - she thinks it's pretty and has it hanging across a living room window! (obviously she mustn't have many bad dreams!)

I just might try the dream catcher, because between the two kids, we have maybe 1 or 2 nights per week where we're not lumbering up to a frightened child through the night. Maybe they are weird, badly-parented kids. I prefer to think of them as highly imaginative.

Unknown said...

Yep, I'd be hanging a dreamcatcher too. I've been lucky with my kids, not too many nightmares (thank goodness). And I think the older the kids get, the more it depends on their personality, rather than age, how they behave - at least in my experience.

Mackey said...

If you try the dreamcatchers, make sure you hang it over there bed, by where their head would be.