Hooked On Uno

On the Saturday after the fight at Kindergarten, Stella went shopping with her dad in the city. He took her to a neat little game shop inside this old shopping arcade. He thought that maybe the two of them would enjoy putting a puzzle together. The two couldn’t agree on which puzzle and ended up buying a deck of Uno cards. She wanted the game because she had seen it at another friend’s house. Stella’s dad was sceptical of Stella’s readiness for such a game. The pack stated that it was for people age 7 and up. He bought it in the hope of teaching her himself. He had taught her to play draughts and was hoping to introduce chess soon.
As soon as the two came home, the father and daughter tried out the new game while waiting for mum to come up with dinner. Stella’s dad told me that he tried to explain the rules to her but she was just impatient and couldn’t wait to start playing. He even tried to test her numeral reading and colour recognition skills. LOL. Both mother and daughter kept reminding him that she already knew how to read the numbers and ‘affirmative’, Stella knows the four basic colours. Duh! He told me that he just wanted to be sure to ensure success. Eventually he gave up explaining and gave in to Stella’s pleas. The two started the game and mum hovered around a bit to assist Stella. Apparently it took less than 10 minutes for Stella to get the hang of it and became addicted. That night, Stella didn’t want a story read. Instead the pair played Uno from her bed. On the following Wednesday when I was looking after Stella, her dad came home before mum. He almost immediately asked Stella if she showed me the game. In fact, she introduced the game to me right after her nap. For a few minutes I pretended to be new to the game and listened to her explanations. LOL. After listening to her dad, I realised that she was obviously trying to copy him with the explanations. He laughed when I told her what she did. Although he sounded a tad suspicious when he asked me if I had taught Stella the game previously (which I didn’t), I can see that this dad is very proud of his little girl and is truly happy to have found another interest the two can spend time playing together.

Free to Blog Again!

Hooray! The study unit that I was doing has come to an end. I have completed my assignments and surprisingly, I did very well for both. Now that the exam is also out of the way, I have time to blog again. There are a few things I want to change and improve.

Next week will be my final week looking after the girls. I will be on holidays after that. Between now and next Thursday, I will be helping Stella to decorate a mini Christmas tree, to be placed in her bedroom. One of her mum’s friends gave her this used table top Christmas tree. It is a little bent but we are going to decorate it as best as we could. As for Bree, we will be doing more finger-painting, learning to clean her own table and enjoying the great outdoors. The warmer weather allows the girls more outdoor play. I practice “Hat + Sunscreen = Outdoor Play”. This does not mean that I let the girls bake for hours outdoors.

The year seems to be ending on a happy note. The election is over. The candidate I preferred is now the new Prime Minister of Australia. Hopefully Kevin Rudd will be a Prime Minister for all Australians. It is timely to give everyone a fair go and to re-educate all on how great practising this human (or like some would like to say, Australian) value is. Hopefully this government will not exploit minority groups in a bad light to win the hearts of some idiots. I do not wish to see Australians playing dirty tactics against other Australians for a while, if not forever. The news about those political/religious fliers last week was just plain ugly. Some say that my wish is just wishful thinking but no one can stop me from dreaming and wishing for a more peaceful world.

Christina, Daniel & Stella – The Aftermath

This is an update on what I wrote recently about the fight at Stella’s Kindergarten. I heard most of it from Stella’s mum.

Daniel: He returned to the Kindergarten on Monday. He was his usual boisterous self. He was asked to join the 3 yr old group when Christina popped in for an hour or so on Wednesday morning.

Christina: She was taken to the hospital for a thorough check-up. They at first feared that she had a broken nose but she was fine, other than some severe bruising on her face. Stella’s mum finally got to chat with Christina’s mum last weekend. She learned that Christina’s dad was furious about what had happened. He is one of those blokes with a loud voice and a bad temper. He actually feared that she might have sustained some form of neck injuries. Immediately after the incident, Christina told the teachers that both Daniel and Stella kicked or hit her. Stella’s mum was told by Christina’s mum that when retelling what happened to her grand-parents, Daniel was the only one involved in kicking her. The children in her group (including Daniel and Stella) made her a big Get Well Soon card. Christina and her mum dropped by the Kindergarten for about an hour on Wednesday to thank the children. Stella told me that her face was bruised. She is likely to return to the Kindergarten on Monday. I am not sure what plans they have for Daniel when she returns.

Stella: She was very down on the Thursday when this happened. According to her mum, she started off slow on Friday as well. She just wanted to be read to and drew some pictures. After her nap on Friday, her mum managed to play some ‘reading’ games that she used to like a few months ago. To her mum’s surprise, that actually led to a fresh interest in reading again. I will blog about Stella’s literacy journey in December. Mother and daughter completed a few pages of a workbook that day and did more on Sunday. On Saturday, Stella’s dad stepped in to do his part in cheering her up. Father and daughter went shopping and found a new interest. I will blog about this soon. This week at Kindergarten, Stella spent most of her time playing by herself. The teacher’s assistant told Stella’s mum that she wasn’t too interested in the group project or other group play on Tuesday. Towards the end of the week, she started to play side by side with other children in the sand-pit. Her teachers said that she was less chatty this week. I asked her if she spoke to Daniel and she said that he said, “Hello.” I don’t think that she is bothered by him. Before I left on Thursday, she reminded me that she will be going to her new school soon. I hope that she is not thinking that she can escape from such situations by looking forward to going to a new school. With many years of schooling ahead of her, Stella is likely to face more of such situations.

Santa Picked Up! (Myer’s Christmas Parade 2007)

We walked down to the city for brunch on Saturday morning and walked right into the Myer Christmas Parade. Since we couldn’t walk across Bourke Street, we hung around to watch the parade. Unfortunately we didn’t bring our camera. While I do try to limit my fondness for licensed characters, I did find myself smiling to characters like Strawberry Shortcake, Care Bears, Captain Feathersword, Dorothy, Wags, Henry the Octopus, Storm Troopers, Thomas the Tank Engine and those cheeky flowerpots (sorry, can’t recall their names). I learned about these characters when I used to look after Alexandra & co. The TV was on practically all day in those two households. Santa came last on a float that blew bubbles. I found it absolutely hilarious that the bubbles floating in the air confused the flies that had been bothering everyone. Why do we get so many flies? It looked like Santa picked up a beautiful lady to join him for the parade. Miss Universe Jennifer Hawkins sat next to Santa. She looked just as stunning as usual despite the heat. (Do you agree that she looks like Disney’s Tinkerbell?)

Where we were, the crowds were almost 10 deep. With children sitting on their parents’ shoulders, it was almost impossible for this nanny to watch the parade. I wished that the floats were higher off the ground for everyone down the back to have a better view. After the parade, Kate Ceberano belted out a few Christmas Songs, backed up by a girls’ choir. I think they were The Australian Girls Choir but I am not too sure. We decided to not follow the crowds to check out the Myer’s Christmas windows. I was told that they were unveiled on Friday. They will be there until around the first week of January. We will come back on a weekday evening to enjoy the windows when there will be fewer people around. Wagamama is open for business again. We went there for lunch. This nanny is always in for something ever so slightly Japanese.

Gifts for Bonnie’s Baby

I went to Bonnie’s Baby Shower a few weeks ago. We all asked her for gift ideas. Most people didn’t want to buy her things that she might not find useful. She did eventually email us a wish-list. She didn’t want to do it at first because she didn’t want to look greedy and fussy. To me and another friend (who is a practising Kindergarten teacher), she told us privately that she is going to use cloth nappies. She said that she will give it a go and asked that we get her more nappies. I think she felt that she can trust the two of us with this decision even though some of the others who were invited are mothers themselves. Bonnie warned me not to go overboard because I have a tendency to buy the best. She was right. The ones that crossed my mind can cost as much as aud$30 each! Bonnie wanted simple fitted nappies made out of flannelette. She already bought quite a big supply of a variety of cloth nappies from EBay. So, our friend and I bought her half a dozen of the ones she preferred and topped them up with two packs of 3 muslin baby wraps. The nappies we bought are for use in the first few months. I think they must be the most basic version of fitted cloth nappies available. A few people were wondering why we bought old-fashioned nappies. Bonnie’s mother-in-law couldn’t see what was so wrong with using disposable nappies. That sent everyone debating about the great nappy issue for at least 15 minutes. My partner in crime and I kept pretty quiet. We saw little point in trying to change the minds of people who were so set in their ways. Even Bonnie gave up defending her choice after a little while. Other than that little hiccough, that afternoon was a pleasant one. I loved the cake and Pavlovas, washed down with cups of tea. I can be such a little piggy.

Two Smocks & a Picture Book

Those are the things I gave Bree for her 2nd Birthday. I think she will enjoy each and everyone of them.

I sewed the two smocks. The one with long sleeves is made with a combination of two types of fabrics. The body is made with red/white gingham fabric while the raglan sleeves are made with white, 100% cotton Quilters Homespun. I originally had wanted to make the whole smock out of calico only. I read this very old book on art for young children more than a decade ago. According to the book, colourful or patterned fabrics (especially around the sleeves) can affect or confuse the little artist’s development in colour discrimination through painting. Today, most smocks for young children are multicoloured. The colours I chose for the first smock was a bit of a compromise between what I believe in and what people have come to expect in the 21st century. The second smock is more like a pop-over apron without sleeves. Instead of ties, the tabs are designed to fasten to the front with Velcro. This will encourage Bree to help herself. This one is made using white Ripstop Nylon and is lined at the front with white, 100% cotton Quilters Homespun. This one will be suitable for messy art like finger-painting.

The picture book I chose for Bree this time is called “Where’s My Teddy?” It is written by Jez Alborough. This book is very popular with many of my charges (past and present). I am aware that the content may still be a little too advance for Bree but I am hoping that she will grow to like it. I love reading to children. It doesn’t matter if they are 10 months old or 10 years old, children enjoy being read to. Sometimes, 5-7 year olds like to show you what they have learned from school. Instead of listening attentively, they want to do the reading instead. LOL.

Watching & Learning? – I Hope Not!

Tuesday was a pleasant day. It wasn’t too hot. With the workmen working in the backyard, I decided to take Bree with me to have lunch in the village. Her day time sleep pattern is changing again. She is now able to stay up longer and is therefore able to have lunch at a decent time like everyone else. She now naps approximately between 12:45 and 2:45. (She sometimes sleeps longer.) I packed a little vegemite sandwich and a drink in her new lunch box and a water bottle to take with us. Someone gave her the lunch box and bottle for her birthday.
The workmen were putting together outdoor play equipment that Bree’s parents had ordered for her birthday. I was instructed to try my best at shielding it from Bree until her parents came home at the end of the day. She saw the arrival of the workmen and was pretty intrigued. I spoke to them briefly to let them know that we were going out and then lowered all the blinds of the windows looking out to the backyard. I lied to Bree telling her that the gardeners were working on the flowers. (The gardener that comes around doesn’t look one bit like the workmen.)

It was only 11:00 am but my tummy was rumbling. As soon as I found Bree’s hat, we were off. (Yes! I did remember to apply sunscreen.) Bree and her parents do not live in a country town but for some posh people living in certain places in Melbourne, the shops nearby are known as the village. I decided to sit outside this popular cafe since it was such a lovely day. I parked Bree next to me. The waiter took my order and added, “And a slice of mud cake?” I was so embarrassed. He obviously recognised me and remembered what I usually asked for. For some funny reason, Bree started to laugh at me on cue!

Bree likes her vegemite sandwich all chopped up into little cubes. At her age, she is still not very good at eating sandwiches with multiple fillings. So, her cheese was also served in little pieces as well. She sat maturely next to me on a booster seat offered by the waiter. This particular café is very popular among young families living nearby. While I chomped on my huge grilled foccacia (if that is how to spell this type of Italian bread) with chicken, avocado, spinach and cheese, I tried to have our usual lunch time conversation. At this stage our conversation is still mostly one way. Being outside, we got to talk about the things we could see. Pretty soon, something happening nearby caught her attention. A boy who looked like he was about 4 was reluctant to get back into the car and his mother was shouting at him. He wanted to get on this coin operated ride-on toy outside the grocery store. Instead of getting into the car as was told, he decided to throw a tantrum right in front of us. The other diners, Bree and I became his audience. He dropped to the ground and thrashed about like an angry walrus. Bree watched his every move. Her facial expression was priceless. LOL. I tried to distract her but his loud cries demanded her total attention. Eventually, his mum gave up pleading and came over to pick him up to physically put him into the car. She apologised to everyone before driving off. One elderly gentleman sitting at the table next to us leaned over and cheekily said to Bree, “I hope you are not getting any new ideas.” Bree laughed. She probably did this because he had some sauce on his beard. LOL.

I do not allow my charges to share my food partly because I am greedy and partly because I hate cross-contamination. Since she had been behaving well and ate her lunch, I decided to buy her a mini banana muffin. (Yes! Bree is allowed to have those. Her parents take her to this café almost weekly.) Once she started tucking into the muffin, I tucked into my heavenly delicious slice of mud cake. Our enjoyment was rudely interrupted by the arrival of another family that just parked at the spot vacated by the mother and son. The cries were heard loud and clear before the children even stepped out of the Toorak Taxi. The mum carried the crying tot into the bakery. The dad was telling what looked like the eldest child off and she was sobbing quietly. The little girl that looked like the middle child was crying full scale. Only the middle child was in school uniform and she walked past our table wailing with one hand stuck in her mouth. Bree watched with total fascination. Minutes later, the crying stop and the family emerged from the bakery. Bree watched the girls as they ran to the grocery store. There was nothing I could do to distract her. I didn’t want to leave until I have a chance to clean her up after she had finished her muffin. Several minutes later, I spotted that the family was heading back to the car. The crying started again. Bree observed the family until their car pulled away. She decided to wave bye-bye at them for some reason. LOL.

As I was wiping her hands and face, Bree decided to pop her hand into her mouth and hummed loudly. The elderly gentleman turned around to have a look. His wife smiled. I coaxed her to say goodbye to them and she obliged. I reckon her attempt was a little too enthusiastic because the lady couldn’t resist but come over to speak to her whilst I paid for our food. As I walked past the couple, Bree sat in her buggy with a hand in her mouth squealing. I wasn’t the only one who recognised what she was trying to do. The elderly gentleman winked and said to me, “She did learn something new today.” I hope Bree was not taking mental notes from her observations of that day. Her mum is quite worried that Bree might turn into a bad tempered little girl now that she has turned two.