Growing Family

When I Grow Up

I figured it out!!! I know what I want to do when I grow up! 

For the last five years I've had my head down and have been working hard caring for very young children. Three very. young. children. 

I have other interests, really, I do! I just have not had very much energy left over at the end of the day to dream or plan or... You want honesty? I fall asleep on the couch at the end of the night, watching James Bond movies. Like sleeping on an airplane with no neck pillow, my head falls forward, back, and to the side until I realize I MUST get to bed! 

Living as an expat with no family ready to help watch my kids on a regular basis, there is the hurtle of childcare between me and pursuing any interests. And those interests have to be really riveting to warrant 15$ an hour of committed childcare. 

Earlier this month The Captain and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary (yeah! go us! another celebration for another post!). We sat drinking chai lattes, swinging our legs over the wall we were sitting on, gazing out over the Hunter Valley winter vineyards, and talking about the future. We talked about my interests and how I don't see any clear thing I want to DO with them. We agreed to keep thinking on it together, and to ask for me to have clarity on what I should be doing when the kids magically go off to school. 

(Spicers Vineyard - Hunter Valley)

Last week I was talking to my fabulous, dear friend from High School. While I've been barefoot in the kitchen, she's gotten a Masters at Johns Hopkins and is awaiting security clearance to get her Diplomat Status and fly around the world like superhero, solving the world's (or at least South East Asia) problems. I'm pretty sure she has a cape in her closet. Ahem. No comparisons in productivity going on here. None at all. 

She's really great for me because while I'm so literally tied to children in this season that I can't see the future, she sees me as a person with a history and a future and helps to call that out in me. She was asking what I saw down the line when the kids are in school (which is when I always said I would do "something else"). As I described to her the passions that are really consistent and keep my interest I stumbled upon it - I described to her that elusive thing that I want to do!

(Small Sun making sand kites) 

Are you ready? Or are you bored and stopped reading about three paragraphs ago? I know, I'm long winded. 

I want to work for a landscape design firm to create gardens for families that incorporate sustainable design principles as well as provide invigorating and imaginative areas for children to play outdoors and explore the natural world. 

(Finch learning to kick a ball in the backyard) 

So basically the gardens would be useful and enjoyable for the whole family and would incorporate several parts. First of all, they would include an edible component. There would be a veggie garden of some sort and the supporting players to veggie gardening which can include compost methods, chickens, and worm farms. 

Next, the child-specific aspects of the design would encourage imaginative play, adventures, and fantasy as well as fine and gross motor skills. Sand and water play areas are vitally important, as are play structures like tree houses or playhouses. There is no end of exciting ways to incorporate these features into a garden, regardless of size or budget. 

(Sprout trying to write her name at the beach) 

I am completely enamored with Bunny Guinness and her book Creating a Family Garden: Magical Outdoor Spaces for All Ages. 

I think Sydney is a perfect environment to introduce this kind of gardening. For one thing, it is a very popular city for people to raise their children, and Sydneysiders are really into backyard veggie patches and chickens. (Have I ever told you about Rent a Chook?) 

I am so passionate about the kind of childhood we provide for our children and I think "magic" is such an important thing. I grew up out in the country, and home schooled, so I have heaps of memories of building forts, making dams in the creek, having picnics in the pasture, climbing trees, and going on adventures. Children are just oriented towards imagination and fantasy and I think they can sometimes quickly lose that wonder if we don't shelter it. Especially in a career-oriented big city short on space and free time.  A magical backyard garden that provides space for adults to relax and entertain, provides sustenance for the table, and nurtures the creativity and wonder of children is something I'm ready to work for, for myself and others.

(Small Sun and Sprout feeding a duck that wandered into our neighbor's yard from a nearby reserve) 

Now that I've got the dream sorted, I just need to work on getting there. My degree gives me credentials on the child development side of the resume, but my experience in horticulture and design is only at a hobby level, and underdeveloped as I'm still learning an entirely new part of the world with different growing conditions, pests, and flora and fauna. I now have about two years until Finch is at preschool and I'm left twirling my thumbs. My green thumbs, that is. First up is a three week class taught through a community college. Hopefully the instructors can point me in the right direction for study after that. 

What a relief to know what I want to do when I grow up!

What about you? Is anyone else working on a post-young children dream?

Late Winter in the Garden

Sydney weather can be tricky. Today I'm all rugged up against a cold, grey day, with layers of leggings and wool sweaters. But in the last week we've had some gorgeous, sunny, warm days where we poured out of the house like warming honey, to spend all day until dusk just luxuriating in the brightness. We don't need to set up any "play", we just put our hands to whatever's on hand. My children are like eager explorers, their imaginations full of pent-up created worlds waiting to be released through outdoor play. I can't say I'm much different.

I've been working on the end-of-winter garden jobs which are a joy on an electric blue sky day. 

End of winter means seedlings for the garden! I bought three varieties of tomato to plant this year (beefsteak, roma and cherry). One set of seedlings I planted straight into the garden, but the others I needed to sprout in a more protected way. 

At the end of my monthly budget, I started thinking creatively about how to plant out my seeds without buying any seed trays. I remembered a great article in the June edition of Gardening Australia Magazine. Millie Ross gave a step-by-step instruction guide to making your own biodegradable pots out of old newspaper. Here's how mine went.

 

First I took a piece of newspaper and folded it in thirds. 
 

 

I experimented with rolling the paper over a tin can or a narrower vase, trying to get the right size pot.

 

After rolling the paper into a tube, I slid the canister out, and folded the bottom of the paper in on itself.

 

I used tape to secure the top and side of the tube. You could also use paper clips.

 

Here is a finished paper pot, made from one sheet of newspaper.

 

Here are the finished pots (I tried different heights and widths).

 

Here are Small Sun and Sprout filling the pots with soil. I gave them a bowl of potting soil and a large spoon each and they loved helping me with the job!

 

Next it was time to plant the seeds. I had them lay a small piece of grass on the top of each pot they had put seeds in so we didn't lose track. 

 

These are the seeds we planted.

I put the pots in a casserole dish as they need to stay damp, and you can just put 1-2 cm of water in the bottom of the dish to keep them from drying out. They should sprout in 6-12 days and boy, are the kids excited!

When the seedlings are big enough to be planted out, I'll just pop the whole thing into a prepared hole in the garden. The paper will help retain the moisture around the roots until it decomposes. 

I love this fun way to use recyclable goods and get an end of winter garden job done, all in one go!

PS- I've decided to keep this blog anonymous, but work harder to include photos. Things have been flat out here lately so we'll see how that goes! Ha!

         

At the Point of Goodbye

June 22, 2010 Nashville Airport

All the goodbyes take their toll

And stretch the fabric of my soul,

     'till threads extend to breaking

     and seams tear at tender points

     I cry.

Leaving one means joining another

I comfort that it is not forever

     but at the point of goodbye

     when we wave from the terminal

     my heart leaves my body, and goes with you.

Mother. Father. Sister. Brother. Nieces.

Sons. Daughter, Husband. Pieces

     of me here

     Pieces of me there

     Thus, the tear.

Talking Adoption

At my son's preschool they have "Message Basket Time" where each child brings in something to show to the class. Last week Small Sun took a much-loved Hot Wheels car that his birth sister gave to him during our trip to The States. He was very excited to show it to his class and tell them that his birth-sister gave it to him.

During our regular chat on the way home from preschool I was hearing all about his day. He told me that in the morning, before message basket time, he showed his car to his mates and explained who it was from. He told me that his mates said "that's a strange story, you shouldn't say that at message basket time, we don't want to hear you talk about that again!" or something to that effect.

I asked, "do you think you friends know what a birth-sister is?" He said they don't and that they didn't want to hear about it. I asked him if he would like for me to come to his class and explain what a birth family is so that his friends would understand what he was talking about. He jumped at the idea and was really excited.

He wasn't particularly upset about the reaction from his friends, and I'm glad for that. It seems like a great opportunity for me to share with the class. I've been checking in with his (fabulous!) teachers ever since he started there a year and a half ago, to see if his adoptee status is alienating him from his peers but honestly, it hasn't really come up. I think they are finally getting old enough that it might be more relevant.

Today I talked to his teachers again at our parent-teacher meeting and they loved the idea of me sharing with the class. Unfortunately, adoption is so difficult in Australia, there are not many adoptive families around so very few children have personal experiences to draw on. I really want to present adoption in such a way that it normalizes it for the children, even if they don't have many examples of adoptive families to look to. 

I'm downloading resources from Adoptive Families Magazine and I'd love to hear any suggestions. Next year we'll be in "big school" and so I am really wanting to prepare to be a resource there as well. I am so thankful for amazing teachers and a super-open environment full of kind children and parents. It makes a somewhat nervous situation (public speaking to children!) a little less terrifying!