I dedicate to you

Sirens wail, tyres screech and a mother cries.

Its hard to believe that you would have been 9 this year.

When i first entered the Medical field I wasnt sure i could handle the car accidents, the drunks, the senseless deaths

8 years i have done that job, and done it well.

Every turn of the wheel, every blood soaked glove, every smiling baby, every little old lady.

I dedicate to you.

Shine bright little one.

conversations with a 3 year old

me sitting in the floor in the toilet waiting for jnr Madhouse to finish so i can put him in bed

mummy mummy wow!

What mate?

mummy you have BLUE eyes!

yeah mate i do, and so does daddy

yeah mummy and i have blue eyes too, like mummy and daddy and sister but mummy can you take your eyes out please i want yours.

*sorry buddy no can do.

overheard

Overheard tonight,

jnr Madhouse and Little miss asleep in Mr Madhouse and my bed.

"thump" Waaaaahhhaaaa

mummy sissy fall out of bed!!!

mummy goes running to room

shhh sissy its ok my here, sissy where your ouchie? i kiss it better ok?

*thats my boy!!

What is

What is fun with dolls?

Dribbles of the mind.

Well the silly season is over for us, its the 28th today so for now its relaxation and chill time with the family... or it should be.

Jnr Madhouse woke up this morning with a raging temp, I havent even bothered to check it cause hes glowing, I know hes hot. He has also retired to his bed without arguments or encouragement.

Its 8 days till my birthday and im amazed at how fast this year has passed.

Little miss has convinced herself shes ready to walk and is spending more and more time as a biped which has me a bit sad.

They are all growing up so fast its quite scary, very soon she will be one. She is the last baby to be added to our brood and while the new challenges and stages are exciting they are also quite sad.

In a few days her and I will be flying down to Perth to see a specialist about her immune system and find out why its basically non existent, hopefully we can get to the bottom of whats happening with her and work towards a diagnosis and understanding... I need a plan, something to help me understand why she has been so so sick in the past and help her treating doctors understand that there is actually something physically wrong with her and im not just a nutcase.

They finally listened to me when she was 4mths old after me insisting there was something wrong from birth, yeah she has a life threatening allergy that was only discovered at my insistance. It feels great when they finally listen.

But for the next couple of days we will enjoy our family time, riding motorbikes, kicking by the pool and absorbing all the smiles and laughter the children offer.

Take care all

1 2 3

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday beautiful boy it seems just like yesterday that I held you in my arms but today you turn 3 years old.

You still bring as much joy and laughter into your lives as you did that day you were born.

Love you our little man

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to all.

We here at the Madhouse Hope you have an amazing Christmas fulled with laughter, love and happiness.

Ive finally finished wrapping the last of the gifts its been a mission i tell ya, i kid you not i used 300mtrs of wrapping paper! yep 300 meters!

Our Christmas day will be quieter than most because Mr Madhouse is working nightshift again...2nd Christmas in a row and rostered on for next year ahh humbug but we will have a double whammy on Sunday because its Jnr Madhouse's 3rd Birthday as well.

So while the house is quiet and noone is stirring i will retire.

Good night to all and to all a good night!

Merry Christmas

Pictures to follow

room to sleep

So little miss sleeps with us.... in our bed.... its called co-sleeping and it rocks.

Anyway there are downfalls to co-sleeping.

One of those said down falls would be when your 11month old angel discovers a new way to sleep.

Flat on their back, doing the splits.

Tends to take up a fair amount of room dontyaknow

What is

Creative time

Had to do two this week cause i couldnt decide.

What is

What is??

Dinner with Nature

Reasons

Every now and then you have days that you need to be reminded what actually matters,

Days that are really shit and leave you not wanting to get out of bed.

These are my reasons

Smart Dog

So this morning i had a rather strange awakening.

Our beloved pet Sasha is a bull mastiff x french mastiff so shes a rather large dog and for ages now we have been wondering how shes getting out of our yard.

Today the mystery was resolved.

I got up shortly after Mr. Madhouse went to work this morning and wandered out to put the kettle on, i heard Mr. Madhouses pretend dog Bob (foxy x tiny rat thing) whimpering and looked out the kitchen window to the back yard to see what was up.

Nothing could have prepared me for what i saw.

I completely lost it laughing when i saw Sasha standing on our neighbors garden shed roof!

Whats been happening is shes been jumping on top of Mr. Madhouses spare tires for the Ute which are next to the fence then jumping up onto the shed roof and down into the neighbors yard where she can wander out the gate.

and who said shes a dumb dog, just wish i got a picture before i yelled at her to get down.

new things

So school is out for the year and major changes will be happening next year.

Little Philip is progressing into another ESC class which im so pleased about, he has hit so many of his goals this year and is currently the most advanced in his class of 5.

Yep you read right he is in a class of 5, for those 5 children there is 2 teachers, 2 aides, a nurse, a physio, a speech therapist and an occupational therapist.

We are very blessed with his school and what they are doing. His speech has come ahead in leaps and bounds this year with him now having a vocab of about 5 words, he is alot more confident with swimming and even putting his head under the water.

Im excited about next year and watching him develop and progress.

His teachers have seen something in him and want him to go to special athletics, so next year two days a week he will be out running track and having a ball he is so excited about this its great.

Hurray for new things

Daddy time

Jnr and Snr Madhouse have been super busy rebuilding and painting Little Philips motorbike for his christmas pressy.

They have been having soo much fun and Jnr Madhouse is really into the mechanic side of things.

Like father like son.

dribbles of the mind

So ive been thinking the last few weeks that id like to reenter the medical field part time.

As ive told you Jnr Madhouses godparents are both Paramedics and with talking to W, shes managed to get me on the roster for our holiday early next year.

I love being a Paramedic.

Seeing first hand the circle of life, delivering babies, codes......

I miss being on the road, the adrenalin when the pager goes off, the turn of the wheel, not knowing what you will find when you arrive, holding an elderly persons hand in the back on the way to hospital after they have been on the cold bathroom floor all night from a fall. Being able to offer some comfort to patients and families.

Im not sure how i will make this work around family commitments but im sure i can and with Jnr Madhouse's godparents talking about moving over they have already informed me they want to babysit.

I miss being a paramedic but the kiddlets are very worth the wait

Happy Birthday

My little buddy

On this day you turn 6, i have always had a special place in my heart for you, a constant fear that you may feel the *odd one out* but your siblings welcomed you into our family like you were always here.

your smile could warm the coldest of hearts,

your laugh is so infectious

you frustrate me, you make me laugh, you make me smile, you make me want to hug you more.

Aaron happy birthday buddy I love you.

revised What is

What is...

Summer fun.

What is

I was going to put up a What is post but my camera has decided jelly, coconut ice, chocolate and everything else isnt actually that good for it and stopped working.

I dont mind cause it did it today not yesterday when i needed it so i could redo Little Miss's passport photos.

I do have a what is though so you will just have to use your imagination.

You know what that is right? the thing we used before computers/playstations/TV....

anyway

Imagine an almost 3 year old in a kitchen playing with icing sugar and coco while mumma tries to make ricebubble cakes.

Said 3 year old found out that if you full a cup with icing sugar and slap your hand in it you get snow LOL

It was super sweet, bummer though that mummy has to clean the mess.

Hes a sweety my Jnr Madhouse!

my love

back when i was at school i had no idea what i wanted to be, i have random ideas but nothing that jumped out and grabbed me by the shoulders while giving me a quick headbutt.

When I was 17 I became the youngest Ambulance Officer in NZ.

When I was 20 I became the youngest Paid Ambulance Officer in NZ.

I had found my passion, my dream career and over the years with all the jobs ive done there has been only one job that has made me loose my shit.

Ive lost count how many Cardiac Arrests ive been too although i still have a rhythm strip somewhere that is a constant reminder of a job i did with PF. I keep that strip because i was doing CPR by myself on a 88 year old lady, when we called it and printed out the job summary from the defib my CPR was that good it looked like a perfect rhythm. Pitty there was no electrical activity to match the muscle. (PEA)

Anyway where was I? Oh yeah loosing my shit.

It was 5 years ago, January to be exact I was working with W that day in 573, my baby, I loved that truck.

We got a call to a fall in a playground, we dispatched and upon arrival found a 13 year old laying under a tree, her family clearly distressed.

She had taken a running jump at a flying fox rope and missed. She impacted the platform with her neck and the ground with the small of her back.

Being summer and around midday where the 13 year old fell the sun was in her eyes. All her dad/family members needed to do was stand at her feet and they would have cast a shaddow over her face but nope her dad picked her up and moved her under a tree.

Talking to her mum while we were working and talking to the paient she had full sensation right up until she was moved.

How the hell was i meant to tell a 13 year old they are now wheelchair bound because their dad moved them?

I was fine for the rest of my shift but on the 30min drive home i lost it, i arrived home hugged my kids and swore i would never pick them up if they fell.

Please do a first aid course, learn to save a life, and if your child falls never ever move them.

milestones

So tonight as i made Mr Madhouse's dinner little miss decided she was done with crawling.

She took her first steps from holding mummy's leg she let go and walked 2 steps to her daddy and promptly fell on her face.

It feels like yesterday i was holding her as a newborn in my arms and now we are entering a new stage.

Exciting stuff

invasion

So the invasion had a couple of let downs like ONE bloodly child turning up from Buddy's class.

Seriously HOW FUCKING SLACK! Luckly he didnt notice and still had a total ball!

Kids got wet, got cold, got paint all over them, ate wayyyyy too much sugar and laughed.

I dubb the invasion a success.

I wouldve had better photos except i forgot to actually take any... i was um busy.

Merry christmas

Our christmas tree went up and got decorated last night.

Kinda sucked though cause i had to buy a new one.

Some grinch stole ours when we were moving house.

Jrn Madhouse thought it was fantastic and has been sitting starring at the tree in awe.

He helped decorated it and is so proud of his efforts

Oh course mummy got in trouble cause someone forgot to buy a star for the top.

it not a christmas tree until it has a star i got told.

Its great though cause this is the first year he is excited about christmas and brings me the junk mail saying he wants to buy this or that for his cousins.

Sweetness but sorry dude your making things.

Merry Christmas

Happy Birthday to you.

Yesterday was a busy day, i had a small operation which made me miss a couple special kids birthday's.

7 years ago yesterday two of my babies Little philip and Missy Moo fought their way into this world, born just over 10 weeks prem we were told not to expect Little Philip to make it out of the delivery room.

But he did, and he fought, he overcame adversity and hes thriving.

Missy Moo is independent, strong willed and so caring shes quite an amazing little girl.

I've changed their bums, watch them make their first steps, and all those important milestones.

They have always been and will always be

My angels

What is?

What is

Exploration?

 

the Invasion

So the invasion planning is coming along great.

we have a bazillion cupcakes in the freezer all ready to be iced on Saturday night.

invitations have been sent to the various classes and RSVP's a pouring in

calico bags are all ready here, rubber bands have been brought and dye is on its way for tye dye

all the water games and activities are planned

clown has been booked and paid

presents brought and wrapped

goodie bags brought and made

and i have even decided to make a poster for the kids as a momento.

I brought a few painting canvas's and some different colored glitter paint so the kids attending can put hand prints on the canvas.

Should be a good day on Sunday.

Photos to follow

Tragic

For the families of the men buried underground, their lives lost but never forgotten.

A country mourns with you.

Joshua Adam Ufer, 25, Australia

William John Joynson 49, Australia

Conrad John Adams 43, New Zealand

Malcolm Campbell 25, Scotland

Glen Peter Cruse 35, New Zealand

Allan John Dixon 59 New Zealand

Zen Wodin Drew 21 New Zealand

Christopher Peter Duggan 31, New Zealand

Joseph Ray Dunbar 17, New Zealand

John Leonard Hale 45, New Zealand

Daniel Thomas Herk 36, New Zealand

David Mark Hoggart 33, New Zealand

Richard Bennett Holling 41, New Zealand

Andrew David Hurren 32, New Zealand

Jacobus Albertus Jonker 47, South Africa

Riki Steve Keane 28, New Zealand

Terry David Kitchin 41, New Zealand

Samuel Peter Mackie 26, New Zealand

Francis Skiddy Marden 41, New Zealand

Michael Nolan Hanmer Monk 23, New Zealand

Stuart Gilbert Mudge 31, New Zealand

Kane Barry Nieper 33, New Zealand

Peter O'Neill 55, New Zealand

Milton John Osborne 54, New Zealand

Brendan John Palmer 27, New Zealand

Benjamin David Rockhouse 21, New Zealand

Peter James Rodger 40, British

Blair David Sims 28, New Zealand

Keith Thomas Valli 62, New Zealand

moments

born to ride??

imagination

Sometimes, well honestly alot/most of the time the rugrats and madhouse's amaze me.

As children they are more siblings than cousins.

They have grown up together both in the same house and now separate.

Although their ages range from 10 months up to almost 7 they generally play so well together.

This afternoon they have all been playing with little miss's old formula tins. 

we have managed to collect quite a few considering she goes through a 400gm tin of it in roughly 3 days.

So watching them in amazement as they use their rescue helicopters to get the farm animals out of the toy box airlifted in the tins to safety melts my heart.

We have been in the backyard playing in the pool and under the sprinkler but as its getting close to dinner was time to come inside.

I really do hope as they grow they keep the bond they have even if they do try and kill each other at times.

my blonde haired blue eyed babies all of them.

What is

what is?

the joy of discovering food

sulking

Well I had some photos to go up today but seems Blogger is having issues.
Like me it has thrown the toys out of the cot and is sulking so i promise to update and catch up on the photos soon as im able to.
On a positive note though I had a fantastic phonecall from Jnr Madhouse's Godparents in NZ, they have decided they are coming over for a holiday in September next year and while i know its AGGGGGEEEESSS away i am super excited.
These people are old enough to be my parents but the respect i hold from them is so great, we have stood together and weathered many a storm both with their issues but also with my own.
The boss: Jrn's godfather stuck his neck, reputation and employment on the line to give me a go when i was just a young eager 17 year old. He saw something in me and was willing to put his livelyhood and career on the line to give me a shot. To me he will always be called The boss, a name given first out of respect then with endearment.
W: now W is the boss's wife she took me under her wing and taught me everything i know as a Paramedic. We work amazing together we are so aware of how the other works we hardly need to talk everything runs so smoothly. W took the time to teach me and not just show me. She took the time to answer my questions and never got annoyed when she would have to explain something down to Cellular level to satisfy my need for knowldge.
They became more than just workmates in the years i worked with them, they became friends then family, hell W was my maid of honor.
The news they are coming over even though its so far away has been enough to pull me out of the pit ive found myself in the last week or so....

Onwards and upwards

summer

Have i mentioned how much I hate summer?
Oh yeah I do hate summer, give me a cool, chilly, winter day over a bloody muggy, stand out in the sun for 2 seconds and get burnt summer day.
Summer here sucks, its boiling hot, I live inside, Im sticky and worst of all my plants die.
Poor little things wiltering in the sun screaming for water.
And the flies
OMFG the flies.

how many days till autum?



P.S
I will be absent the next few days until early next week.
My family need me but ill be back to update and post photos next week sometime.
Take care y'all

The count down

The count down begins.
There is 20 days, yep 20 days until the masses invade and we celebrate the kiddlets birthdays here at the Madhouse... Well actually they will be invading SWMBO'd and The old fullas house but thats a technicality.

We have Missy Moo and Little Philip turning a huge 7, Buddy turning a huge 6 and Jnr Madhouse turning 3.
All of the kiddies will be inviting their classes and Jnr Madhouse wants 8 of his friends to come from his daycare.
This should be interesting.
Im a sucker.

Ive been busy today getting things sorted for the big day, ordering Tye dye and Calico bags for the kids (and adults) to dye and decorate as they see fit.
Ive been deciding on birthday cakes that will need decorating that are allergy friendly.
No Dairy, No soy, no nuts and low in a number of other things.
I think ive settled on cupcakes but dont hold me to it, it might change LOL.
We are having a *water* party so ive been out getting a bouncy castle that has a slide and pool attached and tomorrow i need to look into buckets and sponges for water fights.

Im tired just thinking about it.

What is

what is the best thing about summer fruit

Pain

Pain is relative.
Its a sensation that is designed as a defense mechanism for the body, a warning system if you will.
When i was working as a Paramedic we would use the pain scale, getting a patient to judge the pain on a scale of one to ten, one being none.
Pain can be described as a number of things from throbbing, stabbing, dull.
Pain for me is a constant reminder that I have evil cells trying to kill me, constant reminder that i need to keep on my toes and fight for my life.

Pain is my body telling me im not dead yet!

Travels.

So we have been in Perth a few days kicking it with aunty Jojo and her brood.
Things there are awesome, shes love sick and missing her Wazzanator, the girlies have grown up sooo much its just not fucking right i tells ya.
Mr Madhouse took Jnr Madhouse to the aquarium while i kicked it with some lovely ladies.
OMG turns out Jnr loves the fishies, he spent the rest of the day running around with a toy shark and octopus which he was calling "my pussy" hmmm that cracked us up for hours (sad i know)
But all in all it was a great trip, spent wayyyyy toooooo much money but meh we had fun and really enjoyed the family time.

Conversations with a 2 year old.

Conversation that went on between Jnr and I today.
He has a snotty nose from swimming.

Jnr go get a tissue and wipe your nose please.

*jnr wipes snot on arm*

Look mummy, magic, all gone.


 

OUCHIE

THIS is why sunblock should be applied!

OUCH

ouch

Ok so we are all meant to be out camping and generally being all down with earth and all that.
Which i might add is frucking wicked except i made one helluva mummy mistake today and because of said mistake there is no way in hell im gonna be sleeping on some uncomfy bed, even if the trailer has a shower and flushing toilet, did i mention the AIRCON?
Oh yeah that too cause i have to look purdy when i gets down with nature.

Major mummy mistake?

Seems when i was putting sunblock on the children i forgot to do myself.
Yeah im a fucking beetroot.

Dumb ass.

Moral of the story, sunblock is applied to them THEN TO YOU.

Photos to follow tomorrow....
Or maybe not, meh

God's trying to kill me

So late last night i get up from lazing on the internet avoiding housework folding washing and making my house pruddy when i turn of the jug and i swear that fucker upstairs is trying to give me a heart attack!

This little fucker goes running across my line of vision as i daydream (at night?) out the window waiting for the kettle to boil.
WTF!

Sickness

Little Philip is sick.

Little Philip doesn't *do* sick, for him the whole world stops, pain is something he has only known so its relative.
He complained that his throat was sore, what sucks however is he isn't vocal.
This means he can say a strange version of Hello and thats about it, everything else is just grunts and high pitched noises.
He doesn't have the verbal skills to be able to tell me what hurts, he doesn't have the sign skills to be able to tell me what hurts. Hes stuck in his own little hell.
I do however have a secret weapon,
Ooh she has a secret weapon you say?
Yep, my secret weapon is.........
Little Miss.
Little Philip and Little miss are tight, those two live for each other while they are in each others company.
Recently Little miss got pneumonia and she went from laying on a bed feeling sorry for herself, not having the energy to even cry to smiling, giggling and jumping around the second she saw him.
Guess what, it had the same effect on him.

Fingers crossed he improves soon, cause you know its not fun watching kids suffer.

What is?

What is a placenta powered plant?

We grow em strong!

My christmas dilemma.

Christmas is approaching and I'm not totally sure how I am going to work around the whole Santa thing just yet.
I'm not sure about my feelings about the whole Santa thing,
Confused yet?

A lot of people don't do Santa because they don't feel its right to lie to their children, to create a myth, a fairytale that will one day be ripped open when the children work out or are told that there is no Jolly Fat Man who comes down the chimney and leaves them presents.
personally I think thats taking it a bit too far, i don't remember exactly when i found out that Santa wasn't real but i know i never held a grudge against my parents for trying to create a bit of magic for me.
So heres my dilemma.
I want to create the feeling of joy/giving/happiness that Christmas brings without my children falling into the commercial side of Christmas where they feel they are being rewarded with gifts for being good throughout the year.
I don't want them to expect presents just because its Christmas.
 But I want them to feel the joy of waking up Christmas morning running into the living room and opening presents, i want them to feel what it is to do something for someone else just cause thats the right thing to do, i want them to learn about giving.
 Hmm.
More thinking on this one needed.

bliss

Spare tubes $90
new camel pack $120
entry fee $200

spending two days on a motorbike riding over 350kms

priceless.

The secret mother

The secret mothers

We never spoke of our mothers,
She was the one taboo subject, never mentioned.
Through a fear that her name would unravel our appearance in our burgeoning lives.
We were kids, our larval adults and we were ashamed.
Our lives at that time were filled with bluster, built on bravado and to make mention of your mother
was to confess to who combed your hair that morning and where you got that spanking, shiny, new pair of shoes.
To mention her name was to confess to having your face buffed clean with noting but spit, love and a dirty tissue.
To manifest her into a world outside your home was to invite embarrassment and a perception, however true, that there was very little in this world you could do alone.
We were a proud bunch, unwilling to admit that she was your manager, your boss your worker. your confidant, your provider, the object of your tantrums and your nurse.
And through all that you had to keep her in her place, because she was yours because you needed her to be that for you as your world was becoming a hard, overwhelming, exhilarating terrifying place...And she was home.
She was your sanctuary.
She had to remain pure, separate from the outside.
So we never spoke of her.
And she knew.
 And when we grew our own legs and sprouted our wings and made the first of our own, many mistakes,  we came to realize this.
 Freed from our own self obsessed myopic state of adolescence, we began to see her differently; we began to see the flaws in her deity. We saw a woman, once a girl, who made mistakes and wildly improvised things that seemed so assured at the time. She cried, she hissed, she laughed, she screamed, she drank, she smoked, she felt, she faltered, and sometimes she wanted to leave.
She was human and when that dawns on us, when we finally push past her shadow we think that we finally understand her.
Then the unthinkable happens.
We reach the age she was when she birthed us. Or we buy a house. We get married. We get divorced. Or we have kids of our own. Whichever. Whatever. Something happens that puts us directly in her footsteps and in that moment we realize how little she knew, how hard it all must have seemed and how someone who in your eyes epitomized being an adult at the time, was nothing but a child herself.
For most of us, she's still with us when we come to these realizations, cackling over our shoulders and pointing fingers at us; roaring with joy and rightfully gloating at the horror of your epiphany and the final absolution of your discovery: that she tried.
Thats all.
Sometimes because she had to. Sometimes because she wanted. Sometimes not to the best of her abilities. Sometimes beyond them. Yet she always did and lived with the consequence.
She still does.
 Yet my friends, i still don't speak of our mothers.
Johnathan's mother was an insurance sales woman, the first in her office. It was one of the proudest days in her life. she was beautiful and her husband never thought he was good enough for her so he would drink and call her terrible things. She left him in the end because she agreed with him...She was too beautiful for him.
 Katie's mother didn't want what she had and left her daughter in her shadow.
Katie never knew what a mother really was, having never experienced it, so when she in turn had a child, Katie invented her own version and it had nothing to do with motherhood, or being a mother, as she didn't know what that was.
She just tried to fill her child with herself, what she knew and hoped would be enough.
When Katie met her mother again years later, the mother commented on what a good job Katie had done.
It meant the world to Katie. She didn't know why.
 My mother was a nurse, like i am now, and like she is again. She wanted alot from the world. She met my father. They fell in love. They changed each others course. She had a son. Then awhile later, she had another.
Despite her moods and her needs, she loved them both. She suppressed parts of herself to be a better mother.
Sometimes, I know, she thinks she failed. When happy she is warm. When not she is an iceberg. When angry she could make the ground shudder with her mighty stomping heels and the power of her silence.
Into her late forties, while reading, she would suck her thumb.
When dancing she ALWAYS sings along to the song playing.
In my early twenties, when sick, she had to drag me from the shower as i couldn't move.
Fevered, naked and wet, my mother dragging me across a tiled floor; i felt like i had just been born. I felt like jesus just been taken down from the cross.
 Eight years ago she discovered the dead body of my older brother, her first born son in his room. She was alone. She has never spoken of it.
 Only mothers can even imagine what that must feel like.
Not fathers, not friends, not brothers. No one. It is a weight that i can only imagine. It is a burden that cant be measured. Yet she continues, sometimes because she has to, sometimes because she wants to. Sometimes not to the best of her abilities, sometimes beyond them.
A deity. Cracked.
And through all those cracks we can see what lies beneath.
We never spoke of our mothers.
 We didn't know any better.

copyright © Richard Adams 2010

proud

You were placed in my arms wrapped up in a blanket a long time after you were born,
You struggled and fought through the illness and pain
You never complained
I watch you grow daily and hit your milestones...eventually
Your smiles... your always smiling
they light my heart
I watch you slowly find your way as you tell me
mummy go away let me explore
but dont go too far
a couple weeks ago you started to crawl
and today
You pulled yourself up on a toy box and stood proud
Proud of what you have achieved
All by yourself
With the love and support and room to grow.

moments in time

Overheard from the kitchen (separated by a petition wall) while little miss and Jnr Madhouse were in the living room.

Little miss cried when she turned around and realized i wasn't in the room.

Sissy its ok me here,
Me here sissy and mummy here and daddy here sissy.
You ok
Sissy stop cry, I love you you cry make me sad. 
Me make you better sissy me will always save you.
look sissy my Binky


moments like that I know their bond is strong. 

* 

EC Fail

Dont you hate it when your doing EC with a very cute baby, take their nappy off and let the crawl around the floor knowing full well they need a poo but then nature calls you too.

And when you get back from the toilet that same cute baby is now sitting on the carpet covered in poo and rapidly trying to consume as much as they can before you can stop them.

Dont ya just hate that

And so it begins

Jnr Madhouse is almost three cycles of the sun and last night we began our first steps toward teaching him to read and write.
I would dearly love to either homeschool or unschool our children but that is a work in progress with Mr Madhouse and a battle im not currently winning.
Sigh.

But it starts at home..... now.

take the time

As i grow as a person, as a parent i become more aware of my decisions and how what i do in everyday life effects not only myself and those around me but effects my community and my childrens communities.

I hope/dream that by being a more aware parent i am changing my childrens lives and generations to come.
I take the time to listen to my children
I take the time to explain to them
I take the time to explore with them

Take the time out of your busy life to begin to make these changes for your children, your family, your community.

What are your children going to remember when they grow up?
Are they going to remember the house was spotless and dinner was always on time, that they had the newest toys and clothes?
Or are they going to remember you sat on the floor with them and read them a book or drove a car around the kitchen table with them?

What would you rather?

wake up

Im not a perfect parent.
I do not claim to be, however i am aware of my actions and the impact they have on my children.
Thats why im revisiting this topic.

Between the years of 1999 and 2003
9% of childrens deaths thats a staggering 128 children died from assaults.
Of those 128 children who died at the hands of someone the loved and trusted 65% of those were under the age of 5 years old.*

 I have hit my children in the past, I will not again

What are we doing to our children?

Go here and ban the smack

for more reading on the topic visit Milkymumma , visit here, and read this

*australian Bureau of stats.


 .

conversations with children

Changing little miss one day with Jnr Madhouse sitting next to me.

Distressed look on Jnr's face
Mummy, mummy oh no sissy is broken

what do you mean sissy is broken

mummy sissy is broken look mummy sissy is broken.

I dont understant mate, why is sissy broken?

She has no penis mum! MUMMY FIX HER.

I think we need more work on our anatomy lessons. 
 

What is

One day each week i will post a question the answer to the question i hope to be able to show in a single photo.
This week however cause im awesome you get two photos.

This weeks question.
What is Love?

 

What is Love to you? 

HEY YOU

Want to do something meaningful today without having to leave your comfy seat?

Go HERE and ban the smack!

An ode to someone i love

I really didnt want to start this blog on such a depressing point but today is the anniversary of someone i loved death.
This person was extremely special to me, their guidance, support and love still sits with me all these years later.

Sometimes

Sometimes we laugh
Sometimes we cry
Sometimes we just dont move at all
From a life full of love and
A life full of pain
I could never be happy again
Just go to your heart and unlock that door
To a special place you aint been before

Its a life full of joy
Its a life full of fun
Its a life where everyone lives as one

With the Lord to provide
and his song in our heart
Theres no reason
we cant have a new start

R.I.P Bridget

Players

This is the mad house.

The players in our mad house are but not limited to

the father: self explanatory really, otherwise known as Mr madhouse
Me: the mother in this story known by mumma, mummy, mum and all forms of.
Little Dude: Jnr Madhouse who is coming up 3 circles of the sun, a creative, funny, challenging soul
Little Miss: Jnr Me who is coming up one circle of the sun, she is an amazing creature such a happy little soul.

Other players in the Madhouse how will be commonly mentioned:

The old fulla: My father a dedicated grandfather who has always been a strong figure in my life.
She who must be obeyed : SWMBO is my mum, again a dedicated grandmother and constant confidant to me.
Little Philip: My nephew who has Downs syndrome. I love him dearly he is a constant challenge but such a character who teaches me new things daily. Almost 7 circles of the sun
Missy Moo: Little Philip's twin sister who is sassy, outspoken and sensitive.
Buddy: Little Philip and Missy Moo's little brother who i have an extremely close bond with, he is truely a light in my life. Hes coming up 6 circles of the sun.

Well there you go im sure more will be added to the list but that will do for now.

Welcome

Well hello there.
Welcome to the madhouse, i do hope you stick around and join us as we wade our way through parenting our little family.
grab a cuppa and settle in.