Navy Boy

My brother allanon joined the Navy earlier this month and started his 11 week basic training. he has already written one lot of notes 1 to mum, sister, kaydin & Me, 1 to his girlfriend & 1 to a friend. all posted in the same envelope (saves on stamps i guess) Recently we were all sent more notes i recieved one for just me & Kaydin. He has a church day on the 15th feb to which Mum & his girlfriend Shani were invited so they recieved a letterfrom the personnel person on the base inviting them and explaining why allanon is being so cut off from 'the outside world' to prepare them for life on a boat at sea. he has also asked for letters because there is nothing to read at night except the bible which is 'an old story' he says. he graduates basic training on the 27th March. so will update again if i hear from him again

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year's everyone! This year Kaydin and i went to his friend Scarlet's house for a sleepover. Kaydin did really well staying up till 10pm without being overly grumpy and went straight to sleep. i got to bed around 1am and then Kaydin was awake at 2am itching and fidgeting and didn't really go back to sleep, he got really upset around 4am and finally calmed down enough to sleep about 4.30am. Not the best start to the New Year but neva mind :) He had a good New Year's Day running around with Scarlet and the other kids that were there.
My new year's resolution (keeping it simple and therefore easier to achieve) is to learn to crochet!
Here's to 2009 may all the waves in your ocean of life be gently and within your ability to ride them out!!

Keep safe works (kind of)

Kaydin came down with a cold on tuesday and i have come to the conclusion that when Kaydin gets a cold he likes it all to be over and done with in 2 days which means tues and weds were coughing, high temps, vomiting (in my bed weds night gross!) andthen thurs morning he was fine just a lingering cough. Weds morning though he spent 5 mins just bawling his eyes out and when i finally calmed him down i asked why he was crying he replied "i was sad" i asked "why were you sad?" He replied "i had a 'no' feeling." I'm thinking this is good he's remembering what he was taught, i then asked what made you feel like that to which he murmed "(something) your mum" "sorry what was that" i asked only to hear "(something) your mum" so i gently said "sorry bub im not sure what your saying, he then looks at me and yells "TELL YOUR MUM!" which is of course the next step the keep safe teaches them but didn't really answer my question so i simply said "that's right you do tell your mum" and changed the subject

Keep Safe Programme for Kids

Today was the last dy in a 5 week course Kaydin has been doing at playcentre called a keep safe programme.Every wednesday for 5 weeks the kids come to listen to a lady talk to them about keeping safe. This was such a good course for both kaydin and i. They sung songs, the lady running it dressed up as different characters and the puppet toby was a regular. The kids learnt about differences between boys and girls, parts of their bodies, ok touching and not ok, yes and no feelings, telling safe adults. Kaydin took a cple of visits before he felt comfortable enuf to get involved in the questions, dancing, singing aspects. Kaydin now knows to say "Stop it! i don't like it!" and to tell his mum and other safe adults if they don't stop. it was also good for parents because it gives us a base to build upon, it gives language and ideas on how to bring these subjects up and the confidence to talk about them with our children.
So hopefully this was a great start to introducing not only safety to kaydin but also to the both of us being comfortable talking about things in years to come!