Make-up tips for tropical living

Today was another one of those tropical days where your clothes are constantly sweaty and you can feel them rotting around you.  If you forgot to put deodorant on, then remember - Keep your arms down! 
Here are my tips for tropical elegance.
 - Make sure your mascara is waterproof. 
 - Wear powder foundation.  It is lighter and seems to handle sweat better than other types.
 - If you are at home, go swimming in your clothes and then wear them for the rest of the day.  It helps keep you cool.
 - If its really muggy, don't bother wearing make-up.  Everyone else will be dripping too. 
 - If you are alone in a car, put your elbows up and get as much airconditioning in your armpits as possible.  Nobody will notice...

We don't really need make-up in the tropics anyway.  Remember what our Grandmothers told us,
"Women don't sweat, they glow."

Drop zone

I felt really bad this morning.  Perhaps I do have motherly qualities after all.

My daughter did not want to go to school this morning.  She had a tummy ache.  (Such a convenient illness as it is entirely subjective.)  After we had talked about the source of her tummy ache, - she doesn't like the crowding around the schoolroom door when lunch is over but the teacher hasn't arrived yet, we decided we'd go to school.  On the way there I made a comment about how, now that she was in grade 1, she could be dropped off in the drop off zone like the bigger kids instead of being walked to her classroom like the Preps.  Consequently, she told me she would like to be dropped off, please.  Now I would like to make it clear that I did offer to walk her in as we got closer to the school, but she was adamant that she would like to be dropped off.

I pulled into the drop-off zone.  We were exactly on time so the traffic had slowed down by now.  When we got out of the car, we were hit by a howling wind.  She put on her backpack and held her hat on her head with both hands.  Then she wasn't so sure.  So I left the car idling in the drop off zone, with my son in it, and walked the 30 odd metres to her classroom.  I said goodbye and gave her a kiss and she walked timidly inside.  As I stood up and glanced through the window, I saw a room full of parents carefully unpacking their children's school bags. 

I felt bad.  Obviously I had no choice but to go back to the idling car, but I kept turning around to see if my daughter was running back towards me.  She didn't.  I assume everything went OK but..... she doesn't like crowds, and 20 odd kids plus 20 odd parents in a classroom makes a crowd.  I spent the next hour imagining her putting her own lunchbox, drink bottle and bag away, whilst squeezing past strange parents and unfamiliar children.  I would not be surprised if she cried.  I almost did.

 I do have confidence in the teacher.  She seems like just the right sort of person to notice this self-reliant, neglected child and take care of her. I will have to talk to her this afternoon.

I still feel bad.  I will do something extra special with my daughter.  I will not drop her off on her own tomorrow. 

Hurray! The holidays are over!

I woke up this morning at about 5.30 am to the sound of my daughter clomping down the stairs, fully kitted out in her school uniform and shoes.  When I got up, at the far more decent hour of 7,  I found a fully prepared lunch box on the bench.  She had written her name on it in black texta, her full name, including her age.  Inside it was a piece of vegemite bread, with one crust cut off, a container of jatz biscuits, and a bunch of grapes.  She had even brushed all the knots out of her hair, including the usually elusive back ones.  I was very impressed.  After all, she is not even 5 and a half.

I think it is quite convenient that one of us is so organised.  Our family went to a barbecue for lunch yesterday and there were several other mothers there.  Conversation flowed unendingly about school preparations; what went into lunchboxes, how elaborately they had covered their children's school books, or not.  My contribution mainly consisted of, "I suppose I had better buy some bread on our way home," and, "What time does school start?"  Sometimes I feel as if I missed out on some mothering gene.  Fortunately, my daughter seems to make up for it.

 In spite of my daughter's pre-dawn preparedness, we were still 5 minutes later leaving home than I had planned.  Toddlers always know the best moments to fill their nappies. 

Balancing vulnerability

I heard a beautiful song on Rage this morning. It was 'Beneath your beautiful' by Labrinth.  The song was about vulnerability and how we protect ourselves by not letting people in.  I've been thinking about it all day. 
  One of the things that has stopped me from writing before was a fear of letting people know what was going on inside my head, or my heart.  I would love to write songs, but I feel that the best songs are ones written from the most sensitive places inside us, and it takes a lot of courage to put those feelings into the public domain.  And I am not an island.  My innermost feelings and thoughts are reactions to the people closest to me, and it would be unfair to expose their involvement.  We are all connected to other people, and every interaction we have has an effect on both of us. 
It is hard to find a balance between consideration for others and taking a chance on something you really want to do.

My husband and I went to the basketball tonight.  We managed to get 7 free tickets for really good seats, so we invited the new minister, his wife and 3 sons.  It was a really good game.  Our home team, who are on the bottom of the ladder, pulled off an entertaining win! 
Almost took a picture of the minister holding 3 beers and grinning but decided it would be inappropriate.

Challenge: Begin a blog

I moved to Cairns about 6 months ago with my husband and 2 young kids.  We found a school, house and church and have settled in to all pretty well.  I usually find it quite easy to make new friends, possibly because we moved around so much when I was a kid, and Cairns has proved the easiest place yet.  Of course, this could just be because I'm 30 odd now, and have more self-confidence.  Anyway,occassionally after the kids are in bed, or at least fed and watered, I have been going out for coffee with some other mums in an effort to keep sanity close by and boredom at bay.  We got talking about blogs, something I'm not very familiar with, and the challenge was issued that we should all get blogging.  So here is mine.  I've done it.  I don't really know what I'm going to write about, but I'm pretty good at talking so it shouldn't be hard.