Big House - Happier Life?

Justin, the kids and I moved from Brisbane to Perth in November 2010. We left behind our simple three bedroom/one bathroom house in Carina (about 9 kms from the city) to a four bedroom/two bathroom/study/tv rooms/living room/dining room house in Canning Vale, Perth.

We were pressed for time in finding a house to rent in Perth and settled on the Canning Vale house as it's not too far from Justin's work. All houses in this area are of similar size and design.

Our Carina house used to take me 1 hour to clean from top to bottom including vaccuming, mopping, dusting, cleaning mirrors and cleaning bathroom and toilet. I detest cleaning and one hour a week was more than enough for me.

On the other hand, our Canning Vale house is huge and it takes me 2-2.5 hours to clean it. I feel as though I walk 10kms just to vaccum and mop the floors and the house is always messy because of the kids and dog.

Having moved into a bigger house has made me realise that bigger is not necessarily better and I resent spending my time cleaning when my time could be doing something that I enjoy.

Justin and I have now decided against renovating our Carina house when we move back to Brisbane. We had plans drawn up to turn it into a four bedroom/two bedroom house but have settled on enjoying our three bedrooms and one bathroom.

My wise friend from Brisbane told me last week that "more space equals more stuff, less stuff equals more life" which I now appreciate.

Here's cheers to less stuff and more life!

Home Ice-cream Man

Who else wants to kill the home ice-cream man?

I have just spent the last 20mins trying to get L to sleep. I have been rocking him, walking around with him, singing to him, bouncing him in my arms, dancing him around the house. Put the dummy in, cuddle and rock, pick the dummy up off the floor, walk to kitchen, wash dummy with running water, put the dummy in, cuddle and rock, pick up dummy off the floor, repeat again and again.

Finally L decides that I have worked hard enough and he rewards me by closing his eyes and snuggling in. I then very carefully make my way to the bedroom. Quietly and gently lower him into the cot - oh no - wait - he moves! Quickly rock him again with little shhhhh noises. Ok he is settling again. Lower him into the cot - slowly, gently. Place him on the mattress and then ever so carefully remove my hands from under his body. More shhhhh, a little pat on the nappy to help with the settling. Ok - finally - move to the door - one careful step at a time. Open the door, quietly pull the door and place a shoe in the door way so the door doesn't bang.

Bliss. Quiet. Some time to myself - oh joy! Now I get to lower myself into a chair and sit down, relax. My back hurts, my knees are killing me but I am happy. I have achieved something today. My boy is sleeping peacefully and he is healthy and happy. Finally it is my turn to spend a little time looking after myself......

Oh no - the home ice-cream man. I cannot begin to tell you where I would like to put that very loud noisy bell of his!

So - after another 20mins of settling L I can honestly say that the home ice-cream man is the most annoying person in my life right about now.

I would love to know who is going to win your vote for most annoying person and why?

Cheers,
Sharon.

Breast Feeding and Work

I have recently been applying for jobs so that I can return to work. L is only 5mths old but as I am a single parent I can't really afford to stay at home for much longer. I am not looking forward to leaving L in care but I don't see any other options. The only other thing that really worries me about returning to work is breast feeding.

I like breast feeding. I express during the day and give the expressed breast milk (EBM) via a bottle. At night I just breast feed as I am lazy and don't want to get out of bed to make a bottle. This has the advantage that when I take EBM in bottles to the child care centre, L can continue to recieve the EBM - bonus. Happy with that. So here is the problem - how do I express when I am at work???

I work in a male dominated office environment. The office is open plan. I could book a meeting room each day, twice a day but from previous experience I know that meetings rooms are in short supply. Also in some work spaces the office walls are made of glass - no such thing as privacy. The only other space that would afford the required privacy is the ladies room. And who wants to express in the ladies room?? That is just so NOT hygentic.

I am sitting here looking at my breast pump. I love it - it is great. But - it is HUGE. I cart it from my place to my parents place when I stay with them. But - lugging this thing to and from work each day? On the bus or the train? Can you imagine the looks I would get??

So - if I want to continue to breast feed when I return to work I have to invest in another breast pump. Something a little more discreet. I also have to cause problems at work stealing meeting rooms when I know they are considered a rare commodity. These two things alone leave me questioning if it is all just too hard.

I would love to hear from you - how long did you breast feed? How did you manage breast feeding when you returned to work? Or did you move to formula once you returned to work?

Cheers,
Sharon.

Yoghurt Making

I have been going to make yoghurt for the past couple of years but it always seemed to be an inprecise science so I put the idea to the back of my mind.  However, yesterday I motivated myself to google some yoghurt recipes and I found one that sounded basic enough.   Forward 24 hours and I have made YOGHURT which is edible and it only cost me $0.40/half kilogram.

I was talking to a Dairy Farmer today at an Australia Day BBQ and he said that when milk was deregulated in Western Australia, his milk prices went from $0.40/$0.30 per litre to $0.10/litre and of course many dairy farmers went broke.  He now sells his milk to a boutique cheese maker and is given a good price for his efforts.

I get frustrated when the big supermarkets sell 3 litres of milk for $4/$5 depending on brands and the dairy farmer gets next to nothing for his milk.  So, the motto of the dairy story is to buy dairy products that are owned and produced by local co-ops so that the profits go to the farmer and not to the supermarket giants.

I can now (hopefully) say goodbye to spending $5.50/kg on natural yoghurt by making my own for $0.40.

Ingredients:

2 cups of milk (I used skim milk powder to cut costs but you can use fresh milk, full or skim milk)
2 tablespoons of yoghurt - must have live cultures

Tools:

1 cooking thermometer
I used my Easi-yo yoghurt container to keep the container warm overnight but the website I consulted just used a thermos
1 jar (sterilise with boiling water to kill any bacteria)

Method:

1.  Heat milk to 180 deg F
2.  Let milk cool to 105 - 110 deg F
3.  Mix in 2 tablespoons of yoghurt
4.  Put mix in jar and put the lid on
5.  Fill thermos container with hot water 110-120 deg F and add jar
6.  Leave for 24 hours then put in fridge

I made my yoghurt at 1pm, left it over night and had a peep at 11am the following morning.  It had set so I put it in the fridge and had a nibble along the way!

Enjoy

Introducing Sharon

Hello - my name is Sharon and I will be creating the odd post here and there.
I thought I would start by introducing myself and my family.  I am late 30s single Mum  by choice to my wonderful son L.  I am sorry but you don't get to see a picture of me as I am rather camera shy.  Instead I will just show pictures of the family.  Here is a pic of my little man...

We have two dogs G........

And J.......

In the coming posts I intend to talk more about being a single Mum by choice.  I will also talk about the work/family/study balance and the joys of trying to live a simple life in this modern age.

Cheers,
S.

Modern Cloth Nappies (MCNs)

I have been using Modern Cloth Nappies for three years now.  I started using them when my first child, Alex was six months old.  I was initially motivated to research cloth nappies due to the price of disposable nappies and the quantity that I was using on a weekly basis.

When Alex was six months old, my husband and I took him on our annual summer holiday to Yamba, northern New South Wales.  Instead of throwing the disposable nappies straight in the wheelie bin, we wrapped them in nappy bags and placed them in a big plastic garbage bag in the bathroom which we emptied every couple of days.  Seeing the pile of disposabl nappies grow larger every day gave us a reality check about how many nappies we were in fact using on our little boy and the toll this would have on landfill.

The world of Modern Cloth Nappies is enormous.  I was initially scarred off by the cost of the nappies but I did my calculations and realised that cloth nappies would save me money in the long run, particularly as we intended on having two children.  The world wide web is a valuable resource and I used it to research my cloth nappy options.

I initially bought ten nappies/liners/covers from a Canadian company in a large size as Alex was a very chubby baby.  I loved these nappies and found them to be very absorbent and Alex rarely experienced nappy rash.  I washed them every second day and then purchased a couple more so that I would only have to wash them every third day.

The sight of cloth nappies dancing on the clothes line is very cute!

Household Cleaning Products

Australians reportedly spend hundreds of millions of dollars per year on cleaning products for our homes.  Are we healthier and happier as a result?  I for one have jumped off the chemical bandwagon and have opted for a more natural approach to cleaning my house and clothes.  It not only saves me money but my house is clean and smells lovely!

I have put together a simple collection of basic ingredients for my cleaning kitty.  Many years ago Justin and I invested in a steam mop.  I have come to realise that people either love or hate these mops but I am a big fan.  It simply uses steam to clean the hard floor surfaces in our home and marks/dirt come away with little effort.  The pads are made of cloth and are easy to wash and dry.  If there are marks that are 'baked' on to our tiles, I simply dab a small amount of eucalyptus oil on a rag and rub it over the mark.  Voila - marks come off straight away.

Eucalyptus oil is an ingredient that I use in many of my home made cleaning products.  My all purpose spray is simply vinegar, eucalyptus oil and a small drop of washing up detergent (to disperse the oil) and I use this to clean down bench tops, shower and bath.  I also spray the toilet seat and surface with this spray. 

I use vinegar and a small amount of bicarbonate of soda to clean the toilet bowl.  I then drop a small amount of eucalyptus oil in the bowl to make it smell lovely and fresh. 

I alternate between using a glass cleaning mit and vinegar/newspaper to clean the glass mirrors in the bathrooms.  I have read that newspaper these days doesn't clean glass well because of the type of ink they use in their print but I haven't come across any problems in using this.

I haven't purchased paper towel in years so newspaper (the free weekly one) is all I have at my disposal for window/glass cleaning.

Travelling with Children

Travelling with my two children is stressful, tiring and adventurous.  I have accepted the fact that I will be doing a fair bit of flying in the next twelve months as the kids and I fly between Perth (where we are based with my husband's work) and Brisbane (where our family is).

I have completed two return trips so far on my own with the kids and I am becoming a little more wiser about how to plan, survive and enjoy the plane ride.  I have compiled a list of hints that I use when traversing the 5 hour trip across the Nullabor!

Ang's Hints:

1.  Do not buy yourself a magazine or book to enjoy on the plane.  I focus all my attention and energy on the kids as I have found that as soon as I open a book, tantrums and attention seeking behaviour unfolds.......
2.  Spend the extra money (if you can spare it) for any children under two.  In Australia, you don't need to buy a ticket for infants under two years of age as they can sit on your lap!  I have found that a five hour plane trip with a baby on my lap is not enjoyable for anyone involved.
3.  As we now buy a ticket for Ellie (now 10 months old), I can take her baby car seat onboard.  I have to contact the airline in advance but as long as it meets Australian regulations, it can be fitted onboard.  Ellie loves to sleep in her car seat and it makes meal time at 30,000 feet a breeze.
4.  Do not assume that you will be given a bassinet seat even though you have requested one.  I have requested a bassinet for Ellie on most of my flights and not once have I been given one. 
5.  Pack plenty of books, snacks, sticker activity books and drinks for the kids

Justin and I bought a portable DVD player for Alex to use when flying.  Last week his DVD player broke and I immediately thought that I would have to buy another one.  But, thinking about my new year's resolutions i.e. to minimise my spending, I decided that reading/playing/singing with Alex on the plane is cheaper and more rewarding than a DVD player.

I have found that some, but not all flight attendants are able and willing to help with the kids.  We had two wonderful flight attendants on our last flight and they made the journey exciting and memorable for the kids.  Alex even got to meet the Captain and sit in the cockpit once we had landed in Perth. 

Enjoy your flight!