Guy Fawkes Day

"Remember, remember! 

The fifth of November, 

The Gunpowder treason and plot; 

I know of no reason 

Why the Gunpowder treason 

Should ever be forgot! "

Each year, NZ allocates five days to sell fireworks. And they usually lead up to Guy Fawks Day. It's the same familiar debate how some people like it or hate it, scaring off not just children but pets as well. Yes, it did get noisy a bit from where we live but those were mostly from the echoes of distant fireworks, not within the neighborhood. It's not as big nor as loud as how we'd usually do fireworks from back home. In fact, when we stepped out last night, it was a quiet evening in Kitenui. We took the car up Owairaka Domain and walked with the kids somewhere up where we can get a good view. You can't see it from my phone camera but there were small specs of fireworks scattered around the city. There's not even enough to cover areas of the city in smoke. However, there could be a whiff of black powder in the air.

It was a full moon and a clear night sky. The kids enjoyed their unusal evening, being outside and up the hill. When we got home, we lit a few sparklers just for the heck of it. It was something new for the kids. Now we wonder if they'll remember it.

A Bird's Paradise

They're everywhere!

Maybe i've gotten used to it already. Birds tell me that it's morning so I need to get up even if the sun hasn't come out just yet. I see them flying outside the office window, along the sidewalk near the bus stop, and just about everywhere in our neighborhood and my workplace. You need to watch out for them as they love a freshly planted garden. They're on the lookout for bread and crackers when in parks or beaches. You'd see a sign that says "Ducks crossing". My son almost freaked out the other day when he thought that our car was running through them on the street. You'd see bird poop in bird-congested areas and call it luck when it lands on you or your car.

I think it's a good thing that humans and birds are thriving here. Can't help but think that if they see these back home, they'll probably end up locked up in a cage or on a family's dinner table.

Farewell Morning Tea

There seems to be a steady stream of people leaving the company that I currently work for since I started about two years ago. What I noticed is that leaving can be a bit awkward. Coz firstly, there's the morning tea where the team comes together for cake after a speech from the manager, and other people who would like to say something, and of course, from the person who is leaving. (It's a big team, about 60 or so). Then there's the social thing again wherein you would have to go around the desks, at least to the folks that you want to say good bye to before you actually leave the building. I think it's a very nice gesture but I just can't help feel a bit queasy as I'm obviously not the chit-chatty social butterfly. I've only been with a few companies and I do remember saying thank you and goodbye to my colleagues during my last day at work. I had a farewell merienda with my team from Trend Micro and the courtesies of saying adieu took me about two weeks as I had to go through each of the business units that I worked. It seemed simple back then. I wonder if it's just a culture thing.

What's a Kiwi Weekend Like

They say, Saturdays are for sports and Sundays are for parks. Typically, weekends for families are spent in their child's extra-curricular activities like sports, sailing, life saving, etc. I know some  of my colleagues got their weekend fully booked with children's sports activities, even up to Sunday. I think that's a bit too much to commit.

We are part of the Sunday park-goers since we usually do our errands on Saturdays and just love to spend some time at the beach or at the park afterwards. Most of these beaches and parks are just 10-15mins away. Anything that's longer is probably somewhere outside central, and would be at least half an hour away. These would be the regional parks and the long stretch of beaches that are quite popular for holiday-goers.

If we're too lazy to go out, we can always just walk the kids to the nearby playground, or up the domain. Or just go for a walk within the neighborhood, and perhaps see the train. You can do all these without breaking the bank. All you need is a sturdy pair of legs, some gas (or the ATHop card for public transport) and the usual picnic items to keep everyone energized. This is such a big lifestyle change that I never thought was possible.

When The Kids Are Sick

At least one parent needs to stay at home to look after the sick child. Hubby is in-between jobs at the moment and it's he who actually insisted to keep our youngest at home last Monday as she's having the flu symptoms again. So everyday I call daycare to give them a heads up. By Wednesday, my son woke up with fever and hubby's not feeling well too. I now had to take the day off to look after them. I also had to call the school for each day that my son had to miss. His room will be hosting the Assembly today, Friday. He has a line that he's supposed to say but then, he won't be able to do that. He barely got his voice and still had fever this morning. This would be the third day that he's away. We still have some leftover medicine for fever and flu so we're using that. We'll only go to the GP if we need another prescription. We got a bit put off when we found out how busy the clinic was last Wednesday and Thursday so we'll just go there if we really need to.

We've also been giving the kids warm lemon juice with honey to boost up their vitamin C, and ginger juice to help soothe their throat.

So another week's past. My daughter's getting better. Hoping my son would too this weekend. It's really awful to see my kids sick. We'll make all the necessary precautions next year for the cold season. I really hope that we don't go through it again next year.

Winter 2014

It was forecasted to be a warm winter. It was so different from last year when the season started with a winter blast. I think it meant cold winds ice and snow coming from Antarctica swept it's way throughout the country. What stood out this year was probably the strong gales during the Term 2 school holidays. I was more concerned about the wet weather then. There was frost every now and then but overall, it seemed alright, averaging 10-12C. Walking back to the office after my lunch walk made me catch a glimpse of summer. My phone says it's 18C. And I was pleased to be walking outside without my jacket on. Now that's warm! Summer is giving us a tease and i know that we still need to get through Spring before we start putting away our fleece and puff jackets. Can't help but wonder how I can ever get used to this pendulum of temperatures and confusing weather. And they say that it's just your typical Auckland weather.

Loving Daycare

TalentedTots has given me lots of reassurances and plenty of smiles as a parent. I love their parent portal as I'm able to see how my kids are growing apart from how they spent their day. They identify the child's interests and encourage various levels of learning and development through those interests.They give me sensible advise and they have enough activities that encourages not just the child but parents to join.

Each morning I walk my kids to daycare before I head off to work.They are always excited about the walk and they greet most of the common faces that we see (i.e., the bus driver, the old lady, parents of other kids from day care, students from Marist, and just about any friendly face that they see). Then it's a loud "Hi" to everyone as soon as we enter day care.

After logging in, I get a kiss and a hug from my kids and off they go finding something to do or someone to play with. I do appreciate the care and attention that the teachers provide. It's a small center, with a maximum of 25 students and 5 teachers. It's a big difference compared with the AKA Kindergarten that Max used to go to where it's about 15 students to 1 teacher.

I still feel guilty a lot as I miss being around my kids for the day. But at least in day care are around other kids and they are stimulated by a lot of things. I don't know enough about parenting but with how much my kids are learning, I think it was a good move for us to send them to day care. The teacher's already said how much they'll miss Max as he'll be going to Primary soon.