This article had me looking for spare change in my handbag

Is there a link between income and well-behaved children?

This includes a special Mothers Day guilt trip for all mothers. (Yeah, what a treat – let blokes get off scot-free!).
Dr Khanam said while income was important for cognitive development, the ground breaking study found when it came to non-cognitive development, mothers were key.

If you’re like me, you’ll wonder what the researcher wrote in the full article which was presented to the 34th Australian Conference of Health Economists. Well, the full paper hasn’t been published and can only be obtained from the author. You may find an abstract at her university’s depositors’ webpage.

 

Aaaaaand I’m back!

Yeah, it’s taken me 6 weeks to get off my tuchus and write another post.

Bronchitis kicked my butt. Then I was trying to get back and neck pain under control. Latest sweet thing: insomnia. I look like somebody put my eyes in with sooty fingers. All of me looks like a pink dumpling stuffed into unfashionable clothes (but with nice accessories, of course).

I feel I’ve done well to keep up looking neat and tidy, keep Miss Seven Year Old (aka the Princess) on time for school, fed and watered, and to look after the cat. Keeping papers in the house under control has been rather more difficult.

Thank goodness the cleaners come today. My back and arms get a break! Yay! And the cleaners change the bed linen also which is a great relief – one more time that I don’t have to stretch to stuff a doona into a clean doona cover, or fight sheets that won’t go on the mattress.

So what’s living with pain like? It’s different for each person. We might share some similarities, but how we respond and deal with pain and life at the same time will be according to each person’s resources.

If we’re short on resources (e.g. a partner who will share cooking and cleaning and tidying, access to medicine that works efficiently, etc.) then the level is Barely Coping some days. Other days it’s Damn I’m Marvellous Despite Feeling Like My Butt has been Kicked by a Mean Donkey.

I’m a bit over the “spoons” theory. It has been co-opted by people who have NO bloody idea of what it is like to live with chronic pain, nor the exhaustion and depression that can accompany it.

OK, grumble over. I’ve managed to get to work (yay!) for a section meeting (erk) and then will have singing later on today (yay!) tho I have been so busted up with insomnia that I don’t have all my sheet music ready (erk). Story of my life, darlings!

Speaking of which, when I’m tired and in pain, my speech becomes a mild version of word salad at worst. At best, I can’t manage people’s names and everyone gets called “darling”. To my embarrassment, I called my neurosurgeon darling last week. He didn’t seem displeased (thank goodness) but I’ll try harder to get his name right.

 

And then I got bronchitis

I didn’t know I had bronchitis. I felt unwell for about three days, went to work, saw friends, felt like total rubbish and thought I was having problems with asthma. I dutifully took my asthma puffers etc.

On Monday I was barking. Not barking mad (that is apparently my default setting), but the sort of cough that makes the cat run for the hills and DD say “Mummy, that is not a good cough but at least you covered your mouth.”

I went to work. Because what else would I do while running a temperature and being fuzzy-headed? I was sent home after a couple of hours because my workmates couldn’t stand the noise I was making. Just as a precaution, I went to the doctor on the way home. Sure enough, I was actually ill. I was so impressed, I made sure to get a medical certificate so I could say to my boss (who doesn’t like me taking sick days) “See? I really am sick.”

I’m taking erythromicin tablets which my stomach objects to. I found these work better after having a bit of food first. I’m not going through yesterday’s unlovely phase of retching etc. Best to draw a veil over that … All this on top of having Rulide for sinusitis a couple of weeks ago.

I’ll get some live yoghurt to eat today. Sure, I know it’s a good thing to have that stuff while on meds, but when you’re the only adult in the household, it’s not a given that one will remember these sorts of things while in a fever fuzz. My mother-in-law has kindly taken DD to school which is an enormous help.

 

Nutty kids

This really gave me a giggle. http://www.rantsfrommommyland.com/2013/03/sometimes-you-feel-like-nut-sometimes.html
Not that DD would do anything like this since she’s really not that interested in how boys are different. The protective mother part of me roars “And long may that last!”

I do like the drama teacher’s comment, though.

 

All cats like to sit in boxes.

The Little Cat Prince likes to sit in a pink plastic washing up bowl which is a bit small for him. I could hear awful noises in the middle of the night and tiptoed into the loungeroom to investigate. It was His Highness sleeping in a funny position in his bowl, snoring like some wild beast.

 

Knitting

I have found several patterns for catnip mice for The Little Cat Prince. Granted, he’s not so little nowadays but he still loves playing with pretend mice.

DD was given knitting needles and a selection of various yarns by a lovely lady at church for her birthday. DD has been asking me to teach her how to knit and I’m happy to do so. Knitting is pretty straightforward once you’ve got the hand and yarn movements stuck in kinetic memory. I’m sure that DD’s doll would like a scarf for winter.

Naturally the crankiness starts in earnest when a kid sees *fabulous* knitting patterns and wants to do them – or wants their darling mother to knit those items!

In an attempt to stave off such ambition, I’ve got 3 catnip mousie patterns. The Little Cat Princes doesn’t like catnip but I’m sure he would like these. I want to get some fleece to stuff them with – much more interesting smell for him while he plays with them.

I’ll report on my progress.

 

The Bad Mothers’ Club is now in session

http://www.passiveaggressivenotes.com/2011/04/11/the-bad-moms-club/

Ha ha ha!

Not that DD has done a “What we did on the weekend” diary entry like that. But you never know when she might.