Word Of The Week

Abbey's Word of the Week this week is...

Egg noun
Pronunciation: ed
An oval or round object laid by a female bird.
When one has chickens in the backyard, one spends most of the day standing at the door saying 'buck buck' or 'egg'. One wants to check for eggs all day long. Unfortunately, one also wants to carry any eggs inside - hence, the number of eggs laid does not generally equal the number of eggs that arrive into the kitchen. (Note to self: must buy a small egg-collecting basket!)


Megan

Big Foot

'She has very big feet, doesn't she?' said the saleswoman.

'Um, I guess so...'

She was shaking her head in astonishment. 'How old is she?' she asked.

'Twenty-two, almost twenty-three, months,' I said.

'Oh my goodness! They really are big!'

Oh dear. It looks like it's already begun for my little girl - a life of comments about big feet.

This is something I faced growing up. I remember Mum's comment to saleswomen in shoe shops: 'Well, she's tall. She'd look pretty silly with tiny feet, wouldn't she?!'

I didn't get the comments as much as the rest of my family though.

Although I'm fairly tall - I have no idea of my exact height, but it's around 5'9" or so - I happen to be the shortest in my family. My parents and brothers are all over 6' and my sister is a couple of inches taller than me. I also have the smallest feet in the family.

Steve's family are also quite tall - I'm shorter than most of them, too - so it wasn't a shock when our daughter was long.

And, apparently, has big feet.

I might have to start borrowing my Mum's line.


Megan

Inanimate Love

I was tagged by the lovely Tania McCartney for this one - my love of inanimate objects. The game is to choose five objects that set my heart aflutter when I see them...

When I first saw this blog tag, I did what I often do as I sit at my computer in my dining room - I looked up at my photos to think. Our house is scattered with photos that I've taken from our travels - this one is a few different angles of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, one of my favourite cities.

Abbey's old shoes are stored in her cupboard and whenever I open that door and see all the little footwear lined up, my heart skips a beat. Memories of things she did while she wore each pair come flooding back, and the vision of those little feet is ingrained in my mind.

The more I enjoy baking, the more I love adding to my cook book collection. It's a small one so far, but slowly getting there. My latest addition is The Silver Spoon, an old Italian book I'd been coveting for a while. Drool.

The inanimate object that receives most of my attention - my Macbook. It holds my life in its little silver casing: my photos, my recipes, my writing, even my friends. One word: love.

I don't own a lot of jewellery, but the pieces I have mean a lot to me. The sapphire earrings that were my Nanna's, given to her by my Grandad for their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary. The black pearl from mine and Steve's honeymoon in the Cook Islands. The diamond earrings Steve bought me for my twenty-first birthday, and the diamond pendant for my thirtieth. The watch I bought in Lucerne, Switzerland. Every piece of jewellery I wear has memories.

How about you? What are your favourite inanimate objects? The ones that set your hear aflutter? (Share them on your blog or leave a comment.)


Megan

Ready, Set... Go!

Steve has the day off, so he has taken Abbey on a daddy-daughter outing.

My mum has a spare few hours and has offered to look after Abbey.

I've had an offer from Steve's parents to spend a couple of hours at their house, shut away in their spare room to write while they play with Abbey.

Abbey is playing happily by herself.

These are the times I have to myself. Limited snippets of time in which to write. I've written before about the challenges of writing with a toddler at my feet (here), but I've never mentioned the pressure it involves.

When I have some time to myself, it's like a race is beginning. A sprint, not a marathon.

And your time starts.... NOW.

Quick. Must write while I have some time to myself. Oh crap, an interesting email just came in, maybe I'll just reply to that. Oh and I should check if that person responded to my tweet. And my Facebook message. Oh, look, another email popped up and it's from that person I was waiting to hear back from. That's right, that's what I was going to do - I'll just look that up while I'm at the computer. Ooh, that sounds like an interesting blog post, I might just read that quickly. Another email....

Damn, an hour's gone and I haven't even written anything yet. Arrrrghhhhh, I'm running out of time. I only have another hour before I have Abbey again.

Must write.

OK. What should I write? What was that idea I had again?

The pressure involved - or that I, arguably, put on myself - can be the biggest hurdle to my writing dream. When the pressure is gone, I'm amazed at what I can achieve. Just the other day, I churned out 2,500 words in an hour and a half. I was feeling relaxed and the ideas were there, ready to go.

But when I watch that clock ticking along, knowing that the peace and quiet is drawing closer and closer to an end, I panic. And when I panic about having to write the words down, they never come. At least, no good words come.

Then my little girl comes bounding over to me, with a big 'Hello!' and all is forgotten. Until next time.

The moral of the story: Just. Relax.


Megan

Daydream Believer

I present to you, my future life as it appears in my daydreams...

I'm a writer. An author.

I write junior non-fiction, junior fiction, picture books and young adult novels.

I travel for my work and my family comes with me. I rarely go away without my husband and three children (Abbey and the twins).

Steve is a stay-at-home dad, a travel-with-his-family dad.

When we're at home, I write in the mornings and spend time with my family in the latter part of the day.

When we're not at home, we're making a home elsewhere. We've lived in lots of different places around Australia and the world.

We have a small farm that Steve loves to work on. We grow crops and raise animals. The kids help Steve and play in the paddocks all day long.

Evenings are family time, and we bake and eat and read and chat.

How about you? Do you have a daydream that you're working towards?


Megan

Word Of The Week

Abbey's Word of the Week this week is...

Shower noun
Pronunciation: shar-dar

An enclosure in which a person stands under a spray of water to wash.

When one is asking for one's 'Daddy' (all day long), one's mother often asks - 'where is Daddy?' The response is always 'SHOWER!' Sometimes this is embellished on to include the act of washing hair. One appears to think that one's father does not go to work, choosing instead to stand under the shower washing his hair all day. This is a possible explanation for how he came to have very little hair left on his head.


Megan

Raising A Hermit

There is one aspect of parenting that I struggle with. I've been struggling with it from day one, and still am to this day.

It's the social aspect.

Not for me - I have plenty of friends I can talk to about parenting. I mean for Abbey.

She does have lots of kids around her - she has six cousins, five of whom she sees regularly - and my friends' children. But they're all older and, while she loves older kids, I think it's also important for her to play with kids her own age.

That's where the problem is.

The mothers' group to which we were assigned in the early days was a big fat failure. So, while other mums go to playgroups with their mothers' groups, we didn't have that option.

We made some friends at our pre-natal classes, and we still see them, but it's very irregular. They are the only kids her age that Abbey really gets to play with.

A few months ago, I took her to a playgroup fairly close by, but I've only been able to make it a couple of times since. The other mums were lovely and the kids were all around Abbey's age, but the morning it falls on is often a bad time for me (I've had work obligations and other things on). So that hasn't really worked either.

The only other thing she has is swimming lessons, but that's not exactly a time to play with other kids.

I'd love your advice. If you're a parent - how often did your kids see others their age when they were little? Is it a vital thing to do regularly?

Am I a bad mother if I just have her playing at home by herself or with me and Steve most of the time? And if the only kids she sees regularly are older than her?

Of course, I know that she's a happy child, but should I be encouraging her social skills a bit more (not that they seem at risk of any problems - she's not exactly shy and reserved!). Am I raising my child to be a hermit like her mum?!


Megan

Boxes Of Memories

Kids Book Review is one of my favourite websites - that's why I began contributing to it and now help manage it with the lovely Tania McCartney.

I've been so busy with it lately, and I'm loving it. I've had my nose in books, madly reviewing to keep up with my ever-growing pile, and when it's not there it's busy emailing Tania (the two of us have minds that don't stop - ever - so we're coming up with ideas faster than we keep up with!), publishers, authors and illustrators, preparing some hugely exciting things.

The things we have lined up include:
- guest posts from some amazing Australian authors, illustrators and literacy specialists;
- VERY special peeks at the people who write and illustrate in a new series of posts we're calling Behind the Books (wait until you see the dream list of authors and illustrators who are jumping on board!);
- our first giveaways (you'll want these books as soon as you lay eyes on them - I did!);
- and of course, reviews of some great new releases and...

Vintage books!

My Mum helped me go through some boxes the other day, of old books from my childhood and hers. We were both thrilled to discover so many old favourites.

I've written about it at Kids Book Review, and I'd love it if you came over and told me about your favourite childhood books! Just click... here!


Megan

How?

I mentioned to someone the other day that I work from home.

The question that, understandably, followed was: 'What do you do?'

I took a deep breath and began...

I do some Human Resources consultancy work from home.
I'm also a writer, just starting out, so I'm working hard at that.
I've written a book that's with a publisher, playing the waiting game.
I've started work on the second book in that series.
I am writing another book, a fiction novel for children.
I write articles and have had a couple published now.
I blog.
I review books for two websites, and help manage one of those sites.
Oh, and I have my twenty-two-month-old daughter with me the whole time.

I think this person was a little stunned at the length of my response. And, to be honest, so was I. It was probably the first time I'd said anything other than, 'I'm a stay-at-home mum' or 'I do some consultancy work'. She then said: 'How do you do it all?'

And then it was my turn to be lost for words.

I'm a no-nonsense kind of person. I just do things. If there's something I need or want to do, I just do it. I don't think about whether I can manage it; it isn't a question, it has to be done.

So I'd never really sat and thought about all the different things I do. I just do them. And I'd never asked myself how I do it. I just do.

So I, very helpfully, said - 'Um, I don't really know.'

Good one.

But I've since been thinking about this a lot. How do I do it? And here's my real answer:

I take snippets of time whenever I can. Whether that's half an hour while Abbey is playing by herself or ten minutes while she eats lunch, I grab whatever time I can.

When Steve's work is quiet and he finishes early, I disappear and leave him to have some time with Abbey.

I used to put Abbey into childcare for half a day or a day each week. She hasn't been for months now, because my paid work quietened down. Now that it's picked up again, things just seem to be working okay without having to use childcare.

If things have to be done urgently, I'll call on help. My Mum is willing to give her day off to play with Abbey when needed, and Steve's parents are also more than happy to spend some time with their granddaughter. If anything, I don't ask for, or take up the offers of, help enough (I haven't even asked my brothers or sister or friends, who all offer!).

I wake up early and do up to a couple of hours of work/writing before Abbey gets up.

When she goes to bed, I do some more.

I do lots on the weekend, to try and make the week a little easier.

With a toddler around, it's important not to get too caught up with committing to impossible deadlines. If we have a good day, I can achieve a lot. If not, tomorrow might be better. I've chosen to be here with my daughter and that's exactly the flexibility I wanted in my life.

It's also important to take breaks to give Abbey some different things to do. That might be taking a few hours in the morning to take her to playgroup (which will then wear her out a bit!), or setting up some drawing or other activities for her, or stopping to read some stories together regularly during the day.

Most of all, life here is about give and take. I expect Abbey to be able to amuse herself at times while I get things done, but there is also time for her to choose what we do or times to go out and have fun together. Steve is more than happy to have Abbey when he's home, but then I need to balance that with spending time together as a family, and giving Steve some time to himself.

That's how we do it here.

And I'm exhausted thinking about it. I think I'll go back to just doing it.


Megan

City Driving

Give me a road full of sweeping corners, sharp bends and hills, and I'll quite happily drive it. Put a long country road ahead of me and I'll drive for hours. Take me to a four-wheel-drive track and I'll give it a go - up and down steep hills in low range, water crossings and deep ruts are no problems, especially if Steve is beside me tutoring.

I'm a Melbourne girl, but I'm not a city girl. I'm not even a country girl - I live in the hills on the outskirts of Melbourne and that's where I'm most comfortable.

I like to think I'm a competent driver. Maybe even a 'good' driver, although I often think that to call oneself a good driver seems a bit cocky.

But put me on a city road and I feel like, well, a woman in the wrong place.

The city of Melbourne is quite a challenge for a driver. Trams, heavy traffic, pedestrians darting across in front of you, cyclists weaving in between the cars, and parked cars blocking whole lanes of traffic. All while you're trying to find a shop or house that will inevitably be missing a number.

Then one must park the car. Reverse parking is rarely required in the hills, but in the city it's a must. And I'm not good at it. I think I've done it two or three times since my driving test. Add to that the various signs about loading zones, permit zones, park here on a Saturday if you can stand on your head for an hour at a time, but only between the hours of one and one-thirty a.m. Reading some of these signs is like battling your way through the fine details of a Tolkien novel.

All of that, and I haven't even mentioned the infamous Melbourne hook turn. (This is when one does a right-hand turn from the left lane, so that one does not block the tram line. It is strange and I have never attempted to do one.)

I do, however, have one very strong skill when I'm driving in the city. Something I have mastered in all (read: very little) the inner suburbs driving I've done.

That is, I can always - always! - pick the wrong lane. If I'm in the left, it will always be blocked by parked cars ahead, or I'll be stuck behind a cyclist. If I choose the right lane, I'll be caught behind a car turning right or, worse, a tram (one cannot pass a stopped tram, so if you're stuck there without a free spot in the left lane, it can take a long time to get to your destination).

A very dubious skill to possess, if you ask me.

So, if you ever need to be driven around rolling hills, through the country, or very, very slowly through the inner suburbs of Melbourne - I'm your woman.

What are your best driving skills? What are you not so good at in the car?


Megan

Web Child Article

My first published article appeared in the Melbourne's Child / Sydney's Child, etc. magazines this month.

So I was thrilled to also have an article accepted for their website, Web Child, which is now up.

You can see it here.

And perhaps you can answer this question - have you ever used your children as an excuse for something? Maybe to get out of doing something or going somewhere?


Megan

Word Of The Week

Abbey's Word of the Week this week is...

Mum noun (informal)
Pronunciation: muuuuuuu-uuuuuuummmmmm
One's mother. Best used when one would like one's mother to hear them. Often used by a toddler who has woken up, stepped out of bed and is knocking on the bedroom door, calling for Mum. Note that this is one of the only time one's mother will respond to this call by coming to the toddler; at other times the Mum is known to respond with a statement along the lines of, 'If you want me, you come here'.


Megan

A Confession

Sometimes we have problems in life, things that affect our sanity and wellbeing.

Sometimes we need to get things off our chest, to stop them from weighing us down.

I have a secret that I have been trying to keep hidden. It's become too hard to keep quiet any longer though, and I must confess this terrible secret, for the sake of myself and my family.

It is something that I have had a problem with since I was a child, although I didn't hide it back then. Those were the days I felt free to express myself, using this as a way of communicating how I felt. But, as I got older, I realised more and more that this was not an acceptable thing.

I had to force myself to grow out of it, but I couldn't do it completely.

When I started my blog, I wanted to write honestly about my life. And I've been upfront about wanting a new career as a writer. But this problem affects my writing. It poses a serious threat to how successful I could be in the occupation I want so much.

So, it's with a deep breath, a stack of nerves and a sense of relief that I confess:

I am addicted to exclamation marks!!!!!!

This is such a problem that, with everything I write, I have to go back over it and remove them! I want them after every sentence!

See?! It doesn't make for easy reading, does it?! As a writer, I take great joy from putting a big exclamation mark at the end of everything I write! But as a reader, it's really very annoying!!

When I was a child, I just put them in and thought they were great! But, as I got older, I realised it was kind of odd!! I mean, do I need to exclaim everything?!

In the flesh, I am not that excitable! I don't exclaim things and I don't jump around with excitement! I'm not what you would call a bubbly person; I'm more quiet and serious! Except after a few champagnes, that is!!!!!!

So why do I feel the need to do it in my writing?!

I read recently that a writer should be able to express a sense of excitement with their words, rather than with exclamation points! I don't agree completely; I think there are some moments where they are put to perfect use! But perhaps not quite this much!!

I don't know why I do it, but it feels so good to have confessed my big writing sin!!

Thanks!


Megan!

Boundin'

Steve's favourite animated film is The Incredibles. And, while that might be a great movie, my favourite part of it is actually not in the movie at all.

It's a short animation that features as an extra on the DVD. A song by the name of Boundin', and one verse from it has always hit a note with me.

When I found myself talking to Steve recently about needing to stop pressuring myself to do more, more, more, he reminded me of this verse:

Now sometimes you’re up and sometimes you’re down,
When you find that you’re down well just look around:
You still got a body, good legs and fine feet,
Get your head in the right place and hey, you’re complete!

Love it. Especially when it's sung by a gorgeous animated jackalope!

(I really wanted to put up a link to it on YouTube but, alas, copyright rules don't allow such a thing.)


Megan

A Book Reading

Abbey, my twenty-two-month-old daughter, is not known for her shyness. She is not one to sit quietly on my lap or sit and observe all the things going on around her. She's more the type to run right up to people, say a big 'hello!' and begin playing. She is an adventurer, an explorer, always curious and getting into everything - I affectionately call her 'the biggest stickybeak I know'.

I wasn't sure, when I took her out to Frankston for the Babies Love Books reading session with Alison Lester yesterday, how she'd go sitting and listening to stories for a long period of time with distractions galore.

Had it been a normal Tuesday babies' reading session, it would have been a disaster. I would have walked out after sharing a heated discussion with the librarian, who really should not have been working with children if she could not understand an investigative toddler such as Abbey.

But, with author Alison Lester in attendance, it became lots of fun.

Abbey did not want to sit and listen to story after story, song after song, for too long and soon began exploring. Her first outing away from the bean bag was straight to Alison Lester, grabbing the closest book, handing it to her and waiting expectantly for the reading to begin. Which it did.

Then, following a fun song involving making music with bells, a soft lullaby was sung. Babies and toddlers were supposed to sit on their mum's knee and sing quietly. With a basket of bells sitting right in front of them. Although, apparently this is possible for all the children in attendance... other than Abbey.

She got that glint in her eyes. Alison Lester saw her approaching, noticed the glint, looked at me and laughed. She helped Abbey grab a bell.

The librarian was NOT impressed. She gave Alison a dirty look and snatched (yes, snatched!) the bell from Abbey. Not one to be deterred so easily, my little girl tried again. Once again, Alison helped her and, again, the librarian took it back. This went on a few times, with Alison and I sharing a quiet laugh at the whole 'grumpy librarian' scenario.

Following the songs, a free Alison Lester book (Magic Beach) was given to each child and Alison kindly signed them. When it was our turn, she commented to me about how great it was to see such perseverance and a sense of fun in my child.

It was so nice to hear someone say that, recognising that Abbey is not 'naughty' or 'stubborn' or any of those awful things. She is a normal toddler who just wants to have fun and learn about this intriguing world.

Oh, and the quick photo shoot of Alison Lester with some kids and their new books? Of course, Abbey had to sit right on her lap and be read to (picture above)!


Megan

A Huge Blogging Carnival

Today I'm participating in the Aussie Mummy Blogger's first blogging carnival!

Each participant was asked to submit their favourite blog post. To see which one I chose, and to check out all the others (there are some awesome bloggers there, who I'm thrilled to be on the same page as for a day!) - click here.

Thanks to Kristin at Wanderlust for coordinating the carnival!


Megan

My Baby Loves Books

She really does, but it did take her a bit of getting used to.

Steve and I have read to Abbey since she was two days old (the day we arrived home from the hospital). Every day. Several books each day. When she first began moving around, she wouldn't sit still for a story, but we persisted (read this wonderful guest post on Kids Book Review for tips on reading to wriggly little ones!).

And it really has paid off.

Within a few months, she was asking us to read to her, and sitting down for the story.

Not long after that, she began repeating words and actions from her favourite stories - a beautiful reward for all the repetition of reading to a little one!

Now, reading stories together is a special time for us. It also brings back some wonderful memories of my childhood - every night before bed, no matter how exhausted Mum was, she would sit with me and we would read together. And now I'm creating that with my daughter - a time to disappear together in another world, sharing whatever adventure the book holds within its covers.

A time we can have some fun, ignoring the demands of the rest of the world. A time for Abbey.

And that is what reading is about, right? Aside from the educational, literacy side of things, enjoying a book is a wonderful escape and an important time away from the rush of everyday life.

So, here are my tips for reading to a baby or toddler:

• When choosing a book, don't take the target age as gospel. Abbey has heaps of books that are targeted towards 2+, 3+ and even 4+ - as long as the illustrations are interesting to them and the story isn't too long for their age, they might still love it.
• Remove distractions, turn off the television and give your child your full attention.
• Read the favourites over and over. Your little one won't be shy in requesting a story again and again. And again and again and again. And again. They love the repetition of it and they do learn a lot from that, so try to put aside your impatience and go with it.
• Lose your inhibitions - dance around, pull silly faces, do funny voices and use lots of expression (there's no need to be shy - your child won't judge you!). Kids really respond when you make things funny, and it's a great time to share a giggle together.
• Make it repetitious - have a certain action, noise or song at a particular part of a book.
• Have fun!
• Or, with a quiet bedtime story, try to have a cuddle together (although, with a little one like mine who adores her personal space, this isn't always possible!) and read a reassuring, rhythmic story. 

Need some story ideas?

Some favourites here are:
The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
Where is the Green Sheep? by Mem Fox
Monkey and Me by Emily Gravett
Ten in the Bed by Penny Dale
Any Spot book
Any book with photos of babies or animals (DK do some awesome books like this)
Dogs by Emily Gravett
The Wrong Book by Nick Bland
Bottoms Up by Jeanne Willis
Josephine Wants to Dance by Jackie French
I regularly update Abbey's favourite books down the sidebar on the left-hand-side, too!

Our favourite bedtime stories at the moment are:
Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes by Mem Fox
Goodnight Me by Andrew Daddo

Or, for some great tips and information on reading aloud:
The Reading Bug and How To Help Your Child Catch It by Paul Jennings
Reading Magic by Mem Fox

Find out more about the Babies Love Books campaign.

And, for more information on Babies Love Books, story suggestions and ideas, check out Kids Book Review - one of my favourite websites in the world. (You can also 'like' KBR on Facebook here, and follow us on Twitter here for all the updates).


Megan

At My House: From The Eyes Of A Toddler

Today I'm linking up with Buttons by Lou Lou's At My House...

I felt a bit bad at having such a boring week last week. We were home almost the whole time and we even missed playgroup because I was sick. And I felt bad about it for Abbey's sake. She must be bored, I thought. But then I got to thinking about how she might have seen the week...


So I'm handing my blog to Abbey (22 months) for the day, to share her week with you:

Wow, what a week! I played outside and watched our chickens for ages - I even patted them! - and I even collected an egg from them and Mum let me carry it inside and put it away! Taylor the dog gave me lots of kisses too, and that made me giggle. I built heaps of towers with my blocks and then - BANG! CRASH! - knocked them all over, and then Mum built some towers and I knocked them down before she could finish!

I learnt to throw myself on the ground, and kept doing it because it made Mum and Daddy laugh. And every time I did it I said 'WHOA!!' which was funny too! And I jumped so many times last week - I've only just started being able to get my feet off the ground when I do it - so it was fun to do that lots!

One of my uncles came over and I gave him heaps of high-fives and said things like 'WHOA!' and 'JUMP!' to make him laugh too. And I showed him the chickens and my pink gumboots! And we went to the park and I got to see some ducks! It was so much fun and I said 'Quack quack' over and over and over!

Nanna gave me a new book and Mum read it to me lots and lots of times and because it's about a birthday, I learnt to sing the happy birthday song! And then I'd blow out the candle in the book! And I watched Justine Clarke on TV a couple of times last week too, and I danced and sang the words. I even got to watch Play School one morning and I learnt to be a tree!

I also drew lots of pictures and, when I asked Mum to draw with me, she traced my hand! I thought that was funny, so I traced Mum's hand and then asked her to draw my hand again and again in lots of different colours!

And we went for a walk - I walked and held Mum's hand - and I saw more chickens and some cars and a train and a truck and a baby and some other people walking. Then I got tired and Mum gave me a piggy-back all the way home! That was so much fun, especially when she ran every time I said 'GO!' I couldn't stop laughing!

I did some gardening with Daddy too, and I climbed all over the mulch pile and rolled around in the dirt, and it was so much fun! I picked some lemons off the tree and gave them to Daddy and then I played with my trucks in the backyard. And Daddy pushed me on my swing, which I love!

(Megan again... See? Even the 'boring' day-to-day stuff is really exciting to a toddler!)


Megan Abbey

Word Of The Week

Abbey's Word of the Week this week is...

Help verb
Pronunciation: ope
With a mother who detests grunting noises, the word help must be adopted in order to maintain a happy household. Help means to abet, aid, assist or lend a hand. One's mother is always willing to do so when asked with this word.


Megan

Babies Love Books!

The Victorian Government is undertaking a campaign entitled 'Babies Love Books' as part of their Young Readers Program.

I'll be doing some blog posts about this, both here at Writing Out Loud and at Kids Book Review.

Because Tania McCartney and I both believe reading is such an important part of a child's life, you'll see Kids Book Review take part in this campaign over the coming week, in a number of ways:

Firstly, we'll give you all the information about the program.

Then, we will be interviewing the ambassadors of Babies Love Books!

You'll also see a number of baby book reviews appearing over the coming days, which we hope will give you some great ideas for reading to your little ones.

And, if that isn't enough, we also have a very special guest post about reading to little wrigglers!

In the meantime, if you're in Melbourne or the surrounding suburbs, you might like to attend one of the Babies Love Books author visits at a number of libraries:

Springvale Library, with Alison Lester
Monday July 12th, 2pm
411 Springvale Road, Springvale
P: 03 9238 1466

Frankston Library, with Alison Lester - ABBEY AND I ARE GOING TO THIS ONE!
Tuesday July 13th, 11am
60 Playne Street, Frankston
P: 03 9784 1020

Deer Park Library, with Jeannette Rowe
Thursday July 15th, 10.30am
Corner of Neale and Station Roads, Deer Park
P: 03 9249 4660

Sunbury Library, with Jeannette Rowe
Friday July 16th, 10am
44 Macedon St, Sunbury
P: 03 9356 6932


Megan

Nosy Neighbours

Quiet, friendly, non-chatty, distant, neat. Those are some of my favourite words to describe my ideal neighbours.

We have one set of neighbours just like that. They keep to themselves, they're quiet and when you see them in the street all you need to do is wave and smile. Perfect.

Then there are some not-so-perfect neighbours, like those who have parties every second weekend. That annoys me, but I can live with it. Or those who go outside their house to have their big arguments. It's just unfortunate that their preferred spot for yelling happens to be right outside my daughter's bedroom.

But the ones I find unbearable are the nosy ones.

The retired couple who live across the road from us are always home. That's fine, they're entitled to be there. But I, too, am almost always at home. And we happen to have big windows facing the street, where anyone passing by (not many; it's a quiet street) can see into our lounge room, dining room and kitchen. This was not a problem until these particular neighbours moved in.

They love to look into the windows of our house, and make no attempts to do this subtly.

One day, I was sitting at my dining room table, typing on my laptop. Abbey was sitting next to me, drawing. At one point I noticed she had stopped and was looking out the window, and she then began waving. I looked outside and there were the neighbours - standing in our front yard, waving to her. I got up and moved us to another room.

Another day, I was looking after my niece and playing with her and Abbey in the lounge room. We played cars and trains, we danced and we acted silly. When I looked outside, I was surprised to see the neighbours standing on the street, watching us and laughing. I closed the curtains.

The day after I had friends over for lunch last week, they came over as I was getting out of the car and asked what the event was and why we had so many people over. I told them, but what I really wanted to say was: 'Mind your own business'.

Maybe I'm the rude one here, but I really do prefer my neighbours to be of the smile-and-wave variety. I don't want to feel as though I should rush in from the car or avoid going outside when they are there, in fear of being bailed up in gossipy conversation for a length of time.

But I'm trying to be on my best behaviour. After all, as Steve likes to remind me, the nosy neighbours are the ones likely to notice if something goes wrong when we're away on holidays or out for the day.

There is nothing to be gained by upsetting them.

Except, of course, some peace and privacy.

What type of neighbour do you like? Do you have any neighbours that make you want to move to a very isolated, large block of land?


Megan

8PM

"The booking is for 8pm".

My eyes drooped and I yawned. "Tell me you're joking..." He shook his head. No.

Instead of a big party for my thirtieth, I had chosen to do two things: have a lunch with friends on the actual day, and go out for dinner with Steve on the Saturday night.

Any parents may understand the novelty factor here - having dinner alone! - and, for us, it was an extra exciting prospect given that Abbey would be having her first ever sleepover. Not only could we enjoy a night out together, we wouldn't have to rush home in fear of feeling guilty keeping a babysitter up too late AND we could sleep in the next morning.

Now that is a birthday treat.

Steve and I had decided to go somewhere really, really nice for dinner. We desperately wanted to avoid anywhere that we could have gone with Abbey - we wanted a very child-unfriendly restaurant - so we looked up various restaurants run by celebrity chefs and some top-name places (we're spoiled for choice in Melbourne), eventually settling on a well-known French restaurant in an inner suburb.

Steve rang to make the booking and, two weeks ahead of time they were already pushed to fit us in. They only had one time left. 8pm.

We are early eaters. 6pm is our dinnertime of choice. You might say that we have to eat earlier now that we have a child, but the truth is we always ate early. It's just something we like to do.

So, although I was looking forward to a night out, I was dreading eating at such a grown-up hour. I just hoped my stomach wouldn't rumble too loudly when we arrived.

In the end, 8pm was a perfect time. It gave us a chance to take Abbey to my parents' house, sit and have a chat, then come home and get ready without rushing. I might actually do dinner at 8pm again. One day.


Megan

Hump Day Happiness

I am once again joining in with the lovely Naomi's Hump Day Happiness theme at Under the Yardarm. This is the time of the week that we look at all the things making us smile.

It's been all about my birthday this week (in case you hadn't noticed. I mean, I've barely even mentioned it. Ahem.) so I've been smiling about...

Flowers - from my husband and some friends. Having bunches of bright, colourful, fresh flowers through the house really brightens your mood.

Cake, and lots of it.

Champagne. And lots of it.

Friends and family, who made my thirtieth birthday really special.

Steve, who spoilt me. As always. The gift of a diamond and a lovely dinner out also inspires me to take back calling him 'mean' last week. Oops.

Diamonds. Need I say more?

Abbey, who was just amazing on my birthday. Friends came over with their kids, and Abbey just played and played all day long. Nothing but happiness from her this week.


Megan

Retraining My Mind

My instinctual approach to writing fiction is to just do it. Minimal planning, allowing the characters and the plot to develop as I write.

Just one small problem: this can lead to dead-ends. One minute I'll be writing flat-out, the ideas flowing, and the next... nothing. I have no direction in which to take the plot that I've spent the last three weeks working on.

My first fiction manuscript fell to the wayside. For the last few weeks, anyway. I still feel as though the idea has some merit, but I needed a rest from it and, now, some ideas to rejuvenate it are beginning to come to me. In the same way that, when you least expect it, the answer to a question that's been bugging you appears in your mind, the answer to my manuscript problems are coming to me as I'm distracted with other projects.

And so, I am about to begin working on the manuscript again.

This is a junior fiction novel, because I love the idea of writing for that age group.

And I'm trying out a new approach.

As the ideas spring to my mind, I have resisted my urge to go straight to my computer to write. Instead, I picked up a notepad and pen and jotted down some notes - characters, plot ideas, sub-plots, settings and perspectives.

More and more ideas are coming to me each day, and I continue to jot them down in my notepad. I'm waiting for the 'click' of the story to happen once again - I think this will be the moment I feel I know the characters and how I want the story focused.

I then intend to write the synopsis and, if it sounds like I can turn the idea and characters into something great, I will do some chapter outlines and really plan out the main foundations of my plot. Then - and only then - will I begin rewriting the story.

This time, I'm turning to the instinct I have for all other areas of my life other than my writing: planning and organisation.

I'll keep you posted!

Megan

Published

Amongst all the birthday celebrations last week, I failed to mention another momentous occasion in my life.

My first ever published article!

(Excuse me while I go to look in the magazine for the millionth time, read the line 'As written by Megan Blandford' and squeal with excitement. Okay, now I'm back.)

If you're in Melbourne, grab a copy of the July Melbourne's Child magazine - the toddler issue - (it's free - email them to find your nearest stockist) and turn to page 23 to find a little article I wrote about tantrums, sleeping and envying other parents.

I believe the magazine is similar in other states (Sydney's Child, Brisbane's Child, etc.). Fingers crossed, anyway!

You know, I could really become used to seeing my name in print...

Megan

Introducing... The Chooks!

This post is linked up with FatMumSlim's weekly Point and Shoot event.

Over the weekend, we got ourselves some chickens. This has been a plan of ours for a while, and Steve has been busy building the chicken coop, which he finished late last week.

We now have three new members of our household (or backyard, really) who are becoming acquainted with the three of us humans and Taylor, our dog. We have named them as any chooks should be named - very originally. The white one is called Foggy (the breed is a Leghorn, so of course our first thought was of Foghorn Leghorn from the old cartoons!) and the two brown ones are Buck and Buck Buck.

Yep, I know.

We were told it could take them a couple of weeks to settle in and begin laying eggs. I think it was proof that they're settling in well when one laid her first egg for us yesterday. It was so exciting to go down the back with Abbey in the morning and find a fresh, warm egg waiting there for us to collect - the beginning of a new morning routine.


Megan

Word Of The Week

Welcome to a new type of post here at Writing Out Loud! I've written before (here) about encouraging my daughter, Abbey - now just shy of twenty-two months - to use her words instead of the more common toddler manner of communication (AKA the grunt).

I thought it would be fun to share with you her most often used word each week, because there is nothing a toddler does better than repetition or interesting use of their limited vocabulary.

So, without further ado, I bring you Abbey's Word of the Week...

Okay or OK adjective (informal)
Pronunciation: ah-day
Originating from a mother's over-use of the word where it is commonly used to express something being adequate or so-so. Used in this instance as an enthusiastic expression, eg. when one is nagging one's mother for something and said mother finally understands and repeats the request, one calms down and says casually, okay, as though one never really cared about it after all.


Megan

Cook, Share: Baileys Cheesecake

This has to be one of my all-time favourite cakes.

As part of all the baking I did for my birthday this week, I made this and everyone who came to lunch loved it. So, when I was eating a leftover piece yesterday and tweeted, 'Is there anything in life better than Baileys cheesecake? No. There is not.' and the lovely Jane replied with a request for the recipe, I thought I should share it around...

250g Chocolate Ripple biscuits, crushed
75g butter, melted
3 teaspoons gelatine
¼ cup water
500g cream cheese
¾ cup caster sugar
300ml cream
1/3 cup Baileys Irish Cream liqueur
2 egg whites

Combine crushed biscuits and butter, and press the mixture evenly over the base of a 24cm springform tin
Refrigerate for 30 minutes or until firm
Sprinkle gelatine over the water in a small glass jug. Stand the jug in a small saucepan of simmering water and stir until gelatine dissolves
Cool for 5 minutes
Beat cream cheese and sugar with an electric mixer until smooth
Add cream and beat until thickened
Stir in gelatine and liqueur
Beat egg whites in a clean bowl until soft peaks form, and fold into the cheesecake mixture
Pour mixture over the biscuit base and smooth the top
Cover and refrigerate for 4 hours or until firm
Grate chocolate shavings over the cake to serve

Enjoy!


Megan

My Birthday Wrap Up

Awoken at 6am by toddler who usually sleeps much later. Thanks for the birthday surprise, my darling. Actually happy to be awake though, because now I get my present from husband who leaves for work soon.

Amazing surprise! A beautiful bunch of flowers with a little jeweller's box sitting underneath. Open it up: a diamond necklace. Be still my beating heart.

Next - finish baking for the lunch I'm having for some friends. On the menu: homemade beetroot dip and hummus with fresh crusty bread, lemon and mint prawns, sushi rolls, three-cheese tart and roast pumpkin salad, followed by Baileys cheesecake and lemon tart.

Friends arrive. Pop open the champagne and wine, serve food and chat.

One friend stays for another bottle - or two - and ate more cake and talked. Her husband arrives with pizza. Chat some more.

What a wonderful day, filled with family, friendship, flowers, cake, champagne and diamonds. Thank you to everyone who helped me celebrate my 30th birthday! And thank you to all those who left me lovely messages online! xx

Now to look forward to a lovely dinner out on Saturday night with my gorgeous husband (Abbey is having her first sleepover at her Nanna and Grandad's house!).

Megan

Thirty

Today, I turn 30.

And I'm feeling reflective, so please bear with me here as I ponder my life...

As a teenager, I had my life mapped out. I would finish school, go to university, then spend a year in London. My twenties would be spent living the glamourous single life, travelling the world and working in an amazing career. I would live either by myself or with a couple of friends, and we'd all hit the town every weekend. Then, in my thirties, I would 'settle down'. I'd get married, have some kids and live a quieter, more domestic life. I hadn't thought past that - as a teenager, thinking past thirty is incomprehensible.

The reality of my life has been somewhat different. Yes, I finished school and went to university (although I dropped out after one semester, I went back later and studied another course - so I got there in the end). I had my career (I wouldn't call it an 'amazing' one but it was a good career nonetheless) but I was officially jaded with the corporate world by the age of twenty-eight.

In my personal life, my plans took an unexpected turn. I met Steve when I was eighteen, and by the time I was at the age I had planned to be hitting the town and living overseas, I found I was too much in love. And I was more than happy to stay here with him and plan for our future. By the age of twenty, we had bought our house and we were engaged to be married. We were married when I was twenty-two. Abbey was born when I was twenty-eight.

I travelled in my twenties - with Steve, I went to London, Paris, Italy, Switzerland, Croatia, Vienna, the Cook Islands, Fiji, Samoa, Central Australia and Tasmania, as well as lots of camping trips around Victoria. I had planned to see much more of the world by the time I reached thirty, but I'm excited about doing it all in my thirties, forties and beyond.

Now, at thirty, I find it interesting to look at how my life is playing out. And I've realised that planning everything out is ridiculous, as I see all the things I would have missed out on if I'd stuck to my stringent plans. Now I know that it doesn't matter so much what you're doing, as long as you're happy doing it.

So, instead of plans, here are my hopes for my thirties:

I hope to be as happy during this next decade as I am right now. I've reached a point where I can say, 'I'm happy' without qualifying it with an 'if' or a 'but'. I hope to stay that way.

I hope I have another child and spend my thirties raising my children and being the best mother and wife I can be.

I hope that, as a family, we can travel lots more. Around Australia, overseas - anywhere, as long as we're together and seeing and learning new things.

I hope that I can continue writing and forge a career out of doing what I love.

I have a great feeling about my thirties.

Also wishing Emily a very happy birthday today! xx


Megan