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DIY – A Winter Playroom without the Reno Budget

April 27, 2016
By: Melissa

Our back door opens to a flat concrete patio complete with roof, the perfect spot to enclose for winter play with the addition of two sides of roll-up PVC blinds. I can see it now……

That’s on the wish list.

A very rainy first weekend of the school holidays was a sign – it was time for action.

With no funds for an extension, a reno or just those roller blinds ( Lotto wth?), I figured I had to get creative with what we have. Move over mower, it’s garage time.

We don’t actually use our garage for its intended purpose, that is, no car has ever been parked in there. That would be weird right???

Pro tip > If you’re thinking about checking the suitability of your own little concrete den for a playroom transformation, I’d totally recommend actually scoping out the space before hand.

Not me. I just dived right in and went shopping.

With Nixon.

In the pouring rain.

Once environmental factors had been taken under consideration (torrential rain!) it was obvious that this was going to be a one-stop-shop affair, so Nix and I headed to The Warehouse where I was pretty sure I could find most things on the Pinterest board that existed only in my head.

I was right thank goodness, we found everything we needed at #thewarehousenz…….and maybe some things we just ‘wanted’ oops!

Pro tip > It actually might help to curate a Playroom Pinterest board! I’ve made one for you to give you some inspo, check it out here!

Start from the ground up

You can’t hang out in your garage during winter on a concrete floor. I wanted something thick, hardwearing and that didn’t look too out of place in a garage. Jute is perfect for the job, helping to blur the lines between trying to put an indoor space in an external garage lol. There were probably 5 rugs I was agonising over but I was so pumped at finding the large Jute rug one first, so I took it as a sign!

Furniture

I wanted two seating options, one for Nix and one for Big People. I wasn’t planning on a Paw Patrol Moon Chair tbh, but if you saw his little face when he spotted it……..anyway, it’s in the garage, he loves it and I LOVE my styley, geometric beanbag. Our wifi reaches to the garage so Dave and I have a comfy spot to sit and work while Nix paints and plays.

An easel has been on Nix’s wishlist for a while so I really couldn’t deny his artistic expression any longer (considering I was putting together a messy play area!). It was another ‘AHA’ moment when I found the Kids Caboodle Whiteboard/Easel combo in the furniture department. Many I’ve looked at are very lightweight and flimsy – Nix would knock these over in a flash, cue the end of painting! There was also a matching shelving unit with lots of little coloured boxes for DVD and book storage which has been fully utilised already!

Add in a plastic kids table for arts and crafts and a heavy duty storage rack for ALL the toys I’m going to be moving out of the house and I was finished in the furniture department.

Time to Decorate!

Let’s face it, it’s a garage, there’s only so much you can do!

I used a vintage sheet to cover up some ‘garage-y stuff’, hung some cahh-yoot Frozen bunting and whacked some nails in the beams to hang some banners I spotted in the Homewares department. On trend and at the right price, these are perfect for any kids space. Don’t forget a snuggly throw for watching movies or reading on the bean bag!

Add the Fun

New Zealand's Top Mummy Blogger DIY Playroom No messy playroom would be complete without Kinetic Sand, Paints, Markers and a BIG cardboard play shop that you can DRAW ON!!! Found on clearance for $10.48!!!! How could you not?? Nix was freaking out when I assembled it, it’s definitely his favourite part of the whole playroom.

We were storing an entertainment unit and a little TV in the garage so I picked up a baby DVD player for $39 WHAAATT?!? Couldn’t believe that one, cue #bargainfeeling! So now on yucky days, one or both of the boys can head out to the garage and chill out with Doc McStuffins or Star Wars.

End result? We freaking LOVE this little corner of the garage! It’s so nice to have created a usable space without taking out another mortgage. We’ve combined unused items we already owned with some key new pieces and a little re-organization and voila! At least one corner of our garage is totally awesome and ready for school holiday fun.

If you’re looking to grab any of these playroom essentials, I shopped three main categories at The Warehouse for this little project;

Or, check out my Pinterest Board for all shopping details and please share if you decide to tackle a Bargain Playroom at your house!

This post was made possible by our friends at The Warehouse.

Rugby | Dear Rochelle and Eljae

April 24, 2016
By: Melissa

For 6 years now Ethan has played rugby for our local club. We have lived, breathed and loved rugby each winter for each of those years and look forward to doing it all over again with Nixon – god help us!

E missed his first game ever as we prepared for my Dad’s funeral the next day. Every freezing, wet Saturday since, I have sadly remembered that Dad never got to see how wonderfully perfect Ethan is for the game, or just how perfect the game is for him.

The road to J1 has not been all tackles and tries however. You’re probably aware by now that Dave and I knock out some spectacularly sized kids. Epic, bouncing boys full of vim and vigour, boys literally BORN to get in the scrum and celebrate their imminent cauliflower ears with all the forwards that have gone before them.

Ethan is now the youngest member of his J1 team. For those uninitiated in the terminology of Junior Club rugger, J1 is the last grade kids play in before they head off to play rugby at high school. J1 is the catch-all, business end of one’s Junior Rugby Career. Some kids will never play J1, it’s a tough grade full of big boys that know what they’re doing and want to put their growing testosterone reservoirs to the test each week.

Every season, for 6 years he has been the youngest member of his team. Every year for 6 years he has had to move up a grade, never to spend more than one season honing his skills before he had to move up to play with the older, potentially bigger boys.

Why? Ethan IS one of the bigger boys. Not so much so that you would snigger (unless you’re his age and bad mannered as many of his school peers and team-mates have been or obviously a judgemental parent in Manurewa!), but, heavy enough that the annual pre-season weigh-ins have been fraught with tears and angst, worry and self-doubt and words of self-deprecation that I never imagined I would hear from my brilliant, smart, socially LOVED little boy. Those fucking scales and the heavy burden of conformity they represent are the one dark spot on a sport our family loves so much.

Get off your soapbox for a second, I can see you all getting riled up. I’m not naive. There are very reasonable and sensical safety reasons for a grading system in a contact sport to be based upon a combination of weight and age. That is not what I’m taking issue with……..entirely. What I am saying, is that every participant of said contact sport (whether as player or sideline expert aka Mum/Dad), should be aware of the social and mental implications of grading CHILDREN based upon their WEIGHT.

Stop for a second and imagine if a predominantly female sport was graded in such a way. Would society even allow it?

I doubt it.

But my son, from the age of 5, has had to bravely get on a scale twice a season, in front of strangers AND his peers and be judged on his body before he is able to play the sport he loves. His strong, powerful, absolutely magnificent body that’s also 3 kilos too heavy to be allowed to play rugby for his intermediate school. WTF.

Can you imagine what that feels like? You are brand new at a school 5 times the size of the rural primary school you attended. You figure out where and when the rugby weigh-ins are, steel yourself to get there on time (the Year 7 equivalent of navigating across Auckland at rush hour without a map when you’re from Finland), only to get on the scales and be told ‘too heavy’.

End of story.

I’m on the committee at our local rugby club. During registration, every child must be weighed in. Earlier this year I cried with a boy of 10 when he was informed that to play in the grade best suited to his age and ability, he would be ‘Red Socks’. Aside from his size, he had a new identifying factor that would further alienate him from the rest of his insensitive peers – he would be wearing red socks every game to identify that he was an ‘overweight’ player, his official title “Special”.

No shit. He’d probably known that most of his life. As a veteran team manager, I’ve been there each season with boys and their families as weigh-in approaches. Some boys diet (CHILDREN DIETING, think about that p l e a s e?), some put their heads in the sand and say “well, it is what it is” and they bravely swallow the red socks and get on with it. But for all it hurts. I’m fighting tears as I type this because you just can’t imagine what it’s like to see your beloved son get on a scale with fear in his eyes, when he is actually the very best little boy he can be. When he is just SO right for the position he plays in his team that you, your coach and any damn laymen that knows anything about rugby would agree.

Our national sport, that one that heaps adulation upon the big, the strong, the downright giant elite players, is totally fine with telling an 11 year old that he is 3 kilos to heavy to participate in his chosen sport at school. What kind of kids do you want in the front row? If it’s not Ethan and others like him than I think we’ve all been barking up the wrong tree for a while now and should move on to greco-wrestling or something with a little less mud and laundry.

Junior rugby is a sport that, much like education in new Zealand, is skewed to the lowest common denominator – in this instance, it’s weight. When I woke up this morning to see my Facebook feed awash with the viral post of Rochelle Mara, a mother from Manurewa eloquently sticking it to some asshat parents on the sideline of her son’s rugby game, the pain of every boy who didn’t fit the ‘mould’ in my teams over the past 6 years came rushing back.

Boys that are big, bigger than your son, bigger than your husband even! These are EXACTLY the boys who should be playing rugby. These are the boys whom we should be supporting and cheering on, the boys who should feel like they’ve found a home within their club, within their team and on that field. Rugby should be welcoming these children and saying ‘you have a place here’, you belong and we want you. Whether you’re 3kg’s too heavy or not.

The system is what it is, and playing tackle can be dangerous if there is a huge weight disparity. I’m not arguing that point as I don’t have an alternative solution to ensure everyone can enjoy rugby safely, but there is no excuse for being an asshole! Boys bodies’ deserve as much respect as their female peers.

Eljae and Rochelle you two are rockstars, I don’t know what else to say but that I get it. There are many of us that get it. You will kick this season’s ass and be playing like a man possessed by the end of the season I’m sure. And if you don’t? Then massive ups for having the balls to get on that scale and get on the field.

Have some fucking manners people and remember to be human once in a while mmmmkay?

Personal Tech | The app that changes how you view skin health

April 19, 2016
By: Melissa

If you grew up in New Zealand like me, the Slip Slop Slap message became as much a part of summer as jandals and Coppertone.

So much so that we all pretty much tuned it out.

I was born in the late seventies to hardworking parents who lived for the weekends when we could all head to the beach or out on the boat. Maximising our hours in the sun was our number one goal. The only time I remember wearing sunscreen was when fluorescent zinc was in fashion for five minutes in the eighties lol.

I never saw my Dad, a marine engineer, apply sunscreen.

He died of melanoma at age 56. Five years ago, nine months after diagnosis.

Since then, my job as a mother has a new onus – to protect my boys from ever getting sunburnt. Ever.

The thing with melanoma is, there are often very visible signs that things are not as they should be. The difficulty in diagnosis lies in monitoring visible changes in our skin with accurate record keeping and analysis. This is both costly and very hard to implement.

Until now.

New Zealand's Top Mummy Blogger Melanoma App This week I downloaded the SkinVision app. It’s the first of its kind, a revolutionary tool native to our ever-present smartphones that provides simple to use, instant melanoma risk assessment of any mole whilst creating an easy to use archive of photos. I’ve created folders for every member of our family so I can snap suspect moles and archive the images for comparison each month (I’ve also set ongoing calendar reminders to take new images!). Creating a routine is just as important for melanoma detection and prevention as it is with breast cancer.

To be clear though, SkinVision is not a diagnostic tool, it assesses the risk of skin lesions and provides recommendations based on analysis of the image procured from the app. With an accuracy rate of roughly 80% for identifying melanoma skin cancer (www.stuff.co.nz, 6.4.16), SkinVision has positioned itself comfortably between the diagnosis rate of GP’s and dermatologists – a rate that sits very well with me.

I’ve had my skin mapped so am familiar with the process and was impressed with how similar the imaging from SkinVision was. My skin is dodgy as – obviously there is a high chance that there is a genetic risk factor for melanoma in our family. I’m covered in moles and there are more appearing all the time so having access to risk assessment technology that I trust is invaluable to both myself and our family.

These are screen-grabs of my SkinVision app. Unfortunately I have many, many high-risk moles, some of which are very small, so it would be super easy to overlook them. See that ‘send to doctor’ button? How cool is that! No more procrastinating!

What you need to know about SkinVision

SkinVision will help you spot a suspicious mole on yourself or on a family member or friend
It’s free to download (click here) and includes a 1 month trial period
Easy to manage archive of images for ongoing self monitoring
UV index included in app + tailored info around your personal risk and skin type
It does not diagnose melanoma. It assesses the risk of each mole developing melanoma and makes recommendations based upon this risk (it has an 80% accuracy rate and has been downloaded over 50k times in New Zealand alone!)

For me the value in this app was only realised after I began to use it. Discovering medium and high risk moles was the wake-up call that I needed to take ownership of my skin health and my family history with melanoma.

I urge you to try SkinVision, it costs nothing to download and will change the way you think about the risk we all face against melanoma.

I am SO happy to be able to offer SEVEN of you the chance to win a SkinVision annual plan! To enter just leave me a comment below. Competition closes 27.4.16.

Parenting Fail: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday…………….Friday

April 11, 2016
By: Melissa

When one day of the week is just soooooo bad it’s best to just pretend it never happened.

Eventually though, enough days will pass and you’ll be able to look back and recall all of the stabby details without wanting to smash a hole in the wall. Then, friends, it’s time to blog about it.

I should have realised that the gods had it in for me quite early on Thursday morning, but the first ordeal – getting Nixon in the truck for swimming lessons – arrived earlier than expected. I had no chance to fully activate all of my (limited) faculties before the first tantrum hit. We eventually gone on the road, 10 minutes late, with Nix still in his pajamas. Zero fucks given at this point. Was so close to packing it in and staying home but once we were on the motorway I prematurely gave myself a smug little pat on the back.

This moment of triumph was short-lived when I realised we had arrived at the pool with no towels.

WTF.

Towels borrowed, lesson complete, Nix and I were completing the god-awful changing room shuffle when the baby next to us power-spewed all over the floor. A milk/chlorine power-spew. After I acclimated to the smell I realised that no-one in the changing room had offered to help the poor spew-mum, in fact I’ve never seen the Mummy and bub duos vacate the changing rooms so quickly. Women were literally running to their cars barefoot and braless!

Nixon was quite entertained marvelling at the spew and narrating (at volume) the post-spew movements of his classmate so I stepped in, offered my assistance and went to get help with the cleanup.

We got back home and everything muddled along quite well until the after school shift began. E came home in a particularly defiant mood that rapidly escalated into a full blown showdown complete with “I’m never talking to you again”, “You don’t want me to be happy”, “You don’t care about anything I do” and “You just say NO to everything!”. I gave up and vacated to the yard with Nix where we spent the rest of the daylight hours jumping on the tramp and driving trucks in the dirt. There’s actually no ~~arguing~~ reasoning with my angry tweenager right now. He’s so pumped full of testosterone that anything you say in the throes of a discussion just translates to him as ‘I’m going to take away all of your shit and make your life as miserable as I can’.

The only technique I have for dealing with him is to let him cool off, think about what he’s said and occasionally he might apologise. What’s got him on a knife-edge right now is the xBox game we ‘mutually’ removed from circulation a couple of weeks ago (catch up on that here).

He wants it back. And quite frankly I’m sick of hearing about it. So, this weekend we re-negotiated the terms of the game’s release and the situation is being ‘monitored’.

Anyway. Back to Thursday.

Scene: Nixon and myself – good times – escaping yelling older son by playing in the garden.

Sun disappears, it gets cold. It’s time for dinner. Then it was all on. Nixon wanted no part of;

Coming inside
Eating dinner
Taking a shower
Going to bed

Cue massive, violent, extremely vocal tantrum. Outside. Nixon is huge. 18+ kilograms of thrashing toddler-superhuman that wants nothing more than to exert his will over mine. The only way I can safely move him in the state he was in without losing massive clumps of hair or an ear, is to hoist him under my arm and carry him face down like a canoe on my hip. Leave him outside you say? The volume of our youngest son is equal to his impressive bulk. Our neighbours can’t (and shouldn’t have to) handle an un-muffled Nixon tanty that had the potential to go on for at least 30 minutes.

So this went on and on and eventually resulted in a UFC-style knee to my jaw. At speed.

Much like my exit to our bedroom where I shut the door and cried for an hour. I had nothing left in the tank.

I can usually handle one of the boys giving me hell, but on that day, back-to-back tantrums at 11/10 on the meltdown scale just ruined me. Now, as I read back over this post I think “pffttttt, it doesn’t even sound that bad. You are a LAME mother Melissa”.

It was bad though. And it placed me firmly at the end of my rope leaving Dave and my Mum to pick up the pieces, feed the boys and get Nixon ready for bed. Failing to cope with my own kids left me with an all too familiar, despondent feeling that I was unable to shake for a couple of days.

With some perspective, I’ve thought hard about some different tactics to employ with each of the boys but, they don’t call it The Witching Hour for nothing right? Every day at 5pm I feel a little nervous…………….

Auckland City Limits – The Main Event

April 2, 2016
By: Melissa

New Zealand's Top Mummy Blogger Auckland City Limits Review

Ladyhawke – new material on point. Killer live set

The first Auckland City Limits Festival has been and gone and dealt an undisputed smackdown to the New Zealand festival scene.

Organiser Campbell Smith successfully pulled off an event that was everything Big Day Out could only dream about. The Western Springs location was central and easily accessible, parking was non-existent but those I spoke to who had been using the festival transport reported it being easy, quick and totally do-able. Dave and I have friends living within walking distance of the stadium so we used and abused them for their marvellous parking on the day (taking Nixon to Auckland Kiddie Limits earlier in the day would have been much more difficult without this little perk truth be told).

This was a very Grown-Up, well behaved festival.

There was plenty of;

Green space
Amazing acts
Seating
Bras with too many straps
Open air
Curious corners to explore and enjoy.
Top notch eateries
Ass cheeks hanging out of short shorts
Lines for dinner
Lines for drinks
Lines to make cash upon returning festival Globelets
Boring people in the VIP area

There was a distinct lack of;

Wasted teens (YUS!)
Wasted old people – I tried but the lines were too long
Rubbish, there were people cleaning up all day, plus I think the punters were generally tidy kiwis

There was such a friendly, mellow feeling that the queues for beer and food were totally forgiven. We were somewhat lucky in that if things got desperate we were able to moonlight in the VIP area where the drinks were full strength and you didn’t have to wait to be served. But this area was so far removed from the action it was positively painful. Set beautifully in the grounds of MOTAT it was picturesque but when we were there we just wanted to finish our drinks quick-smart so we could get back to the action. Being able to see at least one stage or any part of the festival would be a vast improvement for the special people with cash to burn.

Obviously it wasn’t humanly possible to catch all of the acts but as soon as the lineup was announced, Dave and I had a pretty decent idea of what was non-negotiable for us.

Who we saw and what we honestly thought of them;

Ladyhawke – Obviously a crowd fave and rightfully so. She killed it with a pumping set, no BS and zero pretentiousness. Loved it.
Broods – Yawn yawn yawn. I love their music (I have 2 songs on my running playlist even) but gawd they are boring live. Totally misplaced on the large Spark 2 stage. Bad scheduling here.
Action Bronson – Holy shit. Wasn’t expecting to LOVE this set! He finished 10 minutes early (maybe he needed a nap after smoking that huge blunt?) but all is forgiven as he totally brought rap back to me in spades. Seriously brilliant performance.
The Naked & Famous – Cute and kiwi. That’s all I have to say really. Should have been on the smaller V Energy stage.
The Phoenix Foundation – Brilliant. Profesh but totally unassuming and endearing. Perfect sound, stayed and enjoyed the whole set. Rocked it, should have been in the big arena instead of boring Broods or NAF.
Cold War Kids – Holy Shit #2. So much energy, amazing, rocked-out set and catalogue. These guys have been around forever (we were listening to them when I was preggo with E 11 years ago) and it shows. Total professionals but still indie enough to be cool. Big mistake to not stay for the whole set.
Girl Talk – We caught the end of this set, drawn in by the WTF nature of the mash-ups we were hearing. The most nutty stage set of the day with huge inflatable props, a massive on-stage crew and seriously good jams. We were most intrigued!
The National – Another band I really love but just felt they were soooo staid and low-key on stage. Couldn’t get into it at all, but should have stayed longer to avoid the cacophony of Shapeshifter.
Shapeshifter – Can we be done with these guys yet? Too loud, every song sounds the same and lasts for 10 minutes. Couldn’t wait for it to be over.
Modest Mouse – This was who we came to see tbh. It was our third time seeing them play in concert but we were no less stoked then if it was our first. I may even have blinked back tears of joy at being in the pit, able to take photos of the band that has played such a massive role in our lives over the years. The sound was pretty bad, there were obv some issues but I blame that entirely on everyone being deafened by Shapeshifter who played right before. It was a surprising set with the full band (or the fullest I’ve ever seen) playing and a great mix of their newer material and old stunners. No Kendrick Lamar for us, I’m sure there are 1709 other reviews you can read about his performance.

10/10 day. Loved it. Will be back at Auckland City Limits next year no question. The systems in place such as the cashless wristbands worked perfectly, the recyclable Globelets are a stroke of eco-friendly genius, however the returns tent needed to be placed far away from main thoroughfares to avoid congestion. Such a coup for Aucks, Smith has curated a world class festival with rock solid experience and some thinking out of the box. Everything was geared towards maximum punter comfort and experience.

Bravo Auckland City Limits, we love you!

Georgia from Broods……..zzzzzzzzzzzz

Action Bronson – fucking genius

Phoenix Foundation – 1st time seeing them live, loved them

Cold War Kids – One of the stand-outs

Modest Mouse. The End.

The Tween Years | Fighting the Good Fight – but still losing

March 23, 2016
By: Melissa

So today whilst Nixon was throwing an almighty tantrum because I wouldn’t let him pick up the dog shit with me (I really am doing this parenting thing all wrong aren’t I?), and I was ruminating on how I was going to create a calm, non-combative environment for the after school session with Ethan (yeah right!), I was reminded of a fellow blogger’s description of the post-primary school years of parenting. Simone who writes at Great Fun Etc wrote an awesome post titled, “Parenting at the Pointy End” which I’ve been thinking about a lot. The title is just so damn catchy plus she hit a bit of a raw nerve as almost every day with our 11yo feels like someone is stabbing me in the ass with a large pointy stick. Over and over and over. Every day.

We’re struggling and fighting and banning shit and yelling. I even mentioned boarding school on Sunday – yeah, that old chestnut.

Obviously there’s massive hormone-stuff going on right now, there’s a nut-bar of a toddler in the house who totally runs the place (his rule is fast coming to an end btw) + there’s a lot of coming and going and general chaos in our house as we all lead very full lives. This is also ‘under review’.

But, I’m still not willing to accept that the current state of non-compliance is the new status quo. I’m trying to create a calm, face-to-face afternoon tea time when E arrives home off the bus; food ready, a cold drink, no devices within reach (I know he’ll go straight for the food if it’s waiting for him), a quiet chat about his day………….

He totally hates these afternoon catch-ups I’m sure but hopefully it sets a better tone for the evening than me yelling at him to make something decent to eat over the roar of the vacuum and Nixie screaming for more food – the two of them never stop eating! After a familiar argument this evening regarding attitude and anger, Dave and I sat down and listened to E. We asked him questions in a way that we hoped would help him see that his ‘entire life’ did not suck, there were mainly 1 or 2 key things that seemed to be behind a lot of the conflict.

Look, pandering to the whims of an 11 year old is not exactly how I like to parent, BUT, everyone deserves to be listened to and their grievances taken on-board whether others consider them legitimate or not – this is not pandering, it’s showing respect to your kids. We needed to show E that we care (of course we do!) about his feelings and emotions, and that whatever those emotions are, they are valid. He may, however, need to find a more conducive way to express them to us.

We also identified that there is one XBox One game in particular that seems to raise his aggression/anger levels through the roof. God I hate that console. We decided that rather than banning him from the XBox completely (even with time constraints it still causes a lot of tension and arguments between Ethan and his Dad and I), we remove the offending game and see if there’s any improvement in E’s behavior surrounding his allocated game time. Surprisingly he agreed to this without a second thought, which makes me think he already knows the ‘obsession’ with this particular game could be causing some of our problems.

Aside from that I’m out of ideas. All I know is that we need to put a rapid cool on emotions that have been running a little too hot in our house. Ethan and I can push each other’s buttons in a heartbeat and then it’s all on – and the whole house suffers.

I would love to hear your thoughts or frustrations if you’re dealing with anything similar in your households.

Adulting is h a r d, who listens to my grievances? YOU GUYS lol.

Sorry about that : )

Powering Off and Switching on as a Family

March 7, 2016
By: Melissa

Reigning in our family’s screen time has been high on my list of priorities over the last six months since it has become apparent that little-big Nixon was seemingly getting as attached to his ‘iPad’ as the rest of us are to our phones and devices.

But, to be honest, those lovely (?) screens are a crutch that we seem to be using more and more. I freaking LOVE my phone but now that it is seemingly an extension of my arm as both the blogger tool-of-the-trade and the source of much entertainment, it might be time to really take stock of how much power our devices are yielding within our family.

There are screens everywhere in our house. Total first-world problem I know and I’m almost ashamed to admit that the house is positively littered with electronic devices capable of watching videos of grown-ass men opening toys on YouTube at any given time!

And this is the stuff my kids watch.

So. It’s about time Dave and I pull our heads out of the sand and wrest back some time and energy from our collective phones, iPads, Laptops, Chromebooks, tablets and iMacs. Time that would be much better spent on any one of 10,000 things than beating another level in Candy Crush.

I love my phone but I love my family MORE.

Obviously right? I mean we all do. The problem is that despite our very best intentions, societal norms have changed as have our expectations of how/when/with whom we use our devices and what is acceptable on our ‘down’ time – that time not spent at work or school. Eight years ago I remember worrying about whether or not I was addicted to the internet because I checked my email more than once a day!!!

Can you even? How laughable is that by today’s standards lol?

So. This month, on the weekend of the 19-20th of March, The Jacks (that’s us FYI) are making a pledge; I’m signing all of us up for 24 hours of device free time along with thousands of other kiwi families in an effort to put the fab back in our family. That’s what the Hyundai Power Off/Family On campaign is all about; sign up online and pledge to power off for a few hours or the full 48, it’s up to you. Because family roadies are one of New Zealand families favourite ‘do-it-together’ past-times, all who register to Power Off online go in the draw to win one of 100 x $100 fuel vouchers to help get the crew on the road and off the couch!

Check us out wearing our Power Off badges which you can pick up at your local Hyundai dealership!

Sounds awesome right? Get the kids onboard (or don’t and just surprise them lol) and register online NOW!

I plan on making the most of the lovely Autumn weather and getting the kids into the bush and out on the beach for a picnic dinner.

Share what you plan on doing with all of your device-free time over the Hyundai Power Off/Family On weekend below and enter to win a $100 MTA Gift Card to kick off your own amazing adventures!

On the Water with Jetstar & Avonside Girls High School Dragon Boat team

February 22, 2016
By: Melissa

It’s that time again! The latest recipients of Jetstar’s Flying Start grant were announced yesterday in the New Zealand Herald as the Avonside Girls High School Dragon Boat team. The girls have held the competition at bay for the past two years, holding on to their national title despite the obvious hardships and handicaps that come with living in quake damaged Christchurch.

The girls are hitting the road – or more accurately, the skies – in April, heading to Adelaide to compete in the Club Crew World Dragon Boating Championships. The logistics and financial commitment required to transport and accomodate the 26 girls from Year 12 and 13 are immense. The team had raised about 20k of the $50,000 needed for the trip and now, with the help of the Flying Start grant ($15,000 cash and $15,000 worth of flights) they are able to focus on their prep and do what they do best – win!

I chatted with two members of the girl’s support team, Coach Evan Roper and the fab mum who nominated the team for the grant, Nikki, about what this opportunity means to the team and wider community.

1. How did you announce the news to everyone? I imagine it was VERY loud with lots of #SQUEE!

Nikki – Yes, I let Grant (Head of NZ Jetstar) do the honors. After gathering the girls around, I admitted to them that we had lied to them and that they were not there for a photo shoot for a ‘small local rag’ – which is what we had told them. I then introduced Grant and Phil. Grant told the girls about what the grant was and that they had made the short list. He then paused and said “sorry, I’ve lied to you too – you have actually won”. The girls squealed, screamed, cried, high fived and hugged each other – as did the other coach and some of the parents that were there (who of course did not know either). Grant was then treated to some dragon chanting – very loud – and even a wee trip in the boat, where they introduced him to their “side to side” chant (that includes tipping the boat from side to side).

2. What does the Jetstar Flying Start Grant mean for the team?

Evan – The cost to send the team of 28 to Adelaide is close to $50,000. Breaking that down to an individual cost of around $2,200 per student. The families of the girls who attend Avonside would generally not have a spare $2,000 to pay for their daughters trip. The only way this venture was going to be possible was with a tremendous amount of fundraising. The parents of the girls in the team have been tremendously supportive and inventive with fundraising ideas. They have sold wine, pies, frozen fish fillets. There have been sausage sizzles at Bunnings, car washes, quiz nights, stock taking nights for the Warehouse and raffles. The parents are manning food stalls at the 5 regattas that are held locally and at the finish line of the Coast to Coast event. One parent, Rhys Pocklington, who has twin daughters in the team, (Emma and Shannon) owns a car yard. He has generously offered some sponsorship for the team. The photo of the team shows them wearing the travelling tops that have his motor vehicle company name on the back of the top. (Black and White Motor vehicle Company). He has also bought a tent for the team to use at local regattas, again with his signage on it, and is paying the girls to clean the cars in the car yard twice a week. The girls have divided themselves into groups and undertake this work on a rostered basis.

Winning the Jetstar Flying Start Grant has been of HUGE benefit to our fundraising efforts. The amount of the grant, coupled with the fundraising efforts undertaken so far, will mean that the families of the daughters will not have to pay out much money at all from their own bank accounts when we head away to Adelaide.

The pressure of needing to raise $2,000 per week has been a constant worry for most of the parents of the team members and this grant has alleviated much of that pressure and stress.

3. How are you preparing for the Aussie trip? Is training mental right now?

Evan – We started training on the water in September of 2015. On water trainings have been twice a week until the end of January. We are now training 3 times per week on a Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Before school works better than after school so that means a very early start to the day 3 times per week. We meet at 0600 at the boat yard. On the water between 0615 and 0715 and then the girls head to school at 0730. Getting to training for 0600 means they are probably getting up at 0500. That’s real dedication for you and a testament to the desire within this team.

4. How has being a part of this team helped with life post-quake in Christchurch?

Nikki – Obviously the pride in the community for a start – there’s so much negativity here (insurance issues, problems with EQC, large parts of unwelcoming bare land, etc) that it is nice that the girls have something positive to focus on and work towards.

5. Do you feel like this particular squad will be leaving a legacy for students to come as they progress though their years at Avonside?
Nikki – Absolutely – some of the past Avonside girls still support the current team – and there’s nothing like knowing going into a new year that there are big shoes to fill. Most of the girls welcome that kind of pressure.

Evan – The answer to that is unreservedly – YES. It seems that with the passing of each season, the team performance has improved. 2011 saw the team win it’s first medal at a major regatta – 3rd place in the 200m at the South Island Championships)
2012 saw the team medal again at South Islands (2nd place in the 200m) and our first medals at Nationals. (2nd in the 200m and 3rd in the 500m). 2013 saw more medals at South Islands (2nd place in each of the three distances we race over. 200m, 500m and 2,000m) Results at the National Championships replicated the previous season with a 2nd in the 200m and 3rd in the 500m.
2014 was a stellar year. Christchurch Girls High School had held the mantle of top girls team for many years and any victory over them was hard to achieve. This season saw us build a formidable team that won every race against every other school girls team in every regatta with one exception. The only loss the Avonside team suffered that year was in the very last race of the Nationals Championships where they finished a close 3rd in the 2,000m race, only 5 seconds off first place. Trophies won that year included the Akaroa Super 12 regatta, Aoraki Open (Canterbury Champs), the Johnson Cup, awarded at South Islands to the winner of the 500m race and the Grand Champion Trophy for the winner of the 500m race atNationals. 2015 saw the team struggle to repeat the dominance of the previous season but still saw the team win gold medals at South Islands (200m and 2,000m races) and the Nationals (retaining the much sort after Grand Champion trophy for winning the 500m distance.)
This years team is living up to the high standards set by the teams that have gone before them. They are forming into a close knit team with exceptional leaders and the motivation and desire to win is very high indeed. The profile of the team has risen within the school and Dragon Boating is now viewed as being one of the premier sports that the school excels at. I have no doubts that this season is going to provide many highlights and will further enhance the standing of the team within the school.

6. (Silly question) I entered one Dragon Boating regatta in my years at high School……and my arm got really, really tired. I’ve always wanted to know if you switch sides when training/competing or are you a leftie or rightie every time?

Evan – Most of the girls try both sides when they are new to the team. A few are truly ambidextrous but most find that the paddling action feels more natural on one side so they tend to become much better on either the left or the right side of the boat. I don’t think that is the best practice. Most articles I read on the subject suggest that paddlers should alternate sides to prevent their body from putting too much strain on a particular shoulder or muscle group. When I get the girls to try paddling on their unnatural side they look completely uncoordinated and quickly want to swap back to their natural side. I don’t force the issue. :-

Good luck Avonside girls, can’t wait to hear how you take on the world in April!

Run Fail

February 15, 2016
By: Melissa

I’ve sitting down thinking hard about the run I just returned from.

It was supposed to be 6km. It was 4km.

It was supposed to be fast. It was slow.

I imagined it to be moderate. It absolutely nailed me.

I quit after 4km and walked home.

Run Fail.

But it’s not really is it? 4km is a damn sight better than 0km, reality just failed to live up to my expectations this morning. And that’s life I suppose. Goals are not always met on the first attempt and though I wasn’t running to further my distance or better a time this morning I was expecting to be able to hit 5km at least!

Running has been by far the most difficult activity I’ve ever engaged in. More so than surfing even. For me it’s a constant struggle of mind vs body, will vs won’t, love it hate it. That’s what I never expected when I laced up my sneaks and started running a year ago. I thought it would get easier, that I’d get to a certain point and it would be all onwards and upwards. Instead, I feel like I begin every run not knowing whether I’ll be able to complete it or not. What I do know is that without Dave’s help and motivation I would have packed it in a long time ago.

SO, that’s the only advice I can give you if you’re thinking about starting to run – find someone to share the journey with. I’m sure everyone has their off days and having someone to lean on a little when you really, really can’t be assed makes getting out of the door a teensy bit easier.

So, after a year, I’m still not ‘there’, wherever ‘there’ is. I still don’t feel like I can call myself a runner, I sure as hell don’t feel or look like a runner and to be honest, those 5kgs I started running to lose haven’t budged one inch.

Shit.

My Kids. How Back to School is REALLY working out

February 10, 2016
By: Melissa

It may technically be ‘summer’ if we’re discussing the weather but when talking parenting, this Mum is very firmly entrenched in a dark and stormy winter.

Instead of beginning the school year refreshed and full of pep, the personal toll of beginning a new intermediate (where he knows no-one) combined with what I’m sure is a hormone surge going on right now has rendered Ethan an emotional wreck. It’s like walking on eggshells around him right now, and he’s only 11! We have anger, tears, non-compliance, rage and a desire to just retreat into the online world of his games which causes even further conflict. If there was one thing I could turn back time and change in our parenting journey thus far, it would be giving in to the repeated requests to purchase a game console.

I despise the Xbox on SO many levels. It’s got an addictive pull that sucks kids in, plus the online functionality of the new Xbox 1 has totally upped the levels of grief Ethan gives us about game-time. Compounding this is that fact that it’s a Microsoft product so a total piece of shit. There are always server issues, software problems and after owning it approx 6 weeks the wifi adapter in it has died so it needs to be sent back. Cue the 11-year-old frustration/angst.

From this, you’d probably gather that E is not dealing well with the transition to his new school. But that’s actually not the case thank goodness. He loves his teacher, has made some friends in his class. He seems to be getting his head around the gargantuan amount of opportunities and sports teams that are available for him to get involved with. Plus, he’s catching the bus home for the first time today which will relieve another little niggle that’s been causing him some anxiety. Hopefully, as we ease into our school routine he’ll settle down a little and be able to maintain a bit more of an even keel at home.

But then there’s Nixon.

Whereas his older brother is generally as solid as a rock, Nix was born without a ‘keel’ so to speak, trying to maintain any sense of equilibrium with my second born is completely futile! To make matters worse, he is also sans ‘rudder’, a full speed, dynamo of a 2.5-year-old that spends his day hurtling through life in the most exuberant, albeit exhausting way.

He also likes to begin his day at 4.40am. What. In. The. Actual. Fuck am I supposed to do with that hmmm?

If we’re talking non-compliance then to be fair, Nixon wrote the damn book on it. Last night was a case study in toddler meltdowns. A 25min ordeal of mammoth proportions because he didn’t want to take a shower, then he didn’t want to get out of the shower……… It was a very loud and violent protest that took every ounce of physical and mental strength I had to bring him down from and then get him to sleep.

The days are long yo.

As with everything, there is light in every day. I actually really enjoyed the quiet time spent driving E to school over the past few days, and Nixon and I had a lovely cafe morning yesterday and spent the afternoon playing in the garage (change of scenery) with craft supplies and painting. There is definitely good in every day, it just seems the extremes of the boys behaviour is really plumbing new depths at the moment lol.

How are your kids doing after slipping back into the school routine?

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