Sad Possum

My sad little Possum. He's holding a little Ringtail Possum that had to be euthanized, it was way to young to survive the death of its mother (click here for the full story).

Possum was very sad to hear nothing could be done. He decided to say a few prayers for them, and promptly recited the Peace Prayer in Sanskrit, very very quietly.

Beaver said he did not want the possums to be killed and, very perceptively, noted that "They didn't have much of a life". He too said a prayer so that they may have a good next life.

Doing this work as a Wildlife Carer is certainly introducing the children to Life and Death (apart from such issues as the human impact on our wildlife). I tell the kids in simple terms what happens. I told them that they will go to the vet who will kill them with some very special green medicine that takes all their pain away quickly and then they die.

With Beaver not wanting to go to sleep, I feel I can not use words like "go to sleep" or even "drift off". I don't want him to fear that he's going to go to sleep and die. Besides, I don't really like euphemisms like "pass away" and all that. It seems to negate death, and really, death is such an important part of life, how can we deny it? Without the one, there would not be the other, and dealth, like life, deserves respect. And to be called by its real name.

At the same time, I have to mention to them that it's done with an injection. The stuff the vets use is bright fluo green (hence it's called "Green Dream") and I tell them it's special green medicine. Thankfully most children's medication (cough medicine, paracetamol etc.) is not generally green! And with Beaver's fear of nightmares, I don't use the term "Green Dream" either!

I realised before I started this that parenting would be tricky. But why did no one ever tell me that you need a linguistics degree?

Birthday Hit

The song was a hit.

The musical was a hit.

The movie was a hit.

And as a birthday present for Beaver, it was the biggest hit of them all.

The boy enjoyed opening various presents, some that had travelled a long way to get to him.

But the very best one was the Mamma Mia DVD that I had bought for him in the local supermarket some weeks ago.

He's seen the movie twice in the cinema. He's acted key scenes out many times. He sings the songs in the car on the way to school in the morning (I know! And the poor boy has inherited his mother's non-musical voice). And now we watch the DVD most afternoons after school. Sometimes twice. Boo Boo and Possum like the movie too. Boo Boo has even learned to say "Mamma Mia". And sometimes Mum and Dad turn the TV right up, and we all dance in the living room. It's a sight (and sound) to behold.

And no, I won't post a video of that.

Mamma Mia indeed!

Chickenpox

It seems that both Boo Boo and I have come down with a case of the dreaded Chicken Pox.

For a day and a half, I was hoping that we had been bitten by bird lice or mites (see my new blog http://wildliferescuestories.blogspot.com/). But I went to see my local GP, and she doesn't seem to agree. Apparently it can take a week or more between feeling ill and the appearance of the first spots. Which makes me wonder if last week's virus that caused my vertigo may have been the early stage. Who knows. In any case, we're contagious right now...

Which means a seriously reduced social life.

It means a forced holiday from the therapy rigmarole.

It means no family get-together to celebrate Beaver's birthday this Sunday (thankfully he decided not to have a kids' party and wants to go to the movies with his Dad instead).

It means a very attractive rash on my neck, chest and arms, and Boo Boo's face, neck, ears and tummy.

And off course, it means lots of itchy moments, trying not to scratch.

Oh parenthood. It's full of surprises.

Wildlife Carer

Some people have been shaking their head at me.

Not busy enough yet? they ask. Want to become a saint? Can't get enough of being a carer?

Well, bollocks to that.

When I first came to Australia hubby and I toured around for some months. Like most new visitors I was amazed with the native wildlife - how different it was, and how much of it there was around. And I vividly remember my first roadside sign that asked people to call a certain phone number to report injured local wildlife. Hubby explained to me that if you hit a kangaroo with your car, you should go and check the animal - including its pouch for joeys. There were people out there that would take care of the animals and nurse them - or rear them in the case of babies - until they were ready for release again. In Alice Springs we ran into a lady that carried a baby kangaroo with her in an old tea cosy and fed it every few hours. What a great idea, I thought. I would like to do that!

So two weekends ago, I did the basic training course. And now I am a registered Wildlife carer for Sydney Wildlife this new journey on my new blog:

http://wildliferescuestories.blogspot.com/

Shakespeare

Last week was Shakespeare Festival, the long awaited week in which the children perform their play on stage at the local theatre.

Possum did phenomenally well. Last year, he couldn't sit through his brother's performance without whining. What a difference a year makes! He stood on stage and loved every minute of it. And he watched the other classes' plays with great interest (especially the sword fighting scenes). He didn't want the festival to end.

Beaver was a bit more of a mixed bag. He knew his lines perfectly, but on the night, he got nervous and swapped them around (thankfully he wasn't the only kid in his class who got his lines muddled a bit). But the biggest problem was that he developed some sort of stage vertigo. On the day of the general rehearsal, he could not walk onto the stage for fear of falling off. I don't know where this came from, he had no such issues last year. Maybe it was some sort of performance anxiety. I took him to the stage a few times to run around on it. At home, I got him to stand on the coffee table and proclaim his lines. He stood on a stool on one leg. Yet as soon as he got on the stage, he got wobbly. Oddly enough it only happened while he stood still, not while he was moving on the stage. He kept bending down as if he was about to fall. His teacher solved some of the problem by getting him to hold hands with the children next to him, and in the dance scene, he was placed to the back of the stage. Most people in the audience noticed nothing in particular. They just assumed that's the way he stands. Lots of people commented on how well he did. Maybe they were truthful, or maybe they were just being polite. But I knew better, and I found it painful to watch. I was praying the whole time that he would manage to stay upright and not fall down. Phew. It was hard. But, he got through it, and seemed to have enjoyed it. He did not want to come off the stage, or leave the theatre. And already wants to know which play his class will do next year. We have enrolled him into drama classes on Saturday mornings, in the hope that it will increase his confidence (and he does love drama, that boy).

So, here are some photo's my Father-in-Law took. There is no video or flash photography allowed in the theatre (although both were taken by a professional photographer for us to buy later in the year) so these shots were taken without a flash and are a bit grainy. Still, they give you an idea.

Possum (aka Puck) in A Midsummer Nights' Dream

Beaver (prologue and Count Paris) in Romeo and Juliet

Obama 08

OK. So I'm not an American. I've only ever been to America once, and that was for about 2 hours. We were visiting Canada, and popped across for dinner. The restaurant had a sign saying "no guns allowed" and a porn pictures vending machine in the toilets. I wasn't too impressed (although this is by no means a verdict on the whole of that country).

But what did impress me was US President-elect Obama's victory (can't deny that I had a little tear in my eye) and his victory speech. It was good. In fact, it was impressive. Here are the opening lines, with the bit that is so amazing:

"If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founding fathers is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer. It's the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and churches in numbers this nation has never seen; by people who waited three hours and four hours, many for the very first time in their lives (...) It's the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled - Americans who sent a message ...."

Yeah!

A presidential victory speech that mentions disabled people! Wow.

And the guy has a pretty impressive disability policy too!

Listen and learn, Australian politicians!