Next steps

We had a chat at the shop. A chat about how if he likes the pink gumboots the best, then he should most definitely choose them. How there are no right or wrong clothes or colours, how we should wear what makes us feel good. But also how he should be aware that some people think pink is only for girls, and when we do something that runs against what people think, well then, those people may say something. Something not very nice. So if he wants the pink gumboots, then he needs to be strong enough to not care what other people say.

- I'm strong enough mummy, I am, I'm strong enough.

Snapshot catch-up

1.

So it's summer, and the school holidays, and that means swimming lessons! Only, the hot weather stopped when the holidays started, and even with a wetsuit it's only been warm enough for three lessons. Is my child ever going to get past learning to kick on his back?

2.

I was at the Japanese embassy the other night, supping on sushi and tempura on the Lake Geneva waterfront in a beautiful mansion (in the original, not Japanese, sense of the word). There's no picture because that would just be gauche, dahlings, and in any case it was pissing down rain so we were all kind of huddled and shivery and not looking as splendid as we otherwise might. 

But the cold meant that when nature called, I was warmly and very welcomely reminded of a quite lovely Japanese custom: the heated toilet seat. And looking for the toilet paper, I was reminded of another: the built-in bidet. It was somehow even more amusing in English. 

3.

I have a bike! My mum's not here any more so there's no picture of me on it, but still, I have a bike!

I have to admit, I was a little nervous hopping on, it being 11 years since the last time I rode a bike, back in the day in Japan. But it turns out it's true what they say about bikes and never forgetting. I felt like I was flying.

4.

And where did we go, on our first - and, thanks to the near-incessant pissing down rain, only - family ride? The village shooting festival! You can read about it here.

Overtaken on the wrong side

- I've got Angry Birds on my iPad!

- Angry Birds?

- You haven't you heard of it? It's the most popular app ever! Hundreds of millions of downloads!

--- iPad is started up and the game is shown to me ---

- You have to fire the birds at the cages to release the birds that were caught by the poachers. Then you have to kill the monkeys. They were helping the poachers. And at the end is the evil cockatoo, he's really hard to kill. ... Hah! You didn't beat my score!!

- But how do you know the story?

- Well it's the story from Rio.

- But when was Rio released?

- Sometime earlier this year.

- And there's been hundreds of millions of downloads since then??

- No silly, this is a special Rio version, there's the original Angry Birds version too.

- Oh.

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This conversation - in which I so totally played the role of the out of touch, clueless mother - was sadly not with anyone from a younger generation, but someone two up from me: my mother.

I am feeling slightly more hip this weekend, having now seen the film (albeit only in 2D) and bought the app for my iPhone.

I still don't have a tablet* though.

My iPhone aside, C has declared us as Android-only.

The sweet gesture... that wasn't

Téo's school had an end-of year concert... which, yes, was a few weeks ago now, but hey, things have been busy.

Anyway, Téo was in a school concert. After the concert, the kids went back to their classrooms to change and for a little snack, while the audience mingled in the playground. After not very long, Téo came running out asking where Lukan was. When I pointed him out, Téo ran off to give his little brother half the chocolate bar he'd been given in class.

Now, Téo is pretty good about sharing lollies with Lukan - as long as Lukan is right there. If not, then he gobbles them all up himself.

I was feeling pretty proud of my first-born for thinking of his brother. I may have mentioned this to a couple of other mothers. You know, in passing.

And when it came time to go home, I told Téo how nice it had been of him to give Lukan half his chocolate.

- Well, I didn't really like it.

Oh.

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The second post of my 2-month blogging gig is up! This time I'm rambling about my rambling veggie patch.

School's out... again

You know, I'm really beginning to not like the whole kid-at-school thing, because all these startings and finishings of school years serve only to remind me that life is whizzing by way too fast, and taking my kids with it.

School's actually been out since last Friday. Yesterday morning, after I mentioned I had a few chores to do, Téo moaned that there was nothing to do and he'd rather be at school learning things.

Is this how it's going to be? Seven weeks of being bored?

He actually said that. After 4 straight days of going to the pool/beach, and the promise of strawberry picking that afternoon.

I said that if he wanted to learn things, we could always do more spelling in English.

He managed to amuse himself for the morning.

Work matters

For a while now I've been feeling a bit blah about work. Not unhappy, but not entirely satisfied either.

Part of it, I think, is the old 7-year itch. I still love the work I'm doing, and I'm getting great projects, but it's been six-and-a-half years now. I'm kind of ready to do something else.

On top of this, I've seen many of my female peers - including those with children my age - progress to very high positions... while I'm stuck at the same level. It's not that I actually want to be in senior management, but still, sometimes it feels like things are passing me by, somehow. No, not even that... more that I'm realising the limitations my choices are imposing, in a way I hadn't felt in my 30s.

And, you know, it's getting a bit old being at home all the time. I'm good at being by myself, even need to be alone sometimes, but a little more interaction with non-family members would be nice too.

So, I was feeling all this, and not really knowing what to do about it. Yes I could look for a regular job... but despite the isolation, it's very very convenient for me to be at home, kid-wise. And I love the flexibility, the lack of a commute, the lack of office politics.

What would be ideal, I was thinking, would be a long-term contract, rather than simply working project by project... something where I'd be part of a team and contribute at a higher level than just writing communications products, but still be able to work mostly from home according to my own time schedule.

And guess what? Such a position just landed in my lap! With an environmental organisation! Based not too far away! Woo hoo!

It's possible there may only be funding for a few months, but still, I'm feeling pretty good.

Yay!

In other work matters, prior to getting this contract I created a website in order to better promote myself, which, if the contract pans out the way I hope, makes the website totally unnecessary, but there you go. Or - given I spent quite a lot of time, not to mention a couple of hundred bucks - there goes Murphy and his stupid law. Anyway, if you'd like to know a bit more about what I do, take a look at www.emmaduncan.info

And, I also got a paid blogging gig! In my first post, published today, I gush about the village - not to be missed!