Comparitive religion for the under 5's

Tonight at dinner, Ben kicked off the conversation with "Did you know Jesus is our king?". Clearly the Christmas season has begun at his Uniting Church pre-school. I responded with "That's what Christians believe, yes." and then went on to give a cursory definition of religion and attempt to discuss Buddhism and a very vague notion of the rest of the Judeo-Christian family.

He told me that he believes it (exactly what "it" is remains slightly obscure), and I told him that's fine. I also warned him he wouldn't be seeing much mention of Jesus at our place around Christmas. Jesus is not the reason for my season. He informed me (very importantly) that Jesus is what Christmas is, and I told him that it has been other things to other people both before and after "Christmas" came along, but didn't push the point.

I don't want to create a monster for the pre-school, I'd much rather he lecture me than his teachers or (even worse) the very lovely minister who spends a lot of time with the kids. So for now, it will be a very gentle message that there are other beliefs out there (I haven't tackled atheism yet), without any suggestion that he should hold them. I figure he should at least get to kindergarten scripture before he starts lecturing his teachers. It seems to me that an element of respect for other people's beliefs is not sicking a self righteous nearly-five year old armed with my opinions on them. :)

I just don't *like* babies

The enormity of the task ahead, namely bringing this newborn safely to the other side of babyhood, has just hit me. I knew the pregnancy would suck, and academically I knew I was no fan of baby's first year, but I suppose I had just blocked how much I don't like it.

It's not that I regret having the baby, far from it. I know that by this time next year, this will all be behind me and I'll be looking forward to talking and all the good things about children.

But right now the demands, the pain of feeding, and the guilt about not being able to pull my weight in the business are all hitting hard. I will never understand people who like babies, although I accept that perfectly rational people do. :)

I suspect that at this point in my life, with the business being what it is, losing my independence has been a bigger issue than previously. Certainly being able to have real maternity leave was better. And with Charlie, there wasn't anyone else in the business noticing what I wasn't doing.

Oh well, we'll get there. I am honestly glad to have a baby girl, I am just not convinced that adopting a 12 month old from China wouldn't have been a better plan. :)

Re-blogging

To steal something from Blue Milk's blog, who stole it (accredited) from Hoyden about Town, I see that Dora has been Barbie-ised. Sad. Dora does actually annoy me a bit, because she always wins in an infuriating kind of way, but compared with the slapper-wear outfitted Hi 5, she rocks.

It'd be nice if some of the icons our kids see actually looked like kids.

Oh well, there's still the Save 'Ums, they are all round and pudgey, if not actually human.

Photos

I've finally managed to get some photos off the camera. You'll notice chocolate was required to convince Charlie there was anything good about the whole situation.



Ben on the other hand, was as chuffed as he looks.

The park photo was at 9 days old while Ben was visiting big school.

Maternity leave is over

Today was quite the adventure. We managed to secure a job with the RTA, which is quite a coup, being well out of our traditional market. Unfortunately, we secured it 3 days before I gave birth. To balance up the luck, one of their suppliers was late and pushed the job back to today rather than last Thursday.

So today I had to be at Yennora at 8am to work in an electrical workshop for an indefinite period of time. Thankfully I have a wonderful husband who came with me and the baby and looked after her between feeds, and added technical advice on occasion. What more can you ask for?

Who says sexism is a huge problem? I was in one of blokiest places I've ever been, and they were more than helpful and understanding with the baby being there, and with the feeding. Not a single snide remark about Dad looking after bub either. I'm not denying there are problems out there, but it seems that in the 10 years I've been in the telco industry, the assumption that I am not technical by virtue of being female has faded, and involved, enlightened fathers are becoming more and more prevalent (dare I say "the norm"?).

Oh, and of course this is much needed income. So all in all, a really good experience, even if I am now mind bogglingly sleep deprived.

Charlie's world

Monday
Grandma: "Do you have a baby sister"
Charlie: "NO!"

Tuesday
Charlie [points]: "Baby sister"

Thursday
Charlie: "I don't like it, baby sister"

Friday
Mum: "Is your baby sister nice?"
Charlie: "Yes"

Acceptance is a slow process.

Newest addition

By throwing the old wives tales book at my pregnancy, I went into labour about 1:20am on 5th November, and our baby girl was born at 6:08am. Thankfully uneventful, in the birth centre, and the obs even made it with plenty of time to spare.

Birth centre midwives were wonderful as always, and even allowed us to stay down in their blissfully quiet confines until 2pm, giving us both some much needed sleep.

Ben was terribly excited and Charlie was in complete denial. When asked whether he had a baby sister, Charlie answered with an emphatic "NO."

Ben is still terribly excited, compounded by his first trip to big school today, and Charlie is slowly coming round. He actually came and touched her while she was feeding today and was prepared to have a go at saying "Elissa" as opposed to "baby sister". Maybe it was the pink "jamas" she was wearing.

Elissa is sleeping lots (too much according to the midwife) and when she can be bothered, she feeds pretty well.

If I can get Crash to do something other than work for 10 minutes, I'll try to get some photos...