Making small changes

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“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has”
                                                            Margaret Mead

Now I don’t usually get all tree huggy on the blog, I feel strongly that what you believe in is your choice and I for one HATE having others opinions and beliefs shoved down my throat via their SM platforms. However after staying at Flying Duck farm (another post to come) and seeing how environmentally aware our fantastic host was, it inspired me to start making some changes in our own home. I have often worried about the effects of the cleaning products have on us as a family. So recently I’ve started making small changes to the products that we buy. Slowly I am replacing my chemical laced cleaning products with environmentally friendly ones. Like I said its only starting with small changes so for now its just washing up liquid, surface cleaner and dishwasher tablets.  I’d love to use the same brand for everything but with Dubai being so inconsistent with its imports its difficult. Also these products do cost more, especially out here, so depending on shopping budget that week depends on what I can buy. Although I do find the Earth choice range a lot more value for money. I feel a bit safer in the knowledge that although its only a small difference the kitchen surfaces are being sprayed with less chemicals, when the bottle is thrown it’s biodegradable. As a family we’ve also flung ourselves into recycling a lot more. Truth be told we’ve been terrible at it but now we are making a conscious effort, as really there is no excuse not to do it. Moving forward I’d love to eventually be able to compost left over food but at the moment my irrational fear of cockroaches takes over! The children go to a very environmentally friendly school, which will soon be purchasing machine to recycle waste into school items such as pencils etc. This last term they have been learning about sustainability  and LPV was on the lookout for fair trade signs all over Sydney. 
I really want this planet to be in one piece for my children and their children to come, so if I can help with one small thing then I’ll try.
See you soon.x
Oh and PS this is not a sponsored post, I’m boring you from my own free will!!
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For shits and no giggles

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There was a lot of the first but not many of the giggles for that matter! I was on an absolutely sausage roll with my writing then a plague hit the expat estate!! We had the most horrible D&V bug ever which resulted in both the children in hospital requiring IV fluids. Miss C was only in for a few hours and about 20 minutes after the IV infusion started she was bouncing around like a cocker spaniel. LPV on the other hand wasn’t quite so lucky. He had the same the treatment but didn’t respond as well as she did. Now I don’t tell hospital staff I’m a nurse as our Peadiatrician knows and doesn’t treat me like a normal Mammy, he treats me like a colleague and whilst I respect him for respecting me as a professional I am a Mammy first and I haven’t practiced for 10 years! Now I don’t believe I will ever lose all my skills, they’re etched in my brain, I KNOW for a fact I haven’t lost my instincts and I trust them both the Mammy & nursing ones 100%. After a 6 hour infusion and me nagging them constantly to check this and check that. They come to discharge my lethargic  baby boy. I laugh in their face and pretty much tell them they are bat shit crazy if they think I’m taking my child home. After me throwing my toys out of the pram they take a full set of observations and he is admitted overnight and that is where he stayed for the next 3 days.

People who have access to  the NHS do not know how lucky they are, yes I may have had a room which looked like a hotel room but it’s all flounce and no substance. I would have given all of that up for a team of medical staff that understand the term holistic care, that actually have a bed side manner. At one point I was up to my eyes in shit unpleasantries waiting for help, waiting for wipes, waiting for clean sheets. I found the care to be right up there with my poor baby’s symptoms……..I lost my shit, excuse the pun!  on the day before discharge when I had to ask them to recheck his blood sugar, two nurses stabbing him with a needle, he is crying and instead of comfort they tell him, stop crying don’t be a baby, you’re a big boy!! Well…….red rag to a very exhausted bull, before I told them to get out my room, I offered up a little tit-bit on the fact he is only 7 he’s allowed to cry when someone shoves a needle in your arm and I still hate it at the age of 42 so please DO NOT tell not to cry, he’s allowed to cry if he wants too and it DOES NOT mean he is a big baby. After this ordeal, my saviour messages me and tells me to meet her by the lift. I take one look at my bestie holding a cup of tea and the most epic ham sandwich (they hadn’t fed me at all) and burst into floods of tears.

Things picked up slowly and he’s bloods came back normal, we were told we could go home the next day. It’s not an ordeal I want to ever go through again, Cara was my angel, picking up flossy and taking her on playdates etc. The ham sandwich was amazing but it was the love and concern that got me/us through it! It’s very difficult being away from our support network, don’t get me wrong lots of people send love and well wishes and  offered to help that meant so much but it’s the one’s that see through your “I’m ok I don’t need anything” that stick with you!!

Darling Harbour, Aquarium and Roosters

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Our second day we decided to use up one of  our attraction tickets and go to the SEA LIFE Sydney Aquarium. We got up late and Uber’d it down to beautiful Darling Harbour.

We walked along the water front stopped and had some food and then made our way to the Aquarium. The Aquarium was nice, not fantastic but then we do have pretty spectacular one here in Dubai so unfortunately we have been spoilt. However we very much enjoyed finding out all about Dugong’s and although we only got see the arse end of one it was interesting all the same.They had been rescued and put on a rehabilitation program, one had been released but was found again washed up on a beach/rocks and the other wasn’t ready. The penguin expedition was fun too, there is a little boat ride that last about 5-8 minutes and it takes you round the enclosure (they call it a colony, it’s not!)) of King & Gentoo penguins. It was freezing and the kids had a fab time. I know a lot of these places are above-board and they tend to rescue all their animals but sometimes the enclosures just don’t look big enough for the animals to flourish. Don’t get me wrong I know the Aquarium was doing all it can to help and constantly raise money for the animals. Anyhoo after the aquarium we made our way to the Allianz Stadium home of the Sydney Roosters  to watch them play against the Newcastle Knights. When we went to New York we took both children to see The New York Mets (Miss C was still in the Ergo) so we wanted to catch a local match here too.  We sat down got comfy and the heavens opened lashing rain!! The kids thought it was hilarious scrambling over the seats to get into the covered area.  We left after the first half as although we had enjoyed it, we thought the children had learned enough swear words and profanities for one day!! If you ask them both what their favourite parts of the day were Miss C: It raining at the match, LPV: the men shouting at the match……There you go folks, trip of a lifetime!  The swearing really didn’t bother me, you can’t keep your kids sheltered from it, plus they hear a few choice words from me on the school run, however they were being introduced to a WHOLE bunch of new ones that I didn’t care to explain. We had the same conversation as always “adult/bad words, repeat them and I’ll kill you etc and got a uber home!