"No reading at the breakfast table"

As we're about to embark on a two week adventure with our family driving around the bottom corner of Australia, I have been thinking about doing holidays with small kids a lot (and wondering if we will come back sane!) Holidaying with kids has been a journey of acceptance for me!  I think we spent the first five years of having children, longing for our child-free past where it was days of sleep-ins, late breakfasts, going for a lazy swim, afternoon sleep, reading multiple books, dinner out and if we had the energy maybe seeing a movie.  Personally, I feel that remembering those days is like a form of torture for parents. After five years or so we reconciled ourselves to children not sleeping well in a new environment, children awake at 5.30 am, an hour of preparation for an outing to the beach, then an hour of rinsing and hanging out the wet stuff on return, endless shopping for the mountain of food they consume and putting up with the cries of 'I'm BORED Mum'.  B

Getting boys to read is a challenge for lots of parents.  As the title of my blog suggests, we don't really have that problem.  But I do find it hard to get my head around the types of books that my 11 yo son reads.  They don't appeal much to me as a woman! I've been doing some reading for my library degree on how to get boys to read more.  And one of the big issues is that many librarians are women and simply don't relate (or even approve) of the types of books that boys like.  The textbook I've been reading has a little section explaining why boys read what they do.   "Boys enjoy reading fantasy because the basic structure, borrowed from mythology, traces the path of an individual in search of his place in the world.   Action and adventure books do much the same, and these, like fantasy, contain active plot lines that speak to boys' active natures. ... much fantasy and adventure literature contains so much action that it tends towards violence b

I've been keeping track of what actually  occupies my brain space on an average day.  Just wait to be dazzled and astounded (not)!  No particular order. 1.  Is that a nit or is it just dirt? 2.  How long has this piece of craft/artwork/piece of metal from the side of the road, been sitting here for?  Can I throw it in the recycling without consequences? 3.  When was the last time the kids had a bath?  Yesterday I think.  Oh good, they can survive today without one. 4.  That floor really needs sweeping but if I wait until later it will be even dirtier and that will make it feel more worthwhile. 5.  (operating on the same principle).  Those clothes need folding but if I wait until the washing on the line for today is dry then it will be more efficient to do it all at once. 6.  I think that nappy should last a bit longer without exploding. 7.  Do I really  have to cook AGAIN? 8.  Didn't I just pick that up off the floor and put it away? 9.  Oh no, the craft is