Lily's lunch - guacamole, pesto pasta and dried fruit

Today's lunch is guacamole with corn thins for dipping; pasta with spinach pesto; dried fruit (cranberries, peach, apricot & date) & cashews; and an apple. Oh, and a little hand on its way to start eating that pasta a little early...

Lily's lunch - tofu wrap & pumpkin muffin

Today's lunch is an avocado, tofu, tomato and grated carrot wrap (rye mountain bread); a mini pumpkin muffin; a corn thin with ABC spread (almond/brazil nut/cashew); and some fruit (strawberries, mandarin & pear).

I love this little yellow bento box, don't you? I got it on ebay.

Lily's lunch - dahl, papadums & soy yogurt

Now that Lily is is heading out with a family member three mornings a week I get to pack her lunch. I love packing lunch. There is something so satisfying about it.

Anyway, I had this idea that I would try to share the lunches with you - for a bit of fun and a bit of inspiration (both for you and for me - it makes me more likely not to get stuck in a rut). Of course, I am terrible at doing anything regular on this blog... but for now it seems like fun.

The picture above is of her lunch today: spinachy dahl, papadums, corn thins & vegemite, a banana, a mango&peach soy yogurt and a bottle of water.

It was too much food (especially since they get morning tea at Playgroup this morning), but I like to give her a bit of choice. As it turns out she ate everything except the dahl.

Oddly she lapped it up last night and went back for seconds, but apparently she was pretty full by the time she came to it. So I ate it instead.

Guess who

When we got our Rudd-bucks earlier this year P and I agreed that we could each spend a bit of it on some books. We have been really good over the last couple of years at borrowing all of our books from the library instead of buying them, but there are some books that you just want to own - either because you'll use them a lot or because they aren't available at the library...

Anyway, a couple of the books that I was keen to get were due to be published this month and so I decided to wait. It was a good strategy methinks, because as I waited I noticed that my wishlist kept changing. I added a lot of titles to it, but I also found it easy to go back and delete titles that I realised I really didn't want all that much or that I would only read once.

So yesterday I finally got around to actually placing my order at the Book Depository. (Do you use this site? It's bad that we are getting books shipped from the UK, I know, but damn it is so cheap!), and I then I got P to add his titles to it and send it off last night.

When I received the confirmation order this morning I laughed. I think that the titles that we have chosen say a lot about us... Can you guess which ones belong to me?

• 	The Earthscan Reader on Adaptation to Climate Change Edited by Lisa Schipper Qty: 1 Item status: Processing	£16.19 - Save £3.80 - £19.99
  	Handmade Hellos By (author) Eunice Moyle Qty: 1 Item status: Processing	£10.52 - Save £1.47 - £11.99
  	Alabama Stitch Book Photographs by Robert Rausch Qty: 1 Item status: Processing	£14.08 - Save £5.91 - £19.99
  	Climate Change and Global Poverty Edited by Abigail Jones Qty: 1 Item status: Processing	£15.29 - Save £1.70 - £16.99
  	Bend the Rules with Fabric By (author) Amy Karol Qty: 1 Item status: Processing	£12.04 - Save £1.28 - £13.32
  	Handmade Home By (author) Amanda Blake Soule Qty: 1 Item status: Processing	£12.04 - Save £1.28 - £13.32

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Oh, I am so excited to for the post to arrive this week!

Generation generalisations

I really hate generation generalisations. I have always thought of them at annoying marketing-speak and never understood why people would willingly adopt a category that is just pigeon-holes them into a category designed to assist corporations to sell them stuff more easily.

I think that this is one of the reasons that I have always been unreasonably pleased that my particular birth year is so inconsistently allocated to any particular generation that it is impossible to reasonably label me Generation X or Y.

Personally I have no desire to be in either category. If this media is to be believed (and, I should note, this is rarely the case) then Generation X doesn't give a toss about the planet; is materialistic, boring, and illogically loyal to companies who regularly sack their work force; while Generation Y are flighty, disloyal, idealistic, lazy, unreliable, and have an unreasonable sense of entitlement. Clearly neither is true of even the majority of people who happen to have been born within a particular time frame.

Anyway, all of this is merely a segue for me to point you to a great article by John Quiggin, in which he takes on the idea of Generations and very effectively tears it apart. It is worth a read.

29 months

Dear Lily

Today you turned 29 months old. Next month you will be 2 and a half. Don't ask me why, but that seems significant to me.

OK, the big news first. Drumroll... You are no longer using nappies during the day! Now I was kind of keen to do this whole transition when it got a big warmer, but no, you decided that nappies were totally not what you were into anymore and that was that. Yay you.

The second big change in your life that started last month is that you are no longer having mama milk at night. This change was more about me than you, I'm afraid. But you have been pretty cool about it. Previously when you couldn't get back to sleep without milk you would ask me to sing to you. I have absolutely no idea how many times I have sung 'Hush Little Baby' and 'Sing a Rainbow', but let's just say 'LOTS'. Anyway, now you are all about stories. So, in the middle of the night, while I am half asleep, I am making up random stories about a big girl called Lily who lives in houses, castles, and towers in the forest, by the seaside, and on the top of a hill. Generally these stories involve packing elaborate picnics, preparing party food or spotting various animals on morning walks. They are pretty boring, but that seems to be the trick.

The third big change is really not so big: you had your first haircut. Well, sort of. I often cut your fringe to keep it out of your eyes, but we had never cut the back of your hair before. The other day though, Papa said to me, "It might be time to give Lily's hair a bit of a cut." "Mmm," I said, absentmindedly. And then I went back to the study to do some more work. (You see, I had no intention of having your hair cut, but I didn't think that we were really 'talking' about the idea...) Anyway, imagine my surprise when I wandered back out for a cup of tea and saw Papa in the middle of actually cutting your hair! I was a little sad to be honest, but, of course, he did a really good job, and it looks great. Plus, hair grows.

Another cool change is that you seem to have regained your sense of fearlessness (within reason). You are loving swings at the moment and keep asking us to push you higher and higher and higher. It wasn't all that long ago that you were refusing to get on them at all and so this has been a wonderful change.

You are also continuing to eat really well, which I love. The other evening, after a late mothers' group, we were going to head home when you said, "Let's go to a restaurant and eat broccoli, tofu and noodles." Since Papa was going to have to stay at work late, I happily agreed. It was so cool, Lil. You happily sat up at the table and ate a big dinner, while I got to eat mine too. Previously dinners at restaurants have involved lots of walks outside for either Papa or I (with you), and we had to eat in shifts. But this time you stayed at the table and we ate our dinner together and chatted away happily. It did help that we were at a restaurant full of staff who actually like children and made an effort to make you happy. The lovely waiter took your order directly, then asked you what you wanted to drink and offered you a straw. He even drew you a smiley face and admired your drawing in return. You thought that he was "lovely". It was such a pleasant evening and I am looking forward to many more dinner dates with you in our future.

It's still amazes me just how much you grow and change every single month. It is such a privilege to be able to share it all with you.

with all my love,
mama
xox

Busy, busy

Hello little blog

I have been writing many many posts to you in my head of late. I have even been composing photos for you. Sadly, however, this has not translated into very much in the way of publishing action...

You see, things have been busy around here.

P. has been crazy busy at work, I have been actually excited about my PhD, and Lily has been 'learning to sleep without mama milk', and the end result has been a little full on.

Now, please don't get confused (as many others seem to be right now) - "excited about my PhD" doesn't actually mean "I'm get heaps done". It would be great if it did, but that requires more than just excitement. It also requires regular spaces of uninterrupted time, SLEEP, a functional brain, and a few other magical ingredients. And these haven't been as easy to come by of late.

However, inspiration is certainly a pretty crucial ingredient too and, having suddenly found it again, I realise that it has been missing for a little while.

OK, for quite a significant period of time.

Anyway, now that I have found it again, I am doing my damnedest to find all of those other ingredients in order to pull it together and get this bloody thesis written. So I just thought that I would pop by to let you know where I am. And to let you know that I am still thinking about you. And that I miss you.

See you soon.

Motherhood, AP and Feminism

There is a great post over at Feministe on Sacrifice, Parenting, and Feminism [found via Blue Milk - thank you!]. I couldn't work out who wrote it, but the author very honestly explores the topic of (white, middle-class) feminism and it's responses to the sacrifices inherent in mothering - especially Attachment Parenting mothering. I don't agree with every word that she has written, but I think that it is a great post. She nicely points out some of the great things about AP, while also acknowledging some of the sexism and privilege that is incorporated into the Sears and Sears approach to parenthood.

What I liked the most, however, was the point that she ended with:

Feminists have argued both sides of the issue of AP, and breastfeeding is a particularly volatile topic. Feminists who have argued against this practice have pointed to the ways in which it ties women down, can interrupt careers (pumping milk poses its own problems and is not a panacea), and demands sacrifice. And this is key, because forcing a woman to make a sacrifice, even having a general expectation that she make a sacrifice, is the antithesis of white, middle-class feminism. I think white middle-class feminism sees certain aspects of parenting as sacrifice and writes them off, when really, they are required aspects of parenting. I don’t mean that breastfeeding is a required aspect of parenting, but that putting yourself second and your child’s needs first is necessary for good parenting. I’m also not saying that not meeting your own needs and only meeting your child’s needs will make you a good parent. I’m simply saying that sacrifice is part of parenting.

I think that indigenous feminisms and woman-of-color feminisms and working-class feminisms have tended to get this. They have formed movements that often manage to put the community needs at the center, rather than the needs of individual women. White, middle-class feminisms have tended to call the category of “women” a community and to thereby focus on individual needs. And that’s not all bad, at all, but it’s not all good.

However, I would love to see a far more detailed discussion of this issue.

Anyone?

Marriage equality

The Australian Greens are currently sponsoring the Marriage Equality Amendment Bill 2009. The purpose of this bill is to allow same-sex couples to legally marry in our country. Currently, they are legally denied this basic human right, which is, frankly, despicable.

The Australian Senate is currently having an inquiry into this issue and below is my submission.

Would you like to make one? If so, go here, they make it easy and they have plenty of information for you to read if you want to inform yourself a bit more about the issues. Submissions close on 28 August 2009.

Dear Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee,

This is my submission to your inquiry into marriage equality. I fully endorse the submission made by Australian Marriage Equality in favour of the Marriage Equality Amendment Bill 2009.

I think that is discriminatory and embarrassing that we still deny a significant proportion of our community the equal right to marry in our country. Marriage remains an important cultural symbol of commitment and love in our society. It is the traditional way that we not only celebrate this love and commitment, but also that we symbolise the creation of a family and the adoption of someone's life partner in their extended family. Everyone should have the option of taking part in this ceremony and of having the capacity to make this important statement of their love and commitment to their family and friends.

Additionally, marriage carries with it social and legal privileges that should not be denied to anyone on the basis of their sexuality. While some of these legal privileges, such as the right to access superannuation, have (finally) recently been extended to same-sex defacto couples, many of these privileges are difficult to replicate, and equal access to marriage remains a necessary step to ensure full equality.

Equal access to marriage is a human rights issue and the passing of this Bill is an important step towards Australia becoming a country that respects the human rights of all of its citizens, regardless of their sexuality.

Yours sincerely,

Cristy Clark

It tastes just like it did in primary school

...and that's a good thing.

I blame Iris. I saw her recipe for self-saucing chocolate pudding last week and just had to try it out for myself. I hadn't eaten it since I was in primary school, when we used to have it occasionally at home and often on youth group camps.

I was shocked to discover that it tasted exactly the same as I remembered. Shocked and pleased.

BTW: I used Iris' recipe (just substituting soy milk for the milk) and should warn you that it is a good idea to use a fairly big dish to bake this in. Mine wasn't quite big enough and so we lost some of the sauce to the oven (it bubbled out of the dish).

Spring, she is coming

Over the last few days the promise of Spring has been lingering in the air. And now we have a little bit of evidence of this in our garden.

Of course, this is Canberra, it is going to take quite some time for things to actually get warm around here, but still, Spring is coming.

Yay!