Twelve: The birthday questionnaire

Blossom is twelve today!

The Birthday Questionnaire

Years ago I started to ask Blossom a series of questions on her birthday with the hope that I'd keep them for posterity. However, like many of my ideas, I never followed through and have no idea where the other lists are. Now, at least, I can post this list to cyberspace where it will float for all eternity...

(for last year's questionnaire, see here)

How old are you? Twelve

What is your favourite colour? Silver

What is your favourite animal? Owl

What is your favourite food? Icecream and Avocado/Tomato/Hummus Bruschetta

What is your favourite drink? Banana Smoothie

What do you want to be when you grow up? Author

Where has been your favourite place to visit on Holidays? Vail

What are your favourite subjects at school? Sport and English

What subjects to you like the least at school? Maths and Spelling

Favourite book that you've finished reading? The Magic Thief

Favourite TV show/s? Masterchef and Big Time Rush

Favourite board game? Cluedo and Trivial Pursuit

Favourite songs? Replay, Fireflies, Break your Heart

What makes you giggle the most? Bad Jokes and my friends

If you could travel overseas where would you go? Skiing in France

What is your favourite car? Aston Martin, Ferrari and Audi

What is your favourite item of clothing? Scarves

Favourite Movie? Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland

Favourite Sport? Skiing

Happy Birthday Blossom!!

Holey Ears Batman! When parents give in for good reason.

Here at Chez Easternmax we are not known for our approval of ear piercing in the young. However today we broke our resolve on account of a behaviour challenge.

Thirty days ago we challenged Blossom to thirty days of respectful behaviour at all times. No tweeny unreasonableness, no teasing the brother, no stomping and/or demanding. I don't want you thinking that we had a trouble-maker on our hands. Not at all, but her moods were starting to impact on everyone in the family and the resulting disrespectfulness was becoming a habit.

The prize for this challenge? One of the things we said she couldn't have until high school - her ears pierced.

We didn't think for a minute that she'd be successful. And yet she was.

For each day that we saw disrespectful behaviour she had to add a day to the challenge. There were a couple of extra days added but on the whole we have had the most blissful thirty days where the house has run like clockwork and where the children have spoken respectfully to us and to each other. Blossom has told us that she feels so much better for the challenge and that she has learnt a lot about how to manage her moods.

And yet it doesn't end here. We've told her these earrings symbolise respectful behaviour and that every time she looks in the mirror she will be reminded what they stand for. And she knows that if she slips up over the next six weeks then the earrings will be removed.

Well done Blossom!

Best Ever

Today Blossom went to the Zone (interschool) swimming carnival.

Her stroke? Breastroke.

She managed her best result ever.

Fifth in the 50m final for Senior girls.

But, you know, she was robbed of fourth. Robbed I tell ya.

But I'm supposed to say that because I'm a proud mother.

Breathe out ...

A couple of weeks ago I took a huge breath in and prepared for the manic last weeks of school. One child finished school on Wednesday and one finishes next Wednesday but given that the last three days of school consist of packing up books, holding a 'talent day' and going to the park I consider it to be more akin to babysitting than school.

This last week has been particularly manic with performance reviews due at the office, speech night for the youngest, concert band performing at the local carols evening, presentation assembly for the eldest and then her clarinet exam today.

On Wednesday night my 9yo was given the above award at his speech night. Its held in a local church with a long aisle and plenty of room for all parents. PL had to walk the length of the aisle to receive this well deserved award.

Blossom was inducted as a school prefect for 2010 at her presentation day yesterday. We learnt that the school will increase to 750 students next year. When Blossom started in 2004 the school had 500 students.

Blossom (R) and Mozzie looking over the examiner's remarks after their 3rd grade clarinet exams at The Con today. They were both thrilled to get a B+.

It has been a long week and I look forward to a sleep-in tomorrow...

Tenacity

Two years ago Blossom received an award for ballet which cited 'tenacity of purpose' as one of the reasons for the award.

Tenacity is the bane of my existence at the moment. Blossom has the jaws of an African Wild Dog and the energy of a Kelpie.

The early signs were always there. At her birth the midwife said she could tell the personality of a child by the way they entered the world. Blossom entered the world with her eyes open, took one look at her surroundings and bellowed at the top of her lungs. The midwife looked at me and said I had a wild one.

Blossom presents as being quite shy with those she doesn't know.

But once she decides what she wants she locks down with her African Wild Dog jaw and hangs in there until the bitter end.

Example 1: The Red and White Border Collie

Blossom wants one of these.

I grew up on a farm and know a little about Border Collies. Like that they need to run about, oh, 14km a day. That they herd stuff. That they are tenacious.

Oh, I see why she wants one now.

Blossom is obsessed. She's researched. She's presented counter-arguments to all our reasons why this would be an entirely inappropriate dog for inner-city Sydney.

She talks about red and white border collies incessantly. She truly believes that we will get one, and that it will be soon. Apparently her name will be Bronte. I would not be surprised if I drove home from work one day to see Bronte sitting on our front porch. I believe Blossom is tenacious enough to convince someone to send down a dog 'on approval'. It worries me.

Example 2: Pierced Ears.

Blossom has only been talking about having her ears pierced since 2005. Some weeks she doesn't mention it. But that's only because she's too busy providing additional evidence why we'd be crazy not to get a red and white border collie.

I know many parents couldn't care less whether their daughters had their ears pierced young. In some cultures it's de rigeur. But I just have a thing about it. I'd prefer that Blossom waits until high school. Why? Don't have an answer.

I'd say "how can I convince my mum to let me pierce my ears" would've been a top Google search in our house over the last couple of years. Blossom knows where to get them done, how to look after them and to counter-act my last argument found out that her future high school does allow pierced ears provided that small silver studs are worn. Sheesh.

To top it off, the girl she shares a Clarinet lesson with can get her ears pierced if she gets an A in her exam this year.

Example 3: You Owe Me Money

According to Blossom we always seem to owe her money. She gets an allowance each week. While there are weeks that we forget to pay her the allowance, mostly I'd say we are up to date.

I'm sure Blossom keeps a ledger in her room. I'd like to think it is a leather-bound ledger book written in with a Quill and ink. Every week she presents an argument why it is that we haven't paid her for the 2-3 weeks previous. The money we allegedly owe is always in $10 or $20 lots.

This week she claims we owe her $10. Despite explaining that we do not owe her $10 she is holding onto the hope that we will be worn down and pay her out of exasperation.

Not only is the $10 slipped into most conversations (eg. Mmm, yummy dinner, you owe me $10.) but a reminder is written on our white board and last night I went up to the office to find "Dear Mummy" note about a completely different subject which contained in small letters at the bottom of the page:

PPPPPPS: You owe me $10.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAArgh!

I know that I'm being played and yet why do I get the feeling that in the not to distant future I will be sitting on our front porch patting a red border collie called Bronte while an 11 year old with pierced ears is tucking $10 into her wallet...

I really need a manual on how to survive the teen years.

Lindfield, 6pm: GOLD!

These Year 5 & 6 kids all complain about their silky Concert Band shirts, but they look fabulous on stage.

But fashion horrors were all put aside by these 10-12 year olds when they heard that they were awarded Gold at the Yamaha Music Festival this evening.

Our Blossom is one of the blurry over-exposed clarinetists in the second row. You can't see her, but she's there somewhere.

Eleven: The birthday questionnaire

Blossom is eleven today!

The Birthday Questionnaire

Years ago I started to ask Blossom a series of questions on her birthday with the hope that I'd keep them for posterity. However, like many of my ideas, I never followed through and have no idea where the other lists are. Now, at least, I can post this list to cyberspace where it will float for all eternity...

(for last year's questionnaire, see here)

How old are you? Eleven

What is your favourite colour? Silver

What is your favourite animal? Polar Bear

What is your favourite food? Spag Bol and Avocado/Tomato/Hummus Bruschetta

What is your favourite drink? Banana Smoothie

What do you want to be when you grow up? Author

Where is your favourite place to visit on Holidays? Vail

What is your favourite subject at school? Art, Sport and Science

What subject to you like the least at school? Maths

Favourite book that you've finished reading? The Dragon Keeper series

Favourite TV show? Avatar, iCarly and Phineas & Ferb

Favourite board game? Cluedo and Trivial Pursuit

Favourite music? Classical

What makes you giggle the most? My friends

If you could travel overseas where would you go? Val d'Isere, France

What is your favourite car? Aston Martin, Ferrari, Lamborghini and Audi

What is your favourite item of clothing? My Felix the Cat jumper.

Methinks this little author had better write a bestseller to afford those cars and that trip to France!

Happy Birthday Blossom!

You can iron a tutu? Who knew?

Yesterday I found out that you can starch and iron the netting on a tutu. This I didn't know. I imagined it would just shrivel up and burn.

Now the tutu Blossom has borrowed for this year's Eisteddfod will have the appropriate amount of perkiness and bounce.

Not to mention the shimmer and the sparkle.

Proof that my 10yo is more mature than me

On Saturday the boys headed off to the annual father & son camp held by my son's school. This meant 24 hours of girls-only adventure for Blossom and I.

First on the agenda was a trip to the movies to see Hotel for Dogs. Those of you with 10yo girls will know that anything starring Emma Roberts is a hit movie in this age group, that is unless you are a Zac Efron fan.

Along with our tickets Blossom asked if she could have Maltesers. Well, of course you can honey. Yum, my favourite.

Later in the cinema, waiting for the movie to start:

Me: Blossom, you've pinched my Maltesers. I get to hold the Maltesers because I paid for them.

Blossom: No, mum, if you hold the Maltesers you'll eat them all before the movie starts.

Me: Will not

Blossom: Will too.

Me: Well, can I have just one?

Blossom: You can have one [hands me one measly Malteser]

A few moments later, the trailers are still showing.

Me: [looks appealingly and holds out hand in expectation of second Malteser]

Blossom: No, you've already had one.

Me: I bet you're eating them.

Blossom: No, I'm saving them for the movie.

Seconds later...

Me: Well, how will I know when you are ready to hand out the Maltesers? Will there be a sign?

Blossom: [pokes me in shoulder, very sharply] That will be your sign.

Me: Ow! All I want is a Malteser.

Blossom: [sighs] Look, here are two Maltesers. Don't ask me again, you have to make them last.

How can I possibly enjoy the movies if I haven't scoffed 175g of chocolate before the title scene? Bleh. Next time I'm going with Firegazer, he has a celebrated history of cinema lolly-scoffing having famously once tossed lolly-bananas through the projection beam thereby creating large banana-shaped shadows on the screen.

La Bayadere

Last night Blossom's ballet school held their concert. It's a showcase of ballet, Jazz and Contemporary from grades K-12. The day is a marathon effort. We arrived at the theatre at 1.30pm (I was on hair duty), the show went on at 6.30pm and we finally arrived home at 10pm.

This year's ballet was La Bayadere - a ballet that is spookily, given very recent events, set in India. The production was very Bollywood in parts. This year's production was big on technique and really showcased the vocational students well. Blossom's class played harem dancers.

Special credit must go to Padawan Learner. He woke up with a fever yesterday so I had to take him to the theatre with me rather than send him to school and afterschool care. He was fabulous sitting there for five hours while I did hair and another three hours through the performance. He didn't complain once despite the frilly, mostly girly, surrounds and despite not feeling the best.

So, that's it. Ballet is over for another year. We have our Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays back again. Yay, slow starts on Saturdays...

How you can tell it's ballet concert season

It's ballet concert season.

How can you tell?

Because on Sunday morning while dropping of our kids at ballet rehearsal all able-bodied parents who have ever put a thread through a needle were co-opted to hand sew tutu layers together so that they (the tutus) sit flat like a pancake (rather than - as it was described to us - 'like a duck's bum").

This involved tacking each layer of the tutu to each other layer. Each tutu has 4-6 layers. And there were 18 tutus.

Three tutus took me 2 1/2 hours. Luckily the company was great, but I think my eyesight is shot!

PS. HAPPY BIRTHDAY IMPOSSIBLE PRINCESS!

Tweens make Gingerbread Houses and get more icing on themselves than the house

[click pic to enlarge]

On Friday night Blossom and some school friends joined about thirty other 9-12 year old girls at our local church hall to make gingerbread houses.

They had a great time eating more lollies than went on their house and they wore more icing than was holding their house together.

Exam Stress

As I pressed publish it is exactly 7 days until Blossom's first Clarinet exam.

We are still learning our scales, all 16 of them.

Our list pieces are coming along well and we have had three sessions with the accompanist.

Being sick with bronchitis this week doesn't help. One needs to be able to breathe (and not cough) to play woodwind. So we are "playing" without air - like air guitar, but not.

We are not known for our grace under pressure. If this is any indication of the future, God help us when she does her HSC*.

I may need to leave the country for the duration.

*final high school exams

The Devil is in the Icing

Tonight years 4-6 at Blossom's school are having their annual Trivia Night. This is a big occasion on their social calendar and much preparation has gone into Blossom's table.

Her team is called The Disco Devils and they will be dressed in red and black and wearing red sparkly devil horns. Blossom asked if she could take mini cupcakes as her food contribution, with red icing.

I have just finished baking the cupcakes and feel a little ill on account of the many spoonfuls of cupcake mixture I have eaten. I.just.can't.help.myself.

I tried my hardest to make red icing but to no avail.

In fact I think the icing is more akin to Waratah in colour.

Which is much prettier than red anyway.

08.08.08 was Eisteddfod Day in our house

While the Beijing Olympics may have been on your mind yesterday, the Sydney Eisteddfod was on Blossom's.

After six months of preparation Blossom finally performed her classical routine yesterday afternoon, along with forty other 10 year olds.

She was, of course, beautiful in her pale pink tutu and borrowed tiara.

I am pleased to say that this year's Eisteddfod was more relaxed than last year's with the girls performing fewer tricks (steps beyond the normal training for a 10yo) and less dramatic make-up being worn.

There was, however, just enough of the over-dressed girls to keep me entertained. What's the fun of an afternoon out if you don't see a 10yo in false eyelashes and lashings of eyeliner at 3pm performing multiple pirouettes?

Froth & Bubble: hair gel and diamantes at 10am

The Australian Ballet School, which is based in Victoria, does an annual tour of most capital cities at which time they conduct auditions and open.to.anyone masterclasses. Blossom went along to a masterclass for 10 year old girls and boys this week. I wanted her to see what was happening in ballet outside the confines of her own ballet school. She attends a ballet school in an area where by and large there are few 'stage mothers' and the girls and boys are friendly and, well, normal.

After the masterclass Blossom was full of smiles. It was fun, she said. Our teacher was really nice, she said. Phew, because when we first arrived and saw the other girls she was about to share a class with Blossom had a small anxiety attack:

Blossom: I'm not going in
Mum: Why?
Blossom: I'm the only one not wearing hair gel and diamantes
Mum: No, you are wearing a practise bun. Hair gel and diamantes aren't required at 10am in the morning.
Blossom: The girls look mean.
Mum: They can't help it, their faces are contorted by a too-tight bun and hair gel [seriously, you can give yourself a face lift with that stuff].

Now, I can do a fair job with ballet hair and I think that neat hair for ballet shows respect for the art. I help out with hair during ballet exam week and for the end of year concert. I am a dab hand with hair gel and all manner of hair accessories. But at 10am in the morning that stuff is just not required.

To calm Blossom down we looked around to see if we could find any girls that looked friendly. After counting four or five near us she relaxed. The friendly-looking ones, incidentally, wore their hair in a practise bun and they didn't prance around pirouetting or doing the splits.

Blossom is going to encounter the over-gelled Lolitas at every ballet event she attends from now on. I'm glad she's getting a handle on it and I hope she realises that the froth and bubble doesn't equal performance.

Sydney Writers' Festival - The Kids' Big Day Out

Today is the official start of the Sydney Writers' Festival*. It will go until Sunday 3rd June and features writers from all over Australia as well as a number of international ones.

Today KelpieBlossom, and two of her friends, attended a full-day writing class for 9-12 year olds taken by Tashi author, Anna Fienberg. The kids learnt about drawing on their own feelings to make imaginary stories seem real. They were also set a number of writing exercises. KelpieBlossom wrote a great story called The Ball and the Chest but didn't want it reproduced here. She was happy, however, to share this great exercise about an imaginary home.

Home by KelpieBlossom

I have a small home but everyone can get around. I have a small backyard - for my jumbo jet; a little pond - to fit my 300ft yacht; a teeny paddock at the back of my house - for my pony and 3000 of his closest friends.

I have a simple little bedroom to fit 900 of my toys. And a cinema. My bathroom is...o - kay... It only has a TV on the floor, a water feature, automatic toilets, golden walls and a lifetime supply of bubblebath.

The kitchen is only big enough to fit a giant. It has three fridges, two ovens, eight stoves, one tap, a pantry the size of my room and a cupboard - the size of a church.

Did I mention we have a robot that cleans our house everyday? My mum and dad's room is a dump. It only has a king-size bed, a carpet made out of golden silk, a wardrobe the size of a cinema and diamonds, sent from the Queen, hanging up.

Getting onto the playroom. It's messy, it's dumb and I want another one. It can only fit 6,000 of my toys, a huge golden couch, a home cinema and a silky carpet.

Isn't it so embarrassing to have a dump like this for a home?!

KelpieBlossom was so excited by this workshop and said "I would do one every weekend if I could".

At 5pm Padawan Learner and I crossed the Bridge to meet up with KelpieBlossom to go the Kids' Night Out. An event where the kids listen to popular children's authors and illustrators talk about their work. There are also the obligatory book purchasing and signing opportunities...

Image courtesy www.swf.org.au: Bernard Gallate getting suggestions from the audience for his latest book

We listened to Jackie French talk about her pet Wombat Mothballs; we heard Bruno Bouchet talk about how snot can be used as a weapon to fight aliens and helped Bernard Gallate write alternate endings for his next book.

As usual it was a great night out with our library weighing heavy with the new, signed, purchases (Diary of a Wombat, Tashi the Story of a Boy, Lab Rats in Space).


*for those who like to debate the positioning of apostrophes - this is the official placement of the SWF apostrophe.