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March 10, 2005
10 March 2004
Ryan is 27 months old
Holidays Around the Corner
I have only 12 more working days left until my annual leave – YAY! As a full time employee I get 4 weeks holidays a year and they are a long time coming. We also get to use sick leave for family purposes so if Ryan is not well this autumn and winter I will be able to take time off with him. I have about 700 sick hours accrued so that is reassuring – let’s hope I don’t need to use it any time soon. It is reassuring to know that as a full time working mum I can still take the time I need if one of us gets sick.
I am also due for long service leave this coming December. I have been working within the Health Department for 10 years so I get 60 working days off on full pay, yippee! During the year I became pregnant with Ryan (2001), 12 weeks paid maternity leave was introduced for state government employees so I was lucky enough to take advantage of that. My employer has really been pushing the ‘family friendly’ policy and of course I’m all for it.
Mark and I have made a huge list of things we want to get done during our leave, including painting inside the house, looking at some pre-school options for Ryan and getting wills written up – gasp, we still have not done this and we’ve been married since January 2002!! Very irresponsible of us, I know. It’s a morbid subject that none of us like to discuss but it’s long overdue for us.
We are going away at the beginning of our break to a beachside town on the sunny East coast of Tasmania for a couple of nights. I won one night’s accommodation through a radio competition so we though we would make the long drive worthwhile and stay 2 nights. We’ve never been away anywhere before with Ryan so it will be interesting to see how it all works out! I have visions of Ryan staying up until we go to bed and then wanting to sleep with us – oh well, I won’t mind so much. It will just be nice to get away. I NEED to get away from this everyday routine of day care, work and household chores!! Then at the very end of our break, Mark and I are going to Melbourne on our own for 2 nights. Ryan will be staying with his Nanny & Grandad (my parents) – they will spoil him rotten I am sure. I am so looking forward to spending time with Ryan during our break, just doing everyday things and really concentrating on potty training!
Day Care Problems
My last line of my previous entry was ‘I’m going to pick up my boy from his carer’. That very afternoon I collected Ryan who was sporting a bright red SUNBURNT face. It’s summer here and the Australian sun BITES. Ryan’s carer said she had put sunscreen on him (obviously not very well and not early enough in the day) but ‘he wouldn’t keep his hat on’. At home, no hat means no playing outside – full stop. They went to a park and Ryan was in a double stroller with another child, sat under a tree but with no real shade. My poor baby must have been sitting outside in the sun for some time to get sunburned like that. He had a thick red stripe across his forehead, red cheeks and the tops of his ears copped it too. DH was livid when he got home from work. We went to see Ryan’s carer the next day and told her we were very unhappy and were looking for assurances that it would never happen again. She didn’t really accept that she’d done anything wrong, did not apologise but said that she would put more sunscreen on him and asked that we buy him a bigger hat. I felt like saying : hey, it wasn’t our fault! Through all this, Ryan remained his happy self, it did not seem to bother him at all but of course I am more concerned about the damage that has been done to his skin and the future implications.
This whole situation left me not knowing which way to turn. If I had created a big uproar about it, I would no doubt be left with no child care whatsoever. Then what? But am I a bad mummy for leaving Ryan in her care?? To those who may suggest it, I can’t just give up work – it’s out of the question right now. I always feel like the one trying to keep everyone happy and that is SO difficult sometimes.
Apart from this incident, I have been really happy with the care Ryan receives, I am just so disappointed that his carer did not do the right thing in this instance. I am certain she would never knowingly do anything to hurt him and if there were signs of any other kind of ‘abuse’, he would be out of there like a shot. That little boy is so precious to me! I can only hope that she appreciates how seriously we take the issue of sun protection and will never let this happen again. I am slathering on heaps of sunscreen on Ryan’s face, arms and legs before we leave the house in the mornings now. As much as I hate to say it, I am glad that summer is now officially over (as of March 1st).
Half A World Away
I had a wonderful phone call from Kelly of Mom’s Today on the weekend – yes, all the way from USA to Australia!! It was so good to be able to chat, albeit for a very short time. It’s amazing how this site has allowed me to make such wonderful friends with women who live on the other side of the world and I’m truly grateful for that. We are 17 hours ahead of Kelly’s time zone so this phone call took a fair bit of planning! Thanks again Kelly!
Dear Friend
A very close friend was diagnosed with leukaemia this past weekend. It was such a shock for me as I was not aware that she had been feeling unwell. I’m not even sure which type of leukaemia has been diagnosed but she is beginning chemo today, here at the hospital where I work. She is 36 and has a 12 year old son. I have known her since we started high school at the age of 12 and I am her son’s Godmother. I hope to be able to visit her most days, even just stopping in to say a quick hello. I understand that the chemo will most likely make her feel pretty rotten so I’ll just let her know that I am here for her anytime. I could not stop thinking about her all weekend and I’m praying that she will get through this battle. Life is mighty unfair sometimes, ladies.
Ryan Update
This little boy of ours continues to get bigger, stronger and funnier every day. He weighs 20kg and is about a metre tall, wearing size 3s but quickly going into size 4s and a size 8 shoe. People just don’t believe us when we say he’s only 2 and of course they tend to have higher expectations of him in terms of potty training, eating, speech and general behaviour. He’s still my little baby boy to me! My parents bought him his first tent on the weekend as we have put it up inside, it is shaped like a big ladybird with the body as the main part of the tent and a tunnel and face attached. Ryan calls it ‘Buh-Bud’ and screeches with joy every time he sees it each morning. There are numerous toys kept safe inside – I think I will have to see what else he may have stashed away in there. He took his little chair inside it and just sat there, as if waiting for us to go inside and pay homage to him! He’s turning into quite the little comedian and is always making me laugh.
As I mentioned, we are going to wait until we are on holidays to really concentrate on potty training. The little monkey will come up to me and say ‘potty?’ as if he needs to ‘go’ but then will race past his room and go jump on our bed to play. Once he is actually on the potty, he’s happy enough to sit there and 9 times out of 10 he will use it (only wees at this stage though). I will be so glad when he is out of nappies! I have to keep telling myself ‘that day will come’!
Reality TV
There are so MANY of these shows on TV now here, both Australian and American, too many to keep up with. I think the viewing public are getting a little tired of the whole concept now and the shows aren’t rating all that well over here, except for the ‘classics’ such as Survivor and American/Australian Idol. I watched Survivor last night, it was the one where Sue decided to leave and tore strips off poor Jeff about being degraded and dehumanised. I missed the previous episode – exactly what did Richard do that offended her so much?? Geez. I’ve also been watching that trashy Paradise Hotel – how on earth does it come to an end when they vote new people to stay whenever someone leaves? That’s on Monday nights here right after Sex and the City which I love, so the VCR gets a good workout that night.
Questions for this week:
What would you do if your child was sunburned in day care?
Does this constitute ‘neglect’ or am I blowing things out of proportion?
Could I have handled things any differently?
I’d really appreciate your input!
Bye for now
Sue & Ryan (11/29/01)
www.babiesonline.com/babies/r/rg
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