Friday 21 January 2011

Learning about colours.

For a long time now Maya has been able to list colours but not always identify them correctly.

Then the other day she exclaimed "There's a red car and ours is a red car!"

I looked and it was indeed a red car.

I then asked her "What is that car?" pointing at a blue car.

"That's a blue car" she said.

"And what's that car" I asked again pointing at a green car.

"That's a green car" she said.

"Wow she can identify colours" I thought.

"There's a red car" she said again pointing at a red car.

And this time I asked "What colour is it?"

"Green!" she said.

Errrrrr

"No what colour is it?"

"Green!"

"What car is it?"

"It's a red car"

"So what colour is it?"

"Green"

"No if it's a red car then it's a red colour"

"Green"

There are red cars and blue cars and silver cars and white cars but they are all the colour green apparently.

Hmmmm.

Monday 17 January 2011

Shattered.

On Saturday I visited my mother and she dropped a bombshell on me.

She still has cancer.

It was such a shock for me because I believed that the cancer had been fully removed during her surgery.  But the mass was much bigger than expected.  And despite the fact that bladder cancer is one of the most treatable forms of cancer because it generally grows slowly and stays contained within the bladder, it seems her cancer has grown rapidly and spread outside of the bladder.

Right now we don't know the next steps.  She will have a scan sometime in February to determine how much of the cancer is left.  And then the next course of action will be determined - another operation?  chemotherapy?  or radiation?

Until Saturday I thought my mother's battle ahead was to recover from her series of operations.  But it seems it's a bigger battle than I thought.  And I am shattered.

Friday 7 January 2011

Gendering of toys.

For Maya's birthday last year, my aunt asked me for present ideas.  I suggested she buy Maya a dump truck for the sandpit we were giving Maya.  On Maya's birthday my aunt turned up with clothes for Maya and whispered to me "I didn't get Maya a dump truck because it's for boys".

I was surprised by her reaction.  I grew up playing with cars, trucks, trains, etc.  I loved them and didn't consider them "boys" toys.  Just as Maya enjoys playing with dolls she also enjoys her vehicles.

There was an interesting post recently on Ms. blog about the gendering of toys and how children who enjoy playing with toys outside of their gender norm can be bullied. The writer talks about her son who took his My Little Pony to show and tell and was teased and a girl who was made fun of because she had a Star Wars drink bottle (by the way I love Star Wars and I'm a girl!).

Maya received a dump truck for Christmas and well.... here's some footage of her playing with it and enjoying it.

Saturday 1 January 2011

A reflection on 2010.

2010 was the year of illnesses.  It seemed like Maya and I were forever sick with colds and flus, plus some infections and gastro type illnesses thrown in for good measure.  Maya had many ear infections and developed glue ear, for which we thought she might need grommets but thankfully her ears did clear towards the end of the year.  My vertigo flared up again and for the second half of the year I have been experiencing vertigo every two to three weeks.  Though thankfully it has been milder than the previous year, it is still unpleasant and I have had some attacks while out and about which is harder to manage.  Even Greg who rarely gets sick caught more colds than usual.

Then of course there's my mother who developed bladder cancer and had three operations.

Then there's a friend of mine who developed ovarian cancer and during an operation to remove the cancer a mistake was made.  She will have to undergo further surgery in February to reverse the problem caused during surgery and I hope that will lead her back on the road to recovery.

I returned to work at the end of January after 16 months on maternity leave.  At first it was an extremely hard adjustment to make.  I missed Maya terribly and felt tremendously guilty for leaving her.  It took Maya a long time to adjust to child care but now she is happy there and overall I do think her experiences with other adult carers and other children has been good for her.  And work has given me adult company and some time out from the constant demands of a toddler, which I needed.

Unfortunately I began to dislike my job and the long travel to and from work, but I have sorted out a different role for 2011, which I hope I will enjoy more.

We bought our first home in 2010, which was so exciting.  I'm scared to look at our finances now but happy to own our own place.

I have loved watching Maya's further growth and development and was fortunate to only work two full days a week and have the other five to spend with her.  2010 was the year Maya started walking and now she runs everywhere.  Her communication has also improved and now it is much easier to work out what Maya needs or wants.

Here's hoping that 2011 is a better year of health for everyone.