How old am I, again..?

So. Working on a big, fat, pithy post that Im starting to think is going to become a series of posts. On mental health. Nuff said?

Well no, actually, it turns out not. Rewind probably 15 years, Im sitting in Social Studies in high school, in an essay test that would determine a good percentage of our total grade for the year. The teacher presiding over us that period, and presumably the one who’d also be marking these tests, EXPLICITLY specified that he didnt want a 10 page novel. I clearly remember him waxing lyrical about how much he didnt want to to be pouring over pages and pages of utter drivel. He probably didnt say that – what I remember is the waxing, not the words.

So I proceed to write 13 pages in whatever time we were allotted, probably less than an hour. I dont remember the subject, I dont remember what I scored and I dont remember what the words in red letters scrawled across the top when I got it back, even were.

13 pages. I reckon it was just the power of suggestion, personally 😛 But was that a case of not being able to follow directions? Did I care too much? Hardly, because I couldnt do it. I couldnt reduce all my really important points into a concise little summary of what I was trying to say. And because I cant remember what the test question was, I cant say there would have been a better way to answer it, or rather, to test our understanding of the question. But no one pulled me aside and said “You had a really good crack at that question, you just need to learn how to proof read”. And so there went another nail in the coffin of my formal education. And my future childrens’, it turns out…

So anyway, this exercise in “writing” is bringing back some interesting memories, slightly amusingly – so far, anyway! Im sure Ive got some not so amusing memories to stumble across and realisations to make… Which brings me back to the task at hand. You’ll forgive me if this mental health series is a little while coming 😉

Happy Birth-Day to Us!

Here we are! This is our very first post on our brand spankin’ new web presence. This oughtta be a trip, too, ’cause neither of us have any real idea of how to build and maintain a wordpress site <grin>… So, y’know, any and all suggestions and help will be graciously accepted – this theme is so not us! 😛

Who the heck are we, anyway? Well, we’re a blended family of 4; Me, (you can call me Avalon, though its not my real name), Dadda (we’ll just call him the Irishman, or hey, why not just Irish :-P), Tiny Dancer, 9 months, (not an original nickname, I have to credit Free Your Kids with that one, but it just suits her so.damn.well. that I couldn’t go past it) and The Dude, Dudey or Buddy, as we refer to him at home, who’s 4 and a half, and “belongs” to another Dadda, The Creative Rebel. We’re a ragtag bunch, pretty much just fumbling our way through a whole buncha cruncha stuff. Step-parent-hood, for one, in the case of the Irishman and Dudey. And NEW parenthood, to boot! Tiny Dancer is his first, in what we hope will be a brood of wee’ns. We’re what Im going to just blanket term “gentle” parents, with heavy Libertarian leanings. We follow some of the Attachment Parenting “principals”, but not all of them – whatever that even means, anyway. We’re homeschoolers. Or more accurately, Unschoolers, more on that at a later date. We’re homesteaders (gee REALLY?) – suburban for the moment, rural at heart. We’re dreamers, but doers too. Irish is what every Aussie would call “a tradie”, and me, well, Ive worn a few different hats over the years – dog groomer, vet nurse, birth doula, single mama – right at the minute Ive put down my “occupational” tools to raise my kids and self educate. There’s a load of stuff Id like to study; yoga, personal training, counselling, naturopathy, midwifery….yeah, loads. Id say watch this space, ’cause its gunna happen, just a matter of time. But right now I’m a blogess, mother, daughter, friend, lover, partner… all round domestic engineer goddess.

This space will be as much a therapeutic outlet for me, Mama, as it will a record of our journey – we’ve got a huge dream in our pipeline, but will be keeping mostly mum about it until we’ve got some concrete plans in place. So hanging around for the big reveal will be worth it 😉 In the meantime, I’ll be posting about our trials and tribulations with growing our own food and the general joys and sorrows of trying to be the parents we WANT to be, rather than the parents we’ve been “brought up to be”.

I’m totally going to monetize this blog, (why wouldn’tcha), but with a commitment to endorse and partner only with people and products I use and love myself. I really have no idea where this could lead – youtube tutes, classes (online and in person), a home based business – I sure hope so! Right now, and for a few years already, Ive been using, loving and selling Ayana Organics skincare. I’m gonna pick up my efforts and bring it to market – my first as a *proper* stall holder, egads! So y’all should totally come along and buy stuff from me 😀

But in the meantime, help a gal out. Spam me with SUPER easy to follow wordpress tutorials. I cant even figure out how to add a “cover” photo, which is rather ridiculous, considering I’ve studied multimedia and web authoring. But that was a whole other lifetime ago….