The Jones's at No. 43

Thursday, September 11, 2008

A question of moral ...



If you found a child's toy on the pavement, what would you do? Would you pick it up and take it, would you pick it up and put it on a bench or something close by or would you leave it?

This is a question that I've been thinking about and I know what I would do. Here's my reason for thinking about this ...

Today we went shopping (Dylan and I) and I had some errands to run (post office, photocopy shop etc). Dylan was hot and bothered and a bit fed up so as a treat I bought him a little squeaky caterpillar toy. He went crazy for it in the shop and carried it around with him (mainly so he could put it in his mouth) while I picked up all my other bits. We left the shop, called at the supermarket to pick up cat food and nappies and then came home.

By the time we got home the caterpillar was nowhere to be seen. I fed Dylan, put him down for his nap and asked Penri to watch him while I retraced my steps back to the supermarket. Let me just add here that coming back from shopping I had the pushchair, 20 tins of cat food, a bag of cat litter, a small wheelie suitcase full of shopping and my handbag, so I was pretty loaded up and it was very warm weather so I was exhausted by the time I got back. I didn't really feel like going back out and doing the walk there and back again, but I was hopeful that some honest person might have picked up the toy and put it to the side of the pavement or something. But ... you guessed it ... it was nowhere to be seen!

I walked all the way there and back looking the whole time with no luck. I felt to bad (as I know Dylan really liked the toy), so on my way home I went and bought him the little squeaky elephant (the caterpillar had been the last one). So all's well that ends well, I guess. Dylan has a toy elephant and some child in Stuttgart got a brand new toy without having to pay for it.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

BUGS!


















I’d forgotten how big spiders can be
Until yesterday when one looked right at me
I’d gone downstairs to empty the bin
When I finished I had a quick peek and looked in

Imagine my horror, my total surprise
When there sat a spider right before my eyes
I didn’t scream or yell or shout
I kept my calm and tipped him out

He, however, had another plan
His big spindly legs stuck to the can
Then he started crawling closer to me
I held my breath, counted 1 … 2 … 3

Just as he reached the top of the bin
I shook it hard and he fell in
Then I threw the small bin onto the floor
And just took a look to be absolutely sure

Once I was satisfied that he wasn’t there
I picked it up and came back upstairs
Then I recounted my tale to Penri
Who said he was glad it wasn't him, but me

The moral of the story
The end of my rhyme
You can overcome your fears
Over a period of time

Just hold your breath and count to three
It’s easy to do … try it you’ll see
My final words I want to say ...
I’ll take spiders over cockroaches any day!

Monday, September 08, 2008

Thanks Lucy!

I got an e-mail from my friend, Lucy the other day saying how she loved reading my blog and it made me feel guilty for not keeping it up. So, thanks to her, I now have the motivation to write on here again. I must admit I have got very slack with it all since having Dylan, but I just find my time gets filled so quickly. Who knows what I used to do with my time before I had a baby?! Now I find there just aren’t enough hours in the day. Anyway Dylan is now sleeping so I’m using the opportunity to write this.

I cannot believe we have been here in Germany for 8 weeks already! The time has just flown by. I think it’s mainly because we have had visitors for pretty much the whole time. My mum arrived the day after us and stayed for just under a month. During the time she was here, Penri’s mum visited for 9 days and my Aunty Vivian came for 6 days. Once my mum left in August, my sister arrived for 10 days. It was so wonderful having people here and spending time with family; and of course for them to spend time with Dylan. He loved all the attention! It also pushed me to get out and about and discover the area which we did.

I visited Stuttgart a few times with my mum and went shopping there. It’s massive and there are loads of shops, including C&As, which I was surprised about. I didn’t realize it was still open in Europe. Anyway, Stuttgart is really nice and I love getting on the train and heading over there for a day. It’s not too far – it takes about 25 minutes which is great. Stuttgart is so different to the little town we live in. Although we have everything we need locally, such as supermarkets, train station, swimming baths (if we chose to use them), I love the big high street with all the different shops.

Last week Penri was working in London so Dylan and I headed to Stuttgart. It’s the first time I’ve taken him there on my own and he was as good as gold! I even took him in his pushchair into changing rooms and into the disabled bathroom so I could use the toilet. I never really thought about it before then – how can I use public toilets with a pushchair? Normally I would have someone else with me who could watch the baby. There’s not really much option when you’re on your own especially in Europe where, if I left the pushchair unattended, it would probably get stolen. There’s even a warning sign outside Dylan’s doctor’s surgery saying not to leave your pushchairs unattended as they will be stolen! So, my only choice was to take him in with me! Anyway, we had a lovely day shopping and the weather was gorgeous so I decided to take him to sit on the grass in Schlossplatz (which is German for ‘Palace Square’). I laid down one of his swaddle blankets for me to sit on and then I held him so he could feel the grass with his feet. He’s never really seen grass before, let alone felt it. He LOVED it! He was squidging (is that even a word?) it between his toes and he was pulling forward because he wanted to feel it with his hands. He grabbed at it and pulled at it and was smiling constantly! He really enjoyed it. Because it was so warm, I covered his arms, legs, face and neck with sun cream and put his little cap on and his sunglasses. He looked so cute – I wish I’d taken my camera.

On the subject of Dylan, he’s doing really well. We were at the doctors for his last lot of jabs (in his first year) and he is taller and heavier than average and she said some of the things he is doing already are advanced for his age, i.e. he’s been rolling over onto his stomach for nearly a month now and he walks in the baby walker already. He is also very close to sitting up! He can actually hold himself in a sitting position for a few seconds before he falls to one side. He’s just so determined! Anyway, he loves his baby walker, so much so, that we have had to take the rug up in the lounge so he can run around the whole room. He’s really getting good at it. It’s so funny because the music wasn’t working on it and hasn’t been since my mum brought it over from UK, then all of a sudden today it just started playing. The weird thing is you can’t stop it once it starts – the on/off button doesn’t work. Strange, or what?!

We still haven’t received our cargo from India. We were told it would take 25 days from leaving India, which of course, was a lie! It’s not even reached Germany yet let alone Stuttgart! I think it’s somewhere in Colombo. It’s very annoying as we have been living out of a suitcase each for the last 8 weeks. Also most of Dylan’s toys and obviously a lot of his clothes are in the cargo, some of which won’t even fit him by the time it gets here. I just hope it does get here! I had to go out and buy him some new clothes and a few toys to play with, not that I mind of course, I’ve found him some fantastic toys here – including a really cool castle and tunnel (which he’s too young for yet but we put up so that I could have a play in it).

The weather here has been wonderful. Not hot, not cold, just perfect! Although, I must admit, the last few days it has definitely been getting colder. I’ve really noticed a change and I’m just so happy that I brought a couple of jumpers in my luggage from Chennai. As the weather is getting colder, I decided this morning that I should go out onto the terrace and pull all the weeds up (that were growing through the tiles). It was just warm enough for the baby to come out too so he laid and watched me weeding and sang and chatted away to himself (and a little bit to me too). The cats have loved being outside, especially after being stuck in the flat in India for the last seven months. They both sit out on the terrace and sunbathe.

Our flat is lovely and the landlords (who live below us) are a really nice family and very helpful. I’ll include some pictures of the flat below this blog.

In a moment of madness I decided that I would like some ‘Heelys’. You know the trainers that have wheels. I looked all over here but couldn’t find them. So, my mum (being as thoughtful and kind as she is), brought me some back from UK. I figured it would be like roller-blading (which I used to be pretty good at). I couldn’t have been more wrong. It’s really difficult and within seconds of having them on I nearly landed on my backside! I tried and just couldn’t do it. My sister and my mum both tried as well – none of us could get very far on them. I was by far the worst out of the three of us. I felt really bad as they cost my mum a lot of money so I asked her what I should do with them. She told me to give them to the little girl downstairs (who has just turned 9). So, I did. We gave her them for her birthday and she loved them. Nearly every day I can hear her skating on them in the house. I asked her mum how she is doing with them and she said ‘Great!’ How is it that a 9 year old can do something so easily that we, as adults, could not? The answer is simple – I’m sure that it is once you get to a certain age; you worry about hurting yourself and making a fool of yourself, whereas when we were children we had no inhibitions and no fear of things like that. I miss feeling like that, like I can do anything!

Not much else to write really. I cannot believe how quickly the time is flying by and before we know it, it’ll be Christmas.

Do I miss India? Hmmm. Yes and no. I miss the cheap cost of living, having Sparky’s Diner downstairs to cater for our every meal, most of all though, I miss my friends. Hi to all of you in Chennai - I think of you often. Other than that, Germany is a new experience, a new way of life and seems a lifetime away from our lives in India. We’ll be on the move again in January 2009 and still not 100% sure where we’ll be; wherever we are we’ll do what we always do and make the most of it and just enjoy being a family and experiencing a new way of life.

Our flat: