Tuesday, 28 January 2014

Today was the first weekday of me taking care of Zoe. We got things started more or less on the same routine that we used to do when she had day care, so we were dressed and ready to roll by about 8am.

We baked a batch of mini cornbread muffins, and had them ready by the time my 9:30am chiropractic appointment rolled around, so we took a few with us for morning tea for my chiropractor and his receptionist.

I've taken Zoe with me on a few occasions, and speak of her often to my chiropractor. He's a dad himself, and the first few times I brought her in, he juggled for her, so she thinks he's pretty cool.

Last night, Zoe had expressed a desire to go to Southbank today. It was initially looking like it'd be too rainy, but by the time I was done with the chiropractor, it looked safe enough to venture out, so we went back home, and I prepared a picnic lunch for us, and we caught a bus over to Southbank.

We had a bit of a splash around in the water and then ate lunch. Zoe had a great time alternating between feeding and chasing seagulls, crows, and an ibis. My girlfriend, who works in South Brisbane, walked over and joined us briefly and then we all walked back towards the bus and parted ways.

Southbank mid-week is pretty nice. Not too busy.

It was a slow walk home from the bus, but the reward of a My Little Pony biscuit was enough to get her racing ahead of me from the corner. After a biscuit and some quiet time, she fell asleep and I've had a couple of hours to read and write blog posts, as well as plan future activities.

I'm hoping that we'll have enough time to go birthday present shopping for a 4th birthday party (for twins from Zoe's old day care) that we're going to on Saturday morning after swim class, before Sarah arrives to pick her up, but I'm dubious we'll get time. Zoe's still asleep as I write. There's always tomorrow. We might be best off just baking the second batch of cornbread muffins.

Yesterday was the first day of my new routine, except I haven't really established the new routine yet. I think that's going to take a few weeks. It was, however, the first day of Zoe's new routine, she started Kindergarten.

"Kindergarten" is a bit of an ambiguous term, even within Australia, it seems. Back when I went to school, there was "pre-school", which was, as best I can determine, what "Kindergarten" is now, except a year later. It was optional, half a week, and the year preceding the start of primary ("elementary") school. I think every other state was already doing an extra year of school (which I think they called "Kindergarten", "Kinder", or something starting with "K") so Queensland blew up "pre-school", created "Prep" and now that's the first year of primary school. Zoe will start "Prep" next year.

Then the Queensland education boffins realised that kids were missing out on the stuff that "pre-school" used to offer, so they reintroduced it in the form of "Kindergarten" (by Queensland standards). It's supposed to be play-based, and isn't really "long day care". Zoe does Monday, Tuesday and every other Wednesday, from 8:30am until 2:20pm.

I'd only heard about C&K from a friend after moving back to Brisbane, so we were very fortunate to secure a place without having camped out on a waiting list from birth. We got very lucky, and ended up getting multiple offers, but we're pretty thrilled with the one that Zoe got into. It's a relatively new facility, right next to a state school and some bushland. They take the kids on excursions into the bushland, and up to the state school where there's some chickens. The Kindergarten facility itself is really lovely.

Anyway, yesterday was Zoe's first day. I biked there yesterday morning (without Zoe) and it took me about 11 minutes. It took me more like 15 minutes to pick her up with the bike trailer. It's uphill on the way there, but not too much of a slog.

It's been really great that Zoe's BFF from day care, Megan, also scored a place in the same Kindergarten, as I think this will help the transition for both girls greatly.

I was able to stay for an extended period of time to help settle Zoe in, and I was able to leave without her being particularly distressed.

I then biked home, running a few errands along the way. I then got stuck into a woodworking project (I'm trying to make a little wooden clothesline for Zoe).

It turns out trying to cut a halved joint with a hand saw and chisel is a lot of work. I've managed to aggravate an old rotator cuff injury and the two pieces are a tad too tight, so I'm thinking I'll redo it and cut the joint out with an electric router instead. I probably spent at least a couple of hours faffing around with that.

So I banged away with a hammer and chisel for a bit, got a haircut, had a late lunch and next thing I knew it was 2pm and time to head back on the bike to pick up Zoe.

She was still asleep on her stretcher when I arrived to pick her up, which wasn't that surprising, since she tends to sleep later and longer at day care. I got a good opportunity to chat with her teacher about her first day and then gently woke her up with a kiss, and we headed home.

I introduced Zoe to one of our new neighbours, and after a snack, we drove into Fortitude Valley where I had to pick up some mail from my post office box. When we got back home, I started on dinner while Zoe watched a little bit of TV. I spontaneously invited my cousin over to join us for dinner, and we walked down to the Hawthorne Garage for a babyccino after dinner.

It was a good day.

I realised that I'm going to have to be super regimented with my time on the days Zoe is in Kindergarten, because 2pm is going to roll around very quickly. "Scarcity brings clarity", as Sergey says...