The Playgrounds of Queensland

If you have been reading our blog so far, you would be forgiven for thinking our Australia experience has been full of exciting day trips and excursions to exotic places. It is easy to fill the blog with these experiences, but they do not represent the whole story. I wanted to write about our boring days, but that’s always a much harder task. The reality is that we have day trips and getaways whenever Irmeet is off work, but that leaves lots of time when Irmeet is at work.

Prior to having Elliott I was working full time and Alex was at nursery 5 days a week. When Alex was born, I had 7 months maternity leave and was ready to return to work. Maternity leave was hard enough in the UK with family support. It pales in comparison to doing it on your own with 2 little ones in a foreign country. However, I have absolutely no regrets about taking 12 months maternity leave. I am thoroughly enjoying spending every day with the kids and I constantly worry about returning to work. But there are also days that I want to get the first flight back home and return to work. In contrast there are also days that I feel like a “supermum” who should start home-schooling. Thankfully the majority of days fall somewhere in-between these two extremes.

  Elliott chilling at home

Preparing to leave the house wastes significant amounts of time. Firstly extracting Alex from ABC for Kids is a laborious process, usually involving some kind of bargaining “you can have Chuggington, Peppa, Ben and Holly, but the telly is coming off after Sesame Street”. Applying sunscreen to wriggly, reluctant children is another challenge. I also cannot stress the importance of leaving the house at the correct time in the Elliott feed-feed interval. Our departure is often delayed because of an impending feed. Resulting in a re-debate of the initial television deal, “OK you can have playschool, but the telly is definitely coming off after Mike the Knight”. Although both children wake around 6, we often don’t leave the house till around 11.

We spend a lot of time on public transport and I’m ashamed to say that I am not usually a public transport kind of girl. Brisbane has a brilliant ferry network. However, Alex doesn’t care for the beautiful scenery and tranquil ride. He complains bitterly whenever I want to get the ferry. He would much rather take the grotty, uncomfortable bus. Alex has also developed an embarrassing habit of trying to talk to bus drivers who obviously try their hardest not to talk to anyone. My personal favourite Alex question is “are you going to my house?”. Another highlight is Alex’s “faces” on the bus. This involves him raising his eyebrows and making a clicking noise. He started doing it with young female shop assistants. They find it funny and encourage him.  Old ladies on the bus usually don’t take it as well. I usually just sit there and wish that the ground would swallow me up.

I am ashamed by the amount of time we spend in Cafés, sometimes to escape the heat but usually just to pass the time. I navigate the city using my mind map of good coffee shops. We wander around the city shops and around the Southbank museum district. The museums are free but nowhere near as good as the museums back home. We also waste a lot of time in parent feeding rooms, thankfully they are generally good and have a telly on. However, this naturally leads to another hoo-haa about ABC for kids “Alex, we are not watching The Wiggles in a baby changing room”.

 Alex at the Science Museum

  Alex and Elliott at the Modern Art Museum (GOMA). 

If I have the car, I try to get out of Brisbane. We have visited local seaside towns and have found some lovely places. However, it is really difficult to enjoy it properly when I am on my own. I cannot really take Alex on a beach or in a splash park whilst I am trying to look after Elliott. It’s frustrating for Alex who is desperate to collect seashells or have a paddle. Therefore we also have trips to soft-play and baby cinemas. Prior to coming to Oz, I would have said going to soft play would be a waste of our time. However, they have been a godsend. We went to a little soft play that holds mini-discos throughout the day. Unfortunately, Alex was too shy to join in and prefers the typical soft play warehouse. Thankfully, I have found a good one that gives grown-ups free coffee (decent) on arrival.

 Alex at Nicky Noo’s Playhouse

Elliott at the more traditional soft play

The title of this blog is the Playgrounds of Queensland, it is fair to say I have spent more time in playgrounds in the last two months than I have in my whole life. Australian playgrounds are generally amazing. They are bigger, better maintained and far more adventurous. When we arrived, Alex was quite scared by the climbing. He is getting much better, but seems far less foolhardy than your average 2-year-old Queenslander hanging from the climbing frame by his ankles. 

 

 

 

 Elliott’s first time in the swing

To save my sanity, Alex has started attending nursery one day a week. In fairness, the main motivation was the lack of company his age. He spends ages trying to make friends in the park or soft play. It has been really hard for me to watch him try. If the children have siblings or friends, they have no interest in playing with him. If they are on their own, sometimes they struggle to understand his accent. On the occasion he does make friends he has a wonderful time. It has been fascinating to watch his social development. The other day he joined in with some bigger kids running around a roundabout whilst pushing it. He managed to trip over his feet and somersault over quite spectacularly. He jumped to his feet and played it cool for the big kids. He then ran towards me and once he was in the cover of the trees burst into tears and wanted a cuddle. Alex falls over, a lot. His knees and elbows are permanently scratched and bruised.

We arrived in Australia with our three suitcases. Alex has therefore left many of his toys in the UK. He asks about returning home on a weekly basis, mainly because he misses his toys (sorry Grandma and Dadi-ji). Coming to Australia has been a great lesson in making play and activities from nothing. I am also trying (but failing) to encourage him with his letters and numbers. He is still obsessed with the planets and talks constantly about them. He is also obsessed with sticks, every time we leave the house he is constantly on the lookout for good sticks and tries his best to bring them into the house.

We have had some rough days. The typical cycle is as follows: Elliott is irritable and grumpy resulting in lack of Alex attention, leading to Alex misbehaving, resulting in Mummy stress and angst, further aggravating Elliott irritability and Alex misbehavior.

However, by far the worst thing is when the children are unwell. Usually, I would call a grandparental for emotional support and an extra pair of hands. Here, we are alone and it’s really hard when Irmeet is at work. A few weeks ago Elliott started vomiting, he couldn’t keep any fluids down and wasn’t passing urine. Irmeet went to do a nightshift whilst I dragged Alex around Brisbane at night trying to find some rehydration fluids. As Irmeet left for work, I knew how the night would end, with us at the Children’s Hospital. Waking Alex from bed at 2am, getting both kids in the car and Irmeet leaving his night shift. Three failed cannula attempts, nasty hives from anaesthetic cream, emotional wreck mummy, traumatised daddy (from helping with failed cannula), overtired Alex and a nasal feeding tube. Thankfully, Elliott picked up with the help of NG fluids and was discharged the following day. The staff and care at the Children’s Hospital was amazing. However, it was a day when I really wanted to come home.

 Poorly Elliott

It is a strange experience being away for so long. It may be stating the obvious but it really doesn’t feel like a holiday. Sometimes I have to remind myself where I am and what we are doing. Irmeet keeps reminding me that we are making memories that we will remember fondly for the rest of our lives. I couldn’t agree more, our trips to Fraser Island, Noosa, Sydney and Melbourne have been amazing. However most days, I am focused on getting through the day, looking after the boys without having a meltdown. Turns out maternity leave in Australia is just the same as maternity leave in the UK, just hotter.

Further Observations on Australia

Australians love vitamins. In every pharmacy and supermarket there are rows and rows of health supplements. Sheep placenta anyone?

Australians also love going out for breakfast. Even on weekday mornings, cafes are packed with people eating breakfast.

The city centre is dead on a weekend. Not surprising really, everyone heads to the beach at weekends rather than going shopping. The city centre shops close earlier on Saturday than they do Monday – Friday.

Babies in Australia are Bubba's or Bubs. Elliott Bubba is one of his many pet names (but the favourite is still Elliott Bear).

Kate