SWOOP

We'd heard about "swooping season" since the day we arrived. A couple months in spring when the neighborhood magpies exhibit extremely territorial nesting behavior by swooping down upon unsuspecting passers-by. A friend compared it to the classic Alfred Hitchcock film The Birds... and honestly it's not too far off.

Sept. 1st we greeted our first season more curious than apprehensive. But when Will came in shaky and crying saying he'd been swooped six times while biking down our street, I have to admit I didn't believe him. After calming down a bit (but not quite off the "high" from the attack,) he agreed to go ride again so I could be an eye witness. Sure enough, swoop, swoop, swoop, three more times one after the other, nailed by the same bird. I could hear the crack of beak on helmet.

That's when it started getting fun.

The kids ventured out, all anxious for a turn to earn their stripes of courage. I wrangled them in eventually, but I think Annie stopped counting at 17. That was last week.

Today they started getting swooped right outside our house, in the circle, even on our driveway. That's when I started putting helmets on myself and Summer too. (Fortunately, they've only swooped us on our bikes, but can't be too cautious... I've heard more than a few stories of bloodied heads being patched up in the E.R.)

 Look closely, you'll see the black & white wings - someday they'll get a good zoom on the iphone :(

Check out his face all scrunched in anticipation

There's all sorts of tips - strapping zip ties on helmets or big googly eyed stickers in back, walking with a stick or umbrella, always wearing a hat, etc. (We're paying a bit more attention to these suggestions.) We've all, except Summer, been swooped now but fortunately never hard enough to be knocked off the bike. They especially like the girls - not sure if it's their pony tails, slower speeds or bright pink helmets.

They'll wait up in the trees or telephone poles, usually a few at a time. This guy likes to sit on our roof corner. Nailed one of the kids twice this morning on the front patio as they were rolling their bike out. Sheesh!

Maybe they'll finally wanna start decorating their helmets like this dude...



You gotta give it to them for so fiercely protecting their young, but I do have to chuckle at just another "danger" added to the list when taking up residence in Australia.

WWM Award

 I've oft been frowned at for allowing my kids free reign of the banister or to hang over precipices and other such dangerous shenanigans. But the climbing gene runs deep in our blood...

turned the corner to find her here (10 months)

 Have you ever felt like you're the World's Worst Parent? This post's for you. Even though getting unsolicited criticism from a stranger is arguably the lowest blow a parent can receive, I do wonder what strangers think of me sometimes.  

Eating off the floor? Check. 

Playing outside shoeless & unsupervised? Check.

Not installing enough baby-proofing gadgets? Check.

Riding sans helmet on occasion? Check. 

Playing with balloons? Check.
Forgetting a child at the bus stop? Check.
Not enforcing a brush-your-hair rule? Check.

Leaving them home (with me on the cell) for a quick errand. Check. 

I'm not always in top form, but I think we do alright. Okay, I could step it up a notch at times. Who couldn't?

I definitely feel like I deserve the World's Worst Mom award when I notice another booger wiped on the wall. Or see my impatience mirrored in their reactions to things. But my 5 year old knows how to scrub a bathroom and make her own lunch, so...

You pick your battles, and for me, letting a kid dress like Pippi Longstocking for a few years is just not that big of a deal. I choose to believe I'm giving them ample opportunities to practice their independence, which is a plus, right?

(this is where I knock on wood)

When I start having a few too many WWM moments, I find solace in some of my favorite reads. If you are aiming to raise your kids into responsible, contributing members of society while maintaining a loving atmosphere in the home, snag these books, chock-full of real advice on how to get there:

 Parenting With Love & Logic

The Parenting Breakthrough

Christlike Parenting

Teaching Your Children Values

Crikey!

When people said, "You're so brave!" as we set out to move our family over here -- I never felt it was anything but exciting and fairly easy... until I started seeing some of this stuff in person. All the admonitions to "check your shoes" are starting to ring true after our discovery last weekend. Good thing we're one street over from the hospital for any emergency anti-venom needs. Sheesh.

Let me expound...

Australia is home to 7 of the world's 10 most poisonous snakes. These ones live in our area: King Brown and Tiger Snake. Advice: Wear good shoes, make lots of noise and carry a stick while "bush-wacking" (walking) in tall grass. My neighbor said on any given night 10 snakes go through your backyard. Saweeeet.

We also host a majority of the world's most poisonous spiders. The smaller, the more dangerous. We are learning to always check anything left outside for a while. The Redbacks we have on our patio haven't killed anyone since the anti-venom came out in the 80s and most people don't react with more than a painful itch. Still gives me the creepy-crawlies though. Not to mention those hairy monsters I photographed in our living room HERE... In fact, they estimate 80% of the spider species here aren't even known to science. It's a fascinating figure too that 80% of all plant and animal life that lives in Australia exists no where else.

What a crazy cool country.

But let's continue...

Big Bugs: they're just plain bigger/hairier/creepier here. The bull ants (below) have a red mid section and are almost an inch long - they're everywhere and give a very painful bite. Not sure what got me, but I had 26 bites on one foot the first week we got here and the itch is JUST now fading away as the spots shrink. That's one way to slowly go insane, I tell you what.

Kenna found these crazies and about jumped out of her skin when they disappeared from their cocoons after this pic.

And as cute as those boxing kangaroos looked, we learned from our neighbors to give them space, and keep dogs chained up or inside. They will kill your dog by holding it against a tree with their arms and clawing its guts out with their powerful feet. Nice. Apparently, they come down to our yard at night - so that's what those large deer droppings we've seen are. Neighbors have hit them on our street in their cars, causing $3000 worth of repairs on average. Duly noted.

Saw these babies on a walk last night - no idea.
The worms & crawlies around are endless.

Speaking of dangers and money - there's a serious speeding racket here. I swear it's more for the money than the safety. They have speed cameras all over, but particularly in the places where it's tricky to adhere to: bottoms of hills and sections where the speed limit drops for a blip before going back up. Oh, and they get you - everyone warns me. I'm nervous every time I get the mail now because it's just inevitable. Reason I'm nervous? Speeding fines start at $150 and go up from there.

Of course there are the crocs, sharks, jellyfish and the Outback itself to be concerned about too, but we feel a bit removed from those threats.

The SUN however, is not to be taken lightly. The UV rays get up to 15 (never seen anything more than 10 on North America) so even on cloudy days you can get terribly burned. Sunscreen, hats, and long, loose fitting clothing to absorb the heat will actually keep you cooler than tank tops and shorts. Not exactly intuitive, but good to know.

Lastly, well, I'm sure it's not lastly and this will end up being a shallow overview. But, I keep hearing about the magpies that attack you at certain seasons when you're walking along unwittingly too close to their nest. My neighbor warned, "oh yeah, they'll take a chunk outa ya" and Darren's coworker got swooped twice, head bloodied and all. I guess the advice is to carry umbrellas and glue funky antennae on your bike helmet and such. We'll be looking forward to THAT season. (I'm picturing that old Hitchcock film The Birds...)

So Welcome and Come Visit - but don't say I didn't warn you.

Un-Settling In

We're still waiting for our household shipment to arrive, but otherwise feel like life is settling in. That will be a whole new whirlwind to handle... moving IN. But we've been enjoying walks around the neighborhood, new friendships and playdates, Darren, Will and Kenna have all given talks at church, the kids have each won an award at school, and we're getting to know our way around these parts. Mama's happy to have our Saturday chores in full swing. The kiddos seem to stay on task longer when we pump up the music and work side by side, so we had some vacuuming races then enjoyed the sunshine together detailing the car, mowing the lawn and spraying the house (after finding friends pictured below.)

Exhibit A & B (Huntsman) is admittedly awful looking but we keep them around because they eat Exhibit C (Red-back) whose bite can be fatal. Found 5 of those on the back patio. Not exactly a happy discovery when you've got a little one starting to crawl and eat anything she can grab. The variety of dangerous specimens that call Australia home is a post of its own...

Followed chores up with a dip in the pool and a fun work party that evening. With Canberra Day being tomorrow, we might hit some festivities to finish off the long weekend. Feeling good.