All right, people. I’m back. I can’ t remember the last time I was handed the reigns for Best and Worst. I think Julia Gillard was the Prime Minister and I’d just started watching Breaking Bad (before giving up in season two …because yo, there’s only so many times that I can watch a high school science teacher turned drug lord hide his money in a nappy bag in the baby’s room).
Best and Worst is still my favourite Mamamia tradition. So, I’ll kick things off.
BEST 1: Watching the finished result of a Kmart video I made for Mamamia with two of my dearest friends Kate Hunter and Amity Dry.
I’ve known Kate since 2008 and we routinely get together for cups of tea and cake in Brisbane. Well, I eat the cake. Kate is one of those people who never snacks between meals. I know. I KNOW.
And Amity? Well, during the two years I lived in Adelaide, Amity was my lifeline. For those of you who watched Am on The Block – she is EXACTLY like that in real life. We spent many a morning in Adelaide solving the world’s problems over her famous coconut and raspberry cake.
Anyway, so when I was offered the chance to shoot a Mamamia video series for Kmart with two of my favourite people in my own home – it was a no-brainer.
From the moment the three of us were together (having our hair and make-up done at my kitchen bench, no less) the conversation took more twists and turns than Gone Girl as we jumped from the Budget to Offspring (we’re divided on Lawrence and Billie) to the best way to make bruschetta to how the hell we each manage to entertain our kids over the school holidays.
That’s when the director Aragon politely told us to shut up and save it for when the cameras were rolling!
With eight kids between us (four boys, four girls, all ranging in age from 11 months to 13) the videos are really us just picking each other’s brains on new ways to keep boredom at bay over the July break and what Kmart has to offer.
I hope you enjoy watching the videos and I only wish the cameras had kept rolling during the breaks when Amity shared some behind the scenes goss from her time on The Block All Stars! Let’s just say none of what you saw on TV was staged and that some people really were as, er, cranky as they came across on the TV!
If you haven’t seen the first episode yet, check it out here.
BEST 2: Another best for me is that this week, I received a copy of Emma Grey’s debut novel Unrequited. Emma is a long time MM reader and commenter and somehow over the years we’ve become friends. Unrequited is the ultimate story of girl meets boy band (yes, a girl who loathes the world’s biggest boy band finds the lead singer flirting with her). I loved this book so much that I offered to give Emma a blurb quote for the front cover and let me say – if you have a One Directioner in your household, this book will make their heart burst. You can buy it here.
WORST: I accidentally downloaded ‘Frozen Karaoke’ onto my iPad for Ava. Enough said.
Have a great week, y’all.
How’s your week going?
This weeks Best and Worst is brought to you by Kmart.
Say No to Boredom!!
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Top Comments
Late to the game this week.
Worst: SIL's situation is worse than first know. Her partner has been having continuous affairs, is on drugs, and is using his lawyer against her.
And had threatened to kill her.
She is back with the parents for the next two days, he has already been seen driving past. We know, without a doubt, if she goes back to "their" house to get the rest of her stuff, he will kill her.
I believe her parents are getting a restraining order for her today, and she is going to a friends house to live for awhile, in which he doesnt know the address. She has also changed her mobile number.
OMM: I just dont understand how people can do this to people they "love".
Best: After all the yelling and crying last between my in'laws last night about this situation, they seem to all be on the same page now, and closer for it. They kept apologizing for doing all this in front of me, but they are family to me just as much as my blood family and in it for the good AND the bad. They seem to really appreciate that.
I hope all MM's have a lovely and SAFE weekend.
Oh god, what an appalling situation. Good to know she is being kept safe and looked after. xx
Oh Maggie, that is so sad. Great to hear you and the family are really helping her. I am so sorry she is going through this. xxx
Horrendous.
I'm no "techie" by far, but I suggest she gets her mobile phone thoroughly inspected by a professional for any tracking apps for her location that he may have installed to spy on / stalk her. Also, tell her to give not a clue to her plans or activities or recent conversations or contacts on any social media, in fact I suggest she cease all social media activity. Silence will be the best approach.
As for her stuff - she is just going to have to let it go as her actual life is at serious risk. If it's stuff like cards, financials and passports, she better just report them their status to the relevant authorities so they're cancelled and useless to him.
If possible, I'd suggest she doesn't use her own car to go to all her usual places as he is likely - given no other choice - to wait for her in her routine places - i.e. to leave the shops, work or wherever to pounce. She should hire or borrow a very different car he wouldn't recognise, and always have a friend or colleague walk tot he car with her - never alone.
Never underestimate -- as to me he sounds like he's thinking 'If I can't have her, no one else can'. So give him no clues, and no opportunities.
Glad she has the courage to move on. In Victoria I think she can get an addendum to the Restraining Order to enable her to access her marital home with the Police or Sherriff to get items and property that she needs, especially clothing, bed linen, medicines, educational items etc. Might be worth a phone call to a lawyer on that point.
Worst: Feeling very down because my eldest was not accepted into the preschool I had my heart set on her for next year. The reason we were given is that too many applicants this year already had siblings who attend the attached primary school, and those children had preference, so pretty much the whole of next year's intake are kids who older siblings have already gone there. I can understand the reasoning behind this, because it makes it easier for families with pick up and drop off and after school care, but I can't help feeling resentful that these types of policies means kids like mine aren't even in with a chance, because I didn't have a child 2 years earlier.
Try not to get too hung up on which school your kids go to. It's an important choice for sure, but really, kids are very resilient and you'll find it really depends on their personality and your own influence as their parent how well they do at school and how positive their experience of school is :)
Hi sonogirl, fear not.
Keep applying at the school every year for Year 1, 2, 3, etc until you get in. Once you get one in, the siblings will automatically get in (as you know).
The school my kids go to is extremely popular - last year only 6 new students/families got into Reception and we have 2 classes. My own son started in Year 2 (we moved schools due to bullying) so my daughter got straight in. Heck, we got 4 new Year 7s this year because it's the number one feeder school for the most desired high school in the area. Just keep trying!
Thanks fifi-lulu, that's what I will be doing, hopefully there will be some drop outs, as my town has a very transient population, I would just hate to pull her out of her local and away from friends midstream. I know it's a better school, but a 4 year old doesn't get it!
Thanks MissMin, I know this is a 'first world problem' and I shouldn't let it get to me so much. She is a bright kid and will do well anywhere I am sure. It's more about reality not living up to how I pictured everything going - guess that is parenthood and I should be used to it by now!