Not Happy Julia.

I was 9 years old when I first took an interest in politics. Up until that point, I knew that my parents voted for the Liberal Party [for those not in Australia, the name liberal is a bit of a joke because they are on the 'right' of politics] and that Bob Hawke, who was Labour [the 'lefties' and unionists] had been our Prime Minister forever.

Then Paul Keating ousted the Bob in an in-party ballot. Somehow I just felt this was wrong. Whether or not I was supposed to like him [my parents couldn't be mistaken in how they voted] I felt this was a very low, improper, back-stabbing action. I did try to talk about it with another girl my age but she didn't even know who Bob Hawke was so it made it a bit hard.

I still feel the same way today. We have a system where we are supposed to be able to elect our leader based on the voice of the people, but it appears that maybe thats just a little game they play to keep us happy and it is really controlled by factional leaders within the party. Whilst I don't think that America have a fantastic governmental model, I do like the fact that they have two rounds of voting, the Primaries that actually let anyone who cares chose who will represent their party. America has still had unelected Presidents but its usually because the elected one has died or is a convicted criminal, in which case its ok. Here we apparently just chuck the people we don't like.

I'm cranky ok? I don't think that Julia should have contested the leadership, much less won. I don't want my choices to be a back-stabby, leadership grabby woman or a man like Tony Abbot who is a bit of a male version of Sarah Palin. As a modern woman, I know I should be stoaked about having a woman as PM, but not this woman, not this way. I didn't have a problem with her before, but I just feel like a coup is the wrong way to achieve power, and not the way a leader should handle themselves. You know?

Softie Swap Show-off Linky

So you Swappers who signed up last month, I hope you all have put your softie in the post by today? When you get yours, snap a picture, write a story about it on your blog and put your entry in my linky bellow so we can all oooh and aaah about how clever it is. Can't wait to see them!

A Petty Resentment.

This is completely lame, and not worth getting mad about, not in the slightest!! That being said, I get so cross, I stamp my foot, yell a little in frustration and feel all wound up inside when I run out of bobbin thread, especially minutes from completing a project.

Why? It takes at most 2 minutes to wind up another bobbin and rethread the machine. Its not really that much of an inconvenience, but it makes me so mad!!  Is it because I am so close to my goal that I take it personally? I'm [almost] certain that my machine and bobbin are not in cahoots. They like me, they work with me to make nice things. Its luck of the draw, though it seems to happen more often than it should.

See, very very small and petty I am.

Modern Eugenics

For some reason humankind seems to think that we have the right to eliminate certain parts of our population, based on different criteria. This is called eugenics.

Most people at one time or another have heard the story of Moses and how the Pharaoh was afraid of the Jews, so he tried to wipe out their population by killing all the male children. The Spartans used primitive methods to decide if a child was worthy of their race and tossed the rest into a gorge. Various ethnic groups have been subject to eugenics throughout time such as gypsies, indigenous populations, other minorities and of course the most glaring example in modern history, the Jews. Not only were Jews subject to the Nazi's cleansing, but so were people with disabilities, mental illness and other undesirables.

I'm sure most of us would say these practices, of choosing who deserves to live is repulsive, but we're still doing it.

In Australia it is now standard practice to have a test at 12 weeks of pregnancy to determine the likelihood of your fetus having Down's Syndrome, and CVS [another kind of test] is available to test for genetic disorders. I've heard a lot of people say something like "oh, we wouldn't kill the baby, but it'd be good to be prepared" but the statistics show that 75% of foetuses [babies] with confirmed Down's Syndrome in South Australia are terminated [aborted]. I kid you not.

Being 8 weeks pregnant, I've been talking with other people online who are due around the same time as me and I'm hearing things like "we couldn't cope" or "we couldn't have the possibility of leaving our children to care with a sibling with a disability when we pass away". So to them a possible termination is justified and seen as the loving thing to do - they are making a sacrifice.

I can't reconcile this. I can not say that it is right. Everything in me screams that this is wrong! I believe that when we have a child, we're taking them for better or worse. I hope and pray that my children are born healthy and well. I want them to be safe from accidents and not sustain life altering injuries. I know though that its not within my power, nor is it my right to control this.

What bothers me further is where will this testing stop? In time to come, will we be able to test for ADD, Austim and mental illness? At what point do we decide that the world is better off without these people? People with disabilities and mental illness do have a heavy cost on the economy, the community, and often on the people whose lives they touch. So do many "normal" people for one reason or another. At what point do we draw that line?! I also don't feel like I can sit on the sidelines and say "you need to do what is right for you". Some things are just wrong, no matter how we try to gift wrap them.

What do you think about all of this? Are there cases where human eugenics is justifiable? Is it ok to chose which embryos to implant in the case of IVF if rare fatal conditions like Huntington's and less rare cystic fibrosis are a possibility? At what point is this good and when does it become evil?

Our Loving moment.

Addie is about to move out of our room. It makes me a little bit sad, but she needs to have her own sleeping space now so that she can have a better sleep. She sleeps fine in our bed, but to be honest its starting to cramp our style, and I can't see us having 2 babies in the bed!

So Friday begins Addie sleeping in the study. What I will miss is the mornings. Even when Addie manages to sleep through most of the night she comes into our bed for the last hour or so, and it is just wonderful! It is the most lovely part of the day I think. Addie wakes up and unlike when she wakes from a nap, she's instantly happy. She gives us wonderful hugs, talks, smiles, laughs. She also scratches our face, pulls my hair, sticks her fingers up our noses [thats pretty weird] and fiddles with our ears. For half an hour or so, we have a beautiful loving family moment together.

This bed swap is going to give me a few sleepless nights I have no doubt, as Addie learns to sleep on her own like a big girl. I have a few plans - a good plan for how long I will let her self settle - I've grabbed the outline from Raising Children Network, and the other thing will be my friend the internet! I've found a few really helpful parent networks on the internet which are great and they will help me through those lonely crying hours [both Addie and me perhaps?]

Even with her own room, I'm quite sure that there will be many mornings when I sneak her back to our bed for that beautiful moment where we wake and lie there enjoying each other's company.

This post is sponsored by Kidspot's Baby Club. The Baby Club is a great resource for ideas, advice and even just a chance to get some sympathy for whatever it is as a parent you're going through! Its a resource that you can use anytime of day or night in your pj's or high heels, with a screaming baby or a sleeping one and it's free! Whats more you can even win stuff! Woo! My only warning is that it must be used carefully as it can become addictive! Go there.

Baby Schultz Version 2

Here's what we got to see last week. Our dating/viability scan put the baby at 7 weeks, with a good heartbeat and looking as healthy as a 1cm blob can look. If you are trying to figure out just where the baby is in this picture, look at the peanut shaped thing in the middle. See how the top is dark and the bottom is lighter? The bottom bit is the baby.

For a little blob it's wreaking enough havoc. I'm still exhausted, nauseous all day and can't eat wet food. Damn! I can eat toast, so thats been my main diet, but it all will pass in time. I've also got a bit of a tummy already, being stretchy from last time still. To top it off I've found out that I have 2 other friends in Broken Hill who are also 'in the family way' so to speak, one is due in November, the other December so I feel like I'm in good company! 

Blogoliday

I made up a new word to describe my impromptu holiday from blogging. I didn't consciously do it, it just kind of happened! [the bloggy holiday, not the word to describe it. That unfortunately was thought out. And thats the best I could come up with.] There was some shiz going down in Ballarat that made my stay more eventful that I intended, and as a result of it my littlest sister Tori has come to Broken Hill for 3 weeks for a "holiday". 

Tori is 16, has long curly beautiful hair, loves Addie and has a moderate intellectual disability. She is a fantastic Aunty and is always thinking up things for me to do for Addie, like "should she go to sleep now?" "should you pick her up now?" "Are you going to feed her yet?" and so on! She also asks me very interesting questions like "do you like ice cream?," "how do you feel about chocolate?" and "what happened to that chocolate" which end up in me buying or locating and helping her eat said product.  

As a result of Tori's visit I have to think up one fun activity for each day. Its not a bad thing to do really - have something fun to brighten each day. Tori would prefer to have the whole 3 weeks planned, but we've negotiated to having something on the calendar for every day until Saturday week - which I think is the most planned I've ever been!!  Our activity today was visiting my friend Sam, and going to the hospital for my dating scan [btw they say my baby is a very healthy, 7 week old little blob. Woo!]

Our plans so far include:

A visit to Bells Milk Bar, Shopping, making birthday cards and presents [I'm going to teach her some basic hand sewing], opshopping, church in the park,  cooking, going for 'coffee' and a visit to the giant park bench. Her cognitive level sits around 5 years old, with the life experience and hormone swings of a 16 year old. Thankfully its not that hard to keep her occupied and entertained. She's also helping keep Addie entertained and the two of them have been giggling at each other most of the afternoon. Tori said I can put this picture of them playing outside, on my blog.

Tori pushing Addie on the swings

A photo Tori took of Addie

A happy snap of the pair.