Willbanks' Down Under: 458 + 354 Weeks

The first few days of this week were very stressful, as Arley was really out of sorts. I don't know if it was the build up to Easter, or just that he was still adjusting to our new way of life, but he really put us through the wringer. Poor guy. He must feel terrible when he is like that. It is only afterwards that I have empathy for him though - during the time I am suffering some PTSD and I tend to shut down or lose the plot myself. It's really tough. We had one episode when we went to the Bogey Hole at Mollymook, and things just didn't go as he thought they would, and he lost control. He was so very angry, and there was nothing I could do to help but walk away so that I didn't explode too. He finally came and found me and we made it right again, but his anxiety upon leaving the house sometimes is terrible :(

But then Easter Sunday arrived, and it was a lovely day. We got up at 7am and the kids ran around the house collecting Easter eggs. They were so excited, and very happy with their spoils. It was a beautiful day, so after lunch we took the kids out and went exploring. We found a look-out over north Mollymook that we never even knew was there, and we did some hiking, and went to Narrawallee Beach. I am so thankful that our beaches aren't closed and that we have enough of them for people to spread out. Arley was a little grumpy, but nothing we couldn't handle.

And since then, he has been great (until tonight). We have had four or five days of smooth sailing. The kids have been playing together really well, we have been playing family games, having ratty time, and yesterday we had a freakishly warm autumn day so we went to Mollymook beach for a post-summer swim. It was an amazing day, just what we needed. The kids built sandcastles, swam in the ocean, wrestled on the sand, and had so much fun without a single argument. We have been playing in the cul de sac almost every day, doing shadow-drawings and bike riding. Things have been good, but then this afternoon and evening it all came crashing down. Arley got worked up while he was outside riding his bike because he kept thinking Carmie was going to crash into him. That's all it takes to set him off for hours. The evening ended well, but not before a whole lot of turmoil :(

Carmie is reading up a storm these days. The kids really miss their activities, but they are making the most of their free time too. Carmie's brain amazes me. The other day I was telling Arley about a microscopic critter that we got from the soil that I was looking at under the microscope. He told me he wanted to see it, so I looked it up on my phone, and was telling him the scientific name for it. Carmie glanced at my phone and said, "Oh, that's a water bear. It is a micro-animal that's really hard to kill, they can survive through anything." When I clicked on the image, she was absolutely right! How does she know these random facts? It just goes to show, when you let kids learn about what they are interested in, it really sticks! As for Arley, he has learned how to tell the time this week. It took him about five minutes - now he just has to practise it.

I got a new iPad pro this week, so I can start using it for all of my photo editing and t-shirt designs. It is a completely different workflow for me though, and it is boggling my mind! It will take a little while for me to figure out the apps, I just wish I had more time to myself so that I could dive into it.

Fingers crossed our good times continue. I'm not holding my breath, but it would be nice!

A video of Carmie & Jackie:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnxtKA15teg