Changing of the season

Aug 31, 2014

My favourite things about each season:

Spring –
1. I love the greater daylight hours, allowing for walks in the morning with girlfriends, outdoor basketball games in the afternoon with the games and feeling the day is longer so more is achieved.
2. I love the smell of spring, with flowers blooming and nature showing her best assets.
3. I love crisp mornings, warm afternoons and crisp evenings.

Summer –
1. I love the feeling of the sun penetrating my skin, warming me up from the outside, all the while sitting outdoors eating light foods with the family.
2. One of my favourite places to relax is the beach. Feeling the sand between my toes, while sun baking with a book in hand is my idea of heaven.
3. With the warm weather comes beautiful summer dresses. There is nothing nicer on your skin than a beautiful, light summer frock, accompanied by a glass of chilled wine, laughing with friends.

Autumn –
1. The trees become green again, ready to drop their leaves but showing us just how pretty nature can be.
2. Getting my ugg boots out once again.
3. Sitting home with my husband having a glass or two of red wine.

Winter –
1. Winter fashion is more stylish than any other season, with tailored pants and skirts, finished off with beautiful winter coats, making me feel grown up.
2. Eating curries and casseroles at night with the family talking about our day.
3. Not having to worry about showing off my body as winter clothes can hide a lot, maybe making me too comfortable.

What do you like about each season?

Natalie xxxxx

Everyone has a favourite season and mine is definitely summer. I also love autumn and spring. I’m sure if I thought hard enough I could come up with one reason as to why winter is good but it would take me a while. Anyway, for this blog mum and I are going to list three reasons as to why we love each season as we are about to enter a new one.

First off is summer. Summer is easy because it’s hard to find something I don’t like. I love the sun, going to the beach, Christmas, not going to school and being able to relax a lot more. I am one of those people that absolutely loves every part of summer. I don’t have an issue with the heat, in fact I live for it. Off the top of my head, the only problem I have with summer is mosquitoes.

Next is autumn. Autumn is still warm which means I still like it a lot (in case it’s not obvious I love the warm). I also love that my birthday falls inside autumn giving me something exciting to look forward to throughout the entire season. I really like how even though it’s near winter, the first half of autumn is generally quite hot.

After autumn comes my least favourite season, winter. Frankly, there isn’t much to like about winter. I don’t live in a spot where we get snow, which would boost my enthusiasm about the season because snow can be fun. I hate the rain and I hate the cold. I hate how I get sick and I hate my schools winter uniform. There really isn’t anything to like except being able to wear cute winter clothes.

Finally there is spring, the season we are about to enter. I love how the flowers come back into bloom and give back colour after a dreary winter. I love how the weather starts to heat up which never fails to make me happy. My favourite part of spring however, is knowing the fact that winter is over. I only dislike the beginning of spring when the weather is still cold.

💕ash

Is getting ‘likes’ really that important?

Aug 24, 2014

Having lots of followers on Instagram may seem like one of the most important things in the world to some people, but to others it’s something that they just don’t care about. I can say that for me, at times, getting lots of likes on a picture on Instagram is important, but at other times it isn’t. If you took a look at my Instagram page you would see that I don’t post that much or that often and I don’t have a huge amount of followers. I am not really concerned with how many likes a selfie gets because frankly, it’s not the biggest issue in my life.

However, for some people it is. I know that as a teenager, some people need reassurance from other people to know that they are beautiful. There are many girls out there who won’t feel comfortable in their own skin unless they are constantly getting compliments and likes. For some people, this isn’t an issue because they have self-confidence, but for others, it takes more than reassurance from themselves to think they are fine. Instagram is one way for self conscious people to be told that they are beautiful, it’s actually kind of sad.

Personally, I think Instagram is spilt into three categories; the ones who don’t care, the ones who care too much and the ones who seek fame. People who are desperate for likes and nice comments fall under the ‘care too much’ category. People who don’t really care and just post whatever they want without stressing over how many likes or followers they have fallen under the ‘don’t care’ category. And the people who only care about having the most followers or likes strictly so they can brag about their own popularity fall under the category ‘seeking fame.’

I think that Instagram is fun but there are way too many people online who are so self-absorbed they can’t see anything beyond follower count and like tally. It’s so frustrating looking at people’s accounts and seeing a super high follower count but a low amount of likes (it shows that a lot of the followers are ‘fake’). Instagram is a hub for people who are self conscious to feel better about themselves based entirely on what other people have to say. I have nothing against people saying nice things, but I do have something against the people who spend their whole life fishing for compliments.

💕ash

I use Instagram along with Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest. My preference is probably Facebook and I have found my age group uses it more than Ashlea’s. I have noticed her age group are drawn to Instagram, an app that is designed to post pictures, requesting comments and likes. On Facebook the user mainly chooses their own name (often adding in maiden names for searching old school friends) and it is clear who the owner of the account is. If you have set the security correct on Facebook, then only your friends or friends of friends can see your pictures and people wanting to join your friends list can only see your profile picture.

Instagram users tend to pick names which maybe be funny or quirky or slang and often hard to decipher who actually holds the account. This concerns me for the reason that gaining the greatest number of followers and then likes is what many teenagers seem to strive for on Instagram. Why you ask? I can only put it down to a lack of self-esteem and a desperate desire to show their friends (and complete strangers) just how popular you are. I wonder if teenagers understand how surreal this way of living is? People are not liking YOU, they are tapping their finger on a screen in response to a picture.

There are websites devoted to teaching others how they can get more likes on their Instagram pictures and how to get more followers. Spamming lb (like back) is one way which helps in growing the account but for what reason I do not understand.

I have recently looked a few of my children’s friends (and Instagram friends of mine) accounts and am shocked by the number of them who have over 400 followers. There is no way they know 400 people and no way they could name each and every account holder. I can’t believe parents never look at their kids accounts and ask a few simple questions – e.g. Who is this person? What is going on with the child to be so desperate to need constant recognition for just being themselves. While looking at some of the followers on one friends account, I read the user name and my parenting instincts came to play. It was a boys first name_second name_76. I then looked into this persons account and there was not one picture where I could clearly see his face. If I was the parent, I would be asking a lot of questions.

Come on kids, lets love being just who you are and enjoy socialising with YOUR FRIENDS online, not people you don’t know their real intentions.

Do you check your children’s Instagram accounts?

cheers natalie

Cool iPhone covers….

Aug 21, 2014

Ashlea’s picks for the coolest phone covers:

    

And now the mature pick of cool phone covers: (I think I was hungry when I picked these)

 

Definitely not an iPhone…

Aug 18, 2014

What a cool phone. I think I might install one of these in my house and take the kids iPhones away. Maybe then they might understand how easy they have it.

 

Robin Williams – died aged only 63 years

Aug 13, 2014

A well loved comedian, father to 3 children, died yesterday under suspicious circumstances. Mental health is an important issue all over the world; talking about it and sharing stories can only make this voodoo topic an accepted part of life.

Are you a parent who yells at children’s sporting events?

Aug 10, 2014

My parents are the kind of parents who yell at mine and my siblings sporting events. They aren’t abusive yellers though, which is a good thing obviously, but they do have a tendency to go overboard (mum especially). I don’t have an issue with it, I’ve managed to tune out majority of it when I’m playing so I don’t actually hear much. However I know that there are people out there who absolutely hate it when their parents yell at their sports.

Whether it is because of embarrassment or because some parents aren’t quite so supportive in their yelling, some people just shouldn’t yell out at sporting games. I know that when I play my sports, there are times when there are parents (not mine) who verbally abuse players from the opposition or even their own kid. I think that parents, or anyone for that matter, who shouts out abusive comments to any child playing any sport should be immediately banned.

It can get quite distracting when someone from the sideline is constantly yelling out mean comments to anyone on the court. Some kids don’t like it when their parents call out anything at all, even comments like ‘good job’ or ‘keep going!’ It doesn’t bother me when I play but for some reason, I am more affected by it when I am watching one of my siblings play.

I find it frustrating as a spectator when all I can here is someone (usually my mum) yelling louder than the coach. It isn’t really an issue when it’s constructive calls. However when I have to play while listening to someone shout out things that shouldn’t be said to teenagers let alone little kid, it quite literally drives me insane.

💕ash

So I am a yeller! Thanks Ash for putting me out there. I must admit that when it comes to watching my children play basketball (all four play), I can’t seem to stay quiet. Basketball is a sport I grew up playing and I love watching it. I know this sport very well and feel confident with advising my kids to help them improve their game. Due to my vocal voice, I have put my hand up to coach both my girls next season. Maybe I need to use my voice in a constructive way.

When I yell, it is never negative comments, only positive instructions, and more often than not just to my child. We were recently at a netball game watching Ashlea play when a mother from the opposition team was being very inappropriate in her comments. She was shouting out to her daughter that she was doing nothing wrong and that our girl was just unfit and sloppy in her approach. The umpire had pulled the opposition girl up for unruly play ( which doesn’t happen often in our level), yet the mother couldn’t control herself. I was embarrassed for the girl and also the coach as he had to warn a parent on his own team to calm down.

On the weekend, my eldest son played basketball, a sport he is so passionate about that he knows the stats of every player in the NBA league. I hate seeing him upset with himself when he is not playing the quality of game he aspires to. This week was one of those games. His coach was screaming at him and this only made him play worse. After the game I spoke with my son and we discussed how he felt with the shouting from the sidelines. He knew he wasn’t playing well but made it worse when all he could hear was negative screaming from the sideline.

The next sporting game I watch with my children, I am going to sit there, quiet as a mouse, and watch only. I will see if this makes a difference with the way they play as I never want to be the one who makes them question their game. Sometimes when you think you are helping as a parent, you are actually making it worse.

Do you shout at your kids sports?

Cheers Natalie xxx

Sometimes we just need to have fun

Aug 7, 2014

Female Football Umpires

Aug 4, 2014

How involved should girls get when it comes to ‘traditional’ male dominated sports?

Having 2 sons who both play football (one only auskick but that can be more physical than the real game), I am aware of how much boys love the rough and tumble football brings. My eldest son began tackling this season and that has made the game more enjoyable to watch, and it flows more like ‘real’ football matches. On the weekend we played a team which had 3 girls on their side (one of which was fantastic). However, when it came to tackling, some of our boys hesitated. Did they hesitate because their opponent was a girl? Did they hesitate for fear of hurting their opponent? Did they hesitate because outside the football field, boys are not allowed to man handle girls?

I am a big one for women’s lib but when it comes to a contact sport, I think the sexes should be segregated. I have taught my boys to never hit a girl, never tackle or man handle a girl and to never swear in front of a girl. How do I ‘un-teach’ this out on the football field? In basketball (another of our regular sports played) the sexes do not compete against each other and I think in football, when they reach the level where tackling is allowed, the sexes should be separated. I don’t want my boys afraid to play the game the way they are taught for fear of hurting a female opponent. I know they wouldn’t have the same hesitation going up against other boys.

In contrast to this, I love the fact that more and more girls are now umpiring football matches, especially in our league, the South Metro Junior Football League. 10 years ago there was only 3 girls umpiring and now there is over 25 girls who have joined the league as umpires. We have encountered many girls umpiring our games and they are good, I mean really good. I have seen a young female umpire make a call and behind her I could hear members of the crowd disagreeing with her decision. She never faulted, never showed the crowd any reaction and continued with her game plan. I have also noticed the boys playing show the female umpires total respect, accepting decisions and not carrying on because she is a girl.

I say a BIG yes to female umpires and a BIG no to boys and girls playing in the same competition when physical tackling is involved.

cheers natalie

 

Despite the fact that girls and footy is gradually becoming more popular, it is something I don’t think I will ever do. Sure I’ll play a game during school PE and kick a ball around with my brothers. Playing or even umpiring at a proper game (and by that I mean under 9’s local team) is not something that has ever tickled my fancy. I might sound incredibly girly when I say that footy is just not for me, but it is entirely true. The thought of running around a muddy field is just unappealing to me.

However, one of my friends does play AND umpire for footy and she loves it. Looking at her you would never be able to guess that she plays footy because she is no way considered a tomboy. In fact, she’s just as girly as I am and more than happy to talk make up with you. She plays in an all girl league (something that I know she is happy with because the boys our age all seem to be tall and bulky) but she umpires for the junior boys league. She has a blast umpiring and playing.

Girls playing and umpiring footy is beginning to get a lot more interest (there was even a girl playing in EJ Whitten Legends game a few weeks back). Whilst I couldn’t think of anything worse, there are many girls out there who would kill for an opportunity to play a game of footy. I know that the club my brother plays for has a girl’s team, his team even had a girl in it last season. The whole club is very supportive of the girls who play. My youngest brothers auskick is also very enthusiastic about girls joining up.

💕ash