The Mezzanine

Eventually, my family are going to completely forget what it's like to have an uninterrupted conversation.
Then the boys are going to grow up, and we're all going to be left wondering why conversations don't feel like they're supposed to...


Had dinner with my sister's family last night, and heard about my brother-in-law's day. Normally this would go something like this:

"So, I found the contract, handed it to my manager, and he read it over and agreed that we needed to release the elephants. So we opened their cage, set them free, and gave them two trucks full of hay in compensation."
"Really? How interesting."


But now that Caleb is growing up and learning table manners, it's more like this:

"So, I found the contract, handed it to-"
"Daddy, would you like some pepper?"
"Yes, Caleb, I would. Thank you."
"Here you go."
"Thanks. I handed it to my manager, and he read it-"
"Daddy, would you like some salt?"
"No thanks, Caleb."
"Okay."
"Thanks for asking. Anyway, my manager agreed that the elephants-"
"Auntie Deird, would you like some pepper?"

Fun. And very cute. And means that every conversation takes five times as long...

Caleb can read. Not just words that he knows, but he can SOUND THINGS OUT. He can figure out what writing says by analysing the letters, putting the sounds together, and working out what word it sounds like.

SO VERY AWESOME.

After months on end of Being Old Enough To Play Without The Adults, Alex has now decided that life is simply not worth doing unless the grown ups are joining in.

Tonight, I played two games of Beetle, watched the news on the floods with Alex and I both going "Wow! Look at all the water!", read a book on medieval castles, read Mr Snow, and was told "Watch this bit, Auntie Maz! This bit's great!" right before all the exciting moments of the first Wallace and Gromit episode. I also listened to about fifty renditions of Alex singing Happy Birthday to random objects and giggling over how silly he was being.

Very fun, and I enjoyed it immensely. Exhausting, though.

The weather has apparently decided to make up for seven years of drought in a single month. It's rainy, and windy, and thundery, and actually cold enough to have the heater on. In December! Aren't we supposed to be switching to shorts and beach trips and ice-cream?


On Saturday we went to a wedding, up in Healesville, at the RACV Country Club. A place with lots of leather seats, good wine, and polite conversation. If that's what rich people do with their free time, it seems elegant and luxurious, but boring.

The wedding was fun - although the reception music was rather loud. For some reason, sound guys don't ever think the volume is high enough unless it's near-impossible to talk over.


Yesterday evening, my family had a barbecue. (Eaten inside, because of the weather being so bizarrely unseasonal.)

Josh is figuring out how talking works, but still can't pronounce things very well. His "Nan", "Nathan", and "noise" sound almost exactly the same - which leads to difficulties when you think he's talking to Nan about Nathan, but actually is getting excited about the huge noise Nan's blender is making.

He's started saying "WOW!" in a very enthusiastic way. It's cute.


Caleb interrupted me mid-conversation to tell me all about... something exciting. I'm not entirely sure what, because I had to stop him and point out that I was in the middle of talking to someone and could he please wait? I'd be with him in a moment.

Very frustrating, actually, because he does need to learn manners, but I love him spontaneously telling me about his life, and by the time I could conclude the other conversation and listen to him, he'd forgotten all about what he'd been saying...

ALEX & CALEB: "Alex is here! Hooray!" "Caleb is here! Hooray!" Much yelling and running around.
JOSH: Is intimidated by all the yelling/running. Sits with Mum.
NATHAN: Is asleep.

ALEX & CALEB: "Let's go play downstairs! Hooray!" More yelling and running around, but downstairs - where it doesn't overwhelm everything else in the house.
JOSH: Is now intrigued by this yelling/running, taking place just out of sight. Heads downstairs to try joining in.
NATHAN: Is hungry and crying.

ALEX & CALEB: "Mummy! We're downstairs playing a game! Guess what game we're playing!" Still technically playing downstairs, but have to keep running up to tell all the grown-ups how cool this downstairs-ing is.
JOSH: Is in his own little world, downstairs with the Big Boys. Feeling very important.
NATHAN: Is enjoying lunch of milk. Nom nom nom.

ALEX & CALEB: "Muuuuum! Caleb hit me! Alex said a rude thing! Caleb was mean! Alex wouldn't let me play! Muuuuum!" Many tears. Much explaining, by grownups, that actually, sharing is a good thing, yelling at people is bad, and hitting is never okay no matter what he called you.
JOSH: Freaks out at all the yelling. Abandons the chaos of downstairs to sit with Mum.
NATHAN: Is asleep.

ALEX & CALEB: "Let's go play downstairs! Hooray!" Much yelling and running around.
JOSH: Is intrigued again. Heads downstairs to join in.
NATHAN: Is still asleep.

ALEX & CALEB: "Mummy! We're downstairs playing a game! Guess what game we're playing!"
JOSH: Is joining in and feeling important.
NATHAN: Is hungry and crying.

Repeat ad infinitum.

- Intended to do housework. Instead, went to an unexpected birthday breakfast with my boyfriend's family (for the boyfriend, whose birthday is next week). Didn't get my house all tidy... but much more fun.

- Intended to make apple muffins. Instead, took nephew to a birthday party, as his mother was unable to take him (given that she was in labour at the time, and I thought that was probably a reasonable excuse). Didn't get muffins; did get birthday cake, for the second time that day.

- Intended to watch footy Grand re-Final with friends in St Kilda. Did in fact do just that. (So at least one thing went according to plan.) The boyfriend came too, and managed to put up with our smug barracking for a footy team he doesn't like.

- Intended to go home and sleep. Instead, got a phonecall from my Dad, to let me know that nephew number 4 had arrived. Took a detour to the hospital, and met a teeny, slightly sleepy baby. Didn't quite get enough sleep... but so unbelievably lovely that I didn't mind in the slightest.

I think I'm going to have to start devouring children's pop culture, just so I can talk to my nephews.


Yesterday, Caleb told me he'd watched Rack, Shack, and Benny. (From Veggietales.)

I know from experience that "Really? What happened in the story?" will get nothing but blank looks. But having seen R,S,&B multiple times, I could instantly ask "Really? Did they sing the Bunny Song?" and other intelligent questions.


This presents a problem. Because eventually, they're going to be watching/reading/whatevering things that I've never heard of - and I'll be back to "what happened?" and blank looks.

I can see myself avidly watching the latest Power Rangers equivalent...