I am so glad that daylight savings is finally over. We can put the kids to bed when it’s dark, and when we arise each morning there is that extra hour to get organised and functioning. I feel a little more normal now that we’re back on QLD time!
It has been quite a challenging week in many ways, but equally challenging and wonderful. I changed my research focus another couple of times. It has been a really challenging process as I try to clearly define precisely what I plan to research. One of the biggest challenges is trying to designate the well-being of a family as anything more than an aggregate of the well-being of the individuals within that family. But resolution appears to have arrived.
On Sat 5th I attended the First Annual Positive Psychology Conference at the University of Sydney. I caught the train there with my supervisor, Lindsay. We spent close to two hours discussing my ideas, struggles, and possible ways to effectively research how to make families happier. Eventually we settled on a few core principles. I felt relieved but still a little unsure. Lindsay joked that once we finished at the Conference that day, I would probably want to scrap everything we’d discussed. “No way” was my response. We spent so long talking about it that as far as I was concerned, it was set in cement! Until I sat through a few conference sessions.
My ideas have changed again. But this time there seems to be a very clear pathway. I’m sure there will be some issues arise, as they always do. Rather than the deeply complicated project that I was designing, my new plans and ideas seem quite simple. Yet I think they will be far more powerful. That has been a wonderful event. And the way it came about was important too. I had sat through so many sessions and absorbed so much information I thought my brain was going to explode so I left the conference centre and went outside to ponder. As I did so, thoughts began to distill. I took out my notebook and jotted down the relevant ideas. It flowed effortlessly and simply. I just had to get into a peaceful environment and it happened. It felt wonderful.
I can’t wait to get back to uni to start to really get into the detail of my plans!
Ella is really enjoying church lately. She has been assigned a teacher all to herself. No one knew until yesterday that her Sunday School teacher (Primary) is actually a trained teacher with a specialty in remedial work. She is amazing, and goes to such an incredible effort for Ella. And Ella absolutely loves her. They do wonderful activities, create super creations, and Ella is delighted. We feel relieved, and deeply grateful. Ella is her only student and she goes to so much effort.
Our little Annie is sitting up for extended periods, over ten minutes! Annie talks and talks. Of course at 8 months of age nothing is intelligible, but she interacts vocally, and laughs all the time. We’re starting to see the slightest hints of desire to crawl too. Annie is simply adorable.
Abbie May is the funniest five-year-old we have ever encountered too. Abbie loves spelling and endlessly asks us how to spell words. She saunters around the house saying the sounds of letters in different combinations, playing with the sounds and creating words. Last night after I’d tucked her into bed and cuddled for ten minutes I was convinced she was asleep. Then I heard her soft whisper, “Daddy, how do you spell sister?” I told her I’d tell her in the morning! I could not believe she was still awake – and still trying to spell! Abbie is addicted to spelling. She can now read well over 100 words (and she has only been at school for 9 weeks). She can also spell a lot of them!
Precious Chanel is starting to deal with some significant challenges related to the morality of the schoolyard. Children do not all share the same values, and Chanel is learning how to negotiate the balancing act required for her to maintain her standards while being tolerant, but not accepting, of other’s values. Swearing and bullying have been issues we’ve dealt with this past week, but Chanel has done a wonderful job. She talks to Kylie and I and we work with her. She seems to be intent on taking our advice, so we hope we’re getting it right.
Kylie is deeply involved in her new church responsibilities and going really well. Kylie also had a great experience this week. On Saturday while I was at the Conference at uni, Kylie took the children to see the “Chinese Spectacular”, an event that mum bought tickets for as a gift. It was in Sydney at the Entertainment Centre. Things didn’t go so well though, and Kylie on her own with the children meant that she couldn’t stay for the whole show. Mum was also in Sydney and met up with Kylie and the four girls in Darling Harbour. They had a wonderful time. Mum said the money for the show was not important. The show was supposed to be fun, but since it wasn’t fun for the kids it was more important to take the children outside and give them fun elsewhere. Kylie wants to have a holiday in Sydney soon and spend more time at Darling Harbour. There’s so much to do.
Sunday has been a spiritual feast. I listened to a wonderful talk on the Internet, then went to church. Our meeting was really good. Then I taught a class which went well. We cancelled the young men class which was terrific! And after church I went home teaching. My companion is a man from Sierra Leone. He is a refugee who lost his wife during the war over there 8 years ago. Since then he has continued to look for her, and two months ago he found her in the USA. She has come to visit and they are finally reunited after nearly a decade not knowing if the other was even alive. He only recently joined the church and came home teaching with me for the first time.
We visited and taught 5 families from our congregation. It was a wonderful day. We were uplifted, and everyone was grateful for our visits. And I learned so much about a man who has lost everything and had to rebuild his life. It was remarkable. It also reminded me of how unspeakably fortunate we are to live in this country. Perhaps our country could be a little more compassionate to others who have suffered so badly.
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