Storm Bird

This week was marked with the arrival back in the neighbourhood of the channel bird cuckoo a very noisy bird which lays its eggs in the nests of smaller birds and those birds then struggle to provide enough food for the hungry youngster. In the northern territory they are known as storm birds as they herald the start of the wet season, for us they herald the start of spring.

Our own very noisy birds seem to have changed recently. Not so long ago Tess was very tolerant of her little brother and would treat him gently because he was younger than her. Not so any more, I frequently find them beating each other up with Tess sitting on Tom's back after having tackled him to the floor and punching him for all she's worth. He's no better and will often put out a sneaky foot to trip her up or give her a gratuitous punch - it makes for a not very peaceful household and lots of "go to your bedrooms the 2 of you!!".

Jules was working on Sunday so I took the kids to the zoo - I just love that place especially on a bright, sunny day. We went to the obligatory seal show which has come under some scrutiny since one of the seals during the "shake flippers with a seal" segment attacked a young boy - not surprisingly that segment is no longer part of the show but all our favourite seals were there whom the children recognise and call by name. I'm hoping Tom might be a zookeeper when he grows up and I keep emphasising the need to concentrate at school for that to be possible - whatever works!

Junior Masterchef starts tonight and I expect to spend the next 10 weeks (or however long it is) in tears - I cried watching all of the trailers! The stars are 8 to 12 year olds cooking the most amazing food and I've decided to relax my "no tv during the week" rule so that the kids can watch and be inspired. Tom is beside himself and will love Masterchef whether it's any good or not!