Will the parcel arrive?

To the best of my ability, I have planned, documented and pre-paid much of our Christmas European circle trip.  The only detail left to deal with is pre-reserved passes for Anne Frank house in Amsterdam.
However, I am not sure if our clothing situation will work out so well this year!

Both Ross and I have really good winter clothing dealing superbly to frigid European winters.  Unfortunately, Teagan has put a "spanner in the works" for me this year.  New snow boots (snoots) purchased in the Bavarian Alps last December fitted nicely in Dunedin and Queenstown five months ago; a test fitting three weeks ago could not force bent toes down into boot.  Fortunately, Landsend.com were having a major sale so I purchased a new set of winter outerwear for the "weed" and in true colours decided to pay for "international priority airmail" saving USD25 on the order (as opposed to a direct courier service).  As time closes in on our departure the test is; will it arrive on time?  Will I ever learn that for some things cost should be secondary especially when the difference is not so large!  Personally, I think not!

United Nations Al Jazi style

At the film festival watching Contiki - roof top theatre

Still asleep on the way down

And still asleep on the way through the market

And absolutely sound asleep on the couch

A recent share on a FB post got me thinking...

A recent share by a certain S.A, got me thinking about "street play".  Whilst living as an expatriate can lead to a drastically different and sheltered life for a child; some of the housing arrangements can link children back to the "good old days".

Teagan plays outside with two "friends" (all seven within a month of each other).  Essentially, they fight, run, create and laugh together until the street lights go on.  Finally, they emerge from their self-created chaos (whoops, I meant fun), and the kid bursts effervescing into my quiet peace.  She is exceptionally resistant to after school activities and is only dragged off to Brownies (which she loves) and dancing (held within our compound all in french).  Any free time outside of these and school is spent being busy.

This weekend, the three managed to construct a submarine, grabbing their younger (note, not elder) street counterparts in awe!

A Kindle for the Kid?

Living in Qatar is not the best locale for avid readers. Ross is a walking, talking library of knowledge and if he had is own way he would spend 24/7 on a comfy chair with a drink, cat and a really good book. Both he and I learned to read quite easily and tend to prefer a book over and above a movie. Naturally, the Kid has similar tendencies and quickly made short work of our children's book collection. Without an appropriate library (suitable for a bookworm) we had to find a solution.
The solution to book access came to us on an expensive plate when we found her reading Ross's Kindle (his copy of Shirley Hughes's, My Naughty Little Sister that he had been reading out loud to her) in the back bedroom. Naturally, as readers ourselves, we jumped on her keenness and within two weeks she was reading from her own Kindle!




So, what is my opinion of the Kindle for a kid? Absolutely fabulous. We made it kid friendly by getting a lighted cover (Amazon) and a cute sticker surround. I have the categories set up as it is easy for her to use: books I am reading, books I have finished, and new "samples" on the home page. Importantly, I have the wireless turned off so that I have no unwanted purchases! I also love that her Audio books are on the same gadget so it all fits into her own little library.
As for the Kindle model; we purchasedthe Kindle touch with WiFi. To reduce the price, I selected the one that comes with adverts and have no problems or annoyances with it (I have a Kindle also), mind you we had to get it via our US address to get the low price.
Overall, the Kindle has been superb for our family situation where we have access to the UK Kindle shop, a careful child, and an avid independent reader. However, I have to say that if we lived back in NZ and we did not travel so much, I seriously doubt she would have one. Our local library would give access to the "real" book and that is all she really needs at the moment.

Location:Meshrif St,Doha,Qatar