High School Black Market Exposed!

Mums’ meet ups are good for a couple of reasons.

They’re a chance for women suffering from the same aged children to compare horror stories so they know what they’re being put through is ‘normal’. They’re an opportunity to spend time at a table with people who will hear when you ask them how their day was or to pass the salt. They’re an escape from re-reminding kids to do their homework and peeling potatoes and chasing down children to tackle dishes and blocking demands for longer access to iPads.

And because they’re a date with mothers instead of your partner they’re a chance to relax in a nice cafe or restaurant or bar without the threat of sexual favours payable in full when you finally get home.

They’re also, as happened when Tracey sat down with a bunch of mums the other night, a chance to compare notes.

“I’ve got a bit of an odd question,” one of the mums addressed the table a little hesitantly. “Is anyone else’s boy swapping or selling their lunches at school? For like, a dollar?”

Cries of ‘YES!!!’ chorused around the table, while one mum, let’s call her Mrs Pennydropped, looked thoughtful.

“That explains why I have to make two sandwiches,” she said finally.

“I heard there was one kid who brought a tray of vanilla slice to school at the beginning of the term and made fifty dollars,” someone piped in.

This time Mrs Pennydropped was much quicker to respond.

“MY SLICES! OMG, that’s where they went!”

I suspected there was to be a conversation when she got home. Master13 would be super upset if her son gets in too much trouble though – he’s really keen on his sandwiches. Although we don’t send him to school with money so buying them isn’t an option. As such, he got super excited when he checked out his own lunchbox this morning.

“Corn chips! Excellent!”

Apparently Mrs Pennydropped’s son loves them.

At this point another thought occurred to Master13.

“Don’t write this up, Dad,” he begged. “If his Mum stops making those sandwiches I will die.”

You might be wondering – as I did when Tracey chuckled her way through a deposition of the above story when she got home – what the teachers think about all this?

“You kidding?” Master13 explained to us while he shoved his cheese flavoured currency into his school bag. “They’re some of the best customers.”

Which brings me to another good reason for mums’ meet ups: they’re a chance to scheme. And the queen of scheme is my Tracey.

“You know what we should do?” she told the table of mums. “We should pick a day and all send them to school with 24 muffins. They’ll all think they’re rich!”

The plan is to flood the market and teach the lads a lesson.

Although I suspect Master13 overheard Tracey telling me this bit. He suddenly seems very interested in finding out what his mate’s favourite muffin is, assumably so he has a chance to swap whatever packet mix mock-up we send him in with something better.

Apparently Mrs Pennydropped is a really, really good cook.

Miss23 has come home for a couple of weeks!
There’s something really nice about your older kids popping home and asking you to make a favourite dish from their childhood. In this case, pork wontons. Feeling chuffed.
Rain! Finally! I was keen to check out how my new drainage performed. The girls were keen to get soaked.

Tracey’s been practicing with her new equipment in her studio. Means some nice photos of our girls. Miss14 melts my heart.
Miss23 happily volunteered as well.
Fathers Day gifts and snuggles. God I love my life.
Got a flamingo shirt for Fathers Day. Was a little excited when I spotted it at the other side of the store. Saleslady said she’s never seen someone form such a strong emotional attachment to a shirt. 
Also got a little something for Tracey. If I can turn the lights down low enough I think this should work for both of us. Or maybe I should just turn them off.
For Fathers Day we also headed to the local Rattler station and took some generational photos with the help of a friend, Kathy. Not often we manage all seven kids in the one photo with us these days.
You can see where Tracey and her sister get their facial hair.
Came back from a Woolworths meeting in Sydney with a sample bag which received much more excitement from Master13 than I would have expected. “OMG, that’s it!” he exclaimed as I emptied the contents onto the kitchen bench. “That’s the secret sauce I’ve been telling you to buy for my sandwiches!” It never occurred to me the word secret was actually part of the name – I genuinely thought his mate was being a dick about telling him how to make the sandwiches because he didn’t want Master13 to stop swapping for corn chips and the like.
No less than three six seater dining tables on our balcony and another inside but this is how they eat lunch.
Meanwhile bus alterations have stalled while I do a quick Youtube tutorial or six on 12/24 volts power so I can replace our batteries to give us more power. 
Had to buy some parts from Autobahn. Guy there was very profession. Didn’t seem at all bothered by my mud map on the back of a pizza box lid.
Ghostbusters were right: “Don’t cross the streams!” Oops. Only make that mistake once twice. Hence the need for tutorials.
Our home life has been completely dominated by puzzles this week. As a family we’ve done four 1000 (+) puzzles in eight days. I’m at the point where I’ve been to every opportunity shop in town looking for good ones and have scoured Marketplace. Got some great bargains but I’m worried my life is no longer mine to control. We’re obsessed!

This one was a 1000 piece puzzle, then a 200 piece puzzle on that and then adding buildings. So many shades of brown.
Had an extended family dinner the other night and ended up all sitting around a puzzle. As my brother in law said, “Living the rock’n’roll life.”

Raising a family on little more than laughs

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