September 2026 - PLAYWORKEATREPEAT

Things I Wish I Had Known

Things I Wish I Had Known…… Wow, that’s a big one. Hmmm, what do I wish I had known? It’s funny because I’ve been working on not wishing this or that, as I really do think we are where we are meant to be. But of course, plenty of things I wish I had known pop into my head, as well as things I wish I’d listened to, and things that probably would have made life a little easier if I’d known them sooner. Anyway, enough rambling and getting myself tangled up. Today I’m joining the September edition of the Share Our Lives link-up, and sharing all about the things I wish I had known. Here goes. 1. I wish I had known that time goes so fast. I know everyone says this, but I don’t think you really understand just how fast it goes until you’re looking back and wondering where the years went. One minute you’re worrying about something that seems incredibly important, and then suddenly—boom—ten, twenty, or thirty years have disappeared. 2. I wish I had known that there was a time when everyone I loved was alive. This one makes me sad. There was a time when everyone I loved was here. My mum was here. My family was younger. Nobody had been lost yet. And I didn’t know I was living through that time. 3. I wish I had known that turning 40 wasn’t old. I really thought 40 was old. But then again, when I was 20, I also thought 30 was old. I’m not saying anything about 60. 4. I wish I had known more about perimenopause and menopause. I thought I was going mental. I don’t think anyone talked about these stages much until recently, or was I just living under a rock? Now that I’m on the other side of it, I still wonder how much of what I was experiencing was perimenopause and menopause, and how much was just that particular time in my life being so stressful. I was caring for my ageing mum, raising younger children, paying school fees, a mortgage and bills, working, doing after-school activities, trying to be a decent wife, mum, daughter and employee, and looking after everyone else while trying to keep myself together. There was a lot going on. So maybe it was a bit of both. I just wish I’d been kinder to myself and stopped beating myself up so much for being so darn emotional all the time. 5. I wish I had known that I should have started using sunscreen on my face earlier. Sun spots (ugh). Enough said. 6. I wish I had known that a dish sponge with a handle could make cleaning the shower so much easier. Thinking outside the box and using a dishwashing sponge with a handle to clean the shower has made it so much easier. Except that I’m an in-the-box thinker, and I saw this on Instagram – last month. 7. I wish I had known that one day I’d be able to Google everyone I ever had a crush on, and discover that some of them really didn’t age that well. Truly! 8. I wish I had known that we’re all just seven-year-olds in a grown-up body pretending to know what we’re doing. Fake it till you make it. 9. I wish I had known that you never stop learning and trying new things. I thought you grew up, learned everything at uni, went to work and bingo, life figured out. But no. And I think that’s pretty exciting! It’s never too late to learn something new or try something that scares you (says the big scaredy cat herself!). I think I’m much braver now than I was as a kid, a teenager, a young adult and beyond. Heck, I went on Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission: Breakout at Disneyland last year. I’m the bravest person in the world! I can do anything! 10. I wish I had known that nobody is paying as much attention to you as you think they are. Knowing this would have saved me a lot of overthinking. And to be honest, I’m still working on this one. I know it, but I don’t know it. Sometimes I sit there torturing myself over every little thing. Is my outfit okay? Did I say something totally dumb? Did I look awkward? Did they catch that mistake? But I’m trying to remember that everyone else is way too busy thinking about themselves to notice all the things I’m worrying about. At least I hope that’s true. And there we have it. A few things I wish I’d known, although I’m sure there are plenty more. What about you? What do you wish you’d known sooner? Linking up with Adrienne, Dara, Joanne and Jen

Things I Wish I Had Known Read More »

Walk Home With Me: A Friday Afternoon

7 Comments / Friday Favourites, Home

I always walk home from work, and today I thought, why not walk home with me? So here’s an ordinary Friday walk home. Except it’s not ordinary because there’s nothing ordinary about Fridays. Mondays are for getting through Monday. Tuesdays are still a little too close to Monday. Wednesdays, we’re halfway there. Thursdays are Junior Fridays, although I’m not completely convinced. But Fridays? Fridays are special. And because it’s Friday, I always take the long way home. I like looking at the houses along the way, checking out who has done what with their gardens, seeing the new builds, houses for sale and the renovations. Occasionally, I pick a favourite. Friday afternoon house judging. It’s a thing. Come on, let’s go… It feels so good to step outside the preschool gates and onto the quiet, tree-lined street. It was so cloudy this morning, but this afternoon it’s warm and sunny. So warm that I’m having to carry my puffer jacket, along with my heavy bag full of all the things. Spring is definitely showing up now. There’s new colour and growth everywhere I look. Love that! The longer route takes me past the fruit shop, and although I don’t actually need anything today, I still like having a look around. They have a nice selection of things, including smallgoods. I’m so hungry that I’m visualising eating my way through the whole shop. Oh yes, we’ve run out of cashews. I grab a packet. I walk out of the fruit shop and spot yet another Lime bike. A while ago they just appeared overnight, and now they are everywhere. I guess people ride them? This house is for sale, and I immediately wonder what ridiculous price it will go for. The market has dropped, so maybe it won’t be quite as ridiculous as it would have been a few months ago. Now I’m making a mental note to see when this one goes to auction so I can go and have a sticky beak. Is there a nosy Parker in all of us? And then I turn onto one of my favourite streets. I don’t know what it is about this street, but it has good juju. Even when it’s not as sunny as it is today, this street always feels welcoming. Sometimes I see people walking their dogs or young families out for a walk. There’s a guy who usually exercises to music on his front lawn. If the nice Macedonian lady is out the front gardening, we have a chat. It’s a great street! And today it was even more special because you wouldn’t believe what happened. I walked past a house where a young guy was chatting to the homeowner at her front door. He turned around, smiled at me and said, “Do you remember me?” I knew I knew him from when he was a little preschooler, but my brain was frantically flipping through the old mental Rolodex, trying to work out who he was. “It’s Isaak!” He said And instantly, I remembered him. I’m not usually a hugger if I don’t feel comfortable with someone or know them well. But this was Isaak. He was that little kid I remembered, only now he was a young man standing in front of me. I had to give him a hug. And he hugged me back, just like he was still that little boy. He told me he’s 22 now and is a plumber. He was doing a job at the house on my favourite street and introduced me to his coworker. “Look, this is Ruth, my preschool teacher, and she looks exactly the same.” Ha! I loved him even more! We chatted for a bit, then said goodbye, and I walked the rest of the way home feeling happy and nostalgic at the same time. Gosh, doesn’t time just go by so fast? I get home and check out my little plants I planted last weekend. I’m hoping they grow colourful flowers like they did last spring. They’re so tiny at the moment. These girls always greet me at the door, but I’m a little suspicious they know it’s dinner time and aren’t actually greeting me because they missed me. I go feed them. I start tossing up whether I should blog first or do a quick Friday clean and get it out of the way. Quick clean wins, and I grab my cleaning caddy. I put on some SBS Chill because Steve isn’t home. He hates chill music. He left for work just before I got home. He doesn’t love Fridays like I do. Friday is the start of his working week. Main bathroom done. Ensuite done. Quick vacuum, and then I water the plants. The Monstera is doing well, the small plant didn’t make it, and the other plant is hanging on. I can see some new growth there! I turn on the lamps as it’s starting to get dark. Sam gets home from his casual job at the kitchenware shop with more freebies. This time he brings home some earthy coloured plates and bowls. All of a sudden, my all-white set looks very boring. “Mum, are you thinking of changing everything?” “No.” (Maybe yes.) He also brings home lots of dinner knives. Knife anyone? I give everything a wash and leave it to air-dry. Then I make myself a chai latte before heading to the office, which was once upon a time a garage, to start blogging. My positive peas are sitting at my desk believing in me. They’re telling me, “GO YOU”, so I take the hint and get blogging. Now I’m typing away, trying to get finished so I can join the Friday Favourites link-up. Every week I say I’ll write a bit every day so I’m not rushing on Fridays, but here I am, about to finish writing and press publish in real time. I didn’t have to worry about cooking dinner tonight as I have chilli con carne, rice

Walk Home With Me: A Friday Afternoon Read More »

Friday Favourites: Things I’ve Enjoyed Lately

4 Comments / Family Life, Friday Favourites, Home

Hi friends! I’m linking up with Andrea and Erika to share a few things I’ve enjoyed lately. Yes, it’s time for Friday Favourites, and I’m excited to be here, and even more excited that you’ve stopped by! Thanks 😊 Okay, so let’s rewind to last Friday because I didn’t get around to sharing last week’s Friday Favourites, and this definitely makes the list. Greek Night We had a staff dinner last Friday at a Greek restaurant called Meet The Greek. Cute name, huh? The food was good, and the atmosphere was next level. The band played the bouzouki all night, and then the dancing started. Random people got up and did solos on chairs, at their tables, and then once the Zorba came on, that was it. We couldn’t stay seated any longer, and a bunch of us got up and joined in. Then the waiters came out and started throwing white serviettes around like confetti. At some point, the manager or owner, or possibly just someone with the required level of clearance, came out and smashed some plates. Oh my gosh, talk about a fun night! I love Greek dancing, but I need to practice. It started slow, and then it went so fast, you know the one I mean? The one you see in all the fun Greek movies. And when we joined in on Friday night, holding hands as they do in a circle (a very big circle), I was trying so hard to get the steps right with my two left feet. I’m way better at freestyling it on the dance floor. We played some music in the playground at work this Tuesday and, of course, we had to revisit Friday night with some Greek dancing. We played the Zorba on Spotify, and the kids thought it was a hoot seeing the teachers dance. I love that about working in early childhood. You can be as silly as you want and it’s all okay. Imagine doing that spontaneously in an office? Haha! My lovely Greek colleague gave me a dance lesson around the sandpit. Step, step, kick, kick, then right, right, right, kick, kick… or something like that. Opa! Educators’ Day Wednesday was Early Childhood Educators’ Day, and at work our kind director surprised us with some goodies. We got to choose two things, one sweet and one stationery item. I picked my favourite peanut M&M’s and a notebook. It was a nice surprise in the middle of the week. Dinner at Hubert We went to Hubert for Steve’s belated birthday. I’d originally booked it for his birthday week, on his night off. But his work got a bit crazy, and there was a chance he’d have to work that night, so it was just easier to postpone. They charge $80 per person if you cancel, amend or reschedule with less than 24 hours’ notice, yikes! It was such a great night and completely exceeded my expectations. I mean completely! And I have to thank my fun work friend who encouraged me to go and said there was no way I’d be disappointed. She was 100% right! We loved the food, the atmosphere, the whole experience. It was just amazing. We started with oysters, duck parfait and baguette. There was also a live jazz band playing all night. For our main meals, we shared a melt-in-your-mouth beef bourguignon and Murray cod with the most delicious sauce, along with bitter leaf salad and pommes Anna. I don’t think I’ve ever tasted such an amazing variety of dishes. EVER! And then we ordered this little dessert with a very complicated name I can’t remember. It was perfect for sharing, as it was very rich and creamy. What I Wore Last week I wrote a post about some winter fashion ideas and how putting together an outfit for a special night is all part of the fun. Well, I was excited to finally wear the top that I bought in Singapore earlier this year. As it was winter here, I hadn’t had a chance to wear it yet. For our night at Hubert, I’d planned a winter outfit, but would you believe the second day of spring turned out to be so warm it felt like summer? So I ditched the winter option and went for the sleeveless top instead. I can’t remember such a complete change in weather so early in the season. Normally, we have to wait weeks for even one slightly warmer day. I’m certainly not complaining though. It was so nice to have some warm weather! A Very Useful Freebie My youngest son Sam came home from work with a slow cooker. He works casually at a kitchenware store, and when customers return items, staff members can take them home for free if they want them. I’m not sure why this slow cooker was returned because it works perfectly. But what a win for us! The best part is that it doubles as a rice cooker and triples as a steamer. My old slow cooker died years ago, and I never bought a new one. My rice cooker was also on the way out and would sometimes just decide, “No, I’m not cooking tonight,” and switch itself off, leaving us with crunchy rice. Bleh! And Now It’s Friday And hooray, it’s Friday! It’s Friday afternoon over here, and I’m feeling a little like this. It’s been a big week, and today we had a special Father’s Day event at preschool. It was a lovely time with a good turnout, but these events sure do wear me out. Tomorrow we’re heading to a cafe in Como for an early Father’s Day celebration because Father’s Day is Sunday and Steve is working. But since he doesn’t finish work until 3 am Saturday morning, that might not work out either. So we may end up celebrating on Monday instead. Haha! It all sounds a bit complicated, so it’s a good thing we’re flexible. Wishing you all a

Friday Favourites: Things I’ve Enjoyed Lately Read More »