Sitting Mats

As I have mentioned, two of my three children suffer quite severe eczema. One of their biggest triggers is their allergy to dust mites, (which actually is an allergy to dust mite poo if we are going to be precise.) The problem with this allergy is that it is impossible to avoid entirely, as dust mites are impossible to remove from the human environment, seeing as their staple diet is shed human skin cells! Sure we can minimise exposure with strategies such as using appropriate bedding protection, minimising carpets, washing very regularly, drying linen in the sunshine, and regularly using a vacuum cleaner equipped with a hospital grade HEPA filter such as my gorgeous Dyson Vac. But what to do when Kindergarten starts and our little guy has to spend a lot of time on the floor during class time, ie "floor time". I didn't really like the idea of having him always having to sit on a chair while the others all sat on the floor during news, play, games, reading, groups or floor time. I also was concerned as I felt it would separate him from the class... well, then there was the similarity with the "thinking chair" which is a place the children go to sit when they play up!

  

So, I came up with the idea of making him a mini quilt that he could take to school to sit on, a 'sitting mat' as he calls it. I actually made two and we have been rotating them every 4 or 5 days allowing me time to wash and dry them to keep them friendly on his skin. Cotton strips, using the quilt-as-you-go method, with soft flannel backing, one in dinosaur print and the other in police print so he can tell which one is to bring home to wash and which one is fresh. 

 These were my 1st quilt-as-you-go projects, and I am quite chuffed with how they turned out, so fast and effective! Happy days!

When was your last Pap?

So, being finished UNI has opened the way for much needed life maintenance. As I mentioned before, I have passed on many material things and begun decluttering our home. But there is the 'other' personal decluttering to-do list, the one that has been burning a hole in my sub-conscious for a little while... the list that includes going to the dentist, sorting the wardrobe and dealing with the cloths that have 'shrunk' while I have been studying (ie... sitting on bum for hours on end feeding face with junk), and of course, the over due PAP smear!
My dear Mother-in-law has been battling cancer since November last year... 2x surgery, weeks of radiation and MONTHS of sickening chemotherapy and we are optimistic she will overcome her disease. She was found to have reasonably advanced Cervical cancer AND Bowel cancer. A double whammy, both of which she was symptomatic but admitted to avoiding the check-up for some time because of the locations of her problems.
It is sooo easy to make excuses as to why we are overdue with our bi-annual or annual smear test... 'too hard with the kids', 'haven't had time', 'too busy with Uni' etc etc... when in reality, taking off our nanna-knickers to show the Doc our lady-bits isn't USUALLY our idea of a good time. Here's the thing, the Doc doesn't actually care what our pink-bits look like, they care about the early detection cancer. If there is one thing Nursing has taught me, it is that every woman has the same pink bits, despite the fact they are all different, and advanced stage cancer treatment is far worse than early stage cancer treatment. 
So long story short, I booked in and had mine done on Tuesday. Easy-peasy, and lucky for me, my gorgeous Doc was on her last day of work before finishing up to have baby number 4, so we squeezed in a quick chat about the kids, my new job and some other goss haha!
So, now to book the dentist appointments for the family...
I wonder, when was your last PAP smear test? Do you really mind having it done?