Talin's Wish - Can You Help?

As a parent, there must be few things more gut wrenchingly terrifying than receiving the news that your treasured child, the precious bundle you nurtured from birth to now, only 5 years on, has an aggressive and inoperable brain tumour. And does not have long to live.

I struggle to hold myself together just typing a sentence such as that. My empathy knows no limits when it comes to heartbreaking stories such as this, so I too am joining the “Talin’s Wish” team in helping spread the word so that this special little boy can be carried through these next truly difficult weeks with one thing spurring him along: to be alive on June 14th.

You see, it is also his mother Cassandra’s final wish as well– that her boy be given a 6th birthday party to remember, one that is equal to his bravery and beautiful spirit that have shone throughout this terrible ordeal. So that is where we are banding together to ask for your help. Along with businesses and the kindness of the community, donations are being sought to see this dream turn into a reality. Please, spare some cash to make a little boy’s last days more filled with light over dark, and joy over tears.

Donations will also help this family to spend precious time together as he undergoes the next 6 week radiation therapy course. The everyday pressures of life, like bills mounting, sadly do not stop when a child is terminally ill.

So please, join me in supporting the Talin’s Wish cause and give this little boy a party to emulate his courage and give his family the git of being able to concentrate all of their focus and energy on their brave boy. Donations can be via the Lynne King Cancer Care Foundation and you can follow the progress via their facebook page https://www.facebook.com/TalinsWish

And finally, let’s all heed the lesson to be learned together out of this tragedy. I’m as guilty of this as the next person, I know, but ever since Talin’s story filtered into my consciousness I have been more focused on the things that truly matter. Like taking time out to just cuddle my boy on the lounge, to shout a little less, and worry not so much about the trivialities of life. Health and happiness win out over having a clean house every time.

Recipe for success

Make no mistake; you know you are talking about someone – and some thing – special when you hear of a book that managed to outsell J.K Rowling’s Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows.

It could only have been one candidate capable of achieving such an unfathomable feat: the fabulous 4 Ingredients franchise.

I had the pleasure of meeting effervescent co-founder Kim McCosker earlier this year at the launch of the Woolworths Baby & Toddler Club (Kim is a regular contributor to this site) and was enamoured not only by her, but her rise to such meteoric triumph. And while we talked recently about her fantastic food solutions for fussy eaters, what I also became completely fascinated with was her personal story of success.

Long before Kim was the breath of fresh air that whooshed into the world of cookbooks with her then business partner and friend Rachel Bermingham, she was on the corporate treadmill, juggling the demands of parenthood and a finance career with NAB.

Fastforward to 2012 and she is now the solo face of her super successful cooking franchise that lends its names not only to cookbooks, but has filmed 2 TV series for the Lifestyle channel, created a cookware range and even developed a popular iPhone app.

And all because she had a desire and a culinary dream which would one day lead to a self made empire. She explains, “What I wanted to do is learn how to do it [cook] nutritiously and deliciously yet very very easily and economically.”

What gave this wish an extra lashing of zest was the combination of her finance degree with her cooking aspirations. She knew well that the two major expenses that most average households incur are related to your mortgage and grocery bill, so she set about finding a way to overcome this common family funding difficulty. And hence the series all know and love as the 4 Ingredients franchise was born!

“If I can help you save a dollar or 2 in your food bill with my style of planning first and cooking then that’s a dollar or 2 you can plough into your mortgage.”

Of course, many may be aware there has been a big change since the 2007 launch of 4 Ingredients namely the departure of the original co-founder, Rachel Bermingham. But as Kim explains, it was a natural order of progression.

“Everything is a discovery for me where as Rach wasn’t as into the food as much. Its like anything, you get to a point where you think ‘You know what I’ve done what I’ve done with this but I want to go do something else’” she tells me.

Her biggest challenge during this time of change was making sure the market place, and her fans, were not misconstrued as to the truth of the matter.

“I just didn’t want the market to perceive it as negative. I knew I could take the brand and make it bigger and better than it had ever been before,” she enthused – and right she was! But how did Kim do that?

“By injecting COLOUR!” came the impassioned reply.  And you need only flick through the glossy pages of some of her new titles, such as "One Pot One Bowl" and "Baby Bowl" to understand she has accomplished exactly as she intended.

Backed by her tight knit team, Kim juggles a fast paced life that sees her manage her hectic business commitments (which take her all over the globe) in conjunction with her family life. But as she points out, for both her and her team, it’s the title of Mother that matters most.

“First and foremost we are mums,” she emphasises, detailing the flexibility that encapsulates this important business mantra. And there is also the not so small matter that this is a woman who simply ADORES what she does!

“I’m lucky I do something I love, with people I love. I think it allows you to work a lot more because you enjoy it.We foster a really fun environment. Even though I’m working, I’m having a good time”

So as to that all elusive notion of balance, that working mothers the world over are trying to achieve – does Kim have the secret recipe for that?

“From an outsider looking in, there is no balance,” she laughs before a serious note creeps into her voice. “I think it’s different when you have built something from nothing, when you have built something from your own blood, sweat and tears and you’ve mortgaged your house."

“Such is my belief in the business, such is my involvement, my enjoyment in the business," she explains, of her determination, as well as paying tribute to those who've stood along side her on this journey.  “I’m very blessed to have just such a tiny team but gee it’s a goody.”

“I’m buying funeral plots next to each other,” she jokes, clearly keen to ensure that her fabulous fellow 4 Ingredients colleagues can be found cooking and creating together forever more!

And considering they have just signed a further 4-book deal, which will see them continue to dominate the kitchens of both the Southern and Northern Hemisphere, we are sure this team will be delivering fine and affordable food fare for many years to come.

Grateful for "Joyfear"

Source: quote-book.tumblr.com via Kim on Pinterest

Have you ever felt so consumed by something that both exhilarates and alarms you in equal parts? Are you ever driven by some inexplicable force that sees you risk your well-constructed armour against failure all because there is an energy compelling you to throw everything you have at that one dream that you so desperately want to achieve?

If you know of this fine line between pleasure and pain, then you, just like me, have discovered “joyfear”.

I stumbled across this very astute (and oh so apt) mantra when reading a piece by Krissy Brady (writers, do yourself a favour and read full post here) and was immediately struck by how this notion summed up perfectly the flux state of my being of late. I’d been riding a roller coaster range of emotions, having had my flame for fiction writing reignited, but at the same time dueling against a gnawing trepidation of rejection.

And even though the cloud of possible failure did not dissipate, I continued to feel compelled to write, even in the face of it.  Normally I'd succumb to the dread that is interwoven with anything that is associated with risk, but this past week I spurned it's tempting advances and continued typing. 

And typing, typing, typing, all the while invigorated instead of anxious. And that, my writer friends, is the joy de vivre that is joyfear.

Leo Babauta, who gets the full cred for coining this clever term, explains this phenomenon in greater detail:

Joyfear is a mixture of intense joy and intense fear into one ball of powerful emotions that both lift me up and make me see things clearly when I hadn’t before. Having only joy is great. Having only fear sucks. But having both… that’s life-defining. Do not shy away from Joyfear. Seek it out. Recognize it when you happen upon it. Joyfear will change your life, and you’ll never forget the moment you find it.

Scary as it is to acknowledge out loud that I am legitimately working to pursue a dream, I have decided to feel the fear and do it anyway. Sure, I could be possibly setting myself up for some self imposed humiliation if I don’t achieve any success and will always find it hard to talk openly about my fiction writing as its always been a part of my writing world I kept closely guarded. But the flipside is I am also setting myself up for accountability; something I've been loathe to do in the past. You see, its easier to call it quits that way... But now the universe - and anyone else who cares - has full permission to kick my butt if I dare give in. 

So this is me actively - and very publicly - embracing the notion of joyfear. Long may this creative force reign supreme...

Proud to be linking up with the Kidspot/Maxabella inspired Grateful Project 

The Eternal Early Riser

A little more of this (past the hour of 6),
is all I ask...

Long before the sun unfurls from its slumber, and with the moon still bright in the sky, does my day start.

You see I am the mother of a son who sees nothing wrong with starting the day anywhere from about 5.10am. Which would be fine except my son has a mother who detests early mornings with all the spitfire and savagery of an angry Gladiator being sent into an arena of death.

A little strong perhaps, but you get my drift, right? And coming into winter, it is only going to get worse.

I overheard a conversation yesterday where a mother was complaining she was always running late because her young son (who looked around the age of 4) wouldn’t get out of bed. I wanted to scream (in my oh so overtired state) that I’d happily swap with her: that I was dragged into wakefulness at 5.30am that day and 6 of the 7 before it. And for the 3 years and 9 months before that. I can COUNT ON 1 HAND the amount of times Master H has slept past 8am and only 3 of those times it was because he was sick. The one remaining episode was pure chance and I was so panicked by it I had to monitor he was still breathing. Sleeping in past 7am is likely no higher than very early in the double digits range. Hell, even sleeping past 6am has only happened maybe once in the past 6 weeks. So you will see then that I am beyond tired and frustrated and really just do not want to accept the fact I am doomed to dragged from under my doona even before the suns rays filter through the sky.

There are many tactics we’ve undertaken to combat this, but none as yet have done the trick. Not even shutting the door, as I found out the hard way, when I ignored his pleas by burying my head under the mountain of pillows and later discovered he’d been asking to be let out to go to the toilet... (Mother of the Year, I know…)

I’ve tried putting him to bed later in the hope he’ll make it up for it in the morn – all that avails is an even tired, crankier boy as his body clock set in such a way Greewich Mean Time could employ him as an official time keeper.

I’ve tried putting him to bed earlier, but once his sleep quota is reached he is quite literally bouncing off the walls and raring to get the day underway (clearly a trait not inherited from me) .

Once we even splashed some cash on one one those kid's novetly "time to wake" clocks where you can set an alarm and the child is meant to stay in bed until it sounds. Damn thing would mock us; we’d be left shouting at Harrison “oh, there goes the alarm, you can get up now” as we packed away the breakfast dishes and prepared to serve morning tea. 

If it is simply an inherited gene (his Grandpa is well known for his extremely early rising tendencies) do I just need to shut up and put up until he is old enough to be trusted alone to get his own breakfast and master the TV remote? Or do I continue to fight this seemingly un-winnable battle?

So now is the time I turn it over to you, wise family and friends who are reading this. Share with me please what has worked for you. Just to get to 6am would be a divine start – I’ll then aim for something even more reasonable, like 6.45am in good time.

I'll show you mine if you show me yours... (+Giveaway)

Washing tips, that is...

But before you click away from the page in confusion, I ask for permission to bend your ears for a moment about that least loved room in your home: the laundry.

Let's be realistic; washing clothes isn't one of life's grand pleasures but it is a necessity (as long as you dont enjoy looking dishevelled and smelling like stale kitty litter). Which is why the cool kids at Cold Power, who know that an App is where its at, have created a very user friendly online tool to not only help you be more energy efficient and economical, but also houses a very handy stain troubleshooting guide.

Because we all have a nemesis in our dirty clothes basket. Mine is my husband's favourite crisp white business shirt that without fail comes home again with lovely discolouring to the sleeves, collar and cuffs - and that is just from working in an office environment!  The other is one of his polo work shirts, which, thanks to some unknown washing error on my part now fits me more snugly than it does him...   

 But now, by employing the use of both the Cold Power Wash Smarter App I can work out both the best time saving, money saving and sanity saving way to ease my washing woes.

So if you would like to win a 6 month supply of washing powder, as well as a $50 VISA voucher for good measure, all you have to do is download the app (you can do it here - off you go, I'll wait....) and tell me (in 100 words or less) what your favourite 'Colgate Smart Laundry Tip' on the Cold Power Wash Smarter App, as well as make me feel better about my own clothes washing disasters buy sharing with me one of yours.

Entry is only open to Australian Residents - who are not employees of Cold Power/Colgate Palmolive - and of course unrelated family members (yes Mum that means you!) and you must leave a valid email address to be contacted on. By commenting you accept the Terms and Conditions for entering (which can be found in detail by clicking here). The competition will run until 23.59pm on Wednesday May 23, 2012.

An anniversary to celebrate and commiserate

There is a milestone of sorts happening in my world this week; one I am both celebrating and commiserating.

Tomorrow will mark 12 months since I ceased permanent employment, stepping aside so that my husband could tackle (almost literally!) his dream job.

Congratulations to The Husband are definitely due. Without a word of a lie, this man has worked almost round the clock, week in and week out during a long footy season (and even beyond into the off season!) to ensure that he gives 110% to his job. Through early starts, impossibly long 16hour plus days at times, much time away from his family and working weekends he has never complained. He merely gets in and gets the job done, no matter what it takes.

It’s his passion and I think it shows in every page of his publication. And even though I do moan about his absences and hefty commitments, I am every inch the proud wife.

The flipside (as well as having had to get used to do so much solo parenting) is that 1 year on I’m still yet to be “gainfully” employed again. I never assumed that would be the case when I tearfully waved goodbye to a 6-year chapter of my life. Armed with what I assumed was a worthy CV, kick ass references, and a healthy dose of optimism, I was both sad to leave behind a company, colleagues and boss that were the most amazing people to work with, yet was also ready to embraced the change. 4 hours commuting had taken its toll and there was just no way we could juggle the demands of both needing to make the long treks to and from the Coast to the City, especially when there was a young child to consider.

However living in a relatively small place, coupled with a teetering economy, it has been much tougher than anticipated. It's left me at times to really struggle with the rejection factor, but also at the same time see I’ve been extremely blessed.

If I’d had found a job I’d also have missed out on so much that has come my way this past year. Sure, the pressure it would take off the bank balance would be welcome, but we have survived. In fact, through this little experience I figure I could now give Mr Swan a run for his money when it comes to drawing up tough budgets!

I’d have missed out on a fantastic opportunity to obtain some new skills by managing a large project from my former company for 3 months at the end of last year, which was both mentally challenging and extremely rewarding.

My blog has been nourished with extra attention and have brought me some fabulous opportunities that never before had come my way, all thanks to having extra time to dedicate to it. I had never previously had a proper chance to do just that so it has been heartening to see the fruits of my labour on that front.

Another of the things I’d added to my “don’t have the time” life list was tackling the freelance writing arena. After many crises of confidence (rejections will do that to a girl who is starting out with sensitive skin in this tough game) I’m proud to have seen my name in print 5 times, with another due next month, as well as quite a few online articles published. And while it remains a very long rocky road to make any headway (especially in these economic times where so much is done in house instead of outsourced) I am beyond thrilled with my achievements thus far!

Most exciting of all for me however has been rediscovering my love of fiction writing. I’d unearthed the voice I feared so long ago had been forgotten and it simply makes me feel ALIVE when I lose myself in my own world of fiction. I’m more determined than even to see this little project come to fruition. Sure, I know the publishing world is even more fraught with knock backs than the freelance writing one, but there may never be such a golden opportunity of time like the present to try.

So even if it has been one year of watching closely every single dollar and cent spent, I’ve used my time wisely – there’s been no lazing about on my bum watching endless daytime TV or sunning myself with a good book (I wish!). I hope throughout this journey I have also become a better wife and mother (though sadly not so much a good cook still...) and am proud to have unearthed wells of independence I never knew existed within me. Even though 12 months on I'm reluctant to fully to sever the connection with my old company and old colleagues, I do celebrate both our victories, no matter how big or small.  

And because I subscribe to the "everything happens for a reason" theory, I will just continue to do as I have done and take heart that the universe has a plan for me.

No news is good news?

Source: laboringinthelord.com via Donna on Pinterest

Can someone please explain to me why seems that no news is good news nowadays?

Call me Shirley Temple and cue the rose coloured glasses comments, but I'm starting to want to live my life like an ostrich and bury my head in the sand far away from newspapers, computer screens and TV’s which seem to show more about what is bad and bleak in the world but not so much of the gracious and good. Is it that heartwarming news simply wont sell, and that it has to be anything but good if it is to be considered truly newsworthy at all?

My mother in law made a very salient point last week during ANZAC Day. On a day which we could have celebrated the brave and the bold men and their families for helping us have the liberties we enjoy today, the news was instead lead by the Matthew Newton saga. On Anzac Day?! Please...

Quite likely we can blame human nature to want to wallow in the misfortune of others or rubberneck at the awful events of the day. And of course I get that we need to live in a world that is informed, that if we weren’t kept well abreast of major events as they unfolded that there’d be hell to pay as well. But wouldn’t a bit more of all that is good and wonderful in this world just make us all feel a little better about the place in which we live? 

Instead those types of tales are reserved for that special spot, tacked at the end of a news bulletin, acting as the final “feelgood” story of the day. Which is lovely (and better than nothing), but after 29 minutes of disaster and despair (and sometimes that is just if you are a Parramatta footy fan watching the sport!) it’s hard to burst that bubble of bleak that is now hovering around you.

I know I am guilty of this as well; my whiney woe-is-me posts generally garner more hits than any prose peppered with positivism.

However during the week, I got the proof I needed to know that positive posts can make a difference. During a personal meeting I was having with Bank West, I was informed a blog I'd written last year called Chivalry in a Car Park - (which ended up going viral through the channels of Bank West) has inspired a special "customer care" or "umbrella" day once a month.

I like to think that is proof indeed that perhaps sometimes good news can carry some weight and help bring about happiness, however small. And hopefully more of the same will then stop me from having to live the life of an ostrich for years to come...

Kitchen Wisdom with Kim McCosker (the fabulous 4 Ingredients cooking queen!)

When I think of Kim McCosker, the wildly successful doyenne of all things delicious, and co-founder of the famous 4 Ingredients brand, I cant help put picture an endless stream of neighbourhood kids lining up outside her front door. The aroma of her Taco Popcorn creation wafting down the street, I’m sure, would generate a queue outside her home the Pied Pier would be proud of!

Because when it comes to cooking, Kim is a woman who sure knows her way around the kitchen. Couple that with the fact she can make it fast, affordable and fun and it is easy to understand why the very first 4 Ingredients cookbook was the biggest selling self-published title in Australian history with over 2,500,000 copies sold!

And lucky for me, and my NappyDaze readers, Kim has generously granted me a window into her culinary kingdom.

Like so many of us, Kim too has her share of food battles to fight with her children. And here she shares with us how she has overcome this all too familiar obstacle.

First and foremost, she adamantly believes that starting the day the right way will give you a head start on their adequate intake of nutritional needs. Considering one of her son’s is not a fan of the sandwich come lunchtime, she advises “he’ll start the day with a really healthy breakfast, I think that’s my saviour”

As well as freezing a healthy juice, she also sets about concocting an easy, but most importantly, enticing array of snacks – almost making it a mini smorgasbord!

“His lunch box, if you look at is a series of snacks” Kim tells us. You might find in there a custard cup, yoghurt in a little container (she advocates buy big tubs when on sale and dishing out as desired to save on costs), some CC’s to make mini nacho’s with cheese, carrots and of course fruit. However, she warns, when doling out fruit, don’t go overboard as it may backfire. Work out what they like, and be realistic about how much they will eat.

For example, a conversation Kim might have with her son would be along the lines of “Now mate, you’ve got 8 grapes, how are you going to go with that today Champ? I don’t want that coming back” and he will happily reply “its good mum” .

And you know what? It works! Because, as Kim rightly advises from a parent who has been down this road many times before: “If they open it up and see volumes of food... – {shudder}” They'll automatically assume feeding time will erode away play time and that is often why lunch boxes return home almost in the same state as when they left your kitchen bench hours before!

“Decrease the size but increase the amount” she counsels, i.e. instead of giving him 4 separate items, give 5, but with smaller portions.

Of course, parents should also embrace the power of the leftover dinner to concoct an enticing lunch box offering – and this also acts to save you more times in your morning (something ALL parents are in need of!)

Kim suggests you as yourself “What am I cooking for dinner? Can I make extra and give it to them the next day?” For instance, if you are making her scrummy Echidna Balls, Kim recommends making them into very small portions (think a 20c piece), cut and place them on cute little dinner rolls for an alternative to a sandwich.

Also, when it comes to saving time in your lunch box preparations, planning ahead is a must. On any given Sunday afternoon you will find Kim doing two things in her kitchen – baking her 4 Ingredients cupcakes and making her 4 Ingredients M&M slice. (Can you picture that line up around the block again?). All you need to do is ensure your portion it out adequately and you have yourself an economical and time saving solution to get you through the week! And before you think that this might not be the healthiest snack, lets put it into perspective – kids burn a lot of energy, and you will have no doubt packed a varied and wholesome lunch for them to eat during the day. As Kim says, “Life is about balance: I’m not suggesting you give the whole slice to your child in one day.”

Speaking of balance, Kim has a great philosophy when it comes to those who might question how you achieve a nutritious food intake when you are only working with a small number of ingredients.

“Use four ingredients as a really good base to create fantastic food. You add to that then what suits your family, their diet, their palate. You add to that, more importantly, what you think they will eat.” And she could not be more right. Because if you are anything like me, and loathe nothing more than an untouched dinner plate that you have painstakingly, lovingly prepared for your family you know you have to work to their strengths. “It doesn’t matter if it has 4 ingredient or 40, if you go to the effort of making it, you want it to be eaten.”


Amen to that!

You'll also find much more in the way of culinary insights and recipes from the fab 4 Ingredients team on their Facebook Page (click here) where they have garnered a very large and loyal following. They happily post recipes, not simply expecting people to have all the books, as well as many hints and tips.

“We share as much kitchen wisdom as we possibly can. It’s a good tool to get an unbiased opinion of what is working in ordinary people’s kitchens."

Stay tuned for part 2 of my interview with Kim McCosker which discusses her secrets to success, how she is enjoying going solo and of course the thing we all want to know - has this super mum and super chef ever found the elusive work/life balance we all strive for? Coming to a screen near you soon!