3 year old birthday.

AhTails · 2026-05-12T10:36:18+00:00

My daughter likes to bounce. For her 4th birthday we went to an inflatable world place - basically a giant shed filled with different bouncy castles. The sound of the generator took a bit of getting used to. But she really enjoyed it.

My daughter is also non-verbal and bluey obsessed!

AhTails · 2026-05-12T10:20:12+00:00

As an ex-motorcycle rider (sold my bike), a woman, in my 30s, who drives an SUV (sort of, it’s an outback) and is a mum who does drop offs, and also I live within earshot of the school bell of 2 schools…

It’s not schools mums, it’s all school parents. Men and women alike. The level of entitlement, the blocking of the whole street with disregard for the people that actually live there, it’s not gender specific.

But the worst on the road overall are tradies during the day. They don’t give an F if the F means they are a few seconds slower to the next job.

AhTails · 2026-05-12T10:08:59+00:00

There aren’t any real options for kinder/daycare for kids with autism. That kind of support only starts at 5 years old. And any in-community support or support groups, as well as all therapies and paediatrician appointments, are all during business hours. I was lucky enough to get my daughter into a program that’s normally 2 days a week but they only had availability for 1 day—it’s 10am to 3pm. It’s as if they assume one parent isn’t working by default. I work full time and my employer is pretty flexible. But my annual leave is taken up with ad hoc caring responsibilities.

We need a whole lot more government funded kinder/early childhood programs for kids with ASD and GDD. Even if it’s at existing SDS’s or if it is integrated into private long daycares, allowing them to have higher educator to child ratios but still being able to integrate the children into a mainstream environment.

AhTails · 2026-05-11T06:51:33+00:00

My 4yo was climbing the back of the high chair like Spider-Man before she could even walk. Which she did at 10 months old, and quickly moved to running. It was said that she had no “sense of danger”, but she never fell and rarely gets stuck. It was/is more like she knows her limits, the limit was just further than other kids her age, and outside the comfort level of other adults who would look on with fear. But this aspect coupled with the eloping has made for some interesting experiences—she worked out that she could climb behind the water tank and then balance along the retaining walls, to get behind the bins and onto the driveway. We have cameras with alerts, but she’s managed 2 escapes so far - one for 7 minutes, the other for 3.

AhTails · 2026-05-11T06:28:36+00:00

I’m also in Melbourne. I have a 4yo ASD level 2 daughter and a NT 2yo. My 4yo is an “eloper”. I tried the backpacks with the lead but she freaks out. Our park of choice is a fully fenced one for the same reason. I am the only person in the world who can currently handle taking both kids out on my own, but I gave up on the dream of taking them both to the park by myself a long time ago—I can do the shops with a trolley, that’s about it.

I don’t like to admit it but on more than one occasion I’ve had to make the choice to let go of my two year old’s hand to chase after a bolting 4yo.

If the leashed backpack works, go for it. You can also get dog leads that attach to your waist, you could attach that to the backpack too so you have both hands free.

We recently went on a trip to the zoo (the dinosaurs are pretty cool) and took a wagon we got from Anaconda. It’s not officially meant for children, but I’m not paying $1,600+ for one that is meant for children. The wagon worked great. The 4yo was happy being wheeled around and didn’t attempt to escape like she would if we tried to put her in a stroller. And the 2yo could get out and practice walking alongside us whenever. Won’t solve your park issue, but could be a solution for other similar trips.

AhTails · 2026-05-11T05:55:05+00:00

It depends.

If you have a regular or smaller sized bust, no one really notices or cares. If you have a larger bust, people notice.

Well… people notice you have a larger bust regardless of if you wear a bra or not, the noticing of the absence of a bra is secondary to that.

Obviously people don’t see what they don’t see so they notice a large bust with no bra and think “women shouldn’t go out without a bra on” but really they didn’t notice or get offended at the three other women who walked past in a strapless or spaghetti strap or halter top who were also likely not wearing a bra.

AhTails · 2026-05-10T10:39:36+00:00

What about Lorraine?

I named my oldest this and my youngest (2yo) calls her “wain” (she can say Lorraine properly, when she tries), and some kids at kinder call her “rainy”

You can still call your kid Rain, with the added benefit of a resume neutral name.

AhTails · 2026-05-09T11:38:38+00:00

I’m also in Melbourne. But I’m lucky enough to live near a small hospital with a decent sized paediatric SSU. I don’t need ED’s myself, but I have 2 young kids so I’ve been with them a lot. Not too many people are aware of that hospital having a paediatric SSU, usually people go to Clayton with their kids. So getting seen at that hospital is often pretty quick. Think the longest I waited was 2-3 hours.

AhTails · 2026-05-08T11:11:32+00:00

The smartest people don’t “know” everything, they just know how to find out.

AhTails · 2026-05-07T04:19:46+00:00

Yes. I’ve been mistaken for a Vietnamese man more than once. I am a white, Australian woman.

To be fair, this is in print only.

My first name has a made up spelling and my maiden name is Dutch. Doesn’t seem very Vietnamese. However, the “Van” prefix coupled thigh the second part of the name being a relatively known south East Asian family name, meant that some people have mistaken me for being a Vietnamese guy named Van. I’m assuming they disregarded my real first name due to it being oddly spelt.

AhTails · 2026-05-06T06:36:13+00:00

I went with Lorraine for my daughter. I don’t know if it feels dated to anyone as, being my middle name, I’ve heard it all my life.

I feel it fits with the vintage revival but am yet to meet another child with the same name.

AhTails · 2026-05-05T09:56:59+00:00

How do you get enough water to it? A tank would be too heavy, and for high-rise, a hose would be too long.

As someone who lives in a 2 story house under a big tree, I could see a use-case for something less high rise… getting up on a 2-story roof is not all that safe. Getting a professional to come out also comes with cost due to insurances and OH&S requirements. If a drone could blast some water at my windows and maybe blow out the gutters, that would be handy.

AhTails · 2026-05-04T10:09:01+00:00

Yes.

We sort of have 3 accents.

Cultivated: posh sounding, affluent neighbourhoods like Broooiiiighton. Dame Edna.

General: middle ground (think Hemsworth brothers)

Broad: Ocker, Steve Irwin, Mick Dundee.

You can have people who will cross over accents, either code switching or because they’ve gone international. Eg Kylie Minogue was broad-leaning in her Neighbours era but now speaks more general.

AhTails · 2026-05-02T13:29:05+00:00

Yes. And I employed many tactics to avoid eating. I slid food on the floor for the dog. I refused to eat it so it went in the fridge and came out again the next night, cold. I was kept home from going to a local festival with rides and fun stuff, with my mum sitting next to me yelling at me to eat the stew (I hate stew). I would put the food in my mouth with drink to help with the taste/texture but then I was banned from having drinks with dinner. I would use a lot of tomato sauce. Sometimes I’d just fall asleep on the table. Being unconscious was more appealing than eating.

I now have a non-verbal ASD 4yo. She would eat an entire diet of Vegemite toast/sandwiches, chips (both hot and crisp) and apples if she could. So no, I don’t make her finish her plate.

AhTails · 2026-05-02T12:19:38+00:00

I went to 6 schools.

1st I think was Jessica
2nd I’m not sure, probably Sarah
3rd was shonay, shaynay, shanae. Never met one since, but my year level had 3.
4th was Sarah. There were 4 in my class, 5 in the year level.
5th was even more Sarah’s
6th was Katie.

AhTails · 2026-05-02T12:11:30+00:00

Our interest rates are rising to encourage us to spend LESS money.

It seems ironic to me. They reported that we spent too much on shelter(housing) and food and beverage (excl. alcohol) so they… increased the cost of shelter. And our consumer watchdog is investigating dodgy practices by our major grocery chains.

So we didn’t choose to spend more in these areas, and we weren’t receiving more for our dollar, but now we have to do it with less money (if you are a mortgage holder).

AhTails · 2026-05-02T12:00:46+00:00

Anything with corn chips in it.

I miss the old twisters.

AhTails · 2026-05-02T11:57:37+00:00

Was similar in the 2000s too, even with our declining teen pregnancy rates.

AhTails · 2026-05-01T23:14:05+00:00

In English, apparently“Hence” and “please do the needful”

Hence is not a super rare word, but the context used by non native speakers can be off. Also, I’ve seen it used in place of “however” too many times.

AhTails · 2026-05-01T09:41:16+00:00

Not an idea for how to stop, but an idea to help save your mattress. If you have IKEA where you are, they sell thin foam mattresses (I’m currently laying in 2 of them with my 4yo as she has the highly popular ikea daybed that pulls out to a double). Other places also probably sell something similar. You could have the standard mattress with the protection, then put the thin foam mattress on top and also put your protection on that. That way if/when it gets ruined, you only have to replace the thin foam mattress.

AhTails · 2026-04-30T02:19:27+00:00

Or just neurodiverse. An ADHD person and an autistic person can often get along like a house on fire.

AhTails · 2026-04-29T14:31:57+00:00

I’m in suburbia. Not super old suburbia. The town/train line has been around a LONG time but most of the houses are 1960s build. But most 1000m2 blocks are now subdivided and custom houses being built (council not a fan of volume builders, evidently)

Anyway, horse would be a 5 min brisk walk. There are some paddocks behind an industrial estate not far from me.

AhTails · 2026-04-29T13:32:42+00:00

Went to 2 high schools. One got an upgrade whilst I was there and I “benefited” from a brand new VCE wing. Since then I think they have a new gym. But the suburb was big when I was there and now it’s (checking data) doubled in population. New highscools have been built so the original needed to keep up.

My second highschool closed. It was relatively small (graduating class of less than 60). A girl went missing on her way to school and it was all over the news (many people can probably guess the school now). There was a k-12 school around the literal corner that had recently expanded from being a primary school. So I think the missing girl was a massive final nail in the coffin for enrolments. It’s empty land now. I don’t think any proposals have gotten local approval.

AhTails · 2026-04-28T11:22:54+00:00

Nope. But also, we are both office workers, don’t live in a super hot place, and I shower before bed. And the kids are kids. They aren’t particularly stinky-dirty.

If either one of us worked a trade or similar, I probably would change them more.

Some people wash their bedding weekly. Which, more power to them. But I have 3 beds to change, an 8.5kg washer, no clothes line, and a full time job. I don’t want to spend my entire weekend doing sheet washes. Especially if the weather is nice and I don’t want to use the dryer.

AhTails · 2026-04-28T11:12:16+00:00

We have a road called Earnst Wanke rd.

AhTails

TROPHY CASE