Jenn and I were starting to get worried that our boy was too much of a neak freak, and this was holding him back from being creative. Some parents let their kids make a huge mess during dinner. Most of the time we'd encourage Sam to be neat. Occasionally I might get up Sam for dripping tomato sauce on his shirt.
Sam has a great eating posture. Except sitting straight up means he's not eating and dripping over his bowl.
Jenn recalls when Sam first started Kindy last year, he would touch the paint with his fingers, and then decide it was too much for him.
For some reason, in the last two weeks, Sam started to enjoy painting.
I see symmetry. I see balance. I see structure. I see colour.
And then last week, this came out of the blue. Blew me out of the water. Assymetry. Bleeding. Overlapping.
As a dad, this moment is a bit like planting peas, watching them grow and finding out you might have watermelons.
So this is the first time I've told you in this blog that I work at an oil refinery. This may be the last time you hear me use present tense.
Unfortunately the refinery is closing down.
This weekend we begin shutting down the rest of the main processing units for the last time.
It will be turned into an oil terminal. If you have not heard about it here it is.
Lots of really good people will lose their jobs come 1st of July. They are great at what they do and they are great people to work with. All these years of work that these people have devoted to the place, the hundreds of millions of dollars, will be turned into scrap metal. Just like in the Ariely experiment, some people feel a bit deflated at present.
I heard on Triple J this morning a line that stuck: (this is what I remember anyway)
Life is like photos, you develop it from the negatives.
Needs a bit of revision now that we're in the digital era. But this reminds me of the classical stuff from Romans 5.
The prospect of being out of work, then job hunting, knocked back for a kickass job, then more job hunting - all this takes a toll on you. In hindsight, NOT getting what I wanted first time has been immensely good for me.
First, it made me realise how much a job meant to me.
Second, it made me go and chase the bone a lot more.
Third, probably most importantly, it did good to break down my pride.
Fourth, the past year has made me appreciate how awesome this job has been, and why I've enjoyed working here.
Working at the refinery as and engineer has been the most kick ass job I've ever had. I've had opportunities to travel. To learn from people from across the world. To try new ideas. To see ideas come to life. To tweak and to play.
(Yes, I've only had one real job really. But talking to lots of people I've had it real good for so long.)
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If you are a parent, and your kid asks about what a refinery looks like, take a look at this video that my mate made.
A bit like Ender Wiggins and the buggers, I feel it's my duty to tell the universe about the story of this refinery.
Jimmy bumped his head on the in side of the bath on Sunday.
He slipped over trying to grab a toy. We have a bath mat to stop him slipping, but he must have stepped off it in his hurry.
He should have cried.
I waited for it.
But he didn't. He kept playing. Crying would slow down his playing too much I guess.
(And then there are days that the smallest thing from me or Sam sends him in tears.)
So I checked for blood and eggs. All good.
Perhaps we choose our reaction to something, more often than we think. Perhaps we need a little something to help us move on, with eggs or without eggs.
How do you explain energy to a class of kindy students?
I'm going to try it at Sam's kindy this Friday. Sam is very excited about me visiting.
I can't wait either.
First I'm thinking of talking about the various sources of energy. Starting from what they ate for brekkie. Then energy from fuels, like burning trees. And battery energy. And kinetic energy (moving stuff). And potential energy (stuff from high up falling down). And the ultimate source of our energy.
This will be the last time I get to don my refinery work clothes, so I'll definitely be talking about OIL.
Which kid does not want to learn how diggers need diesel, jet planes need jet, passenger cars need petrol, and great BBQ chefs need gas?
Oh and it turns out the kids are learning about recycling. So I'll somehow tie it in with saving energy.
My dream is to hear that kids went home and and told their parents about how we get oil out of the ground and into their world.
Last time I did this one of the boys, Tom went home and went on and on about diesel and petrol and how they are made from oil.
