Trudie Trewin

I know I haven’t posted anything here for a while, but today is too momentous to let pass without comment….

This morning, our eldest son headed off for his first day at high school. But it’s not the passing from child to young adult that makes this such a happy day for us. And it’s not the fact that he looks so grown-up in his new uniform either (although he certainly does). And it’s not even the fact that he’s headed off to school full of excitement, with a heart full of hopes and plans for new experiences and expanded horizons.

Nope, what makes this such a happy, happy day for us is the knowledge that today he will finally, finally… eat the lunch I packed for him!!

You see, for the last eight years (prep through to year 7)  his lunch boxes have returned almost as full as I sent them off. Because there is only ONE sandwich that my son will eat… peanut butter. And our primary school has a strict ‘no nuts’ policy.

But there is no such rule at the high school – so now I can look forward to five years of empty lunch boxes – YAY!!!!

…Unless of course he comes home and tells me that peanut butter sandwiches aren’t ‘cool’ enough for high school…. what are the chances?

As a writer, I’ll sometimes give my characters unusual and weird names, especially to add some humour.

But as a parent I much rather the names that have stood the test of time. And I like to spell them normally too – I was never even slightly tempted to write ‘Danyule’ on the birth certificate.  I am constantly amazed by some of the names I hear, and the reasons behind them…

The other day I heard of a child given the name ‘Maakee’, because when the mother was little she had trouble saying monkey, and that’s how it came out.

Lucky for my kids I didn’t go down that path… when I was little I had trouble with the word ‘coat-hanger’. Just imagine introducing young ‘Goat Angg Angger Trewin‘ to his year one class mates!

And if my kids use this method of naming, I’ll end up with Copenopen Trewin (coconut), and Elbumow Trewin (elbow) for grandkids!

Eeek!

Last Thursday I flew to Sydney for the NSW CBCA conference. On the plane trip down I worked out that this was the first time I would be spending a weekend down south during winter in 21 years! I looped the scarf around my neck a couple more times – would the conference be worth facing single digit degrees?

Well, YES! I had a blast. I spent two days listening to some of Australia’s best writers and illustrators. All were inspiring, some were inspiring and funny, and even  inspiring, funny and a teensy bit cute (yep, Markus Zusak was one of the presenters).

But wait, that wasn’t the best bit. The best bit was the social side – catching up with old friends and making new ones. Living so far away from the capital cities means opportunities such as these are almost non-existent, so for me the morning teas, lunches and dinners were very much the icing on the cake! In fact, an extra day at the end, dedicated to social-surfing, would be about the only thing the conference lacked.

Oh, but wait… the very best bit… it wasn’t even that cold!