Listmania 2

Well, as I look out the window today, it's hard to believe this is summer. After a night of wild weather, lots of rain and the temperature dropping to winter degrees, we've had to pull out the long sleeves and jackets.

My Listmania list today is all about the pros and cons of my summer in Melbourne. 

I found it hard to think of the pros of a Melbourne summer, or a summer in general. I don't like the heat and the heat doesn't like me. I become a whingy, sweaty pain in the bum. If I learn that the next day will be a scorcher I am already hot. It's hereditary - my grandma was a psychosomatic heat freak, too.

But I have found some shiny brightness to list as the good stuff anyway...

Pros:

Daylight savings. I love watching an orange sunset after a warm day at about half past eight at night, wine in one hand, baby in the other.

Enjoying Christmas outdoors. 2012 saw me host our first outdoor Christmas dinner on a beautiful day in our garden. Fairy lights overhead, swiping flies off the turkey and a lurking dog. An almost-Aussie Christmas, despite the traditionally hot food.

Kids on school holidays. Summer in Melbourne means loooong school holidays. I will be listing this one as a 'con' as well, but as a 'pro' it means no routine, sleeping in, staying in pj's longer and not rushing.

Dragonflies. I love dragonflies. Around our yard in summer I love to watch them dart about, stopping to hover in front of you as though they are examining you, and then darting away. Magic little alien pods.

Smell of the beach. After a scorcher of a day, and as the cooler night air starts to roll in, so does the smell of the beach of Port Philip Bay. It reminds me of my childhood.

The beach. My kids want to go to the beach. We live near the beach. I hate the beach. The beach is a scary place for me to watch five kids from 9 months to 13 years by myself. However, I have listed it as a pro, because I could lie on the beach all day and listen to the waves roll in, the seagulls overhead and other people's children playing happily in the sand. My kids would just scream.


Tennis. The Australian Open in Melbourne. Love a day out there without the kids. Sadly I missed out this year - because of the kids.

Storms. There is nothing sexier than a thunderstorm after a hot day.








Cons:

Daylight savings. The sun gets up too early and sets too late + My kids get up too early and go to bed too late = I get up too early and go to bed even later.

Too hot and sweaty. I'm a big chick. I don't dig the heat. Especially 42 degree heat. I have trouble beyond 25 degrees. Summer in Melbourne can mean a couple of stupid hot days in a row, followed by Antarctic weather. Airconditioning can only work so well.

Spiders. The Huntsman, Red Backs, Orbs and White Tails. We always know when summer has arrived here when we catch a glimpse of an arachnid outstretched between the trees. Or on the fence. Or on the wall watching you go to the toilet.

Kids on school holidays. From just before Christmas to the end of January is a bloody long time to entertain kids. Kids get bored too quickly and many places to visit are either too expensive for all of us to go to or not age-appropriate for someone at one end of the birth-order spectrum. In my day we made our own fun by dressing up our cats or pushing billycarts without brakes down steep driveways. In my day...

Writing these lists has been quite therapeutic. I've been feeling a bit down lately and this has been a great way to reflect on the little things that have made me smile over time but were long forgotten. Don't forget to have a look at other Listmaniac's lists, by clicking on the link up the top. Let me know if you start one, too. I'd love to have a peek.