Monthly Archives: March 2012

INTJ

No, INTJ is not some engineering mathematical function – it is a personality type from the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. One of our friends was discussing the framework with us, so I decided to take an online screening to see where I lay on the spectrum.

Intj

Here is a description of the INTJ personality type. I found it quite interesting to see myself in the typical characteristics, as well as learning that it is the rarest type. That might explain why I have struggled to find people similar to me to work with (and the ones who are similar are probably doing their own things anyway).

Interesting. Does it change how I see myself? Probably not, but it does give me a new looking glass to peer at myself, and to give me more handles on the way I act and think.

Builder Drennan’s

Dad putting a cabin hook on the door and Grace building a house for the mice (the ones in the book whose house burnt down)

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Daddy jump on trampoline

For the last few days Grace has been demanding that I jump on the trampoline with her. It is fun, because now she is quite okay with me jumping properly too (before she didn't like the instability it caused for her). She is fine with me "double bouncing" her, and even enjoys it if we get the timing right – she normally shoots off towards the net and collapses in a heap. We hop after each other in circles chasing each other and just have some fun. I am very fortunate to be able to walk out the office and play with her straight after work – it is a really nice way to clear one's brain.

A potentially nausea inducing version of ring-a-rosies…

Rolling down hill

I really enjoyed catching up with a good friend from Pretoria over dinner tonight. One of the things it reminded me of is that I love to help build the energy of people who want to do things. What I mean is that there are lots of people with great ideas and I love to help them to go from the idea to the first steps. That initial step is actually a really hard one to make – there is a part of us which fights it, which pushes against us sticking our neck out and doing something, creating something – and I really enjoy helping people to see past the fear and just take that first step. Once you’ve taken that first step it is like pushing a boulder down a hill, it just gathers momentum.

Interestingly it is something that I have been really poor at in my own life. I have failed to capitalise on the position that I have and to create things, so it is a habit that I am working on building. Maybe building the habit is like throwing pebbles down the hill. The boulder might seem hard to get rolling, but throwing a small pebble, and then a slightly bigger one, and so on builds a habit so that when you have to push a boulder the action comes so naturally that you only realise what you’ve done once the boulder is rolling and it is too late.

Gracie no tired

Heard in our house today:

Mom: "Grace, we're going to go and have a nap now."
Grace: "Gracie no tired, no go nap. Mommy tired, mommy go nap." (with emphatic nodding)

Grace wanted her geoboard, and from a blank board created this….I really like the hairband in there.

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Something for Daddy

Grace had a busy day – an early morning swim at the gym followed by a day playing and having fun with Caleb. On the way home she passed out, totally nackered, and eventually had to be woken with marshmallow smelling salts.

When she woke up she came to me in her dozy state and said, "Got something daddy." "What do you have for me?" "Teddy bear."

Grace had made a bread teddy bear with chocolate buttons for me, and it was just so sweet how she told me. I had already eaten it all up by the time she told me though…

Saying Grace

For a while now we have all been eating together, which means we all say grace together….well, as much as a two year old will allow us to say it together that is. Grace does enjoy thanking God for our food, it just happens to be that she really prefers to do it in her own sweet time.

We will sit down to start eating and say, "Grace, we're going to thank God for our food," (because "thanking God" seems less confusing than "saying grace") and hold out our hands to her. She usually whines/moans/squeals and says, "No thank God, no thank God." So we thank God and get on with our meal.

A few minutes later (when she is ready) Grace holds out her hands (one to each of us) and squeezes her eyes tight shut – this is her sign that she is ready to pray. If we happen to ask her if she wants to thank God she will usually open her mouth and point to the food inside of it to say, "I can't speak, my mouth is full." We thank God (again) and afterwards Grace says, "Ahhhhhhh-men!"

Things that stood out

For Grace, there were two things which stood out today. She wanted to go and see dogs today, so I organised a visit to Mel on the farm. We saw the dogs, threw stick for them, jumped on a trampoline and had fun outside, but what really stood out for Grace (and were the things she spoke about over and over again) was,

  1. Aunty Mel catching a chicken (which was roaming loose in the barn), and
  2. Finding out that eggs come from chicken bums (to which she said, "Silly," and laughed a beautiful and wholehearted giggle of delight).

A little conversation

I wished I had been able to video something today. I was talking on my phone and watching Grace and Jack with each other. Grace was sitting in front of a small cooler bag with her snacks in it, and Jack was standing on the other side eating an ice lolly. Grace and Jack were looking at each other and one would nod or shake their head, and then the other would respond with a nod or a shake of the head. It was like watching a little unspoken conversation.

If I had to put words to it, the impression it gave me was, "That looks like some nice food in your snack pack Grace." "Yes, this is mine, and so is this, but you can have some of these." "Oh, okay."

Jack picked up the ice brick and gave it a hug and a lick and wondered off, only to return shortly. Grace then started saying, "Something warm, something warm," to Jack, then picked up the ice brick and said, "Cold," which Jack responded to by licking the ice brick again.

It was just so cute to see the way they were interacting, like they were having a conversation. I've never seen them interacting like that and it was so sweet.

Pizza!

We often (pretty much always) make pizza on a Friday and so far Grace has not really enjoyed it….but tonight she noshed away happily. It's always great when she actually eats the same things as us….and she even decided to sit the same way as me today đŸ™‚

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Playing with water today resulted in some hair washing

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