Being Mark Cohen

Dogs are amazing.  Immediately loyal, always forgiving, and always happy.  I had a dog my whole life, up until we moved to Sydney.  Now after several years here we finally got another dog.  A very little dog.  My boys have gone mad for her.  They compete for her attention, and my big guy makes her dinner.

Having a dog in the house changes the whole dynamic.  My kids seem happier, and now I have some company when I spend all night busy on the computer   Most surprising is how my wife has taken to her – she keeps coming home with new treats and toys.  This is going to be one spoiled little dog.

Happy Mother’s Day to all the mums out there, and good luck to all the dads who forgot

The ABS posted some interesting stats in a media release, reproduced and linked below highlighting added by me:

Mothers’ day facts and figures from the ABS (Media Release)
Mothers’ day facts and figures from the ABS

* The median age of mothers who gave birth in 2006 was 30.8, up from 29.2 in 1996.
* Women could expect to have 1.8 children in their lifetime in 2006, the most since 1995.
* Births are up – Australia registered 265,900 births during 2006 – more than in any year during the last three decades.
* More mothers with children aged under 15 years are employed than in the past. Almost two-thirds (63%) of mothers with children aged under 15 years were employed in March 2008, compared with 54% ten years earlier.
* 60% of employed mothers with children aged under 15 years worked part time.
* As employment among mothers has increased, the use of formal child care has also increased. The percentage of children under the age of 12 years attending formal care increased from 14% in 1996 to 23% in 2005.
* In 2006, mothers with children aged under 15 years spent, on average, between 16 hours per week (for those employed full time) to 28 hours per week (for those not employed) caring for children.
* In 2005, 83% of employed mothers with very young children (aged under 2 years) used some form of working arrangement to help balance work and child care responsibilities. The arrangements most commonly used were flexible working hours, used by 44% of employed mothers; permanent part-time work, used by 39%; and working from home, used by 27%.
* 67% of mothers in a couple family with children aged under 15 years, and 61% of lone mothers with children aged under 15 years, reported in 2006 that they ‘always or often felt rushed or pressed for time’

These stats scream out for more online facilities aimed at mothers who are caring for kids. One such site built by two mums is Part Time Online, a job portal aimed squarely at the part time / jobsharing market.

Aother observation: Most mothers feel time-poor and ironically more mothers who have a partner feel time-poor than single mums. That says something really bad about some of us dads….

This post’s one for the family. We had a little somebody’s fourth birthday party this weekend. I put the (shabby) video onto youtube, to see if I could share it. if all goes well you should see it here:

We had a jumping castle, scooters with little ramps to roll down, face painting, and other kid stuff to keep them busy.

I did well. I organised a great night out. We celebrated ten years married on Tuesday and I decided to make it a special evening out. I booked a stretch limo to pick us up and take us to dinner. The limo was awesome. It arrived and I just called my wife and told her the taxi had arrived. She was blown away. I had a bottle of French champagne ready for the drive, and so we drank champagne and cruised into the city in style.

We had dinner at Aria, and we were lucky enough to have a table in the window, looking out over the Opera House and the Bridge. Wow. We had a superb three course meal with a bottle of Main Ridge Half Acre (my mate Brent’s recommendation, beautiful wine) and then went for a walk round circular quay. As we got to the MCA a boat I’d booked arrived and picked us up and took us out onto the harbour, under the bridge and round to King St Wharf. We got off there and went to Bungalow 8 for a drink and then headed home.

Ten years with the same person is an amazing feat for both of us. We’ve known each other for half our lives, we have two great kids, we’ve re-established and reinvented ourselves. I’m looking forward to the next ten years.

Earth Hour is a great concept.  Maybe we’ve run away with ourselves.  Maybe we just haven’t cared for so long that it seems trivial.  Maybe in fact there is no point to leaving the lights on in massive CBD skyscrapers all weekend while there isn’t a soul in the building.  Maybe lighting up every uninhabited and unused corner of every city block is not really needed.

At 7.30pm on 31 March 2007, we are inviting Sydneysiders – businesses and individuals – to turn off their lights for just one hour, Earth Hour, as a sign of their commitment to reduce global warming.

Earth Hour is just the start of a campaign that aims to reduce Sydney’s greenhouse emissions by 5% in 2007. The event will demonstrate how simple actions can make the world of difference if everyone takes part. And it sends a powerful message that we care about the future of the planet.

Saving the earth is not a daily priority. Getting a good parking space is. Unless you’re a kid. Especially my kid. Then saving the earth is of paramount importance. Never mind getting dressed for school, or bed time. This is really important. It’s about saving the environment. So I’m told.

Get involved.  Click on the earth hour banner.  register.  Commit to spending an hour with all the lights off, maybe with some candles lit and a bottle of wine and someone you love.  Step out of your rut for just one hour.  If you have kids get them involved.  Put the TV off.  Have take-out dinner and sit round in the candlelight and talk.  You might feel like you’re saving a whole lot more than the environment

There’s a story my wife used to tell, about a man walking along the beach after a storm, with a friend.  As he walked along he picked up the starfish that were washed up one at a time, and threw them back into the water.  his friend said he was wasting his time, there were so many starfish washed up that he wasn’t even making a difference.  The man picked up a starfish, threw it into the sea and said "I made a difference to that one".

Make a difference.