My latest purchase.... should be enough to make two single bed quilts. Dont you love it?
16 April 2013
I am wondering if any of the government actually knows the state of our schools. I am wondering how much true feedback they get on the high schools in particular. I am wondering if my local high school is one out of the box or indicative of many. Is it just a case of money or have we lost our way with guiding our young people.
Primary school seems to run along such a different line than secondary school. Is that because the secondary schools are so impersonal with so many students and so many classes? Even though our first thought concerning discipline is the ruler that we felt across our hands ..... should we get over ourselves and rethink discipline. Figure out how to keep discipline and direction in our high schools, getting through to our kids that they are moving closer and closer to taking on the entire responsibility of their lives.... and that they should see the value in what we have to offer.
I hear a lot of talk from the teens in and out my front door about depression and anxiety. I believe of course that these mental and physical stresses / illness do exist. But I do wonder if the teens themselves have misdiagnosed their feeling. Perhaps they dont have anxiety anymore than we did. They will survive. It is pressure and hard work to complete pieces of work, to study and complete exams. But with self discipline and routine and help.... humans are equipped to handle quite a bit of stress and the good news is that at the end of it all... you have your education, your training, your job, your wage and your freedom, your home and your friends and your own family. It is the circle of life and we are built to cope with it. Like any generation there are people who need counsel and perhaps medication. I believe somehow us adults have left the teens flapping in the breeze through removing ourselves from their lives. So they feel the stress and the worry of realising there is much to learn, much to do, feels on their shoulders alone. We somehow have left out the support and the reassurance and the praise and the security that we should be offering them.
It has been a mistake for my generation to say it is all too hard and that our children cant mentally or physically cope. My year in high school was the first year when your entire year 12 DIDNT depend on one final exam. Well that system was crazy.... a gradual build up of marks is sensible.... but in the thick of it, of changing the system why were the adults not clever enough to change the ruler over the knuckles but keep discipline and direction and pump in some care and love but hang on to control and keep order. Hold teenagers up as valuable and capable.... but hold them back as young adults who still needed support and direction.
The move by the federal government to take money from university study programs / scholarships / whatever and give it to the state primary schools provided the states come up with substantial funding too.... well it seems to be robbing Peter to pay Paul. Which I would say isnt unusual for this government. Let's reflect on them first getting into government, the Liberal government leaving a substantial surplus, and the new government thinking it was a nice idea to give families a couple of grand each to keep us out of trouble with the financial collapse in USA. As it turns out, and dont you wonder why they didnt know more about financial matters? as it turns out, we really didnt need to keep spending for our economy to grow. We keep growing, our interest rates are down. This year they hit single parents with a drop in support and a demand that they find employment. I would say most single parents just about go out of their brain with the lonely repetitive duties that is their life and that they are happy to find work. Trouble is... there isnt work there to have. There is casual, unreliable, impossible to find work. There are employment agencies who rule your life but who dont help you.
My son attends state primary school. Last year when the therapist who signed off on his being intellectually disabled changed her mind, the school representative said to me "she is a silly duffer". Note the quotation marks. After a certain amount, NO money is going to raise the standard of care and of education within our state schools. What is needed is individual teacher and headmaster education and a sense of responsibility. Teacher on going education and training, accountability and goal setting needs to be in place. Im certain responsible teachers would see measuring their performance as a matter of pride. For those who insist they dont want it..... one might ask ....why dont they want to stand accountable? arent they drawing a wage like all the rest of us? arent we all subject to reviews in the workplace?
I agree with our prime minister that education of our children is vital. I would argue, especially since manufacturing has moved from our shores over to China, Bangladesh and India..... that professional are vital to our future comfort and success. We need to fix our lower school system but putting our universities out of reach isnt the answer.
And while we are focusing on our universities..... as a final thought for today..... we might ask ourselves.... what kind of university system is allowing students to complete their Bachelor of Education while remaining substandard in the areas of english and mathematics. Especially english. Ive only studied a few units of a BA but I just cant imagine any of the lecturers passing me if I couldnt successfully complete a written english task. Why on earth would the current government need to put a testing / assessment body in place to test students who have a BA and wish to go into teaching? That has to be labelled as madness. Those universities passing students on any other standard other than quality work that meets the Australian standard required by education measures and employers have made themselves worthless.
Primary school seems to run along such a different line than secondary school. Is that because the secondary schools are so impersonal with so many students and so many classes? Even though our first thought concerning discipline is the ruler that we felt across our hands ..... should we get over ourselves and rethink discipline. Figure out how to keep discipline and direction in our high schools, getting through to our kids that they are moving closer and closer to taking on the entire responsibility of their lives.... and that they should see the value in what we have to offer.
I hear a lot of talk from the teens in and out my front door about depression and anxiety. I believe of course that these mental and physical stresses / illness do exist. But I do wonder if the teens themselves have misdiagnosed their feeling. Perhaps they dont have anxiety anymore than we did. They will survive. It is pressure and hard work to complete pieces of work, to study and complete exams. But with self discipline and routine and help.... humans are equipped to handle quite a bit of stress and the good news is that at the end of it all... you have your education, your training, your job, your wage and your freedom, your home and your friends and your own family. It is the circle of life and we are built to cope with it. Like any generation there are people who need counsel and perhaps medication. I believe somehow us adults have left the teens flapping in the breeze through removing ourselves from their lives. So they feel the stress and the worry of realising there is much to learn, much to do, feels on their shoulders alone. We somehow have left out the support and the reassurance and the praise and the security that we should be offering them.
It has been a mistake for my generation to say it is all too hard and that our children cant mentally or physically cope. My year in high school was the first year when your entire year 12 DIDNT depend on one final exam. Well that system was crazy.... a gradual build up of marks is sensible.... but in the thick of it, of changing the system why were the adults not clever enough to change the ruler over the knuckles but keep discipline and direction and pump in some care and love but hang on to control and keep order. Hold teenagers up as valuable and capable.... but hold them back as young adults who still needed support and direction.
The move by the federal government to take money from university study programs / scholarships / whatever and give it to the state primary schools provided the states come up with substantial funding too.... well it seems to be robbing Peter to pay Paul. Which I would say isnt unusual for this government. Let's reflect on them first getting into government, the Liberal government leaving a substantial surplus, and the new government thinking it was a nice idea to give families a couple of grand each to keep us out of trouble with the financial collapse in USA. As it turns out, and dont you wonder why they didnt know more about financial matters? as it turns out, we really didnt need to keep spending for our economy to grow. We keep growing, our interest rates are down. This year they hit single parents with a drop in support and a demand that they find employment. I would say most single parents just about go out of their brain with the lonely repetitive duties that is their life and that they are happy to find work. Trouble is... there isnt work there to have. There is casual, unreliable, impossible to find work. There are employment agencies who rule your life but who dont help you.
My son attends state primary school. Last year when the therapist who signed off on his being intellectually disabled changed her mind, the school representative said to me "she is a silly duffer". Note the quotation marks. After a certain amount, NO money is going to raise the standard of care and of education within our state schools. What is needed is individual teacher and headmaster education and a sense of responsibility. Teacher on going education and training, accountability and goal setting needs to be in place. Im certain responsible teachers would see measuring their performance as a matter of pride. For those who insist they dont want it..... one might ask ....why dont they want to stand accountable? arent they drawing a wage like all the rest of us? arent we all subject to reviews in the workplace?
I agree with our prime minister that education of our children is vital. I would argue, especially since manufacturing has moved from our shores over to China, Bangladesh and India..... that professional are vital to our future comfort and success. We need to fix our lower school system but putting our universities out of reach isnt the answer.
And while we are focusing on our universities..... as a final thought for today..... we might ask ourselves.... what kind of university system is allowing students to complete their Bachelor of Education while remaining substandard in the areas of english and mathematics. Especially english. Ive only studied a few units of a BA but I just cant imagine any of the lecturers passing me if I couldnt successfully complete a written english task. Why on earth would the current government need to put a testing / assessment body in place to test students who have a BA and wish to go into teaching? That has to be labelled as madness. Those universities passing students on any other standard other than quality work that meets the Australian standard required by education measures and employers have made themselves worthless.
15 April 2013
Red today
We need more microwave bowls so we can all have porridge in the morning! and these tulips just called out to me!
... it is raining and Sam was very happy to go to school. I think he has really missed his friends this holidays. Living with teens who just dont want to be nice or give him some positive attention wears him down Im sure. It wears me down.
I have some goals this week.
Finish the housework I began yesterday. It's looking really good and nearly ALL organised.
Make up a notice for the shopping center to get some more cleaning jobs. I really want to be home in the evenings and this working takeaway hours at tea time just isnt working for me.
Finally I want to open up the boxes and find the quilts that I need to finish. I want to open them up and touch them get reaquainted and begin finishing them.
Im working on gloves, a throw and a shawl. So there is plenty to do if I cant get out to the sewing room.
Well.... off I go.
I have some goals this week.
Finish the housework I began yesterday. It's looking really good and nearly ALL organised.
Make up a notice for the shopping center to get some more cleaning jobs. I really want to be home in the evenings and this working takeaway hours at tea time just isnt working for me.
Finally I want to open up the boxes and find the quilts that I need to finish. I want to open them up and touch them get reaquainted and begin finishing them.
Im working on gloves, a throw and a shawl. So there is plenty to do if I cant get out to the sewing room.
Well.... off I go.
11 April 2013
The breaking of the maternal ties part 1
It would probably be helpful right about now to locate and read a book on the psychology of teenagers. Being the adult who has looked after them and tried to teach them all the good things, give them all the good things, it is wonderful, but much more often it is gut wrenching to hear in quite rude terms that they arent too pleased with the job Ive done.
Im struggling NOT to let their waves of emotion to take over my days. My partner gave me a light bulb moment when he said "dont let them colour your entire day". There is such wisdom in that because I was letting their angst plunge me into self searching, self criticism. I could still spend a whole day walking around crying because they make me feel such a failure. But wait on. There has to be a more balanced and a more logical response to their tantrums. And that is what their outbursts are. No one is starved or disadvantaged or physically hurt.
At this point :)
So in a respectful and calm way Ive told them Im the adult, I make the rules. This is how it is always going to be. They must get an education and get a job and then they must get their own place and pay their own way. I waited a very long time (it seemed) to get to that place myself. And their way into "freedom" that they crave so badly will come once they get sorted. For me Ive a relationship and younger child and a small business to work on.
They dont seem to understand that at their age the way they behave and the words they say are potention guilt and consequences on their shoulders. I taught them the right way. They are too big for really much discipline at all now. All that work on my side, teaching manners and good behaviour and respect came before. They have to feel good about their choices and those choices are on their shoulders not mine.
We have always had the way of living... that today is a new day. No trouble comes in from the day before. New chances, forgiveness, peace of mind. I find it very sad that my oldest child sees this grace as weakness. I hope that is just for now while she is young.
26 March 2013
07 March 2013
Very tired of this heat but mowed a little bit of lawn and raked up bags and bags of old grass and old fruit from under the trees out in the back yard.
Im going off to work again hoping that the teens keep their temper and look after my Samuel. I have no problem working but it is hard to think that teenagers are looking after / not taking care of my boy. He is still young and is showing some signs of being left alone too much. I know many of us were left with people back when our own parents were working.... it's usual.... but it's still hard.
MRI all clear but now going for fasting blood tests and abdominal xrays. I just really dont want to know. If the MRI doesnt show anything sinister.... do I really need to know?
I need courage!!!
11 February 2013
Today is the very first day that Samuel is at school... and Im free to sort out my sewing haven in the back of the garage.
Im lucky that it is steel and has a very high roof line internally..... there arent too many spider webs and someone has generously left very nice and very comfy to walk on.... carpeting inside. My sewing table is in place.... but Ive got a fridge and a few boxes in my way. I want my desk and a cutting table and a sewing table AND my ironing board all just in the right place.... I havent sewn anything for weeks and I dont mind the hard work to rearrange the shed.... if it means I can get back to it.
Samuel is loving school.... and the weather is warm and the beach is calling. A lovely week ahead!.
Im so blessed. Everything is falling into place for us.
Im lucky that it is steel and has a very high roof line internally..... there arent too many spider webs and someone has generously left very nice and very comfy to walk on.... carpeting inside. My sewing table is in place.... but Ive got a fridge and a few boxes in my way. I want my desk and a cutting table and a sewing table AND my ironing board all just in the right place.... I havent sewn anything for weeks and I dont mind the hard work to rearrange the shed.... if it means I can get back to it.
Samuel is loving school.... and the weather is warm and the beach is calling. A lovely week ahead!.
Im so blessed. Everything is falling into place for us.
07 February 2013
I wonder what "it" is.... what a young person can have in his/her mind / makeup / life : one young person is highly motivated and another isnt. The theorists say we are brought up by the combo of nature and nurture. Sometimes if I wonder if nature will always win through regardless of the nurture. I really really wanted my children to be more self driven than this.
Finally all our stuff is here from the old house and it shouldnt take long to put it all away. The good thing is a beautiful shady tree out the back ... as well as a great big table. So sorting and packing or putting away is easy.
I am so looking forward to being able to sit and crochet / knit / read really soon. It has been quite a busy two months and I havent made anything at all. Im just not happy.
OMG the computer table is sticky..... I share my computer with my 7 year old LOL and everything is always sticky!!!
Peter is loving and kind and we are getting along great at the moment. It is really nice to have someone wake up in the morning and search out your hand so they can hold it.
Ive too much to do to make a "to do" list. Ha ha.... I might wait until next week.
One thing though.... it is Valentine's Day soon. I love it!
M.
Finally all our stuff is here from the old house and it shouldnt take long to put it all away. The good thing is a beautiful shady tree out the back ... as well as a great big table. So sorting and packing or putting away is easy.
I am so looking forward to being able to sit and crochet / knit / read really soon. It has been quite a busy two months and I havent made anything at all. Im just not happy.
OMG the computer table is sticky..... I share my computer with my 7 year old LOL and everything is always sticky!!!
Peter is loving and kind and we are getting along great at the moment. It is really nice to have someone wake up in the morning and search out your hand so they can hold it.
Ive too much to do to make a "to do" list. Ha ha.... I might wait until next week.
One thing though.... it is Valentine's Day soon. I love it!
M.
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