Those poor dogs, chosen to model those garments.
Category Archives: Defies description
School rules gone mad
I’m in favour of children learning to behave well in all aspects of their lives – it’s an ongoing process and it takes a long, long time.
Nevertheless, I think that a policy to make an entire primary school class go to the toilet when only one wants to go is completely nuts.
One parent said she only became aware of the trial when her daughter wet herself at home and told her she had held on because: “I didn’t want the whole class to have to come with me to the toilet. [...]
[The principal] said the “whole class” method of toilet break supervision was “used successfully by some other schools” and was being tested by some classes.
For child psychologists’ take on this nutty policy, see this:
http://www.3aw.com.au/blogs/breaking-news-blog/terrible-toilet-tactics-backfire/20110812-1iphs.html
I can’t imagine an adult’s union putting up with this. I don’t remember having to put up with this as a primary or secondary school student. Amazingly, we were expected to to go to the toilet during breaktime, and if there was a need during class, we had to put up our hand and wait for the teacher’s permission. Not hard. A 5-y-o can do this very well.
Thank goodness the policy seems to have stopped and now replaced by a policy where the students go to the toilets in threes.
Decorating a car – kids show how it’s done
see more That Will Buff Out
Aaaaaand that is why I don’t let DD put magnets on the car. Our car would be covered with fairies, pink ponies, 10 magnets from the plumber, and 6 from the metal recycling service. None of which would do anything for my reputation. 
How did you find me?
Yes, this is a good blog for keeping in touch with friends.
All the same, it is quite interesting finding out what search terms led people to my blog. Let me share some recent ones:
- sock wars 2011
- bad things kid do
- meowmie is watching me o n o
- sock wash
- sydney morning herald danielle sparks
- bragging about cat in christmas letter
I didn’t realise I was so obsessed with socks (surely a phrase to pop up in a search engine) or that my panic about missing school socks had affected my marbles.
Bad things kid do – oh come on, at least get verbs and nouns agreeing, please. At least I wasn’t found by bad motherhood.
I think #6 is hysterical. I am really tempted to do a Christmas letter for 2011 now, including bragging about the cat and my daughter, both of which are cute, funny, attractive and completely irrational at times.
ETA: It’s true. I have a sock obsession. I socked DD’s white socks in nappy cleaner and scrubbed them and they are now hanging on the line in semi-pristine wonder. At least they’re hanging in pairs so I don’t have to search for their mates.
“7 Mummy Sins”, but not apparently the ones done by Daddy or Aunty or Uncle …
Seriously, the title of this article stinks. On the surface, it looks like one of those tee-hee, look at me, I do some daft things as a mummy and maybe some of them are ill-advised, so hey, let’s get some so-called experts give their take on it, and voila, here is an article with a snappy headline. And blow me down if I didn’t get caught in the trap of reading the darn thing.
Let me save you time. Basically you aren’t a bad mum if you feed your kid the occasional dinner of baked beans instead of a gourmet meal of pureed organic vegies and a teeny bit of steak from a named cow, or if your kid goes through a phase of only eating one or two things. Things are getting questionable if you use tv all the time to babysit your kids, or if they’re drinking from a baby bottle when they’re old enough to go to preschool. It’s inadvisable to give kids sweets every day – keep them as a “sometime” treat.
WHY is it necessary to make the mother the sinner, the evil one who has to cut corners to get things done, who does things sloppily or holds onto old habits because she doesn’t have time to work on new habits or behaviours? How about coming up with “7 Daddy Sins”? Let me start the list, thinking of some men I have known in the past.
“I leave my kid watching TV all afternoon while I sneak off to my study to play wargames.”
“I take my kid to fastfood restaurants because I couldn’t be stuffed cooking a proper meal for myself and my kid, and besides, I don’t really like vegies and I love hamburgers.”
“I do everything to get out of looking after my kid and I call it babysitting when I do look after him.”
Go on, make your own list!
I confess
My list of minor mea culpas.
1. I can’t stand Bob Dylan or Neil Young, even if most of my friends think they’re the cat’s pyjamas.
2. I blame other people for messes sometimes. Makes me look slightly less disgusting.
3. I have blamed my DD for creating marks on my work shirts. The truth is, I am too lazy to change a shirt just because there’s a mark on it. Heck, it may even be toothpaste from clumsy me.
4. I don’t read enough. I slob around and watch TV because that takes less effort. My years of university study must have worn me out.
5. I procrastinate. That’s why it took me so long to write this list.
6. I find my OCD too hard to deal with sometimes, but other times I sort of like it because it validates me being different.
7. I forgot to RSVP to DD’s friend’s birthday party until today. Party is on Saturday. I suck.
8. Sometimes I don’t take a stand when I should. Like telling people to stop being mean or homophobic, or that their words are like arrows rather than amusing bons mots. I’m getting a bit better with this but I still quake in my shoes while I’m telling people.
8.a. Actually, it was worth growing a spine and standing up for things more often.
9. I left my previous church because I couldn’t stand the music. It was appalling and I hate choruses anyway. I didn’t have the guts to tell the minister that that was the principal reason for leaving.
10. I’ve fallen asleep during intercessory prayers at church. That’s why I don’t kneel for prayers. Well, that, and the fact that my knees and back are getting worse.
11. I compare myself to other mothers and sometimes I fall short, and other times I am smug and think “Thank goodness I’m not like her”. I’m particularly ashamed about that.
C’mon, get happy!
I thought I’d have a go at the Spin assignment and this week it’s Happiness.
A little part of me wishes it were as simple as the Patridge Family make it seem. A whole lotta lovin’? You gotta be kiddin’! Tho I had a little crush on one of the boys.
Just to continue the irritation:
OK, now I’ve got that out of my system, here’s a philosophy on happiness.
You don’t get to be happy all the time. There are no guarantees. Happiness sneaks up like a cat on soft paws and jumps in your lap with an unexpected weight (and joy!). It is in the small moments. Sometimes it’s in a surprise. Sometimes it’s in the big moments, though meeting those big events with an expectation of happiness to be there can end up in a big let-down.
You can’t rely on another person to be the source of your happiness. You can create happy moments for yourself and also hope that you will give some happy moments for others.
Happiness is not the be-all and end-all of existence, but it sure beats a lot of other things. As a depressive, I learnt to appreciate and love the sweet moments of grace through unexpected happiness – shafts of sunlight in a grey life. These graces kept me going in hard times.
What do you say?
I haven’t written for a while because I don’t know what to say. The bushfires and raging flames have dried up my well of words, even from a distance of hundreds of kilometres. Maybe I’m still nervy about fires after the ones here. News here. I can’t even read these articles anymore without bursting into tears.
If you would like to help somehow, the Australian Red Cross has a bushfire appeal running.
God bless the wonderful men and women who have worked to fight fires, give medical help, guide and direct people, aircraft and vehicles, feed the hungry, give shelter to those with none, listen to those who need love, and all generous people who help in any way they can.
