As usual my disorganised approach to life has come back to bite me in the bum. HUGE day yesterday with a 7.45am meeting with the Principal of the High School where Princess Child will be going next year. The child is a little anxious about the idea of going to high school so I reassure her with the usual platitudes of how great it will be to meet … [Read more...]
A Letter to My Daughters About NAPLAN
Dear Girls, The Government decided that all students would be tested in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 to monitor their levels of literacy and numeracy. In theory it seems a good idea. Parents get a sense of where their child sits in relation to other kids, schools can identify problems and so on. In practice, teachers teach to the test. Endless hours of … [Read more...]
Growing Up Country
I grew up in a country town surrounded by blue-grey hills where houses sat on wide streets and had big backyards. In a time before the internet, digital TV, Skype and mobile phones when living in the country meant existing in an insulated time warp. We had: Two TV channels. The ABC and the local one which played programs years behind the Sydney … [Read more...]
No sick leave for Mums
I've opted out of my real world job today. Given in to whatever this bug is I've managed to acquire. Made a phone call. Sympathetic colleague told me to take care. Tomorrow I'll return, fill out a sick leave form, and our super efficient administrator will pay me as normal while calculating my leave hours. People will politely enquire if I'm … [Read more...]
Confessions of a Soccer Mum
The soccer season has begun again. Yet another year of trudging through muddy fields, to huddle on the sidelines whipping ourselves into a frenzy over the on-field antics of our wannabe soccer stars. Mr Shambles was adamant our children had to play a team sport. Working together to meet a goal, playing to the strengths of each team member, … [Read more...]
The Story of Shambles Manor (an exercise in owner-building)
Be careful what you wish for it might just happen! For as long as I can remember I haven't been able to drive past a display village without popping in, wandering through the delightfully styled rooms, marvelling at the space, loving the design. When we moved to Port Macquarie I searched high and low but couldn't find a house I liked, so I … [Read more...]
Work or Stay at Home An Old and Ugly Debate
The age-old debate of whether to work or stay at home has reared its ugly head again thanks to American politics. Hilary Rosen, a Democratic strategist, commented that Anne Romney, wife of a GOP presidential candidate, Mitt Romney, was not in a position to give her husband economic advice on the plight of women because she had "never worked a day … [Read more...]
Rainy Day Blues
The morning began by bailing water out of the car. It appears my car leaks. Rather substantially leaks. To the point I was heading towards cover-your-feet level flooding in the driver's side. I'm on holidays. Therefore we are now experiencing torrential rain. The two go together like strawberries and cream - Janine takes holidays, the heavens … [Read more...]
Family
"I don't know what a family is, how to define it, other than as a collection of people who bind themselves together and get weirder and weirder until no one understands them." Eddie Perfect, Comedian and Actor Family. A conglomerate of individuals melded together. Some with blood ties others conscripted in through marriage. A family is an odd thing … [Read more...]
Sunday
Sigh, this is why I couldn't enter the Lifestyle category in the Sydney Writer's Centre Best Australian Blogs Competition. I try to do a nice photo of my Sunday lunch and manage to capture daughter's PJ's hanging on the clothesline in the background. Before I started blogging I used to be jealous of the beautiful blogs with the lovely houses and … [Read more...]
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