So, since I had written about how Joe's class meeting went, I thought I should write about Tom's as well. Tom's teacher is Mrs. O. She has been teaching for 13 years and was part of the original set of teachers to be hired for Tomaree when the school opened in 1998. She taught at Nelson Bay Primary for 1 year before coming here. She's been working only half time for the last 7 years while her two daughters were at home. Her youngest started kindy this year, so she is back full time.
Mrs. O is a very lovely nice lady and is very organized. No sitting up at the front desk for me this time either.
Honestly, there isn't much to tell. She seems like another great teacher and I'm happy to have her teaching Tom. I asked her after the meeting how Tom was doing. Here's her answer in a nutshell:
Tom's a really great kid to have in class. No behavior problems, though he gets a little emotional if someone upsets him. He's in the middle reading group and he tried hard. He needs some work on his handwriting, but almost all lefties do. She was also pleasantly surprised by his broad knowledge base. Tom can answer questions that are a bit left of center and can talk quite a bit about various things.
So that was Wednesday night. Thursday afternoon, Jay gave me a call and said that all the Baltimore people who are in town would like to go out to dinner. Could I find a babysitter? I got ahold of Aleeya and asked her, with a promise of paying her. So she watched my kids for two hours and fed them dinner. (She was alone with 6 kids for the first hour while making dinner. Her hubby showed up about 6:30, in time to eat dinner and then some after dinner play.)
It was a really tasty dinner. Jay and I split chargrilled octopus for our appetizer and then I had chicken stuffed with avocado and sweet potato for my main. It was yummy!
Poor Tom woke up vomitting this morning so we'll be staying home today. I was planning to be home and cleaning anyway, but I feel sorry for the poor kid.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
One of those kids
So most nights this week, there are class meetings at school. Each class is scheduled for a different night and it gives the parents a chance to go to school and meet the teachers and other parents in the class, etc, etc. I had Joe's class tonight and I have Tom's class tomorrow night.
First, since Joe is in Year 3 (YEAR 3!!!), we all met in one room to start. We got to hear all about what Stage 2 kids do (Stage 2 is the Year 3 and 4 kids). We also got to hear about the overnight camping trip that will be taking place in August (2 nights of "camping" at an educational fitness camp and NO parents allowed!). After about 25 minutes of listening, we split off to our own classes.
Joe's teacher is Mr. E. He is an older man who's been teaching for 37 years. He used to teach at another local school but was let go during firing cuts at the end of 2009. That school cut the oldest and the youngest, and he was one of the oldest. He took a year off, while trying to find work locally and was offered a job for this year. Mr. E is a very "old school" teacher and I think that Joe will benefit from being in his class.
We followed Mr. E down to his classroom and he asked us to sit at our children's desks. All the parents asked where their kid was. When it was my turn, I was highly embarrassed to find that the lone little table up next to the teacher's desk was Joe's. So there I sat, up at the very front and far away from all the other parents. I was mortified! How could I have a kid that had to sit by the teacher?!? I was the kid in school who always followed the rules, always did my work quickly and quietly and was very well behaved! So, for 30 minutes, I sat there, in a tiny chair with everyone knowing that my kid was THE problem kid. I stayed until everyone left and then asked Mr. E how Joe was doing in class. Here is his answer in a nutshell:
Joe is probably the top reader in the class and is, by far, the best at math. However, Joe won't do any work that involves writing, he argues constantly with other students and Mr. E, and day dreams often.
He is doing better at doing his work now that he has been separated from the other students, but is still no completing his work in a timely manner. Now, Mr. E has just got done saying that he's not the kind of teacher to flog his students, that he just wants them to try. And here is my kid, stuck away from everyone because of his problems.
Mr. E went on to say that Joe is very bright and I don't have to worry about his school work, but he has problems socially. Not a surprise, as we've been through most of this before. This was just the first time that a teacher has put him at the front by himself. There has always been someone "worse" that has had that seat.
We had the school counselor working with us towards the end of last year and she is "on the job" this year too. She's called me twice and talked about things to help Joe and his friend making. He's making friends, according to Mr. E, but he's then too much of a friend (if that makes any sense). Two days a week, he has the chance to participate in Happy Playgrounds. This group is just a group of kids, typically those who get picked on, to do an scheduled activity during recess. It gives them a purpose rather than wondering the grounds, trying to fit in. Joe has done this a couple of times, but the counselor says he's hesitant to join in.
I told Joe to invited a male friend, from his class, over to play Wii this week. He has set up a playdate with one, but every time I see his mom, she hasn't said anything (and I keep forgetting!). Hopefully, this child is actually coming and Joe doesn't become disappointed. Joe really wanted to invite a female friend from last year, but I said that he needed to work on making friends from this year's class. I told him that he could invite one of the girls next time. Tom will get to invite a friend next week, with the same rules as Joe. Sam will have the chance as well.
First, since Joe is in Year 3 (YEAR 3!!!), we all met in one room to start. We got to hear all about what Stage 2 kids do (Stage 2 is the Year 3 and 4 kids). We also got to hear about the overnight camping trip that will be taking place in August (2 nights of "camping" at an educational fitness camp and NO parents allowed!). After about 25 minutes of listening, we split off to our own classes.
Joe's teacher is Mr. E. He is an older man who's been teaching for 37 years. He used to teach at another local school but was let go during firing cuts at the end of 2009. That school cut the oldest and the youngest, and he was one of the oldest. He took a year off, while trying to find work locally and was offered a job for this year. Mr. E is a very "old school" teacher and I think that Joe will benefit from being in his class.
We followed Mr. E down to his classroom and he asked us to sit at our children's desks. All the parents asked where their kid was. When it was my turn, I was highly embarrassed to find that the lone little table up next to the teacher's desk was Joe's. So there I sat, up at the very front and far away from all the other parents. I was mortified! How could I have a kid that had to sit by the teacher?!? I was the kid in school who always followed the rules, always did my work quickly and quietly and was very well behaved! So, for 30 minutes, I sat there, in a tiny chair with everyone knowing that my kid was THE problem kid. I stayed until everyone left and then asked Mr. E how Joe was doing in class. Here is his answer in a nutshell:
Joe is probably the top reader in the class and is, by far, the best at math. However, Joe won't do any work that involves writing, he argues constantly with other students and Mr. E, and day dreams often.
He is doing better at doing his work now that he has been separated from the other students, but is still no completing his work in a timely manner. Now, Mr. E has just got done saying that he's not the kind of teacher to flog his students, that he just wants them to try. And here is my kid, stuck away from everyone because of his problems.
Mr. E went on to say that Joe is very bright and I don't have to worry about his school work, but he has problems socially. Not a surprise, as we've been through most of this before. This was just the first time that a teacher has put him at the front by himself. There has always been someone "worse" that has had that seat.
We had the school counselor working with us towards the end of last year and she is "on the job" this year too. She's called me twice and talked about things to help Joe and his friend making. He's making friends, according to Mr. E, but he's then too much of a friend (if that makes any sense). Two days a week, he has the chance to participate in Happy Playgrounds. This group is just a group of kids, typically those who get picked on, to do an scheduled activity during recess. It gives them a purpose rather than wondering the grounds, trying to fit in. Joe has done this a couple of times, but the counselor says he's hesitant to join in.
I told Joe to invited a male friend, from his class, over to play Wii this week. He has set up a playdate with one, but every time I see his mom, she hasn't said anything (and I keep forgetting!). Hopefully, this child is actually coming and Joe doesn't become disappointed. Joe really wanted to invite a female friend from last year, but I said that he needed to work on making friends from this year's class. I told him that he could invite one of the girls next time. Tom will get to invite a friend next week, with the same rules as Joe. Sam will have the chance as well.
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Rest of my life and gender roles
So, I've come to a point in my life where I need to decide what I am going to be doing. 14 years ago, or so, I kinda had a plan. I was in my senior year of high school and had an idea about where I wanted to go.
Then, I didn't like that first plan any more, so I made a new one. Nope, didn't like that one either. How about plan C? I stuck with plan C for a long while, until I engaged. Jay and I talked about having kids and how we'd have kids earlier rather than later. So now we have a new plan. Plan D.
Fast forward to now.
I am a point in my life where I need a new plan again. At this point, it is pretty much plan M or so.
I waited and waited for over 8 years to have my very own, regularly scheduled days off. I dreamed about all the fun things I could and the naps I could take. Now that the days are a reality, I'm bored!
In the States, I was a very busy gal, with lots going on. Part of moving to Australia was that I'd do less and be less stressed. Well, I have succeeded in that plan. Now I need to find something to do. I have been thinking about what to do for months and months now. I haven't really made any progress. Not from a lack of ideas though. I have been given plenty of ideas. None of them have struck my fancy though. I feel like I need to find something that I will really enjoy and want to do. There's no point in getting a job at the grocery store just to fill time, as I wouldn't really enjoy it.
I've looked into taking some classes, but the local community college doesn't offer much. Barista training, emailing for seniors, Brazilian Samba, termite proofing your home, fishing secrets, and food safety supervisor training are just some of the course offerings. The local college does offer a few courses that are a possible interest, but I will have to wait until next term as then one has already started. There is a digital photography course I might take, as well as a cake decorating class. I will pass on the How to Sell on Ebay and the Skyping for Seniors though.
Jay asked the boys one night at dinner what they thought I should do with my free time. Here are some of their answers:
Tom: Scrapbook.
Joe: Come to school with me.
Sam: Shop!
Joe: You could play my DSi or the Wii.
Tom: Babysit.
Sam: Go to the store.
These answers give me some pause. I have a bad feeling that my boys are getting the feeling that moms are only supposed to do certain jobs. These answers come a week or so after the boys made up a new game. The game is called Star Fighters. In the game, I am their Star Sister, who stays at home and does all the chores. I asked them why I had to stay at home. Their answer was "that's what girls do." Of course, it doesn't help that my kids only know stay-at-home moms or teachers. No wonder that's what they think women do.
Always in my mind, I bucked the gender roles. I never had any interest in doing the traditional "woman" things. I've gotten slotted right into that though. Sometimes, life just works out that way.
Then, I didn't like that first plan any more, so I made a new one. Nope, didn't like that one either. How about plan C? I stuck with plan C for a long while, until I engaged. Jay and I talked about having kids and how we'd have kids earlier rather than later. So now we have a new plan. Plan D.
Fast forward to now.
I am a point in my life where I need a new plan again. At this point, it is pretty much plan M or so.
I waited and waited for over 8 years to have my very own, regularly scheduled days off. I dreamed about all the fun things I could and the naps I could take. Now that the days are a reality, I'm bored!
In the States, I was a very busy gal, with lots going on. Part of moving to Australia was that I'd do less and be less stressed. Well, I have succeeded in that plan. Now I need to find something to do. I have been thinking about what to do for months and months now. I haven't really made any progress. Not from a lack of ideas though. I have been given plenty of ideas. None of them have struck my fancy though. I feel like I need to find something that I will really enjoy and want to do. There's no point in getting a job at the grocery store just to fill time, as I wouldn't really enjoy it.
I've looked into taking some classes, but the local community college doesn't offer much. Barista training, emailing for seniors, Brazilian Samba, termite proofing your home, fishing secrets, and food safety supervisor training are just some of the course offerings. The local college does offer a few courses that are a possible interest, but I will have to wait until next term as then one has already started. There is a digital photography course I might take, as well as a cake decorating class. I will pass on the How to Sell on Ebay and the Skyping for Seniors though.
Jay asked the boys one night at dinner what they thought I should do with my free time. Here are some of their answers:
Tom: Scrapbook.
Joe: Come to school with me.
Sam: Shop!
Joe: You could play my DSi or the Wii.
Tom: Babysit.
Sam: Go to the store.
These answers give me some pause. I have a bad feeling that my boys are getting the feeling that moms are only supposed to do certain jobs. These answers come a week or so after the boys made up a new game. The game is called Star Fighters. In the game, I am their Star Sister, who stays at home and does all the chores. I asked them why I had to stay at home. Their answer was "that's what girls do." Of course, it doesn't help that my kids only know stay-at-home moms or teachers. No wonder that's what they think women do.
Always in my mind, I bucked the gender roles. I never had any interest in doing the traditional "woman" things. I've gotten slotted right into that though. Sometimes, life just works out that way.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Random Ramblings
As I sit down to write this, I am listening to a large thunderstorm forming and moving our way. The sky is fairly split with half of it a beautiful blue and the other half, just as dark and foreboding as could be.
I thought I'd write about just some totally random things going on.
Valentine's Day- ask an Australian if they celebrate it and the answer is no. It is very much considered an American holiday. No parties or little cards at school and very little in the shops besides Easter products. However, come Valentine's Day, everyone I knew got a little or big something from their someone special. So, they do celebrate it, but don't want to admit it.
My someone special got me flowers, and I made him pie.
I also made moon-shaped ravioli. Pretty simple, though time consuming. Jay and the boys ate it up and asked for seconds. Joe and Tom both proclaimed it was the best meal EVER.
Since we returned from our holidays in the States, we've had a new friend.
This magpie likes to sit on the deck and beg for food. We eat outside a lot so he thinks we are feeding him. He sits and sings to me as well.
As you can see from the picture, it's raining here. We've been needing rain and we've pretty much had some rain every day this week. Some days it starts off raining and then clears to sunny and hot. Other days, like today, it starts off sunny and hot and should be ending in rain.
The boys all seem to be settled into school and doing fairly well. Joe and Tom have been signed up for soccer which starts at the end of April.
I am finding that three full days off a week is a bit on the boring side. Yes, yes, I know. How dare I say that I am bored!?! I don't really understand why I am bored. I've done something with friends at least one day each week, but I really need to figure out what I am doing with my life.
The kids have just come in to ask if they should be worried about tornadoes with the large storm coming. For the most part, no, but there is always a risk. Did you know that the entire country of Australia has about 16 tornadoes a year? The U.S. averages about 1,000 tornadoes a year.
I don't really have much more to say right now.
(I had to pause halfway through writing this in order to bring my washing in from the line. The storm has arrived.)
I thought I'd write about just some totally random things going on.
Valentine's Day- ask an Australian if they celebrate it and the answer is no. It is very much considered an American holiday. No parties or little cards at school and very little in the shops besides Easter products. However, come Valentine's Day, everyone I knew got a little or big something from their someone special. So, they do celebrate it, but don't want to admit it.
Since we returned from our holidays in the States, we've had a new friend.
As you can see from the picture, it's raining here. We've been needing rain and we've pretty much had some rain every day this week. Some days it starts off raining and then clears to sunny and hot. Other days, like today, it starts off sunny and hot and should be ending in rain.
The boys all seem to be settled into school and doing fairly well. Joe and Tom have been signed up for soccer which starts at the end of April.
I am finding that three full days off a week is a bit on the boring side. Yes, yes, I know. How dare I say that I am bored!?! I don't really understand why I am bored. I've done something with friends at least one day each week, but I really need to figure out what I am doing with my life.
The kids have just come in to ask if they should be worried about tornadoes with the large storm coming. For the most part, no, but there is always a risk. Did you know that the entire country of Australia has about 16 tornadoes a year? The U.S. averages about 1,000 tornadoes a year.
I don't really have much more to say right now.
(I had to pause halfway through writing this in order to bring my washing in from the line. The storm has arrived.)
Monday, February 14, 2011
Jenolan Caves
Friday after school, we drove about 7 hours (including a stop for dinner) to a place in the Blue Mountains called Jenolan Caves (pronounced Ja' nolan). We stayed two nights in a two bedroom cottage. The cottage was a bit dated and only had rain water so drinking water had to be boiled. There was eight cottages in the same place and a nice playground and some outdoor barbeques. As we were driving to the cottages late Friday night, we actually saw an echidna crossing the road. Echidnas are very rare and difficult to find. It was neat to actually see a wild one and one that was not sleeping. Typically in zoos, they are asleep.
We awoke Saturday morning to find more wildlife.
The kangaroos would hop a bit away if the kids ran through or made too much noise. However, if you were quiet and slow moving, then the roos didn't hardly move.
The kids really enjoyed the playground for the little bit that they got to play on it. It was raining Saturday afternoon and all day Sunday.
Anyway, after breakfast, we drove the last 8km to Jenolan Caves. You actually drive through a cave to get to the Jenolan Cave House.
This place is a hotel, restaurant, etc. The ticket office is near it as well. You drive past it just a bit for parking. It was built in 1898, after the original buildings were partially destroyed by fire. The caves have been a popular tourist destination since the 1860's. Original tours were done by candle light. Electric lights were finally installed in 1887. In some of the caves, you can see where early tourists wrote their names in candle smoke on the cave walls or ceilings.
Our first tour of the day was to the Orient Cave. It is an awesome cave, filled with fancy formations.
Pictures may be worth a thousand words, but these pictures are nothing compared to the real thing!
After the Orient, we did the self guided tour of the Devil's Coach House and the Nettles Cave. Each of us had a little handset to listen on. The kids got to listen to a special kids version while we had the grown up tour. It was a very enjoyable tour and the kids asked to do it again and again.
After the self tour, it started to rain. We had to eat our picnic lunch in the car and then had to kill a little time before our next tour. We drove out to Kanangra Wall, but it was too rainy and foggy to see anything. We drove back in the pouring rain and had to park and walk through the pouring rain to our next tour. We were all a little wet as the umbrellas didn't keep us dry. Poor Jay had no umbrella so he was completely soaked and quite a bit cold on the next tour.
The Lucas Cave has some very vast chambers. They even hold concerts in one of the chambers!
This is my favorite picture from the Lucas Cave. Unfortunately, we were in a large group and I was near the back. The guide was trying to move us through quickly and was dimming lights by the time I would try to take pictures of stuff. The Lucas Cave is the most popular and most visited cave in the park.
Rain made us change our Sunday plans so we went back to the Caves and booked the Imperial Diamond tour.
This is the River Styx.
This is the Gem of the West.
We had a great time and can't wait to go back and visit some more caves.
I posted many more pictures on Facebook if you are interested in seeing more pictures.
We awoke Saturday morning to find more wildlife.
The kids really enjoyed the playground for the little bit that they got to play on it. It was raining Saturday afternoon and all day Sunday.
Anyway, after breakfast, we drove the last 8km to Jenolan Caves. You actually drive through a cave to get to the Jenolan Cave House.
Our first tour of the day was to the Orient Cave. It is an awesome cave, filled with fancy formations.
After the Orient, we did the self guided tour of the Devil's Coach House and the Nettles Cave. Each of us had a little handset to listen on. The kids got to listen to a special kids version while we had the grown up tour. It was a very enjoyable tour and the kids asked to do it again and again.
After the self tour, it started to rain. We had to eat our picnic lunch in the car and then had to kill a little time before our next tour. We drove out to Kanangra Wall, but it was too rainy and foggy to see anything. We drove back in the pouring rain and had to park and walk through the pouring rain to our next tour. We were all a little wet as the umbrellas didn't keep us dry. Poor Jay had no umbrella so he was completely soaked and quite a bit cold on the next tour.
The Lucas Cave has some very vast chambers. They even hold concerts in one of the chambers!
Rain made us change our Sunday plans so we went back to the Caves and booked the Imperial Diamond tour.
We had a great time and can't wait to go back and visit some more caves.
I posted many more pictures on Facebook if you are interested in seeing more pictures.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Barrington Tops, revisited
This area really made me feel like I was in the Dakotas at the edges of the Badlands. It is amazing the diversity of landscape that there is in just the small part of Australia that we've visited.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
School and such
I have to pack lunches and snacks for all three boys. It creates quite an assembly line of boxes on the three days a week that we need all lunches packed.
In other news, it's hot...damn hot. The eastern part of Australia is experiencing a very prolonged heat wave. While late January through late February is the hottest time of the year, it's not typically quite so hot nor so hot without any cooler days mixed in. The heat arrived on the 24th of January and hasn't let up yet. Tuesday was the worst with a high temp of 42.2. That's 108 degrees!!!! Today is slightly cooler and is hovering around 97. It's too hot to be outside and it's too hot to go to the beach or do anything. Of course, it's too hot to be inside since we have no air conditioner. We are managing, but just barely.
We may get a storm or two through in the next day or so, but the temps should break for a bit and be down in the high 70's next week.
Northern Queensland is also bracing for a category 5 cyclone. Scary stuff. We are nowhere close, and we don't know anyone up there. The state of Queensland has been through a lot lately as large parts of it had been flooded. The storm surge is expected to be over 8 feet high. Crazy stuff.
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