Lynne ydw i

Yearly Archives: 2010

Giving thanks

This year I’m giving thanks to all the friends I’ve met through the years.

Friendships, like everything else in life, change and  mature with age. My old school friend and I have gone years without meeting or talking because she still lives in the UK, but when we have had a chance to get back together, it’s been a comfortable reunion. It’s been easy to to converse, catch up with news and reminisce about old stuff.

When I first came to the States I found a whole new bunch of friends, funnily enough, most of them were from the UK. some stayed, some went back home, but again, we’ve stayed in touch.

Julie and I both stayed, we got married and had children. When our kids were young we were always together. If we weren’t out with other parents creating havoc, we were on the phone chatting about why we weren’t out creating havoc.

Then the kids reached school age, and we went back to work. Phone calls started to dwindle, and meeting up was even less frequent, partly because we lived on different sides of the Island. But we’re still friends, even if that friendship only extends to a text message or phone call  once in a while with a “‘hey, was thinking about you today, what’s going on, we need to have coffee”.

LOL the intention is there, but honestly, I don’t remember the last time we had coffee.  We no longer need that support from each other, we no longer need to talk everyday, I don’t require her time, she doesn’t require mine, but our friendship is never in question, it just is, it’s comfortable. It’s the way I like it.

What we had with each other, we now get from different avenues. Husband, partner, kids, job – life is busy,   we don’t need or want back the relationship we used to have.

Mary is my backbone, she’s like my mom, always steering me in the right direction, always putting me on the straight and narrow. She was there when my mom passed away and was my wall to lean on when my dad left so suddenly.

To my internet friends, who were so kind and supportive when my mom  was so sick, and who,  through their own blogs made me laugh and kept me entertained.

I am grateful to all the friends I’ve had through the years, for their patients, understanding and their uncanny ability to know when to give me a hug and when to back up and leave me alone. Hugs and kisses to you all

Happy thanksgiving

Why are scores higher?

Did you know that on a state math test 10 + 5 can be 2, 5 or 15 – really, I kid you not! It’s all about method, show you know the method and it doesn’t matter if you’ve missed the fact the question clearly states “find the sum”. If a kid subtracts or divides the numbers correctly, they get full marks.

Why put mathematical signs in there at all, let the kid choose.

Our future is doomed.

You’re Special? Really…

I’m not liking the way parents get blamed for the ‘I’m special’ attitude their kids have developed. My kids get a pat on the back when they’ve done something worth the pat. When I tell them they can do, or be anything they want, the conversation stresses ‘but you have to work your ass off, nothing is handed to you on a silver platter’.

Both my children are under the sole influence of others (it’s called school) 7hr/day who follow a ‘script’ put forth by idiots in charge who dictate what they should learn, how they should learn it and how long it should take for them to know it. So many times I hear the words ‘but my teacher/friends/news said…”. It’s a constant battle to instill my belief system in their minds as I’m competing with so many others.

A simple thing as Math. – I know easier ways to do things than what my son is being taught, I can come up with the answer, but can’t show him because he has to do it a certain way on tests (learn the ‘correct method’) or it’s deemed incorrect. Apparently it’s not the answer they look for, but how you got there.

He’s taught ‘approximation’ – I’m told it’s a real life lesson. When he goes to the store and hands over his money he’ll know approximately how much change he should get back  Ya know what…. when I was in school I was taught exactly how much money I should get back in change, because I was taught that $1.00 – 86c was 14c not approx 10c.

Friggin urks me when parents get the entire blame for the nitwits their children become. We can only show them the right path to take – unfortunately outside forces are sometimes pointing in other directions and we can’t be there all the time.

Cheerful mood obliterated

15 minutes – that’s all it took for my kids to piss me off this morning!

C – lets see, got a box of 64 crayons over the weekend. Now let me just say he’s probably gone through the entire stock of toys r us when it comes to crayons and pencils since September. I send him to school with an 8 box every month, never to be seen again. The 64 crayons comes in a box split up into 4 boxes of 12. He was allowed to take ONE small box. He argued and played up and cried and omg think ‘Damian’!!! He’s still upstairs shouting down at me trying to justify why he needs to take 64 – the latest “but I won’t be able to draw you a magnificent picture if I don’t have them all”

BAH!!!!

M – Has raffle tickets to sell ever so often. I noticed two books in his bag about a fortnight ago and asked him if he wanted me to take a book to school and sell. No said he, they’re not giving us a dress down day so I’m not selling them. WHATEVER! This morning he comes down without his uniform on – apparently the school was now giving a dress down for each book he sold and he was paying $40 out of his own money. He earns minimum wage – financially not a good investment paying $40 to wear your own clothes. I ripped the books in half.

Friggin kids – do they not know not to piss me off in the morning?