The best one I had this week:
On Friday, I heard footsteps across the grass, and up the driveway to our front door. Even though Dad was closer to the front door, I hopped up from the computer to investigate.
It was NDN (Next-Door-Neighbour – Remember the 75-year-old-bloke who caught me tiptoeing barefoot and unshowered across his lawn to return his mail?) Actually, Dad didn’t even hear the footsteps across the grass and up the path and was extremely surprised at my anticipation of the door knock.
After we’ve exchanged greetings, NDN said, “Sorry to bother you! How much do you know about computers?”
I’ve replied with, “A fair bit. Why?” (Always curious)
NDN mumbled a whole bunch of stuff, that to be quite honest I didn’t quite get but there was something about an hourglass that has been sitting on his screen, and won’t go away OR let him do anything else.
I agreed to take a look – but only AFTER I’ve put my shoes on.
After explaining to Dad where I was going, why, and to rescue me if it took more than an hour, I walked next door. I left my shoes at the front door and NDN's shown me his computer. I noticed that almost half his computer icons are in Chinese! No wonder he has a problem! But how the bloody hell am I supposed to work with that?
I had a look and it appeared that his web browser had frozen. That’s when it occurred to me that he might actually have been downloading something I didn’t really want to know about.
I ended up shutting down his browser – very entertaining when the messages pop up in Chinese and NDN insisted on talking about other stuff. I felt like I was being rude by moving through the whole process but I did manage to reopen his browser to almost the page he was on last… He was actually researching ‘Properties’, not anything naughty. Thank goodness!
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The whole experience was not as funny as the time that other bloke turned up at our front door with his girlfriend close behind. We were actually on our way out, so I was already at the door. Not that I’m paranoid, actually I can be so don’t tell anyone, but I also keep the fly screen door locked at all times. He walked purposefully up to our doorway and tried to open it! When it didn’t oblige, he looked up and saw me standing there, watching him.
He said, accusingly, “Your door’s locked.”
All I could say was, “Yes, I know.”
Then he’s responded with, “You’re not Lisa!”
I replied with, “Yes, I know!”
Turned out he was at the wrong house – he needed to be at the next one over! As his girlfriend said, “How embarrassment!”
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Back to NDN: I forgot to mention his partner and her daughter are Chinese BUT he still caught me unshowered. At least, this time I had my shoes on - from my home to his and then back again…
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ANZAC Day – We have candles burning to honour the people who have fought, and continue to fight, for and on our behalf. We’ve also played the song, “We are Australian” twice . (Foal’s request) I've also had to show my citizenship certificate. We all agree that one still looks better than my degree…
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Saturday, 25 April 2009
Thursday, 9 April 2009
Parent-Teacher Interviews 2009 (Part 3/3)
Pup bought home his first term report from high school. To be honest, I did expect some surprises but not the ones I actually received. Pup was actually equally surprised and initially didn’t want to show me his ‘interim’ report card. His (and mine) main issue was the behaviour bit. I do not have rose-coloured glasses or blinkers on when it comes to my kids. He stands up for himself, but he is respectful and quiet and shy. He does not cause a problem anywhere – except maybe for home! But if he can’t do that here, then where can he? Personally, I’d prefer they tried it all the bad behaviour at home first – but maybe that’s just me… Anyway,
Two teachers requested interviews, so as you do, I decided to meet ALL of them. Actually, I didn’t want any of them to feel left out but I also wanted to make sure that they all knew exactly about which child they were talking about…
Of course, it rained massively on the afternoon of the scheduled interviews,
So of course, I was running late. And so of course, there was no parking, and I had to park in the muddy bit but we did turn up!
I made Pup come with me. It may be cruel but I think that if his teachers have something to say about him, then he should be there to hear it first hand.
Pup’s SOSE teacher really laid into him. I mean that in a good way because she basically tried to explain that he is not in primary school anymore. And “No! His assignment was not up to scratch, here’s a sample of what I want. Try again. You have tonight. Hand it in tomorrow.” (After that, she added that he is well behaved and a pleasure to teach)
Pup’s Science teacher seemed to really take a genuine interest in him and kept telling him to stay on track and not follow the crowd later in their school career.
Pup’s English teacher was a classic! Absolutely totally off the planet! I mean no disrespect to him but he was seriously cuckoo! He called us over and then greeted Pup by another name. We corrected him and he apologized. Then, the Teacher pulled out a sample of work to show me how well Pup was doing. He got a ‘B’. Then we got to point out to him that it was NOT Pup’s work. He’s replied with, “No! Of course not! Here’s Pup’s! Oh look! He’s also got a ‘B!” (In my opinion he had absolutely no idea who HE was, never mind who anyone else was)
And almost finally, we reached the first of the ‘required parent interviews’.
She tried to explain to me Pup’s ‘animation’ and how it was Oh! So! Wrong!
Pup said, “That wasn’t mine.”
She said, “I’ve saved it on my laptop so I can show you. But it’s still charging…”
I’ve replied, “Off you go. We’ll wait.”
She had a major problem showing me Pup’s work on her laptop – something about it not saving properly… By now, I’m thinking SHE didn’t save it properly? (Feel free to insert your own swear words)
Needless to say, she ended up very confused and tried to cover it up with “technical talk”. You know, the bits I shouldn’t understand because, obviously, another female could not possibly understand those details… But there again, I gave her enough clues that showed that I knew what she was talking about and she still didn’t pick them up.
She was still unsuccessful and will hopefully check Pup’s stuff out – That’s all we ask. That's all the polite bits I have to say about her for now....
The final ‘required parent interviews’ had a queue a mile long. So much for making appointments –that one at 17h00! After looking at the other parents still waiting, I ended up calling it quits at 17H25 and made an appointment to talk to him via phone. ) Don’t forget we had to finish the SOSE homework properly.)
As I write this, I am still waiting for Mr P (Maths) to call…
Two teachers requested interviews, so as you do, I decided to meet ALL of them. Actually, I didn’t want any of them to feel left out but I also wanted to make sure that they all knew exactly about which child they were talking about…
Of course, it rained massively on the afternoon of the scheduled interviews,
So of course, I was running late. And so of course, there was no parking, and I had to park in the muddy bit but we did turn up!
I made Pup come with me. It may be cruel but I think that if his teachers have something to say about him, then he should be there to hear it first hand.
Pup’s SOSE teacher really laid into him. I mean that in a good way because she basically tried to explain that he is not in primary school anymore. And “No! His assignment was not up to scratch, here’s a sample of what I want. Try again. You have tonight. Hand it in tomorrow.” (After that, she added that he is well behaved and a pleasure to teach)
Pup’s Science teacher seemed to really take a genuine interest in him and kept telling him to stay on track and not follow the crowd later in their school career.
Pup’s English teacher was a classic! Absolutely totally off the planet! I mean no disrespect to him but he was seriously cuckoo! He called us over and then greeted Pup by another name. We corrected him and he apologized. Then, the Teacher pulled out a sample of work to show me how well Pup was doing. He got a ‘B’. Then we got to point out to him that it was NOT Pup’s work. He’s replied with, “No! Of course not! Here’s Pup’s! Oh look! He’s also got a ‘B!” (In my opinion he had absolutely no idea who HE was, never mind who anyone else was)
And almost finally, we reached the first of the ‘required parent interviews’.
She tried to explain to me Pup’s ‘animation’ and how it was Oh! So! Wrong!
Pup said, “That wasn’t mine.”
She said, “I’ve saved it on my laptop so I can show you. But it’s still charging…”
I’ve replied, “Off you go. We’ll wait.”
She had a major problem showing me Pup’s work on her laptop – something about it not saving properly… By now, I’m thinking SHE didn’t save it properly? (Feel free to insert your own swear words)
Needless to say, she ended up very confused and tried to cover it up with “technical talk”. You know, the bits I shouldn’t understand because, obviously, another female could not possibly understand those details… But there again, I gave her enough clues that showed that I knew what she was talking about and she still didn’t pick them up.
She was still unsuccessful and will hopefully check Pup’s stuff out – That’s all we ask. That's all the polite bits I have to say about her for now....
The final ‘required parent interviews’ had a queue a mile long. So much for making appointments –that one at 17h00! After looking at the other parents still waiting, I ended up calling it quits at 17H25 and made an appointment to talk to him via phone. ) Don’t forget we had to finish the SOSE homework properly.)
As I write this, I am still waiting for Mr P (Maths) to call…
Saturday, 4 April 2009
Parent-Teacher Interviews 2009 (Part 2/3)
I am still waiting for the Parent-Teacher request for Cub. I’m not actually holding my breath on this invite because she taught him last year too and I’m still waiting for that one. However, I have concluded that his teacher does NOT want to meet a parent of every student she teaches.
I base this whole theory on that time I bailed her up in the classroom. It was about a project in the 4th term – only to find out that Cub knew about it 6 weeks earlier and ‘forgot’ to tell me until the night before. I had to apologise profusely and get a reprieve for him.
And then, there was the occasion, when she kindly informed me that I could go and get Cub from the classroom because, “They were just playing games”. Actually that was the last day of the 4th term (just before the Christmas holidays) so for that she is forgiven.
Currently, she allows him to leave the classroom 5 minutes before the bell, because, according to Pup, “She probably knows I’m there”. That’s all good and well, but what if I’m not?
Other than that, she does not like to make eye contact with adults. Not that I blame her – but I do know how to behave in public.
I think she may have decided to pacify me by nominating him for the Principal’s Award. But because this is not about me, she might have actually done something decent by finally acknowledging his existence in her classroom.
Regardless of her reasoning, I am extremely proud of Cub and his certificate. It was even laminated and is currently the main focus on our fridge.
I base this whole theory on that time I bailed her up in the classroom. It was about a project in the 4th term – only to find out that Cub knew about it 6 weeks earlier and ‘forgot’ to tell me until the night before. I had to apologise profusely and get a reprieve for him.
And then, there was the occasion, when she kindly informed me that I could go and get Cub from the classroom because, “They were just playing games”. Actually that was the last day of the 4th term (just before the Christmas holidays) so for that she is forgiven.
Currently, she allows him to leave the classroom 5 minutes before the bell, because, according to Pup, “She probably knows I’m there”. That’s all good and well, but what if I’m not?
Other than that, she does not like to make eye contact with adults. Not that I blame her – but I do know how to behave in public.
I think she may have decided to pacify me by nominating him for the Principal’s Award. But because this is not about me, she might have actually done something decent by finally acknowledging his existence in her classroom.
Regardless of her reasoning, I am extremely proud of Cub and his certificate. It was even laminated and is currently the main focus on our fridge.
Thursday, 2 April 2009
Parent-Teacher Interviews 2009 (Part 1/3)
I was cordially invited to Foal’s Year 1 'Parent-Teacher thing' on Tuesday and because I am a good, caring mum I decided to accept. Actually, I accept every single term that I am invited. But that’s beside the point.
I was full of doubts though, especially with Foal. He’s normally a well-behaved student at school, but then again, aren’t they all? It’s only at home they show their monster side!
Last Thursday night, I wanted to pack my bags and leave home. It started at 6:30 in the morning, with “The 3” acting like feral children. It’s happened to us a few times along the Parenthood Path, so you’d think I’d know better by now. But I honestly thought they had outgrown that phase. Thursday ended with “The 3” in bed by 7:30 pm and me still not liking them.
Needless to say, I am still here. One day they will leave home.
Back to Foal’s P/T thing. My doubts were more of how I should behave.
Should I try, desperately, to keep a straight face whilst his (clearly misguided) teacher blatantly lies to my face about the perfect child we have produced? Or should I just laugh insanely until the school finally calls the people who have the power over straight jackets and padded rooms?
I have to admit that I would love the second option – but that would only help me for a few hours. And so, I chose to do the first.
It turns out that he’s always well behaved, obedient, helpful and, believe it or not, actually quite clever. When I asked her if she was sure we were talking about my Foal, she did look at me funny. My thinking was: maybe there is more than one in the class? The answer to that is (sadly for me) no. In fact he's the only one with that name but now his teacher thinks I don’t know my child.
I was full of doubts though, especially with Foal. He’s normally a well-behaved student at school, but then again, aren’t they all? It’s only at home they show their monster side!
Last Thursday night, I wanted to pack my bags and leave home. It started at 6:30 in the morning, with “The 3” acting like feral children. It’s happened to us a few times along the Parenthood Path, so you’d think I’d know better by now. But I honestly thought they had outgrown that phase. Thursday ended with “The 3” in bed by 7:30 pm and me still not liking them.
Needless to say, I am still here. One day they will leave home.
Back to Foal’s P/T thing. My doubts were more of how I should behave.
Should I try, desperately, to keep a straight face whilst his (clearly misguided) teacher blatantly lies to my face about the perfect child we have produced? Or should I just laugh insanely until the school finally calls the people who have the power over straight jackets and padded rooms?
I have to admit that I would love the second option – but that would only help me for a few hours. And so, I chose to do the first.
It turns out that he’s always well behaved, obedient, helpful and, believe it or not, actually quite clever. When I asked her if she was sure we were talking about my Foal, she did look at me funny. My thinking was: maybe there is more than one in the class? The answer to that is (sadly for me) no. In fact he's the only one with that name but now his teacher thinks I don’t know my child.
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