Starting to feel in control!

For the first time in a long time, I actually feel as if Im getting things under control. I usually live in a total chaotic state. I constantly chase my tail...always behind in everything I do. I try like crazy to control, like a control freak does, but things always change so fast in this place.
This last week I have been renovating the kids' bathroom. Washing walls, windows, blinds, stripping back the mouldy sealant which was poorly done by our predecessors and made the bath and shower look gross, regrouting some bits, washing the lightfittings and fans. I also installed a dispenser for shampoo and conditioner on the wall. Shampoo and conditioner is a problem in this house as Stef loves putting it in her bath. Over the years I reckon she has wasted a thousand dollars of shampoo at least. Now how to figure out how to keep her from eating the kids' toothpaste...hmmm. Anyway, the bathroom is looking great now!~ just got a little more sealant to replace and a little regrouting and replace the tap washers and its finished. Second room down.....11 to go!! This week, its my bedroom....means finishing my vision board to so I can hang it up and put photos in the frames that Steve bought for my birthday. Its also time to get anything out of my room that just doesn't belong. Hanging out for a restful, peaceful room!
We went to visit Lydia and my beautiful new niece on Saturday night. Just gorgeous..a little doll. I'm sure she will be spoilt rotten.
oh and I'm in the process of giving up smoking again....wearing patches but still allowing myself to smoke until 1st April. Finding that I am enjoying them less and less, and smoking less each day and that I am happy that I am giving up again. I am so much more energetic when I don't smoke, suffer less anxiety and less depression...all pretty good reasons to give up, let alone the health stuff. I'm hoping to be through the worst of it before I go to Spain.
My passport arrived yesterday...now we just need to book my flights. I still can't quite believe its actually happening!!
Anyway, on with the day, have a lot planned...finishing off the kids bathroom, starting on my room and making sure all the washing is done as the weather is going to be beautiful.
Had a spa with Stef this morning as I couldnt bath her...she loves it and so do I. Its just so nice to start the day with relaxation.

Getting teenagers out of bed!

Honestly, I think the kids need cattle prods, electric blankets that give shocks or waterproof rooms so that I can throw icy water over them. Getting these teenagers out of bed on time is like pulling teeth....lots of screaming, and pure torture most of the time. I know part of it is my fault..I crash out at 9pm, so the older kids basically put themselves to bed. Sometimes I'm sure they are still up a couple of hours after they are supposed to be in bed. Maybe a timer that switches off all computers at 10.30pm would be good. lol.
Stef had a party night..up at 3am, 4am and 5am for good.....grr....all the lights on, the tvs on very loud. She will be tired at school today. Must be a full moon!!
Its amazing how the moon has a bearing on these kids, especially Stef. She becomes quite aggitated and antsy at the full moon and I know that other parents of autistic kids find the same thing. One good thing has come of being up so early is the housework is getting done...lol...always look on the bright side of life :) This week I'm scrubbing out the kids bathroom. OMG, yesterday I did the windows and the blinds inside and out. It was gross! Probably the first time I have cleaned them since we moved in! Today its the shower...probably will strip the sealant and redo it, as it has become black in spots. I just want my house to look a lot cleaner than it is now...and its getting there...room by room. I just have to keep focussed on one room at a time until its done, while keeping the other rooms as neat as I can too. Tricky task in this place especially with the 4 little pigs lol.
Anyways, its the pointy time of the day....time to get the brats up!

Getting there!

I always have one week a month where I just don't seem to cope as well as other times. Its amazing how hormones affect the way you cope and feel. I just plain felt overwhelmed and inundated by shit.
My big brother kept ringing at odd times of the day and night...1am, 3am....3 days in a row. Had Steve not been overseas I would have turned off my phone. I was just so sleep deprived by the end of the week. I know he was scared and alone having had an accident on his bike and then ending up in hospital with no feeling in his legs and a massive headache. Turns out it was just a bad concussion. Having no one over there to turn to, he rings here which I am glad he does, but hey, remember the time difference pal!
Hmmm, got a letter from the accountant..I didnt put a return in last year and the tax man is chasing it up. Must get on to it today!
On the good news front, we had confirmation that Stef will get her Ipad from the Adam Scott Foundation. It comes with an internet connection for 12 months and heaps of programs which help with education and speech facilitation. How awesome. Adam Scott is a professional golfer from Australia and on finding friends with autistic children were having such trouble to get the things they needed to help their children, set up a foundation for this purpose. Not many charities just do autism so its great that the need was recognised. I initially did not put in an application but sent Adam a letter saying how grateful I was as a mother that he had set up the foundation. He then forwarded it on to his organisation who put
Stef straight into the application process. The iPad should arrive either this week or next!
Another piece of good news is that Brent got his marks back on the first English SAC and had done very well, 22.5/30. The english teacher was very pleased and considering he handwrote this one, thats pretty good. We are working hard as a team to keep him on track. Emails and phonecalls between all of us. I can only hope that we keep him motivated for the rest of the year.
Anyway, on with cleaning.....the house is starting to look a lot better. Room by room. This week its the kids bathroom and bedrooms. Scrubbing walls, washing windows etc. Gotta love Flylady and Cozi for keeping me on track. I need it, being so ADHD I need all the tools I can get to keep on task.

Caravans, the long term

We went to the caravan show yesterday....OMG there are some beautiful caravans out there...all with showers, toilets the lot. Its where I realised though, that our life will never quite be like other peoples. We always have to plan to have a third wheel. Where other people can get a van with just a double bed, ours will need to have a bed for Stef, even when we are old and grey she will be with us. There is no major investment by the government in residential care for these kids coming through. It's scary, but I try not to focus on it..what will be will be.
Jack is relly focussing on the end of the Mayan Callendar.....poor kid thinks the world will end next year...and with all the natural disasters, its even harder to convince him that the world will go on...and that Australia is a very safe country. Sometimes the thought processes of these kids are set in stone and its very hard to get them to think otherwise. I just keep telling him that I plan on growing old with his dad and that I want to see grandchildren some day. His answer to that, "well mum, give up smoking". Truth out of the mouths of babes. Soon babe, real soon!
Steve is heading off to China again this morning..until Saturday. Im pretty used to it, business as usual in this place. Yes I miss him heaps when he is away, but life doesnt stop...things still need to be done and kids need to feel confident in Mum's ability to keep it all going. Got a pretty busy week ahead...especially Brent as he has two Assessment tasks this week. I need to keep the house calm and collected all week. I also have a couple of meetings with the schools and of course drum lessons for Jack. Always stuff to do.
Oh and Im getting the plans together for our trip...must get my passport photo today and send it all off. Now mum is home I can get Beverly's phone number so that I can call Peter in the UK. Hopefully Pete can give me a bed while I am there which will give me a bit more cash to spend over there. Saving hard...I just want to be able to do so much while I am there.
Anyway, its the pointy end of the day...time to get the kidlets organised!!

Upper or a Downer

I hope my positiveness comes through my blog. I really am a very positive person most of the time. Yeah life gets tough, but hey, I manage and usually with a smile on my face. I always look towards other people who have even tougher lives and seem to manage to smile...they have my utmost respect and its something that I always hope to emulate.
I hope I am an uploader in peoples lives..someone they can draw strength from, someone who they see as being positive regardless of what I go through.
I realised that I have some terrific wonderful uplifting friends. Ones who when I look at them, or spend time with them I come away feeling happy and positive. I also have some friends who I find I am avoiding a lot.....they are downers...they download on me all the time and honestly make me feel like crap. I hope I'm not like that for anyone. I laugh a lotabout shit that happens, smile a lot at just little things and generally try to enjoy everything I do....even cleaning a toilet! How many other people can look at 5 inches of water up their hallway and run through it dancing and singing "I'm singing in the rain". Some people, when they hear about Stef say "I'm so sorry", I usually say, "I'm not......she is a very special girl and has taught me so much about life and most of all about myself and particularly unconditional love. I couldn't love her any more than I do already...she fills a very special place in my heart" I love all my kids just the same. They are all so special for different reasons. Brent for his resilience, Melinda for her strength and mental toughness, Stef for just being Stef, and Jack for his beautiful sense of humour.
This weekend has been one of catching up to washing....LOL, weeks since I saw the laundry floor last, but now its done!! Woohoo...I'm also doing a lot of little jobs at the moment....stuff that ordinarily gets overlooked. Its so nice to walk in my hallway...no finger prints on walls, no fly dirt on the cielings and the floor has been scrubbed, oh and my front porch has been done too....one room detailed so far. Kitchen this week.
I love flylady.net....It really makes a difference to how I view my housework...I call it homeblessing....its what I do to make our home blessed and full of love.
Anyway...making a conscious effort to be an upper not a downer. Today going to the caravan and camping show. I really want to see what I am really aiming for!!

Friends

Was just thinking, this is probably the first time in my life that I have had more than one friend who truly understood me and the stuff we go through as a family.
I love it! Its great when you can have friends who when you say you have had a crap day they truly get what a crap day for you entails.
Yesterday was a good day...got up in the morning, Stef had run out of clothes after going through 4 changes a day for the week, there was no stuff for lunches in the cupboard because Stef had emptied it and it all just seemed too fricking hard. I ended up saying you know...I just cbfed and kept her home from school. I did heaps of washing but have still got heaps to do...its like that in this house...the record is 300kg of washing for the week....thats 30 10kg loads, I will come close to that this week! Stefs room is digusting. She got into the outside freezer and got into the icecreams...unfortunately I had just bought 3 packets..about 30 odd icecreams...lets just say her floor is a sticky nasty mess, its all over the walls and the bed. Yesterday I started on it....swept half of the room and got a full garbage bag of crap that was either wrecked, food that she had stolen out of the cupboards.....GROSSNESS! We really need a self locking door on the pantry....and a way to lock the freezer outside. I worked to a sweat for the majority of the day, but still when I look the house is messy.....grrrr.
Just planning out our trip to Spain...its going to be so awesome...3 days in barcelona (including cooking classes) 4 days (over a weekend in Ibiza -a party island) 3 in Valencia and 3 in another city....not quite sure of the name. I am so excited about it all. Just working on the details about child care. Looking at friends of the kids to farm them off to on weekends so that we can give my mum a break. Will ring one of the respite organisations to see if we can get Stef looked after by them maybe...or steves mum and dad. Im sure we will be able to work it all out somehow...we just have to. We will also get some housework help in everyday so that mum just doesnt do too much and can still do all the things that she does during the week. OMG I can't believe this is actually going to happen!!
Going to the camping and caravan show this weekend to drool over stuff that we just cant afford right now....still good to look though, you never know what is around your corner.
Just ate the nicest bacon and eggs....mmmmm.....free range eggs with bright golden yolks....I love my chookies!
Onwards....got shitloads to do!!

Gotta love a long weekend every weekend!

I love working two days a week....I have a 5 day weekend every weekend....priceless.
Its been a crazy week...rushing around, school meetings and stuff.
Had the meeting with Lara Secondary yesterday. I think they actually get it now. I was cool, calm and collected and left them with the fact that the priorities they have are to ensure they actually spend the disability funding appropriately and that they have a moral and legal responsibility to the kids who are recipients of funding.
I beleive that the schools should be accountable to the parents and the education department on how they spend the individual funding packages of each special needs child. Brent has a funding package of over $20 000 which goes to the school....that would pay for an aide at least 40%....I can tell you, there is no way that an aide is with him even 10% of the time...maybe 2 hours a week and thats been for the last 3 years, so where is the rest of the money being spent???? Being level 3 funded, his grant shouldnt be pooled (level 1 &2 funds are pooled), but spent individually. We got the application together for the examination computer. The reports I put in it left no dout of getting it. The coordinator said..she gets why now. I said, hey, you make the decision very easy for the board to say yes, leave no doubt...make the decision an absolute no brainer and nothing goes wrong.
I have heaps of housework to do today......sometimes its so damned hard to keep up. I guess having a week where rushng around with meetings, leaves few waking hours spare to get stuff done. Lets just say that the washing machine is going already and will be going all day. Im even going into the rats nest of Brent's room....hmm, may need a snorkle and air tank for that...maybe a hazmat kit. I havent been in there a while, so I reckon there would be 6 or 7 loads of washing in there at least!
I had a fight with Brent and Melinda yesterday. I had already defrosted the meat for tea, and brent decided that he wasnt having that. I said, no mate, we cant waste what I have already defrosted, we cant throw out money like that. It descended into a yelling match, and then MJ decided to step in..it totally annoys me when she butts in all the time. It seems I can't tell Brent off for anything without her trying to step in to the argument. Im really working on her not doing this..to mind her own business. Eventually I made him understand that we live to a budget, and sometimes we dont always get to eat what we want. Hell, Id like to have fillet steak every night, but we cant afford to do that and have other stuff as well. Eventually he got it. Brent is very limited about what he eats...4 main courses, and the occasional sausage (which he eats but doesnt like) If he had his way it would be lasagne or spaghetti or buritos every single night. He will not try anything new, or eat anything which involves chewing. Boring!
Oh and Jetsetter (steve) is off to China on Monday again..haha....frequent flyer points are mounting up this year for sure. Fortunately next week is pretty easy at this stage no extra appointments and nothing else on the agenda. I try to make sure that when he is away life is much simpler.
Ok, next load of washing and time to get MJ up.

Time management

Sometimes I wish I had so much better time management skills....but then sometimes I suprise myself on just what can be done. Yesterday was one of those days, especially after school where I had 4 things that had to be done in under an hour, all at different locations. Picking up Stef, buying new school shoes for Brent, picking up a report from the paed and parent teacher interviews for Jack. With a little careful thought, I managed to do them all!
Life gets so busy in this place at times....crazily busy. I often wish there was two of me so I have a hope in hell of getting it together. At least I don't beat myself up on the stuff that doesnt get done any more. I used to be mercilessly critical of myself when I just couldnt be superwoman 24 hours a day. Now I just accept that I get done what I can, set my priorites and go with that. I am so much kinder to myself now. I am no longer a martyr.
Today I have a mediation meeting with Lara Secondary school about this whole application thing. I will stay carm but also very determined....float like a butterfly sting like a bee..but they better not cross me. I am a woman who will fight to the death for my kids....ruthless and pulling no punches and incompetence is my pet hate.
Anyway....onward...huge day....work, meetings and kid homework.

No regrets!

A little bit of gratefulness today for the things I have in life.
I live my life with no regrets. Yes I have been lucky to find a wonderful man and love in my life. Sometimes our life is tough, but together we get through and it never seems too hard. How lucky I am to have someone who loves me, supports me on my journey, encourages me to be the best I can be and has always respected me as a person. I know he would never hurt me physically or emotionally. Having him in my life gives a silver lining to any cloud. I'm not saying that we never have cross words, but arguments never descend to the personal degradation of each other. Basically we fight fair. I have never regretted one second of the last 22 years, even with the crazy roller coaster that autism has brought into our lives.
Starting to get it together with planning our trip to Spain..Oh its going to be a trip! Hopefully the details will all sort out smoothly. I'm looking at flying out on the 20th May to London, spending 4 days there, then heading to Barcelona for a few days and then driving down the coast of Spain with Steve maybe..still looking at that part. It will be an amazing trip.
One thing that losing friends has taught me in the last couple of months is that there are no guarantees..that we need to live today as a precious day for who knows what tomorrow brings.
Brent had his English SAC yesterday. I think he did all right....he really is amazing. Got the report from the OT specialist yesterday..she has put him at 1% on his handwriting speed....that means that 99% of his peers can write faster than he can. He has the writing ability under a 7 year old. Isnt it then amazing that he has reached VCE without any consideration by the school, no extra time on assessment tasks and no extra help taking notes. Isnt it amazing too that he has got marks easily at the top of his class, that he wrtoe enough to get the marks. His story is pretty inspirational.
Jack had his first Drumming lesson last night. I'm not sure how enthusiastic he is about it at this stage, but I think with a bit of time, and having a lovely young guy teaching him who is incredibly cool....I think he will grow to love it. The thing about being a drummer is that they can use the energy, constantly moving. Perfect for the ADHD kid!! He can really lay into the drums as hard as he likes...which hopefully will get rid of the agression.
Stef is a little frustrating at the moment. She will not leave her shoes on at all at the moment. I bought her new shoes last week, and already the back of them are wrecked..I really dont know what the solution is on this one.
Anyway, a busy day ahead...work and then Parent/Teacher interviews with Jacks Teacher.

Sorting stuff out gradually

Going up to Melbourne this morning to get my marriage certificate for my passport...Im a little worried that it isnt even registered as my latest birth certificate that I got has no mention of a name change on the back. Would laugh if it turns out we arent even married legally. Hopefully I can get Brent's full birth certificate while I am up there. We really need to get him on to getting his learners.
Today Brent has his first VCE assessment task...an English SAC. He says he is prepared for it. At least for this one he can use a computer to write the essay...to prove to the education department that his work is a lot better if he is allowed. Oh and he helped Melinda with her English essay the other night while we were out. She was pleased as she ended up getting a good result.
Took Jack and Stef to the pool yesterday...it really hasnt been a good summer for swimming. I just hope we get a few more hot days. Lara has a great pool...the best out door pool in Geelong by a long way..we are so lucky.
Having trouble keeping up to the washing in this place..sore shoulder so I avoid it like the plague at the moment...but the kids need clean clothes, so I still have to do it. Bit by bit Im getting the house cleaner too.....oh it just seemed that everwhere I looked there was just grot. It is reasonably tidy, just I dont usually find time for all the little things...like the walls, cobwebs, grout, etc. Having Stef in the house is like having 100 2 year olds...honestly...except the finger prints on the walls reach from 2foot up the wall to 6 foot....bloody nutella is hard to get off too.
Going to have someone clean the house while I am away to make it easier for Mum and whoever else looks after the kids. Its a big job.

A good weekend!

We had a great weekend! We decided that the older kids were responsible enough to leave babysitting the other kids at night. We had left them during the day often enough, but at 17 and almost 15, we decided they really can look after the other two pretty well. Stef is becoming much easier to care for as she doesnt wander at all now and will put herself to bed.
Autism has really isolated us over the years. Its hard to take an autistic child into someone elses home. Stef is really good at getting into stuff...can find toothpaste no matter where you put it and is just a destructive force of one. We have found that we just havent had the time to nurture our friendships either. Its kindof sad really...some friends have just gone by the wayside. The other thing we find is we have very separate friendship groups. I have my friends, Steve has his, and we really dont get to amalgamate them. We went to a housewarming party on Friday night of a guy steve knows from basketball. I think I had met him once...maybe. It was fun. We also went out last night for a while to visit another friend. Its time to put more back into other people....to nurture friendships and build our friendship group. You can't expect people to be around in the bad times if you have never had the good times with them.
Steve cooked an amazing seafood paella on Saturday night..it was so nice! He really is a great cook! We both like cooking. We are going to get together a group of friends to have regular dinner parties. I think its a great idea especially as all of the girls are foodies, love cooking and love to entertain. Its also a way for us all to expand our friendship groups.
Oh asnd the trip to spain and england is coming together.....now to find some carers for the kids. Going to births, deaths and marriages today as I realise we have never had a marriage certificate. Got the one you get from the church of course, but never the proper one...hopefully we are registered lol as there are no changes of name listed on my birth certificate. I was searching prices of fares yesterday and realised that it is the same price to go via London.....so I am going to have a stopover for 3 nights I think. I have a cousin over there that I would love to catch up to...he is 18 months older than me. He is pretty centrally located (has a house on the Thames), and I think I may be able to stay there...what it means is knocking off two of my bucket list items on one hit. I dont know if other people have bucket lists, but its something I have had for a while. I would hate to get to the end with regrets...I think losing some friends to cancer lately has prompted me to not delay doing the things I really want to do and see any longer....you never know whats around your corner. Oh and will definitely get travel insurance I think.
Anyway, a busy week ahead....only working my two days this week. I dont want to make a habit of overtime...if I wanted to work full time, id have a full time job. Everywhere I look in the house is grossness...marks on walls, grotty windows, grout on the floor is gross and not to mention the sealant in the showers. One bit at a time it will improve. Brent has his first SAC to do on Tuesday. An in class essay for English. He said he has prepared for it...fingers crossed. Oh and I have Jacks Parent teacher interviews too I think.

OT visit and Stress out!

Well, Brent got to his OT appointment. She was wonderful, helpful to the extreme! Brent tested out to have the dexterity of a 7 year old, little physical strength in his fingers, he fatigues very easily and has the writing ability of a six year 8 month old! She said he has a significant physical disability. Ah, makes a lot of sense. It also amazes me as Brent has managed to get this far with his school work with this affliction with little help. He is a star! What a journey we have had with him! I could really write a book about it. It really is quite a miraculous story. Anyway, I got the report back to the school yesterday afternoon. My bit in all that is done and somehow I pulled it off.
Yesterday was just a major stress out. Between trying to organise work around the appointment (thank goodness for great terrific, wonderful bosses!) and then having the primary school ring at 4pm, to say that Jack was still there..and the bus rang to say no one was there to pick up Stef....Omg....I had to leave work in a hurry to pick them up.(I had organised my mum, but crossed wires, and so she didnt pick them up, my fault) Lets just say it was the day from hell that I just want to forget. Going in to work today to catch up on all the stuff I didnt get finished yesterday and to tidy up a heap of loose ends.
Its not very often I feel the stress of my life, but yesterday was just a major stress out day, by the end of it, I had wooshing in my head, a sore neck and just felt overwhelmed...feeling a lot better this morning though, amazing what a good nights sleep does. I have written out a list of stuff I need to get done at work, the Brent stuff is finished with, and now its just the catchup around the house which has got out of control. I just have to be a little kinder to myself today...none of this was my making, I just have to roll with it and work to get it back to organised.
Oh and Ive made complaints all over the place about Lara Secondary Schools disorganised disability coordination. I want them to realise just what affect their hopelessness has on the families and the children. Can you believe that when I was talking to the vice principal about it and the long term consequences to Brent if he doesnt get this help, she said....oh he can always repeat VCE.....STUPID COW!! He shouldnt need to...not if he is granted this help. I just couldnt get over the attitude that this shit wouldnt affect him long term. Stupid woman.....he doesnt want to waste a year of his life.....not even a minute. GRRR. I tell you, I hit the roof at that..these people really dont have any idea the struggle we have had and continue to have!
The Occupational Therapist will see Jack next. There is a lot she can do to help him along the way with his hand coordination and handwriting. We get it pretty cheaply....I think $15 a session after we take out the government autism initiative. I will make an appointment for him on Monday. She is an OT who specialises in autism treatment.
Anyway must get moving..I think a spa this morning..

the saga goes on!

Honestly, sometimes my life is just pure SAGA through no fault of my own.
I could physically strangle the disability coordinator at Lara Secondary School. The stupid fat cow couldnt organise a root in a brothel...HONESTLY! Whenever I went to the school last year I asked for the application process to be started for Brent to use a computer for his VCE exams and asked what we would need to do to get it. Brent has the handwriting ability of about a grade 1 child. He physically can't do it. He has major issues with the strength in his fingers and the coordination of his hand to his brain and fatigue in his arm. He cannot even click his fingers, open jars or move his fingers independently. The problem with exams and handwriting is that in order to get his writing even close to legible he has to concentrate so hard that he forgets about what he is writing. His work ends up a lot poorer. If he can use a keyboard, he can be an A grade student....handwriting, he ends up having work ability of about an E or an F. Well, we finally got the application form on Friday...or Brent did and he gave it to me YESTERDAY. Its due in on FRIDAY in Melbourne by mail! Ok, that leaves me 2 workings days to get a paediatric report, an OT report detailing his inability to write and an IQ assessment and get it to Melbourne. Great! considering waiting lists for the paediatritian is 5 months for an appointment even let alone an IQ test!! I rang the paed, and because I have known him since Brent was born and have been on committees with him, he has said he will sign a report if I write most of it. Last night I rang 15 OTs between 5.30 and 6pm...finally I got one to listen, and she has slotted an appointment in for him today..I basically bribed my way in...told her we would be paying cash, and begged her for the appointment, almost crying. Great, Im supposed to be working tomorrow!!! The IQ test just isnt possible.
Does this bloody school take any responsibility for this....No, well, I am putting in a complaint to all and sundry...the education department, the disability section of the education department, the regional disability coordinator, the regional education department head, the principal and the stupid fat cow. If that gets me no response, I will be taking it to the disability advocate as well. This school has been hopeless in regards to disability. I feel basically that for 6 years they have used Brent's level 3 funding for everything but helping BRENT! I asked for psg meeting with all his teachers....what did I get....the year coordinator...who doesnt even teach him.
This has been so stressful......its such an important application....and should have been given the attention that it deserved. If Brent gets knocked back on this, it will affect his long term future....and that just isn't fair. I definitely will be taking this shit as far as I can. Its been stressful, and perhaps another mother wouldnt have been able to pull it off....another child would miss out, simply because of inaction by the school, the lack of attention to detail, and the blase manner they treat disability.....tell you, they will be lucky if I dont take it to the disability advocate...IM SO PISSED OFF, ANGRY and STRESSED.
This week has been a nightmare!

A win!

Had the meeting at Barwon Valley School yesterday regarding Stef. I went in armed...with her work from last year, photos of journeys we make, and other stuff related to her abilities. The teacher didnt even know she could write her own name. Can't believe how little was passed on to her from the teacher last year. GRRR. Anyway, she went in with her list of goals, and I went in with mine...lets just say that all her goals were changed to include far more academic work and progression with speech. I also requested that Stef's netbook be sent home each night so that she can use it more for speech facilitation and that she be reassessed for an equipments grant to get more software. For a special school, they really are hopeless. More a child minding centre and I told them so...its a school for crying out loud!! When Stef got off the bus last night, I said to her, ha kid, now you are going to have to do work instead of play at school, and the little shit laughed at me. She knows that she has been slacking off and pretending not to be able to do stuff that she can easily do, simply because she has been put in a class with all non-verbal kids with extremely low iqs she has been expected to do absolutely nothing. Anyway, upshot is, more homework, more work at school on reading, writing, saying and word recognition...more work with maths and writing numbers. The stupid teacher said, oh I dont know how we will find time.....I said, well, are you a teacher or a child minder..this is a SCHOOL!! When I looked at their timetable, it was ridiculous.....less than 30 minutes a day spent on actual work...grr, seems as If I want this kid to learn, I am going to have to fight for it, and do a lot at home. The teacher also asked for a lot of my recipes and if I had some that didnt require mix masters in order to cook. I emailed her a heap, and then she asked if I could help teach some of the older kids one morning a week. I have to get a police check of course.
Cracking down on Melinda this week....piss poor excuses why she can't do homework...oh i left my book at school. Well, as from today, it isnt going to wash....No homework, no computer!!Same goes for Jack......no homework ..no computer!
Brent on the other hand is doing much better this week. He really is beginning to get it..came home last night and hit the books for a couple of hours as soon as he got home! His aide is working much harder and making sure he keeps in touch with me. I also need to make sure that I meet the teachers once a month, just to make sure.
Today is work...very busy there...time will fly!
Always heaps to do, never enough time to do it all....but I try!!

Appreciation of good food

Somebody said to me yesterday, that my kids are so lucky to have good home cooked and natural food. It struck me. My kids are foodies. Last night I cooked San Choy Bow..a favourite in this house. Usually I buy a kit, but last night made it from scratch. Jack piped up, this is yummy mum, even better than usual..not knowing that I made it differently at all, yet picked up on the difference.
My kids get home made biscuits and muffins in their lunchboxes...and the teachers comment on it. Both of us (Steven and I) can cook up a batch of biscuits in minutes, so I wonder why people just dont do it. This morning, it was a batch of chocolate muffins....made in less than 5 minutes..in the oven and ready to eat. Are we as people losing the art of cooking for ourselves.....do we rely on packet mixes, on pre made stuff. Who is teaching those coming after us? Last year in home ec, Melinda's class made pasta...out of a packet..Melinda pipes up....this isnt home made..its packet shit. She loves home made....and my kids wont even eat packet gnocci.... Its so much cheaper to make from scratch.
Anyway.....meeting today at Barwon Valley school about Stef. Hopefully I can impress on them the importance of treating her as a young adult, to have higher expectations of what she can do and that its the lack of communication that is the problem, not the lack of IQ. Have found evidence of her abilities and will present that to them.
After that a daughterly visit to my mum....being good lately, catching up at least once a week!