The struggle continues.

I am off to a meeting with Morgans school tomorrow. It seems like the entire school will be in the room with me. Both Morgans teachers, the support person ( teachers aid) and a behaviorist /pych type person. All there with me.. I am feeling a little threatened – I cannot imagine what a ‘normal person’ would feel.

Morgan has been having a few issues at school. The notes coming home do not match the lad I have in front of me every day. I believe there are body snatchers who whisk my son away and replace him during the day. The reports I need to have a meeting over is his unsociability – both one on one and in groups. HUH? I am just about over the crushing news that because he can’t skip or hang on the monkey bars, he will be sports retarded forever….. I go the “OH – he didn’t go tot Kindy”… that explains it…. And I didn’t shove him in daycare 5 days a week either – nor press gang him to an unsupportive playgroup…. What? Are we meant to be institutionalizing our children from birth?

So, apparently he is displaying unsociable behaviours inconsistent with the classrooms expectations. I will have a run down from this behaviourist on strategies they will be instigating and that he will have whoever this person is – tagging along behind him in his classroom for who knows how long peering at him and willing him to put a step wrong….maybe I am being a bit cruel and emotional.. damn it – I am…

I have also discovered that I have a teenager living in my home.. yes that’s right – Morgan has stinky feet and answers in monotonal one syllable words….. How was school? “Good”, why did you pull Georgas hair? “Dunno” what were you thinking when you hit that child with your hat? “nuthin” come here and give your mother a kiss.. “urrr get away, yuk” at least his room is perfectly straight and tidy… at the moment.

So, today I have been going through the whole spectrum of emotions. Beating myself up that I have sent Morgan to school too early. Apparently no – he is displaying above competencies in academia. Yeah – I sent him too early…. Should I just pull him out of school and keep him home for a year… oh boy that’s a big one… should I investigate the whole home schooling deal again?

I know he is far from being an angel – but Morgan is a good kid. Smart, very emotional and very loving. He loves to learn and is so excited about writing and numbers. I know there is something wrong when every day he cries and doesn’t want to go to school. Its ripping my heart out. He was so keen in the first few weeks.

He used to be very sociable in groups – at the park etc and go and introduce himself to new kids. I have noticed now, in the last few weeks, he will hide behind me or just not go where there are other kids. This again is a total flip of character for him.

Sigh… well best get prepared I guess.

An Old Dog

There is a saying that you can’t teach on old new tricks. Well, although I would hate to be termed an old dog – I am far from a spring chicken. I remember the days without computers and the internet. GOD bless they people who brought us the internet! I can’t imagine life without it – researching things- making people and places so far away – be at the tips of our fingers. I digress….

I first learnt about computers in ’95 when I enrolled in a local TAFE course to upgrade my skills. Teachers were in over supply and there was no work out there for me – so I thought I might change careers and be in admin. I remember the frustration of learning to use a mouse. I remember learning the codes for word perfect.( how archaic is that?) and how about this – I remember learning to use a really old database program that was still in DOS – I think it was called DB3??

Spring forward a few years to 98 when I worked at Portsmouth Tech Uni as a tutor– I remember going to a training day on the world wide web. We whispered it that is awed tones and staring eyes. We sat amazed at the demonstration of going to a website. Eyes glazed over and mouths drooling – we went to Cadburys site. The IT person knew his audience well.

Fast forward to now. My mum thinks I am so clever ( well – what can I say.. modesty forbids…) Jamie, has built ( well – Mum and Nev actually have done all the hard negotiations and work involved here) huge amounts of storage sheds and they need some advertising. Apart from media press and ads in the local shops, they have approached the real estate agents – who really can’t be arsed to do much. One would not take on the listing as they already had one companys sheds ( the only other storage sheds within 60 kms) SO – I have been asked – as I have a computer and obviously know all about it – to build a website to advertise it.

SO – last week I got online and did some tutorials. I did a bunch of searches for free webs building sites. I was fine with getting a domain name and getting it hosted – done that a few times before. I started to build a website a few times – but came unstuck when they started to ask for money to host it etc. sigh, back to the drawing board. I lifted a few things from the sites I had started and as I had seen HTML before – on my blogspot – I was happy to play with these. I found a cheat sheet on HTML code and set about playing and getting frustrated and crying about how stupid I was and why on earth couldn’t I ‘get it’. Its an eternal question for me. Why can’t I do things easily – why must I ensure I choose the hardest, most frustrating, soul destroying path?

I began to understand some of the IT guys – how obsessive it must be. I would be in the middle of making dinner and then leap over to the computer typing in some extra code, testing it and whooping with joy to see it had worked.. oh god… I am a geek. I asked Age if that’s what it was like- being a coder – and he just shook his head. His words were that he just wanted his fluffy Annie back – the non geek who didn’t understand technology.

After nearly 3 days, I have produced a three page website that links to each page – whoopee.. but I can’t seem to get the graphics to load up. They are all there on the dummy site – but once I load the whole thing up and the images separately – nope – not there… I have thrown my hands in the air and am leaving it stew for a while…. And to ponder up on why everything I set out to achieve I must make an arduous task….

Guilty Pleasures

Come on – we all have them. Eating Nutella straight out of the jar whilst snuggled under a blanket and watching Bridget Jones for the 100^th time? Your vinyl collection of Bros? Your hidden CD collection of Kylie Minogues hits – all of them. Watching that foreign crime show on SBS, with the sound on mute and no intention of reading the prompts – checking out the eye candy?

My guilty pleasures surround the telly… evil contraption. Singularly responsible for melting the intelligences of all who watch it, the degradation of our society, melding the will and opinions of the weak minded populous… did I mention I hate the media, the manipulation of facts, opinions and images to suit power mongers… hang on I think I need a little air here….breathe in and out….

For many years, Adrian and I didn’t have a telly. I was very mistrustful of them and the mass media anyway – having gone through several Gary McLeallan courses at Uni in multi media ( anyone who knows who Gary is.. will understand) When we lived in the tin shed ( rejecting all forms of capitalism) the telly we did have blew up and we were too poor to buy another. Plus it was too cold to sit and watch it – the wind whistling up your legs just loses it charm when it hits 0 degrees. We moved to the UK and amongst the mad things they do over there – you must pay for a license to have a telly. That just got up our noses – I don’t even know how much it was – but I am sure even if it were 50 p we would not have paid it. SO we went through five years there with no telly. It was such an incredible treat if we ever went to a B & B or a hostel and go and watch the telly.

When we got back we didn’t bother buying a telly – we had gotten used to not having one and really – found other things to be doing. I remember I won a DVD player at work. It was a very big deal and it was a very expensive one. It sat in its box for over 3 years before I opened it. When we finally did get a telly – we banished it downstairs – so it was a big deal to have to go outside and down into the garage and into the flat to watch TV. So we still didn’t watch a great deal – DVDs mainly.

Kids came – and for peace sake, so did the wiggles and playschool. Still a lot of DVDs and not much regular telly – though I have to admit one guilty pleasure – 24… Jack Bower – hummm Keiffer Sutherland has always had a very special place in my heart…it was on at 11 pm – how ridiculous! But by then – Morgan never slept – so I was up 24 hours a day – so it was fine… There was a show on just before it – a doctor thing – I never got much into serials and especially the whole emotional strain of doctors and nurses… however – Grays Anatomy really struck home with me and I used to ensure I would be watching it first – before 24 came on…

So my guilty pleasures – currently surround a Wed and a Sunday night – the only two nights the telly goes on for any extended period. Spicks and Specs, The IT crowd ( or whatever comedy show is on at that time and there have been some crackers – bring back the Chaser!!!! ) and the Movie Show. On Sunday – Gladiator ( I know – shame…..) and then Grays Anatomy. I am particularly embarrassed about Gladiator and how much our whole family gets into it – yelling and shouting at the competitors and for our favourite gladiator. The embarrassment is sort of like your new boyfriend finding a pair of your dirty undies stashed in the kitchen when he went to make a cup of tea…what?

Another Guilty Pleasure I am sharing with a friend – and they are the BEST – is searching You tube for Adam Hills videos and watching them. Over and over.. even the ones you have seen every time we do it – we watch it again… especially the Rocky Horror one.. replaying him ripping his shirt off. Oh dear.. I think I need a little lie down and some air….