My grandma died last Monday, so I haven't felt much like posting. I went down with my mom Tuesday and stayed until today.
It's Canadian Thanksgiving tomorrow. But it's hard to be excited or feel thankful for much when you're still grieving and trying to figure out how you feel about things.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Friday, September 24, 2010
Bad Days
There is usually some kind of reason as to why I'm having a bad day. A lot of the time it's simply because I'm tired and as a result, cranky. It usually leads to me being headachey as well. When I'm in a foul mood I'm not the most social person and I especially hate when people mess with my plans. Take today for example.
I had to be up at 6:30am to get ready so I could be at my orientation down at the board office with all the other supply teachers. I didn't sleep well last night because I'm still stuffy and I was anxious.
I then spent all morning at the board office doing a very tedious orientation. The only part I enjoyed was when they explained how I get paid. I then drove back across town and made lunch and sat on my butt for a bit before I then had to do the dishes/clean up the kitchen. I then went to a three hour rehearsal at my old high school for the musical.
During the day, I'd also tried to establish plans for tomorrow with two of my friends - S who has been mentioned previously and K. I thought we'd go to a nice pub tomorrow and do drinks and some munchy food. They agreed to this. Well as I'm leaving the school apparently S had invited two other people we know from high school and neither of them could do tomorrow.
Here's the thing - they were invited belatedly so...I don't really care if they can't come. Plus one guy is a total dickwad anyway. But now we're all going out tonight and we're meeting at one place for food/drinks and then apparently going to the one country style bar.
The boys do not dance so why the fuck would you go to a dance bar? Also - I want to be able to sit around and just chill. I don't want to deal with drunk ass fucktards since that's who will be there because all the students are back. So any of those young bars are out of fucking control. Also - I don't want to go and just drink. I also really don't want to go out tonight. Like fuck this shit.
S called to let me know what the actual game plan was cause when we were texting he was being stupidly vague and it was pissing me off. So I told him straight up that I've been up since 6:30 and I'm tired. I also know this is going to be a stupid group outing because again neither of the guys like dancing so why the hell would you plan on going to a dance bar? The other guy never even hardly fucking talks.
So now my already poor mood is growing increasingly foul. And I have a headache. Beautiful.
But at least I have reasons for my poor mood. I know a lot of people who are just in perpetual bad moods and always have bad days. I don't understand how this happens! If your life sucks that much do something about it. K is a prime example of this. She's making things worse on herself by continuing to moon over her ex. There's a huge massive backstory to this, but sufficed to say it's not going anywhere and it's over. She can't quite get over it and makes it worse on herself in stupid ways.
I'm 22 years old, but lately I feel much older. I think it's the being done school and everything else. I just feel old. I'm tired, I don't want to do these stupid games people insist on doing, and I just want to hang out with other adults. The problem is I know the more I hang out with these people, the more I end up like them. I get stuck in this continual foul mood where I bitch about EVERYTHING and that bothers me even more because I know I could stop it by just getting away from the negative nellies in my life.
It's frustrating.
I had to be up at 6:30am to get ready so I could be at my orientation down at the board office with all the other supply teachers. I didn't sleep well last night because I'm still stuffy and I was anxious.
I then spent all morning at the board office doing a very tedious orientation. The only part I enjoyed was when they explained how I get paid. I then drove back across town and made lunch and sat on my butt for a bit before I then had to do the dishes/clean up the kitchen. I then went to a three hour rehearsal at my old high school for the musical.
During the day, I'd also tried to establish plans for tomorrow with two of my friends - S who has been mentioned previously and K. I thought we'd go to a nice pub tomorrow and do drinks and some munchy food. They agreed to this. Well as I'm leaving the school apparently S had invited two other people we know from high school and neither of them could do tomorrow.
Here's the thing - they were invited belatedly so...I don't really care if they can't come. Plus one guy is a total dickwad anyway. But now we're all going out tonight and we're meeting at one place for food/drinks and then apparently going to the one country style bar.
The boys do not dance so why the fuck would you go to a dance bar? Also - I want to be able to sit around and just chill. I don't want to deal with drunk ass fucktards since that's who will be there because all the students are back. So any of those young bars are out of fucking control. Also - I don't want to go and just drink. I also really don't want to go out tonight. Like fuck this shit.
S called to let me know what the actual game plan was cause when we were texting he was being stupidly vague and it was pissing me off. So I told him straight up that I've been up since 6:30 and I'm tired. I also know this is going to be a stupid group outing because again neither of the guys like dancing so why the hell would you plan on going to a dance bar? The other guy never even hardly fucking talks.
So now my already poor mood is growing increasingly foul. And I have a headache. Beautiful.
But at least I have reasons for my poor mood. I know a lot of people who are just in perpetual bad moods and always have bad days. I don't understand how this happens! If your life sucks that much do something about it. K is a prime example of this. She's making things worse on herself by continuing to moon over her ex. There's a huge massive backstory to this, but sufficed to say it's not going anywhere and it's over. She can't quite get over it and makes it worse on herself in stupid ways.
I'm 22 years old, but lately I feel much older. I think it's the being done school and everything else. I just feel old. I'm tired, I don't want to do these stupid games people insist on doing, and I just want to hang out with other adults. The problem is I know the more I hang out with these people, the more I end up like them. I get stuck in this continual foul mood where I bitch about EVERYTHING and that bothers me even more because I know I could stop it by just getting away from the negative nellies in my life.
It's frustrating.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Learn to say "No" to your kids
I was watching "Say Yes To The Dress" on TLC today and they had one bride-to-be who wanted to get one dress, then have custom alterations done. Clearly a princess. Clearly not used to hearing the word no. Ever.
Now, I work with kids on a regular basis through babysitting, camp, school - hell, if I see kids misbehaving in public sometimes I call them out on it (but that's only if I don't see parents close by). Over the years I've come across far too many kids that don't understand the concept of "no." What's even more astounding to me is watching how fast parents will give in to their screaming children. My parents never stood for this sort of stuff! Hell - if I back talked I got my mouth washed out with soap. Literally. My parents would also spank me. These were often combined with yelling, lectures, time-outs, groundings, the taking away of privileges, etc. One time I got a 78% on a geography test - which is a B+ in the Ontario school system. I was grounded for two weeks because my mom thought I hadn't studied enough. That was probably the only test I've ever actually actively studied for because I knew my mom was threatening to ground me. That was also the one of the highest marks in the class on that test!
If I wanted a toy as a kid, I had to buy it myself. And even then I would still often get told no because I was supposed to save my allowance. I ended up with my first GIC at the age of 14 or something crazy - and I'm very middle class mind. When I wanted an N64 in grade 7, I had to save up all my money. I saved up $200 before my dad took pity on me and put in the money for the rest of it.
My friends were bribed to get good grades in school - $10 for every A on your report card. My parents just expected that I would have straight A's. I wasn't rewarded with toys or money, they figured doing the work and learning something was reward enough.
I'm a child of the 90s and it seems that's when this whole trying to be friends with your kid really started to become more widespread. I certainly know many people in my age group who are also not used to hearing no. The looks of horror I get when I say I was spanked as a kid if I was a real little shit are hilarious in my opinion. I understand that there's all this stuff about how it can be emotionally damaging and what not and that children shouldn't be scared of their parents. Fine. Was I scared of my parents? Well I sure as hell knew they were the ones in charge. I'm pretty sure my mom actually spanked me one time when I was in like grade 7 because I was being a right little bitch about something or other.
Am I now on good terms with my parents? Yeah, I am actually. I get along better with my mom probably because we have very similar personalities. (My dad tends to get pissy about things - he and my sister are very much alike.) It's frustrating to have moved back home for teacher's college to save money and still be here while I'm trying to build a career because my mom does nag me about shit, but we've had pretty frank talks about it. The reason she nags me is because I just roll my eyes and take it, then walk away. I'll do stuff when I feel like it and she knows that it will get done eventually. She doesn't nag my sister as much because she'll say one thing like "Can you please unload the dishwasher?" and my sister will fly off the handle and start ranting and raving cause she gets very pissy. We call her Miss Cranky Pants. But my mom still makes her do it.
The things is - a lot of kids today don't seem to have the same level of respect for their parents' authority that I had growing up. My mom didn't put up with picky eaters. It was you eat what is on the table in front of you or you don't eat. She wouldn't take dessert away, but it was eat or don't eat. There was no snacking allowed. Picky eaters have always been one of my pet peeves - at least try the food. If you've never had it, how do you know you don't like it? There are a lot of things I don't particularly like, but if it's served to me and free I will eat it. Like ham. I'm just not a big fan - although every so often I will get a craving for it. There was a while where I really disliked most breakfast food - eggs in particular. But if it was Sunday morning and my mom made eggs I was still going to eat them.
The problem is that now kids are all used to being catered to and coddled. The fact is - the real world just isn't like that. I admit, I had it pretty good as a kid - I was athletic and always made the teams and did well and I also made every show I auditioned for. I did well in school too. But I also worked my ass off. I got a bit of a shock when I went from straight A's without trying to being a B student in university.
I've seen kids who show up to try out for teams or audition for shows and they just expect to get in without working on it. If you aren't going to put in the effort, get out. And don't have mommy phone and complain. It really bugs me when students get poor marks and their parents blame the teachers - especially when most of those teachers have been chasing after students asking for missing assignments, trying to prompt them to answer in class, etc.
Your child is not perfect, because no one is perfect. If little Johnny says he wants a new game system, tell him to get a paper route. If little Susie cuts her sister's hair, give her a time out. If Jimmy punches his brother call him out on it.
Honestly, it doesn't take much to get a reaction out of a kid. I can do it with tone of voice. And I'm 22 and have no kids of my own. I've been able to do it for years. I understand if can be more difficult with your own kids but you are not helping them by always giving in. If you always buy them everything they want, they don't know the value of anything. They get out on their own and suddenly they can't afford the lifestyle they're used to and they go into debt.
So please - tell your kids no once in awhile. You can spoil your grandkids.
Now, I work with kids on a regular basis through babysitting, camp, school - hell, if I see kids misbehaving in public sometimes I call them out on it (but that's only if I don't see parents close by). Over the years I've come across far too many kids that don't understand the concept of "no." What's even more astounding to me is watching how fast parents will give in to their screaming children. My parents never stood for this sort of stuff! Hell - if I back talked I got my mouth washed out with soap. Literally. My parents would also spank me. These were often combined with yelling, lectures, time-outs, groundings, the taking away of privileges, etc. One time I got a 78% on a geography test - which is a B+ in the Ontario school system. I was grounded for two weeks because my mom thought I hadn't studied enough. That was probably the only test I've ever actually actively studied for because I knew my mom was threatening to ground me. That was also the one of the highest marks in the class on that test!
If I wanted a toy as a kid, I had to buy it myself. And even then I would still often get told no because I was supposed to save my allowance. I ended up with my first GIC at the age of 14 or something crazy - and I'm very middle class mind. When I wanted an N64 in grade 7, I had to save up all my money. I saved up $200 before my dad took pity on me and put in the money for the rest of it.
My friends were bribed to get good grades in school - $10 for every A on your report card. My parents just expected that I would have straight A's. I wasn't rewarded with toys or money, they figured doing the work and learning something was reward enough.
I'm a child of the 90s and it seems that's when this whole trying to be friends with your kid really started to become more widespread. I certainly know many people in my age group who are also not used to hearing no. The looks of horror I get when I say I was spanked as a kid if I was a real little shit are hilarious in my opinion. I understand that there's all this stuff about how it can be emotionally damaging and what not and that children shouldn't be scared of their parents. Fine. Was I scared of my parents? Well I sure as hell knew they were the ones in charge. I'm pretty sure my mom actually spanked me one time when I was in like grade 7 because I was being a right little bitch about something or other.
Am I now on good terms with my parents? Yeah, I am actually. I get along better with my mom probably because we have very similar personalities. (My dad tends to get pissy about things - he and my sister are very much alike.) It's frustrating to have moved back home for teacher's college to save money and still be here while I'm trying to build a career because my mom does nag me about shit, but we've had pretty frank talks about it. The reason she nags me is because I just roll my eyes and take it, then walk away. I'll do stuff when I feel like it and she knows that it will get done eventually. She doesn't nag my sister as much because she'll say one thing like "Can you please unload the dishwasher?" and my sister will fly off the handle and start ranting and raving cause she gets very pissy. We call her Miss Cranky Pants. But my mom still makes her do it.
The things is - a lot of kids today don't seem to have the same level of respect for their parents' authority that I had growing up. My mom didn't put up with picky eaters. It was you eat what is on the table in front of you or you don't eat. She wouldn't take dessert away, but it was eat or don't eat. There was no snacking allowed. Picky eaters have always been one of my pet peeves - at least try the food. If you've never had it, how do you know you don't like it? There are a lot of things I don't particularly like, but if it's served to me and free I will eat it. Like ham. I'm just not a big fan - although every so often I will get a craving for it. There was a while where I really disliked most breakfast food - eggs in particular. But if it was Sunday morning and my mom made eggs I was still going to eat them.
The problem is that now kids are all used to being catered to and coddled. The fact is - the real world just isn't like that. I admit, I had it pretty good as a kid - I was athletic and always made the teams and did well and I also made every show I auditioned for. I did well in school too. But I also worked my ass off. I got a bit of a shock when I went from straight A's without trying to being a B student in university.
I've seen kids who show up to try out for teams or audition for shows and they just expect to get in without working on it. If you aren't going to put in the effort, get out. And don't have mommy phone and complain. It really bugs me when students get poor marks and their parents blame the teachers - especially when most of those teachers have been chasing after students asking for missing assignments, trying to prompt them to answer in class, etc.
Your child is not perfect, because no one is perfect. If little Johnny says he wants a new game system, tell him to get a paper route. If little Susie cuts her sister's hair, give her a time out. If Jimmy punches his brother call him out on it.
Honestly, it doesn't take much to get a reaction out of a kid. I can do it with tone of voice. And I'm 22 and have no kids of my own. I've been able to do it for years. I understand if can be more difficult with your own kids but you are not helping them by always giving in. If you always buy them everything they want, they don't know the value of anything. They get out on their own and suddenly they can't afford the lifestyle they're used to and they go into debt.
So please - tell your kids no once in awhile. You can spoil your grandkids.
Monday, September 20, 2010
Dying Embers
My first crush was my friend S. He and I go way back - we're talking kindergarten here. Our families are pretty good friends as well - our sisters have always been close as well. Back when I first started noticing boys as being the opposite sex during puberty, I started to fall for S. I was going through a part of my life where I was being bullied a great deal by the majority of our class. Those who weren't actively bullies were bystanders who didn't say much to help me. S was also a bystander most of the time, but every so often would do something small. Some things I found out about after the fact, but he did make a point of including me at times when obviously the others would've just ignored me.
He and I have gone through a lot together and over the years, there's always been a bit of an on-again/off-again crush on my side. That sneaky "what if" creeping in. I tend to tell myself realistically that it would be a bad idea. I don't think we'd know how to be more than friends with each other anyway and there's some things we differ on that I know would seem small, but would likely end up causing problems. I also know that deep down, I still feel he could have stood up for me more as a kid. But he was a popular kid - the most well liked guy I've ever known, it's impossible for anyone to dislike him. He's just a nice guy all around. Quiet and polite - the guy every girl dreamed of taking home to mom. When he took a girl to prom it was a big deal. They kind of dated for awhile, but not really. It ended badly with her really doing a number on him in that she had led him on. Since then he's always been a little gun shy and incredibly secretive about any girl he does see usually until after the fact. Until now.
Turns out S found himself a summer romance. They've been seeing each other for 2.5 months and it's been official for 1. He decides to tell me this via msn very randomly last night when I said "Hey - how was your weekend?" When I pressed him about why he hadn't told me sooner he was like "I guess it never came up?" We spent 8 hours in a car one day the last week of August because he offered to drive up to an interview I had so I would be on my own. How does something like this not come up when I'm telling the stories of my dating misadventures?
This past February, we were both at a birthday party and I was saying how I was sick of going to formals alone and that I was thinking I'd take a blow up doll to the one I had coming up in April. His drunk ass offers to go with me. S hates formals, hates dressing up, hates dancing, and was in a completely different program. I told him not to worry about it, but he insisted and we did go together. It was nice, but ended up feeling a bit awkward after the fact. We barely saw each other all summer because we were both working so much and just busy with life in general - that was part of the reason he said he offered to drive up to my interview with me, so we could catch up.
But why not tell me he had a new girlfriend? I feel like he was expecting a weird reaction from me almost - like I'd be upset. Or just...something. Not me basically declaring I wanted to meet her and then peppering him with questions about what she studied in school/what's she doing now, etc. Why keep me in the dark when I've always thought we were really good friends? I do think he wanted to spare my feelings - whether it was because he felt bad about my misadventures with Engineer Boy or because he wonders if I have a thing for him, I don't know. At this point I suspect he at least has some idea I liked him when we were growing up/in high school. So I dropped some info about Work Boy to help set his mind at ease.
It is weird though. I think I always sort of see S as my ultimate go-to guy. He was my first crush and all of us kind of agree he's like the gold standard among the guys. I'm also one of the few people who has gotten pissed off with him and called him out on something. We had our first actual fight in November because he'd canceled on hanging out twice - day of and I was pissed because I'd made room in a very busy schedule so I could see him. But we had this big fight and then everything was fine and we were able to resolve the issue and move on.
For years we had these sort of unspoken rules about what we did and didn't talk about with each other. Then after I came back from my year abroad I made a point of completely upsetting those rules on purpose to get a reaction out of him.
So I suppose I do still think that maybe in the end we'll end up together. We grew up down the street from each other. It would be the movie kind of ending. Because it did sort of hit me like a ton of bricks when he said he had a girlfriend. I wasn't expecting that since I've been so focused on Work Boy. I think it's more of the now wanting what I can't have and feeling a bit blindsided by it. I guess it's also because for a long time S has been saying he's not looking for anything at the moment and that he figures he'll find someone in a few years and end up married around 28. I took that as a don't even waste my time then since he was pretty set on focusing on his Masters. Guess he changed his mind.
And it's weird, because I do really like Work Boy. But the thing is he does sort of remind me of S sometimes. Yet very different at the same time. And considering he's known me for a much small span of time, he picked up very quickly how to best talk me down when I'm stressed. I worry though that S and I not hanging out so much this summer, I subconsciously looked for a replacement guy. I mean S and I talked regularly on MSN, but I needed someone that I saw regularly and Work Guy was there. And the thing is - I miss seeing him all the time. A lot. I got used to his consistent presence in my life. The grin he'd give me when I walked in. And - as always - how adorable he is with kids. I hadn't had such a sudden impact of head over heels in awhile - at least not in an emotional context. It's one thing to fall for the guy who is charming and witty with words. It's another to fall for the guy who finds you extra binder dividers cause you mention that you need some.
He and I have gone through a lot together and over the years, there's always been a bit of an on-again/off-again crush on my side. That sneaky "what if" creeping in. I tend to tell myself realistically that it would be a bad idea. I don't think we'd know how to be more than friends with each other anyway and there's some things we differ on that I know would seem small, but would likely end up causing problems. I also know that deep down, I still feel he could have stood up for me more as a kid. But he was a popular kid - the most well liked guy I've ever known, it's impossible for anyone to dislike him. He's just a nice guy all around. Quiet and polite - the guy every girl dreamed of taking home to mom. When he took a girl to prom it was a big deal. They kind of dated for awhile, but not really. It ended badly with her really doing a number on him in that she had led him on. Since then he's always been a little gun shy and incredibly secretive about any girl he does see usually until after the fact. Until now.
Turns out S found himself a summer romance. They've been seeing each other for 2.5 months and it's been official for 1. He decides to tell me this via msn very randomly last night when I said "Hey - how was your weekend?" When I pressed him about why he hadn't told me sooner he was like "I guess it never came up?" We spent 8 hours in a car one day the last week of August because he offered to drive up to an interview I had so I would be on my own. How does something like this not come up when I'm telling the stories of my dating misadventures?
This past February, we were both at a birthday party and I was saying how I was sick of going to formals alone and that I was thinking I'd take a blow up doll to the one I had coming up in April. His drunk ass offers to go with me. S hates formals, hates dressing up, hates dancing, and was in a completely different program. I told him not to worry about it, but he insisted and we did go together. It was nice, but ended up feeling a bit awkward after the fact. We barely saw each other all summer because we were both working so much and just busy with life in general - that was part of the reason he said he offered to drive up to my interview with me, so we could catch up.
But why not tell me he had a new girlfriend? I feel like he was expecting a weird reaction from me almost - like I'd be upset. Or just...something. Not me basically declaring I wanted to meet her and then peppering him with questions about what she studied in school/what's she doing now, etc. Why keep me in the dark when I've always thought we were really good friends? I do think he wanted to spare my feelings - whether it was because he felt bad about my misadventures with Engineer Boy or because he wonders if I have a thing for him, I don't know. At this point I suspect he at least has some idea I liked him when we were growing up/in high school. So I dropped some info about Work Boy to help set his mind at ease.
It is weird though. I think I always sort of see S as my ultimate go-to guy. He was my first crush and all of us kind of agree he's like the gold standard among the guys. I'm also one of the few people who has gotten pissed off with him and called him out on something. We had our first actual fight in November because he'd canceled on hanging out twice - day of and I was pissed because I'd made room in a very busy schedule so I could see him. But we had this big fight and then everything was fine and we were able to resolve the issue and move on.
For years we had these sort of unspoken rules about what we did and didn't talk about with each other. Then after I came back from my year abroad I made a point of completely upsetting those rules on purpose to get a reaction out of him.
So I suppose I do still think that maybe in the end we'll end up together. We grew up down the street from each other. It would be the movie kind of ending. Because it did sort of hit me like a ton of bricks when he said he had a girlfriend. I wasn't expecting that since I've been so focused on Work Boy. I think it's more of the now wanting what I can't have and feeling a bit blindsided by it. I guess it's also because for a long time S has been saying he's not looking for anything at the moment and that he figures he'll find someone in a few years and end up married around 28. I took that as a don't even waste my time then since he was pretty set on focusing on his Masters. Guess he changed his mind.
And it's weird, because I do really like Work Boy. But the thing is he does sort of remind me of S sometimes. Yet very different at the same time. And considering he's known me for a much small span of time, he picked up very quickly how to best talk me down when I'm stressed. I worry though that S and I not hanging out so much this summer, I subconsciously looked for a replacement guy. I mean S and I talked regularly on MSN, but I needed someone that I saw regularly and Work Guy was there. And the thing is - I miss seeing him all the time. A lot. I got used to his consistent presence in my life. The grin he'd give me when I walked in. And - as always - how adorable he is with kids. I hadn't had such a sudden impact of head over heels in awhile - at least not in an emotional context. It's one thing to fall for the guy who is charming and witty with words. It's another to fall for the guy who finds you extra binder dividers cause you mention that you need some.
Friday, September 17, 2010
An Education
I will state up front that I have an obvious bias when it comes to how I feel children should be educated. This stems from the fact that I am pursuing a career as a teacher and I take my chosen profession very seriously.
I'm going to talk about home schooling and unschooling. Unschooling is a relatively new trend, with about 10% of home school students in the USA subscribing to the idea. You can check out this link for more. The link also contains a clip from ABC news which shows a reporter speaking with some unschool kids.
I'll start with the obvious - giving your child all the power to choose everything and anything just seems like a really dumb idea. I understand the ideal behind the idea of trying to encourage learning through doing and allowing kids to find their passion. However, that utopia is likely to go unrealized in most, if not all cases. In my opinion, you need to put some amount of pressure on children in the form of expectations and rules. If you have no expectations for your children in terms of what they're going to do, why would they do anything? When it comes to my students or my participants at camp, I always have very high expectations for behaviour and academically. I have found that when they realize what my expectations are, if we have a positive rapport, they will do their best to go about trying to exceed my expectations. They want to work to impress you and many end up getting something more out of it.
For example, the issue of behaviour. I have had too many kids with behavioural problems to be able to count. Not all of them end up coming around, but many do. One of the camps I supervise in the summer is in a very rough area. I actually worked there as a counsellor my first year. I know the area and I know the kids. My staff this year really struggled to maintain order. However, all it takes is me showing up and speaking with the individuals and they're back on track and trying really hard. In fact, one of the kids was very eager to let me know that he was having a much better time the next day when I saw him. He said he felt better and he had even tried one of the techniques I'd told him to help calm down. He said he was having more fun because he was participating and was getting along with his peers. He's eight and he was able to articulate all this. Then he thanked me for actually listening to him and trying to understand where he was coming from because he had disclosed to me that there was a lot of stress at home. Again, he's 8. We ended up talking about how he could try to take what he learned at camp and use it in school too so he wouldn't get in so many fights anymore. He ended up telling me he wished all his teachers had taken as much time to talk to him as I was doing and that he really hoped I got a teaching job soon.
That's obviously a success story. I haven't always had that kind of success, but still. It leaves a mark on you. Whether or not he follows through, I'll probably never know. But I hope he does. Sometimes it really does just take one adult to help turn a kid around.
Back to home schooling though. I have many other issues with the whole concept of removing a child from a formal school environment. I know there are many reasons why parents do such a thing, one of the main reasons being this fear of bullying and the wish to shelter their children.
Here's the thing - I went through hell and back from gr.6-8 in terms of being bullied by essentially my entire class. Many were more bystanders, but they didn't stick up for me because they didn't want to be targeted. I was an easy target at the time. I'd always been a tomboy so I didn't have any really close female friends when we got to gr.6 and puberty suddenly hit. I was the only major female athlete in our class. I also had short hair, had gotten glasses in gr.5 and verged on being classified as gifted in terms of academic. Talk about having every single bloody target on your back eh?
(Random Long Tangent: I was never formally tested, but I know there was talk of having me skip a grade. Looking back having learned about the classifications for exceptionalities while completing my education degree, I definitely think had I been tested they would have determined I was gifted in language arts in particular. Unfortunately, because my class as a whole struggled and the majority were behind the provincial standard or just scraping by in hitting that standard, there wasn't much room for enrichment in the classroom. As a result I was never challenged academically until I got to university, and at that point I was so used to everything coming so easily to me while doing the bare minimum I wasn't motivated to spend hours agonizing over thesis papers anymore. I did the minimum in order to get my B average and was happy with that. There are certain subjects I enjoyed a lot and would initially try much harder in, but unfortunately those were also usually classes with stuffy professors who should only be allowed to research and not teach because they have zero enthusiasm whatsoever. Whenever I had an enthusiastic professor or TA though, I busted my ass. I got an A in my fourth year Canadian History seminar. As a general rule, Canadian History bores the snot out of me - especially Cold War era Canadian History.)
In any event - I was the punching bag for three years of school. While I still struggle with insecurities (and frankly think that I should perhaps see a therapist at times), I've powered through it and I live my life and I enjoy my life. Sure I have my dark moments, but overall I'm doing exceptionally well. And, having gone through that, I am very good at picking out bullying issues in my camp and dealing with it so that the victim doesn't end up feeling the way I did. The administration at my school ultimately never seemed to follow through on anything and I could never understand why my bullies were never punished effectively. That doesn't mean now I try to destroy the bullies that pop up in my camp, but I do address it. Immediately. I actually apply different methods I've learned in workshops or just from trial and era instead of assuming it will sort itself out. What makes this even better though is one of the main offenders actually apologized to be at a party in February, said how much he admired that I hadn't let it get me down and had gone on to do amazing things. He also mentioned that I'm super hot now and he'd always thought I was cute anyway.
Anyways - back to homeschooling specifically. Again, I do understand the basic idea behind some of the reasoning. However, while there are issues in the education system, homeschooling ultimately, in my opinion, does your child a huge disservice. They are not exposed to the outside world, they aren't learning how to socialize and work in that structured environment. They think they are the centre of the universe and everything they say is right. They aren't challenged enough. I could go on. I see this in the kid I babysit. He's 10, but academically he's functioning at a gr.3 level from what I've seen. His social skills with his own age group are also lacking.
The important aspects of school include that you are exposed to ideas outside of your little family unit. You are exposed to different teaching styles as you go through the system. Hopefully you are in a system that is regulated in terms of who is allowed to teach so that they actually know what they're doing. (Although even then there are poor teachers at times.) However, it is important to have those experiences of learning how to operate under someone else's rules. This will ultimately help you in the future when you have a job that has rules, regulations, expectations, etc.
This is probably all over the place, but I really feel that homeschooling and this new unschooling movement does kids a huge disservice.
I'm going to talk about home schooling and unschooling. Unschooling is a relatively new trend, with about 10% of home school students in the USA subscribing to the idea. You can check out this link for more. The link also contains a clip from ABC news which shows a reporter speaking with some unschool kids.
I'll start with the obvious - giving your child all the power to choose everything and anything just seems like a really dumb idea. I understand the ideal behind the idea of trying to encourage learning through doing and allowing kids to find their passion. However, that utopia is likely to go unrealized in most, if not all cases. In my opinion, you need to put some amount of pressure on children in the form of expectations and rules. If you have no expectations for your children in terms of what they're going to do, why would they do anything? When it comes to my students or my participants at camp, I always have very high expectations for behaviour and academically. I have found that when they realize what my expectations are, if we have a positive rapport, they will do their best to go about trying to exceed my expectations. They want to work to impress you and many end up getting something more out of it.
For example, the issue of behaviour. I have had too many kids with behavioural problems to be able to count. Not all of them end up coming around, but many do. One of the camps I supervise in the summer is in a very rough area. I actually worked there as a counsellor my first year. I know the area and I know the kids. My staff this year really struggled to maintain order. However, all it takes is me showing up and speaking with the individuals and they're back on track and trying really hard. In fact, one of the kids was very eager to let me know that he was having a much better time the next day when I saw him. He said he felt better and he had even tried one of the techniques I'd told him to help calm down. He said he was having more fun because he was participating and was getting along with his peers. He's eight and he was able to articulate all this. Then he thanked me for actually listening to him and trying to understand where he was coming from because he had disclosed to me that there was a lot of stress at home. Again, he's 8. We ended up talking about how he could try to take what he learned at camp and use it in school too so he wouldn't get in so many fights anymore. He ended up telling me he wished all his teachers had taken as much time to talk to him as I was doing and that he really hoped I got a teaching job soon.
That's obviously a success story. I haven't always had that kind of success, but still. It leaves a mark on you. Whether or not he follows through, I'll probably never know. But I hope he does. Sometimes it really does just take one adult to help turn a kid around.
Back to home schooling though. I have many other issues with the whole concept of removing a child from a formal school environment. I know there are many reasons why parents do such a thing, one of the main reasons being this fear of bullying and the wish to shelter their children.
Here's the thing - I went through hell and back from gr.6-8 in terms of being bullied by essentially my entire class. Many were more bystanders, but they didn't stick up for me because they didn't want to be targeted. I was an easy target at the time. I'd always been a tomboy so I didn't have any really close female friends when we got to gr.6 and puberty suddenly hit. I was the only major female athlete in our class. I also had short hair, had gotten glasses in gr.5 and verged on being classified as gifted in terms of academic. Talk about having every single bloody target on your back eh?
(Random Long Tangent: I was never formally tested, but I know there was talk of having me skip a grade. Looking back having learned about the classifications for exceptionalities while completing my education degree, I definitely think had I been tested they would have determined I was gifted in language arts in particular. Unfortunately, because my class as a whole struggled and the majority were behind the provincial standard or just scraping by in hitting that standard, there wasn't much room for enrichment in the classroom. As a result I was never challenged academically until I got to university, and at that point I was so used to everything coming so easily to me while doing the bare minimum I wasn't motivated to spend hours agonizing over thesis papers anymore. I did the minimum in order to get my B average and was happy with that. There are certain subjects I enjoyed a lot and would initially try much harder in, but unfortunately those were also usually classes with stuffy professors who should only be allowed to research and not teach because they have zero enthusiasm whatsoever. Whenever I had an enthusiastic professor or TA though, I busted my ass. I got an A in my fourth year Canadian History seminar. As a general rule, Canadian History bores the snot out of me - especially Cold War era Canadian History.)
In any event - I was the punching bag for three years of school. While I still struggle with insecurities (and frankly think that I should perhaps see a therapist at times), I've powered through it and I live my life and I enjoy my life. Sure I have my dark moments, but overall I'm doing exceptionally well. And, having gone through that, I am very good at picking out bullying issues in my camp and dealing with it so that the victim doesn't end up feeling the way I did. The administration at my school ultimately never seemed to follow through on anything and I could never understand why my bullies were never punished effectively. That doesn't mean now I try to destroy the bullies that pop up in my camp, but I do address it. Immediately. I actually apply different methods I've learned in workshops or just from trial and era instead of assuming it will sort itself out. What makes this even better though is one of the main offenders actually apologized to be at a party in February, said how much he admired that I hadn't let it get me down and had gone on to do amazing things. He also mentioned that I'm super hot now and he'd always thought I was cute anyway.
Anyways - back to homeschooling specifically. Again, I do understand the basic idea behind some of the reasoning. However, while there are issues in the education system, homeschooling ultimately, in my opinion, does your child a huge disservice. They are not exposed to the outside world, they aren't learning how to socialize and work in that structured environment. They think they are the centre of the universe and everything they say is right. They aren't challenged enough. I could go on. I see this in the kid I babysit. He's 10, but academically he's functioning at a gr.3 level from what I've seen. His social skills with his own age group are also lacking.
The important aspects of school include that you are exposed to ideas outside of your little family unit. You are exposed to different teaching styles as you go through the system. Hopefully you are in a system that is regulated in terms of who is allowed to teach so that they actually know what they're doing. (Although even then there are poor teachers at times.) However, it is important to have those experiences of learning how to operate under someone else's rules. This will ultimately help you in the future when you have a job that has rules, regulations, expectations, etc.
This is probably all over the place, but I really feel that homeschooling and this new unschooling movement does kids a huge disservice.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
The Bar Scene
Over the summer I didn't really go to the bar that much, largely because I was busy with about fifty billion other things, but also because the crowd I hung out with during school last year has largely left town - either moving home or moving on to jobs elsewhere. However, during my year at teacher's college I was frequenting the bars/clubs an obscene amount by my previous standards. In fact, during the fall we were actually going out every Friday and every Saturday.
Now, when I out to a bar/club, I'm going with my friends and I'm there to dance and hang out - not pick up. I've mentioned before that I tend to fall for my guy friends, or at least guys who run in the same social circle as me. As such, I don't usually display any interest in guys who may hit on me in the bar. In fact, I usually don't notice unless someone points it out to me. I tend to get wrapped up in my own little world a lot of the time anyway and when it comes to guys hitting on me, if I have no interest in them, I just don't pick up on it because I'm not looking for it.
So the other day, as a friend of mine and I were discussing our success and failures with guys, we both started realizing that both of us do get hit on more than we had originally thought. The unfortunate part is it's usually guys in bars that we don't have interest in, not guys we actually have an interest in. Both of us tend to measure if guys are interested in us by if they ask us for our number, which for both of us is not something that happens often, and when it does it usually results in nothing anyway so even that isn't a good measure of the level of interest a guy has in you.
Now neither of us have any desire to meet our significant other in a bar. And frankly, most people looking to pick up in a bar, are not looking for a relationship.
Speaking for myself, I know that I'm not someone who is going to really go after a typical alpha. In the past I've ended up crushing on the alphas who will ultimately end up turning back into the good guys they started life as. I fall for them because they can be the charmer and do the witty banter back and forth with me - but these are still guys in my social circle that I'm friends with. I ultimately get the "just friends" and they aren't looking for a relationship anyway line. Later as we become good friends, having dealt with the sexual tension and had it fizzle out, in conversations I'll get told I'd make a great girlfriend, I'm cute, hot, funny, etc. Fantastic - so what you're saying is that yeah I'm great but you want someone who is hotter. I get it already.
But my personal favourite is when, at bars - (you thought I was totally off topic again didn't you!) - these guys turn into the over protective brother type friend. One night, a buddy of mine actually completely cockblocked me. Just flat out in the middle of a club, went from watching warily to full out pulling me away and being like "Hey dance with me!" I ended up calling him out on it later and reminded him I'm a big girl and I can take care of myself. Not to mention how he'd already fed me the just friends line some time previously so unless he'd changed his mind he should back the fuck up if he sees me with a guy.
Bars/clubs are weird places to meet people anyway. They're loud and busy and you can't really have a conversation. Again - why people in bars/clubs are not really looking for a relationship past that night.
This post started out as a good idea but I kept getting distracted as I tried to write it so I have a feeling it's not particularly coherent.
Now, when I out to a bar/club, I'm going with my friends and I'm there to dance and hang out - not pick up. I've mentioned before that I tend to fall for my guy friends, or at least guys who run in the same social circle as me. As such, I don't usually display any interest in guys who may hit on me in the bar. In fact, I usually don't notice unless someone points it out to me. I tend to get wrapped up in my own little world a lot of the time anyway and when it comes to guys hitting on me, if I have no interest in them, I just don't pick up on it because I'm not looking for it.
So the other day, as a friend of mine and I were discussing our success and failures with guys, we both started realizing that both of us do get hit on more than we had originally thought. The unfortunate part is it's usually guys in bars that we don't have interest in, not guys we actually have an interest in. Both of us tend to measure if guys are interested in us by if they ask us for our number, which for both of us is not something that happens often, and when it does it usually results in nothing anyway so even that isn't a good measure of the level of interest a guy has in you.
Now neither of us have any desire to meet our significant other in a bar. And frankly, most people looking to pick up in a bar, are not looking for a relationship.
Speaking for myself, I know that I'm not someone who is going to really go after a typical alpha. In the past I've ended up crushing on the alphas who will ultimately end up turning back into the good guys they started life as. I fall for them because they can be the charmer and do the witty banter back and forth with me - but these are still guys in my social circle that I'm friends with. I ultimately get the "just friends" and they aren't looking for a relationship anyway line. Later as we become good friends, having dealt with the sexual tension and had it fizzle out, in conversations I'll get told I'd make a great girlfriend, I'm cute, hot, funny, etc. Fantastic - so what you're saying is that yeah I'm great but you want someone who is hotter. I get it already.
But my personal favourite is when, at bars - (you thought I was totally off topic again didn't you!) - these guys turn into the over protective brother type friend. One night, a buddy of mine actually completely cockblocked me. Just flat out in the middle of a club, went from watching warily to full out pulling me away and being like "Hey dance with me!" I ended up calling him out on it later and reminded him I'm a big girl and I can take care of myself. Not to mention how he'd already fed me the just friends line some time previously so unless he'd changed his mind he should back the fuck up if he sees me with a guy.
Bars/clubs are weird places to meet people anyway. They're loud and busy and you can't really have a conversation. Again - why people in bars/clubs are not really looking for a relationship past that night.
This post started out as a good idea but I kept getting distracted as I tried to write it so I have a feeling it's not particularly coherent.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Perspective
Perspective is an interesting thing. It's incredibly important in art so that your piece makes sense visually, but it can also be manipulated. Perspective is even more important in life. It gives you the ability to differentiate between what is important and what isn't so important. There's that idea that you have a jar that you put different sized rocks in, and then fill in the cracks with sand. The sand is all the little things in life that frustrate/annoy you, but the rocks are the big things to worry about.
I was visiting my grandma this weekend with my mom. As I've mentioned before, she's 92 and up until the suffering a stroke at the end of July, she lived on her own and took care of herself. Essentially one night she went to bed and everything was fine, then woke up and her whole world had changed. We've got her settled into the other nursing home now though and she's doing much better. But that week back in hospital was a major set back - I really do believe she has suffered a second stroke. The staff at this nursing home though are very much on top of things though and are making her do a lot of therapy even though she whines.
I discovered something Sunday morning though. I went to see her on my own while my mom was doing errands and she was much calmer with just me. She complained a bit, but wasn't whining. As soon as my mom showed up so the two of us could go to church up the street, grandma started whining like crazy. I'd already suspected she's more likely to behave if there's a grandkid there - after all that one weekend in the hospital when things had gone downhill, I was the only one who could get her to eat.
My mom figures I'm good with this sort of thing because I work with kids and I'm going into education as my career. It's very much a career that requires a lot of patience and people skills to be successful. While I'm not perfect, I do seem to have the skill set for it, as I've excelled in past jobs that involve working with kids. I don't put up with bullshit, but I also know when to pick my battles with kids. It's the same sort of thing with older people. They're old. They're set in their ways, etc. You need to know when to pick your battles with them. As you should with every other person you ever meet I realized.
It's something people talk about a lot when it comes to dealing with kids or romantic relationships - picking your battles. Knowing when you let go of something, or when to actually address what's bothering you. But it's the same thing with every other relationship - co-workers, friends, family, etc. You need to know when to get all worked up over something and when to just let it go.
You also need to know how to address something appropriately. Be rational and fight fair as it were. Don't come out all angry at the world and yelling because sometimes all you need to do is say "Hey, you know that thing you do? It really bothers me."
It's an interesting thing, perspective.
I was visiting my grandma this weekend with my mom. As I've mentioned before, she's 92 and up until the suffering a stroke at the end of July, she lived on her own and took care of herself. Essentially one night she went to bed and everything was fine, then woke up and her whole world had changed. We've got her settled into the other nursing home now though and she's doing much better. But that week back in hospital was a major set back - I really do believe she has suffered a second stroke. The staff at this nursing home though are very much on top of things though and are making her do a lot of therapy even though she whines.
I discovered something Sunday morning though. I went to see her on my own while my mom was doing errands and she was much calmer with just me. She complained a bit, but wasn't whining. As soon as my mom showed up so the two of us could go to church up the street, grandma started whining like crazy. I'd already suspected she's more likely to behave if there's a grandkid there - after all that one weekend in the hospital when things had gone downhill, I was the only one who could get her to eat.
My mom figures I'm good with this sort of thing because I work with kids and I'm going into education as my career. It's very much a career that requires a lot of patience and people skills to be successful. While I'm not perfect, I do seem to have the skill set for it, as I've excelled in past jobs that involve working with kids. I don't put up with bullshit, but I also know when to pick my battles with kids. It's the same sort of thing with older people. They're old. They're set in their ways, etc. You need to know when to pick your battles with them. As you should with every other person you ever meet I realized.
It's something people talk about a lot when it comes to dealing with kids or romantic relationships - picking your battles. Knowing when you let go of something, or when to actually address what's bothering you. But it's the same thing with every other relationship - co-workers, friends, family, etc. You need to know when to get all worked up over something and when to just let it go.
You also need to know how to address something appropriately. Be rational and fight fair as it were. Don't come out all angry at the world and yelling because sometimes all you need to do is say "Hey, you know that thing you do? It really bothers me."
It's an interesting thing, perspective.
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