All posts filed under: Education

The way people see you…

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I have been down with a throat infection for more than a week. That sort of blunted some of my senses while sharpening others. I can’t smell or taste much because my nose has been blocked for so long. On the other hand, my sense of appreciation or dissatisfaction have sharpened. It makes me feel warm inside when people ask how I’m feeling and makes me angry when I’m being told bluntly that I’ll be all right in a few more days. But I’m a lucky girl: I had a friend making white tea and a very tasty picnic for us yesterday; on top of that her lovely boys entertained and kept my toddler safe while we were having a yarn. Best picnic ever since I had a child!!As I write hubby has taken charge of Emms and taken her to church so I can lie down for a couple of hours. Bliss!! As I said, some of my other senses have sharpened and this morning hubby and I had a very philosophical chat about …

Compelled by His loving kindness…

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I haven’t posted in absolute ages. I had little to say. Little made sense to my mind in the last couple of weeks. You see, things haven’t been right with us for a while…Who am I kidding? For a long time. Forever. The way we started wasn’t right. It wasn’t how God had intended it. But I didn’t think He would mind. After all, I was trying to build a family and He loves and blesses families, right? Right?? So a harsh word here and an out of proportion reaction there weren’t going to matter. Except for the fact that I was trying to build a life outside His will. On the other side of the barricades, someone else was trying to build business(es)  in order to support his family. And God loves enterprising people, right? Right?? So a late night here and a weekend spent solely working there weren’t going to matter. Except for the fact that he was trying to build a business outside His will. It took Him five and a half …

I’m not gonna raise my child to be an achiever!

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I know something the prince never knew: One day she will be gone… I know, I know, I’m a scandalous mum, right? The other day I came upon a short article in “Daily Mail” that touched upon the subject. Following a study in a number of families over a number of years (you wouldn’t expect me to remember data, would you, I’m a philologist!) they concluded that parents who had taught their offsprings to be”go-getters” had set them for failure, not for success! Children whose upbringing centered on getting results, always be at the top and feeling good ONLY when they had another achievement to tuck into their belt didn’t have the ABILITY or KNOW HOW to relate to people, form meaningful attachments and rely on friends when things went wrong…Basically, they hadn’t been taught there is a social aspect to life. Right, before you jump up and say this is silly nonsense( and you would if you were raised to be an achiever and you feel threatened!), let me tell you that I live …

Potty training in two days!!

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Okay, it should read one actually because she stayed dry till evening when she needed a poo but daddy was in the toilet and mummy was busy downstairs. She tried to let us know but a long habit of doing it in her pants won over. Anyway… Yes, my toddler is potty trained!! She’s two and four months. Some would say I should have done it sooner, some books advocate toddler led potty training and advise leaving it till the toddler is nearly three. Any mum out there with a bit of sense about herself would tell you that it will happen…when it happens! We have had several unsuccessful attempts before but we never made a big deal of them. I thought she will learn one day and it’s no point making her feel rubbish just because she’s not ready yet. You see, I don’t believe in “one rule suits all” or guilt trips. They are set by people who have nothing better to do with their time: childless nannies, busy body grannies…etc. I believe …

Movie Review: Doubt

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Doubt… We watched the movie last Saturday and it kept us awake into the small hours of the morning. The story line is quite flat, just like bad gossip: a superior nun,who’s also the principal of this Catholic school, suspects a newly appointed priest of inappropriate behaviour towards one of the pupils. She doesn’t have any evidence, only a few incidents brought to her attention by an eager and easily impressed young nun. But she convinces herself and everybody else involved that the priest has wronged the child somehow and makes him leave the school and the parish. The movie is on the other hand brilliant in exploring the human mind and its intricacies: it makes the viewer aware of how easily a “reality” can be created out of suspicion and self-justification.  As, indeed, nothing is explained in the end and the viewer is left battling a sea of endless possibilities and scenarios. Was the reality Sister Aloysius Beauvier constructed veritable or was it all in her head and she  blamed an innocent man? Or …