Friday, January 18, 2008

Three of us not at our best..

Alhamdulilllah.
I have finally got round to posting about the egg and chips game with H (and M). I did take some photos but the camera has disappeared in the mess somewhere. Anyhow they were much the same as on UmmRashid’s blog. At first H carefully arranged the eggs and chips, as if he was giving them out for supper (i.e. more chips than eggs), although each with 6 items. Then I reminded him of them each having to be different. For a minute or so he seemed baffled, but then it was just like seeing the light bulb above the head in cartoons, he realised what to do. He did just copy out the plates for his recording and thought just lines were a good way of showing chips (which certainly was).
Apart from that I have been mostly ferrying kids hither and thither and sleeping in between. I’m feeling like baby is having a growth spurt. I feel full v quickly when eating my meals, I suppose the room inside is reducing.
Spent most of Tuesday trying to find out why M’s leg had suddenly seized up and he couldn’t straighten it and thus could not walk. Poor boy, he was hopping everywhere. 3 departments later and no conclusion. Now he’s almost better, alhamdulillah so I guess it was just some sort of muscle spasm.
S’s been off 2 days with a stomach ache which seems to exist during school hours.
As well as the baby growing I think my exhaustion now is due to the early starts every morning for the school run. I’ve managed not to moan about it so far, but here it is. Yesterday I was looking in the bathroom mirror at my tired face and thinking if anything this is one reason to home educate. Even if we got up around the same time, the lack of pressure to be somewhere at a certain time and drive the car through the traffic (admittedly v calm compared to the UK) would not tire me out so much I think. People might say, 'But you have to learn to get somewhere on time, early in the morning when you get a job'. Well I did that for quite a while when I was working as well as in my school years and it’s still hard. When you have to do it , you do it, If your plane leaves at 6 am invariably you’ll make it. But until the sun gets up before 7 am I’m going to feel crud getting up in the dark.
And for what? The amount of work I’ve been given for them to complete when they've been off sick has only taken them about 15 minutes to complete. What do they do the rest of the time? Learn how to queue in an orderly line and how to put other people down maybe. S was called ‘Harry Potter’ on the bus last week. Not a particularly insulting comment, but S didn’t like it. It was apparently because he has dark hair and pale skin?? (he doesn’t wear glasses). Anyhow, I’ve been given official permission to keep M at home one morning next month when the class is going on a trip to the dance theatre which I thought was inappropriate.

3 comments:

'EF' said...

*firing up* who has said this to you:

"People might say, 'But you have to learn to get somewhere on time, early in the morning when you get a job'."

Give me their name and addresses, I would like to have a word (or two) with them.

*ahem* excuse me. But you have got a job, and doing very well at it you are.

I often feel pangs of guilt on the days when I take advantage of not having to do very early starts, by the time I have risen on those days (which I admit is not the 5.45 am we rose at every single day without exception to rush about for school) the kids have been pottering, drawing, making educational messes (Ash's latest involving green beans, two litres of milk and some yoghurt) and all sorts.

The hardest time for me doing those early morn school things was when I was pregnant with Ash, it just gets too much to live by that kind of schedule. And I was at college then too.

This morning off a week might be a good way to redress the balance somewhat.

UmSuhayb b David said...

I was actually preempting the comment. Maybe as people may think school is good for getting children used to sitting behind desks all day, or when a midwife said to me during an appointment when one of my little ones was becoming fidgety (she had no toys or anything in her room) 'They have to get used to being bored sometimes you know'
Then said child went and scribbled onher desk, with a pen, ha ha! Should ve seen the look on her face;)

ummrashid said...

There is a lot to be said for learning to manage your own time and still getting things done!
When J and R went to nursery J always had invisible stones in his shoes all the way there.