07 January 2009
Oh yeah, Happy New Year already. I’ve been slack, right ?

I’m not one for resolutions, probably because I’m only motivated for about the first five minutes after the date changes or more likely because I think I am perfect just the way I am and feel no need to change. In either case I’ll not hand out empty promises to blog more or plan on loosing X pounds. Who cares. I surely don’t, and chances are you don’t either.

Anyway, a quick update. August ended fairly well. Monkey the First was quite happy to head back to school, and Pooplette was quite happy to go along with him. This led to disaster right after, as apparently our idea of going to school didn’t quite gel with the school’s idea of accepting her. This was a fairly savage battle on all fronts. Pooplette was born eleven days after their stupid arbitrary cut-off date, and while the school has a low enough number of students that they were happy to have her, they were only happy to have her for half a day. We found this out the Saturday before school started, so our plans of having our afternoons somewhat freer came a screeching halt. And on top of that, the girl, who had spent the previous year watching her brother go off to school morning and afternoon, found it a bit difficult to accept. She’d watch her brother and classmates return to school after lunch, then come home with me to scream the afternoon away, throwing tantrums the likes of which we’d never seen (she even broke the door to their bedroom from throwing herself against it). When we tried to speak with the powers that be, we were told that we should just be happy they were taking her at all. Not the thing to say, people, not at all. So, after stomping our feet and screaming (me), and crying (me again) we got them to accept her all day long—our thinking being that she’s advanced for her age in any case and for fuck’s sake ELEVEN DAYS right?. Since then she’s been tested, and on an intellectual level she’s significantly ahead of the pack. However, the School Shrink (who Marc and I both seem to like, even if he’s … well, he’s a shrink, right?) thinks she’ll be better off waiting another year because she’s not as mature as she could be. Meaning? Well, she’s a loner, doesn’t feel comfortable with her classmates, prefers to hang out with the adults, or, when possible, her brother and his friends. I won’t go into what I really think of this assessment, because it will just get me all worked up again, but we’ve decided to be patient, and next year, should we get the same reaction from her because she doesn’t feel she’s where she belongs, we’ll kick and scream and yell some more. In the meantime….

The third child is growing, and no, we still don’t know how. She still eats next to nothing, and I have honestly given up trying. If she eats, she eats, if not, well, she’s not going to let herself starve, right? She’s doing well, and is having a blast at the crèche, where we leave her four days a week now.

Wait, four days? YES! Because I’m not around that much anymore! And it’s lovely. I’ve been drug back to work. In October, the sexy neighbors the people who have the house next to the Shit Heap On The Hill came to see me, to ask me to please call the principal at the college their son attends because the English teacher is out, had been out for three weeks at that point, and they were desperate. So I called. And was asked to come in immediately for an interview—immediately being the time it took me to drive over. And I got hired, because, YES, they are that hard up for English teachers here. So in the middle of November I became a middle school English teacher. And a week or two later, they added on a couple of high school classes, and I’m regretting that decision already, because one of them is as horrible as a class can get without weapons.

This little job thing has had several knock-off effects, of course. Not the least of these is that Mr. ManThing is finally getting a dose of what it means to be a parent. I’ll admit that the first couple of weeks were rather difficult, between me figuring out the ropes, and Marc’s constant grumbling (because, damn, if class starts at 1 o’clock, why should I leave here 45 minutes ahead of that if I’ve only got a ten minute drive, right?). But things have settled down, and I have to say I’m rather proud of the way he’s handled everything. Oh, he still grumbles, but I think he’s finally realized it’s not all fun stuff staying around the kids all day.

And we made it through Christmas fairly unscathed. We’re starting to come together with the whole Santa gift thing, and it’s good. And I didn’t have to answer the question ‘Why didn’t Santa bring you anything, mama?’ this year, either. Now all I have to do is figure out a way of getting us out of the afternoon at the in-laws and Christmas can be really good.

Anyway, that’s the news from here. Ciao!
 
posted by Doc at 16:40 | Permalink |


14 Comments:


  • At 18:07, Blogger juliwalters

    Wow, congrats! It is great to see a post from you and I am glad it is something so positive that kept you.

     
  • At 04:39, Anonymous Anonymous

    Welcome back! Happy New Year,glad to hear that you're all ok and that things are going well for you.

     
  • At 11:16, Blogger christine

    Happy New Year Doc. Glad all is well. It's nice to hear what you've been up to lately :)

     
  • At 16:28, Blogger Epiphany

    Yayy! You're back!
    It's great to hear from you, Doc!
    I've missed you.

     
  • At 17:31, Blogger Peggy ritchie

    Welcome back and Congratulations on your job. Teaching can be exhausting, especially with a hellish classes. (I just told myself no 14 year old kid would give me a sleepless night. It worked most of the time.)

     
  • At 01:18, Blogger glenda

    Yayaa- your back and Happy New year to you

     
  • At 10:33, Anonymous Anonymous

    Hi & a Very Happy New Year to you all. I've missed reading your blog (I'm new to this blog reading - but love yours - keep it up!!!).

    Good luck with the teaching.

    Breegke

     
  • At 06:07, Anonymous Anonymous

    Yaaay!!! Welcome back Doc! Missed reading ya!

    Congrats on the gig and I look forward to reading about your adventures @ home and in class in 2009.

    Happy New Year!

    Robin

     
  • At 11:35, Blogger Papadesdeux

    ...repeat above comments.
    A little good news goes a long way.
    And a note to the gods to please keep it that way.

     
  • At 07:35, Anonymous Anonymous

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  • At 10:38, Blogger J.

    Congrats on the job...It's nice to check back on links I've had since my Sarajevo days and see what people are up to! (Are you an English teacher by training? That's one of the jobs I was offered in BiH, and I felt horribly unprepared. Speaking English and teaching English? So different!!!)

     
  • At 12:51, Blogger The Late Bloomer

    Hey Doc dear, I've been away from blogging nearly as long as you were, and I've been trying NOT to feel guilty about it -- but then of course I tend to feel guilty about EVERYTHING, and that's my problem! So happy to read your update here and to know that you've been enjoying (well, that's a relative term, right?) the teaching gig.

    Things may be changing around here imminently as well, as my boy's job situation is disastrous and will probably come to a head any day now... So we may be heading out to the provinces ourselves! And I'm going to need some help figuring out what the heck I'm going to be doing in the future...

    On a sidenote, Emma is doing great -- aside from the crappy cold she's struggling with right now! She can thank her momma for that one... ARGH, the guilt again!

     
  • At 13:07, Blogger cadie

    Nice article. intersting to read. Thanks for sharing your information with us.

     
  • At 13:51, Anonymous Jasmine White

    It is Great to read a n article, and congrates for sharing a static informative details with around day today users.......
    Keep going & Happy New Year!!
    Thanks & Regards
    Jasmine White