Feeling better which is nice. Still going to spend the day in bed though. At least I can get out and go get a coffee without passing out.
Got my nurse here to hang out as wellWatched 4 corners about the school refusal last night and it resonated very strongly with me. Especially the lady who said, “If tough love worked my kid would be at school.” The parents who accused their kids of being lazy, who opened the curtains and pulled the blankets off their kids, who’ve shouted and tried to push and push… yeah I’ve done some bad parenting in the past and I’m not proud. I had to question where this was coming from within me (thanks mum and dad!) and be flexible as a parent and completely change strategies.
I’ve scheduled a meeting with Elder’s school later this week to develop a plan to get him back to school, starting with a reduced hours timetable. It’ll have to accommodate his fortnightly sessions. I’ll be asking for extra tutoring for him to help him get up to speed. He’s basically missed the whole year at this point. Whatever they can offer, I’m going to push for, and more. The squeaky wheel gets the grease!
Wishing you all the best on this fight. ♥
Thankyou ♥️
I wrote about that article yesterday lol; I was a school refuser.
You’re doing great! Advocating for your kid! Seriously, school refusing isn’t a comment on your parenting, and you’re going about this all the right ways
Sending my love and support to you and your kids 💜💜💜
I didn’t see your comment yesterday, but I just read it and it resonated with me. I also wrote about it, although I left my comment over on the news thread in c/Australia
I just read yours, and I’m so sorry. You have been through so much at such a young age.
I moved around a lot too, lived in approx 15 houses before I was an adult, and then another 3 times after that. Mostly around SE Melbourne though (The Basin, Croydon, Lysterfield, Knoxfield, etc.)Low-income family as well.
It’s traumatic, not being able to form lasting connections with your peers, and being just that slightly different from the “norm” they expect. The verbal and physical abuse is insane when you don’t “fit in” or have a sense of belonging, almost like our peers could smell it or sense it somehow. Rabid scoundrels. I read so many books, fantasy, horror, sci-fi, history, etc so it was difficult for my school to realise I needed help, they just saw me as absent but quiet and intelligent when present. Pushed me into VCE because they needed the stats for funding lol. I should have been put into the VCE Vocational, because there was no way my grades were so good as to get into Uni lol
I can say, reading your posts here and that post detailing your experiences, you are incredibly intelligent and wise (though wisdom does often cost more than it ought to); you certainly know things I didn’t at your age. You shouldn’t have had to grow up experiencing any of that, but you are a well rounded, kind human. Seriously, I’m not just saying that. As long as you are not afraid to ask for help when you need it, things will work out for you. They already seem to be and you certainly have my support! If you need help, I will do my best to assist if you ask 💜
You carry your kindness, your wisdom, and you take the silver linings from the black clouds and weave the person you want to be from those. Kindness, cleverness, intelligence, and empathy, while keeping yourself safe, will lead you to long lasting happiness and success; whatever that may look like. We are more than the sum of our past.
You got this Baku, and we’re here for you should you need us.
Thank you, stud, I appreciate it 💜
I don’t have kids and I watched it and was saddened by the experience these kids are having. I wonder why it’s on the rise. I think more proper research is needed. As someone who went to school decades ago, to me it seems like school is now a lot freerer and adaptive with more supports available than ever before, but it’s not working or having the intended effect? I imagine it’s so tough for the parents. And if a kid falls behind at school it probably just makes it even more terrifying to go, because now they might also feel shame that they aren’t at same level as the other kids. Is catch up tutoring available for those kids? Peeler you are doing great to be advocating for your kids, they are lucky to have you looking out for them.
Felt a bit insulting seeing the “the federal government has stated they will consider further research into school refusal” at the end of the 4C episode. It’s not the fucking metro tunnel, you don’t need a business case. You see a problem, you don’t know why it’s a problem or how to fix it, you order some research to figure out the root causes of the problem, and then you try to solve the problem. It’s not rocket science
I wonder why it’s on the rise
No fear of consequences
Tipping this is one of those things where I bet everyone is an expert until they actually experience it, and realize their preconceived ideas amount to approx. jack shit in the face of a stressed or defiant kid/teen.
and when law enforcement is called then often the newspapers are called and the kid who was making life hell for other students and teachers and is ruining the education and life opportunities of other kids becomes the “victim”
OH! I forgot that came out last night. I’ll have to try and watch it today.
Did it cover anything the article didn’t, or was it essentially just the article in video form?
The article basically covered the essentials but the show fleshed out the human experience side of things a bit more. It was great to hear what the kids had to say about it all. Can recommend.
Just finished watching it. It was good. It makes me happy to see that the kids featured all seem to be on a positive path though.
I had a laughing (and almost crying) fit when one of the kids described school as a zoo. That’s pretty much how I’d describe both primary school and high school, too
That zoo comment resonated with the elder minipeeler as well; he finds it’s an overwhelming cacophony, even in class, and at recess and lunch it’s even worse.
I wrote about my brother. School ( and my parents ) failed him and over the decades I’ve had a lot of time to read up on schools and to think.
Schools aren’t a democracy and they shouldn’t be run like one. They are a place where the powerful, adult teachers and staff, look after the weak. Schools have a duty to protect the weak from the predations of those who are more powerful or stronger.
Schools have the power to act to protect the weak but the schools are too cowardly, letting themselves be intimidated by enablers and perpetrators of abuse.
Schools should not administer justice, if a crime happens they should call the police. Parents should call the police too. Too often schools don’t want to involve the law but this only plays into the hands of perpetrators.
The DoE knows all this and has guidelines and rules but cowardly school admin don’t follow laws and regs. School admin and teachers prefer that kids suffer, that perps get away with it than deal with hassles ie doing what has to be done to protect kids.
It’s not just indifference, schools often create conditions that encourage bullying and perpetrate it themselves. Ranging from little things like letting kids pick teams and groups, to big things like dress up days - which I’m sure are great fun for kids who have creative parents that make them fabulous costumes to show off, but for the kids who don’t have any support and are left trying to cobble together something on their own with no resources those sorts of things are a nightmare. It would be so simple to improve these things with a bit of thought. Change the way teams are selected. Don’t allow any assignments or activities that rely on parental involvement or having any particular type of family. If schools want to do dress up days they can do it as a group activity, costumes can be a shared resource not platform for kids to see who has the best parents.
Free dress day was so embarrassing, I ended up just going in the uniform anyway (and was still bullied, wtf!)
This reminds me of a conversation with a colleague who was a seasoned ex teacher. They said that their options to address anti social behaviours in the classroom had been declining and as a result the behaviours increased, with some kids seeing the opportunity to dish out disruption and abuse with no consequences. Parents would always defend the kids. Parents of the victims forced to change schools rather than the bullying being addressed. Anyway they quit teaching. I imagine the stress for teachers is fuelling some of the teacher shortage. The bad behaviour affects them too.
my potato broccoli cheese soup was most motivating
please may I have some of your motivation to make dinner
have the soup for dinner instead
🧅🥕🥦🥔🧀🥛🥣
thank you I have absorbed the intention of the soup and done roast fennel and baked fish in THE OVEN, that most foreign and unknown device
It helps warm the house as well as your cockles
Got offered a role in Sydney for insane money. Can’t do it though, spewing it’s not Melbourne based.
Argh! Would you not consider moving at all? (I mean don’t, Sydney sucks, but insane money is tempting…)
There’s gotta be a good role coming for you soon! The fact that you’re still getting offers is 100% worth keeping in mind
Honestly I’m thinking about it. Hopefully they can let me commute once a fortnight and do the rest remote… But you’re right, getting considered for these roles is a great sign!
settled on pumpkin soup for lunch. It was ok, but for 14 bucks for a bowl of soup and 2 pieces of multigrain bread I can probably make it at home cheaper and have more serves.
Good soup is not cheap to make, minestrone especially. And then there is time and rent.
The big problem is our wages have stagnated so much the past few decades everyday items are becoming unaffordable.
I don’t know, pumpkin isn’t too expensive on special. Chicken isn’t too bad when drumsticks are on special. A poor soup is still pretty cheap. But a fancy one with tons of ingredients? absolutely.
Pumpkin is not the only ingredient. There is cream, cheese, a stock cube or stock, onion, garlic, black pepper, salt, carrot, potato, turmeric
minestrone with meat balls costs me $25 to make and a solid 1 hour of work , makes about 15 big serves
Your pumpkin soup is very different to mine.
it’s still 85% pumpkin
Mine too.
so tell us your recipes
For pumpkin soup I follow Margaret Fulton’s recipe which is onion, pumpkin, bit of flour, stock, warm milk and butter. Toppings: cream or sour cream, chives, coriander, chilli or bacon. For extras: potato, cumin, nutmeg, thai curry, ginger, garlic etc. I rarely use butternut. I use whatever pumpkin is the cheapest.
The price of soup is outta control! I paid $15 recently for a very average minestrone (honestly, the canned one’s better). Always wanted to run a business that was just soups and stews and nothing else, done well and cheap.
Seinfeld may have made an episode about something like that.
If you want to make it unique, have an option to serve it trenchers (bread bowls). Eat the soup, eat the bowl after
Would 100% be a customer of such a business.
I used to freeze leftover soup in containers then I worked out it was easier to buy those sistema cups with a lid when they’re half price and freeze soup in those. Always handy to have on days like this.
yeah I’m not confident I’d trust a cup like that in my bag if I’m being totally honest. But i guess if its frozen its less likely to be a disaster.
You can get Smash soup cups and they are super leak proof but if you are worried you can put the cup in a large zip lock bag.
yeah that might be the way to do it.
Get the good ones. The double zip lock bags.
I used to freeze things in ice cube trays (small amounts), large muffin trays (lumps or discs that defrost quickly), or in Chinese food containers/glass containers (full serve).
If you froze soup in muffin trays and popped the frozen blocks out into a big ziploc in the freezer, you could pull out a few and whack them in a pyrex jug in the microwave while you got ready. Then pour it into a proper secure thermos and chuck a bread roll in a brown paper bag.
My mum’s recipe for pumpkin soup is frying onion and garlic in olive oil, adding water + 1-2 chicken stock cubes depending on size, then simmering the chunks of pumpkin and blending it smooth. Pretty cheap version. Also consider cockaleekie soup with leftover chicken and lots of potato, or chicken or beef soup padded out with veg and barley.
Edit: You could also slap a slice of cheese between bread for a quick dippable cheese sandwich, to keep you fuller with the vegetable soups.
Oooooh, I like this too!
fun fact: reusable breast milk freezer bags don’t have to just be for boob milk. Great for portioning out little side soups.
It had only been around 6 hours into a cross country trip. Slow hum of the desert and a lonely dark highway road made the travel quite boring. Since my mate was driving, I nodded off a bit and fell into an uncomfortable sleep. I remember being catapulted out of a dream to see we had crossed the painted line and into the oncoming traffic.
“What are you doing!?!” I shouted !
“I’m CRASHING!!” replied the driver, as he over corrected and sent us off-road. The vehicle flipped several times and landed butter side up. We had come to rest before I fully realised what transpired. Car was totaled.
We both walked away unscathed and purchased airline tickets the next day. We needed to be en route.
🫨
Question: who butters their car?
I have a Kerrygold fetish
Stomach rant
Ugh. I’ve been in severe pain for so long and have barely been able to eat. I really miss it. My current gastros haven’t been taking me seriously so I’m waiting on new ones. However I’ve just got a new physio with experience in rare disabilities and they’ve floated a potential cause to explore.
Finally found a really good astronomy podcast - AstronomyCast - and it has hundreds of episodes. I tried StarTalk and sorta hated it because I find deGrasse Tyson to be a bit of a dick. I’m up to episode 25 - how galaxies are formed. Thinking about this stuff blows my mind all the time.
Especially the mind-blowing scale of everything - puts it all in perspective really
So looks like Bonza airline is going to go bust. Honestly apart from flying routes without the required critical mass, maybe if their branding wasn’t a complete joke with cringe Aussie jingoism they might have done better. Just sayin.
Not a good news story, we need more competition in domestic aviation. But I feel like Bonza never stood a chance. Strange route choices and being forced to book via an app, among other issues.
TBH, I’d fly with Satan Airlines if they were a viable 3rd party competitor. But Satan airlines needs to be going where I’m going. Bonza never did.
Maybe I should start an airline called Jezebel Airways.
Prometheus transport.
But Satan airlines needs to be going where I’m going.
Hahaha. Pretty much where most of us are headed…
I just didn’t feel like they had a very good model to begin with. I had to download their app to look to at their availability and pricing. That didn’t help. The app was terrible.
I can’t remember what happened to Tiger Air, but that was okay as far as that lasted for budget airlines. I don’t remember it being as hard to find or book a flight with them.
Minicalhoon2 was taught the Dm chord by her uke teacher today. They said he called it the saddest chord.
The news has been so triggering, but I keep reading and commenting and getting into silly Internet fights like an idiot.
personal and raw feelings>
The endless conflicts, the brutalisation of minorities, the disgusting vitriol that internet boys perpetuate, the trolls, the abuse of women, the not listening to women, the pain of a lost childhood, the pain of lost 20s.
I can feel my soul spiralling, my brain shutting down like a rusted motor, sputtering, coughing up a malaise that falls heavy upon my heart and my stomach. A suffocating veil over my eyes, so all I can see is the hate and the pain, and all I can feel is loss. I’ve grieved so much, about so much, how can I keep grieving? What more can I lament? Must I be so sensitive, so raw, as to feel a slight scratch as an open wound, gushing my energy out into a cold, deaf void?
I must take a break, focus on something else entirely.
I must take a break, focus on something else entirely.
yes
I’ve stopped listening to news and news based podcasts and psych podcasts , it is taking a while to recalibrate my focus but I can already feel myself be less anxious
I absolutely fell down a rabbit-hole the other week. It’s… not great. The feeling of helplessness does not very good things to my soul, so I have move my attentions elsewhere.
It’s so easy to spiral into despair. Got to take care of yourself.
lol. I’m getting pushed out by a cuddly little bed hog
When I dare move mine, the look of utter hurt and contempt makes me feel so bad…
Those damn bed hogs are lucky they’re cute.
Passed out for four hours from 5pm to 9pm, like, legit passed out lol. Struggled to sleep the rest of the night. My lymph nodes seem to be working double time; both my pits and my throat are very painful.
(Always look) On the bright side, puss has been snoozing on my legs all night. Even when I’m restless, he’ll jump off but come back as soon as I settled. He’s a gem 🐈💎
Might be time to visit a doctor.
I’ll give them a call when they open, I think. I have a low income HCC so I can get the appt bulk billed thank fuck
Breakfast 🍏🍎🍐🍊🍋🍈🫐🍓🍇🍉🍌🍒🍑🥭🍍🥥🥦🥑🫛🍆🍅🥝🥬🥒🌽🥕🥐🍠🫚🥔🧅🥯🍞🥖🥨🧀🧇🥞🧈🍳🥚🥓🥩🍗🍖🫓🍕🍟🍔🌭🥙🧆🌮🌯🥗🍲🍜🍝🥘🍛🍣🍱🥟🦪🍥🍘🍚🍙🐠🍤🪼🦀🐙 🍗🥮🍢🍡🍧🍰🧁🥧🍦🍨🎂🍮🍭🍬🍫🥜🌰🍪🍿🍯🥛☕️🍵🍺🍶🥤🧋🧃🥂🍷🥃🍸🍹🧉🔋o
A mixture of sugar and used coffee grounds, sprinkled on bread. Like some sort of demented fairy bread. Maybe we could call it goblin bread?
I’d hate to see my teeth after that 😬
I asked AI to create a picture of what that would look like. I don’t think it quite got what I meant.
Hmm something seems off about this photo. Can’t quite put my finger on it.🤔
Lobster hands
The hands are weird. Worthy of Artemisia Gentileschi. Especially the thumb where the forefinger should be on the left hand. The right hand is a bit odd too.
🍬⌛️
🍞Thankyou. Interesting texture. Slightly gritty, but very sweet and energising.
Um… Can I have something that’s like… Not used coffee grounds?
🥓🍳🧀🌯☕️
Thanks 'con
Bacon & eggs on toast please, with coffee. Such a chilly morning, and probably a grey day.
🥓🍳🍳
🍞☕️
Used coffee grounds. Mmm
⌛️
Ham and cheese omelette on-top of rice and veg please (extra cheesy)
🍖🧀🥚🥚
🍚🥬🫛🧀🧀
Good night sleep tight 🥰
GN SG
