Shangri-La Revisited

A lifetime ago, when the Hubby and I were just starting out, we lived in a small but lovely one-bedroom apartment that was on the ground level of a two-storey walk-up. The building was from the 1930's so it was a pretty tight fit. However, outside, there was a fabulous green courtyard that was ours for the using. So use it we did. Our second summer there, we set up a kiddie pool (ostensibly for Mojo) and a little table and chair set and we spent as much time out there as possible (which, as a teacher, was a lot for me!). We invited our friends over for drinks and toe dipping and called it Shangri-La. It was awesome. For a summer spent in a cramped, un-air conditioned apartment, it was maybe the best summer ever.

Now that we are homeowners, it seems to me that we have been trying to recreate our own little bit of Shangri-La once again. We have the freshly lined pool (somewhat larger than the original blow-up) and our recently repaired fence, which affords us considerably more privacy than we had at the apartment! (people had to walk by us going to and from their cars in the parking lot!) And of course, no backyard would be complete without the table and chairs (including a small one for the kids).

Our current project is working to replace the ugly and poorly placed (though admittedly very useful) green shed which houses the pool equipment with a nicer one at the back of the lot to make space in which we can once again, drink with our friends pool-side.

The re-creation of Shangri-La has been slow and laborious - finding extra money for these (luxury) items has been difficult. But I am determined. Little by little the transformation is taking place. We started small with the creation of the vegetable garden (free) which actually provides us with some edible fare each year, then the pool and fence repairs, now the shed. One day it will be the oasis that I've always dreamed it could be, until then, we'll simply have to continue enjoying what we've got!

Counting Blessings

Well, now that school is done for the year, I can get back to blogging! I didn't know it at the time, but I've been looking forward to the summer holiday (unpaid though it may be!) all semester long. On the good side, things moved very quickly this semester, and before I knew it, it was exam time. I can only attribute this to the huge amounts of work going on at both school and home....see video from Father's Day for evidence:

It never ceases to amaze me the progress that the kids make from day to day, even. They are growing up so fast and it's difficult to take it all in sometimes. I can't begin to describe the difficulty of balancing an effective and fulfilling work experience with an effective and fulfilling parenting experience - and that's to say nothing about being a wife or an individual! But time marches on and I haven't gotten too many complaints lately, so I must have done a reasonably good job...As you can see, the kids are GENIUSES:

Okay, well, genius might be a strong word...but they are VERY entertaining and I could do with a little entertainment these days.

Dirty Work

There aren't words to describe how I feel about staff meetings. I doubt that much needs to be said. I know that everybody that has at least one co-worker probably has to have similar meetings. But it's just that they never seem to come with good news. Today was no exception. Among other, less depressing but more annoying things, I learned that a student at my school, for some reason or another, told the principal that she was going to step in front of a car (our school being conveniently located at a major intersection), and then she did. And guess what? She got hit by that car. No word yet as to whether or not she's okay, but I think it goes without saying that regardless of any broken bones, she's not really okay.

After that pick-me-up meeting, I got a note from one of our VPs that informed me that one of my grade 10's had a parent who was fatally ill, was going in for surgery this week and might not survive the procedure. Would I please take this into consideration if attendance, attitude or work completion became an issue? P.S. She doesn't know I know, so keep my mouth shut about it.

This kid's dad is dying - I don't know why she's even at school. Again, words fail me. Time and time again, I am reminded of how what happens in my cramped and dirty classroom is only a tiny fraction of what is going on in the lives of some of my students. How am I supposed to make Life of Pi or Hamlet seem important to these kids? Should I even bother?

It's times like these that I wonder at my friends and colleagues whose job it is to counsel these kids through times of trial. I know that their job is vastly different from my job and I marvel at how they don't through themselves off a bridge at the negativity of it all. I LOVE my job. It brings me a so many kinds of joy, but what is the joy in their job? I know some of you are reading this and you have answers for me, so please, after a day of wiping sh*t off of your office walls, what do you do to make your day feel better? Does it always involve a bottle of wine? Do you hug your kids and your cats and thank God that your life isn't as bad of some of these students' lives?

I guess in the end, we all feel like what we do is important to our kids and that's what gives our work meaning. Cudos to you guys for doing that very dirty work. You should be excused from at least one staff meeting each month!

Just Another Day In Paradise

Warning: Going to work may be hazardous to my health.

Two weeks ago today, I arrived at work and was called into an emergency staff meeting. We were informed that a student at our school had invited people on her facebook page to join her at a protest out front of our school at the beginning of last period that day. The principal informed us that he believed that this was due to some misunderstanding on the student's part (no thanks to his bumbling communication skills no doubt) and that he would be meeting with the parties involved during a meeting at lunch.

By the end of the day, we were in lock-down due to a bomb threat. Yes, that's right. While it's true that the protest situation had been diffused over lunch, it seems that some bright young man was so disappointed about the lack of a mass student walk-out that he phoned in a bomb threat after lunch. Good thing he had his cell phone with him!

So while we all waited in our classrooms, doors locked, blinds drawn, (those of us who are lucky enough to having functioning window-coverings in our classrooms that is) we waited for the bomb-sniffing dogs to arrive from Peel (yep, Peel, because the Toronto dogs were on their day off - I swear, I'm not kidding.) and roughly two hours later, approximately 15 minutes after the end of the school day and school week, two police officers guided by a very unfortunate teacher (a retiree doing sub work no less!) knocked on all of the classroom doors and escorted the students out of the building. No, not the teachers, just the students. We, lucky souls that we are, had yet another staff meeting.

In the end, there was no real cause for concern. No bomb was found and the only harm done was to the already frayed nerves of some of the teachers - not because of the bomb, but because they were stuck in their classrooms for hours with their students without having prepared anything to do! The next time somebody makes a joke to me about having the summer off, I'm going to lock them in a room with 30 teenagers and nothing to do and see if they need a break at the end of it!

Needless to say, my colleagues and I all headed immediately for the local watering hole after we were cut loose from the school. When I got back to work on Monday, it was. business as usual.

And some people think teachers have it easy!

Liar, Liar, Shoes on Fire

So it's been an embarrassingly long time since I've posted, but that's because I've been busy working and wifing and parenting.

There have been some changes since my last post. The Chimp has started walking in earnest now, though she still seems to prefer crawling, since it's still the quickest way for her to get around. God bless her, she waited until the March Break when her dad and I would be home with her to do it. No, we didn't catch it on camera, but we were both there to see it.

She's also developed a (strange) preference for using the toilet. I don't know a lot of kids who started using the toilet before the age of 2 (she's 14 months old now) although I know it's not unusual, it still seems a bit odd to me. She won't ask for it, but she's much more likely to go if she's sitting on it - and I have to admit, it's a much tidier clean-up afterward.

She's also talking quite a bit more than she was before, although she doesn't always tell the truth as you can see in the video.




All in all, we're making good progress around here. We've settled into a schedule and the kids are both doing fine. Spring is starting to spring around here and I could not be more excited about it. It's going to be great when we can start heading out of the house together again as a family!

HI-HO, HI-HO

Well, yesterday marked the end of my first full week back at work and I know that some of you have been wondering how it went. The short answer is that it went pretty well. Here's the long answer:

Two weeks prior to my return date, we started doing practice drop-offs at my mum's place, so that both the Chimp and I could get used to the idea of getting up at the crack of dawn and heading out of the house to spend the day apart. I can't express how much easier this was knowing that the baby was going to be with my mother. My parents have generously offered to be our daycare for the first year or so and there's no greater gift they could have given me. The Chimp loves being there and I'm pretty sure that my folks love having her - and of course I don't have to leave in tears and spend the day wondering if she's alright - win, win all round. I am concerned about the things that I may be missing while I'm at work - first steps and all that, but there's just not that much that can be done about it. I know that she's in good hand and as long as she takes those first steps, that's what counts - sure I'd like to be there to see them, but if I'm not, I'll be there for the next ones - I don't think she'll hold it against me.

So two weeks before the new semester, I headed into the school to get my stuff organized and ready for the first week, but when I got there, somebody was in my desk - ha! So I did what I could and came back again the next week (grudgingly, I might add). But I pulled things together and when the new semester started last Friday, I was good to go.

I thought that what I missed most about working was seeing my friends. You know how it is - a good group of co-workers can make a huge difference in any work situation, and my colleagues are pretty darn good.

As it turns out though, what I actually missed the most was the kids - go figure! Over the course of the week I have come to remember my pity for anybody who doesn't get to spend their day surrounded by teenagers - here was my A-ha! moment:

Wednesday morning, we are walking down a crowded hall, returning to the classroom after an assembly and one of my grade 12 boys, in passing, says: "Hey Mr. Warrener, What's poppin'?"

Now if you work in an office environment, and there's a guy you work with who says stuff like that, I'm willing to bet he's either creepy or annoying, but in this context, I suddenly felt a joy like I had not felt in a long, long while. I missed these kids! They are funny and interesting and challenging and just....I don't know, really great - even the one's who suck are pretty good.

I realize a lot of what I'm feeling is akin to the honeymoon phase of a marriage, but I'll take it. I've been teaching for close to 10 years now, and any resurgence in the happiness I felt when I first started teaching is a welcome change. Especially now that we (teachers) are, once again, in a position to be judged by the public.

I don't want to air dirty laundry online, but I will say this. Anybody who listens to the media and believes what they hear about teachers and the current contract negotiations is naive and grossly over-estimates the honour of the current administration. School boards, like other big businesses play dirty games and use the media and the public's lack of knowledge to their advantage whenever they can. Teacher's do the best they can despite the people in charge - please don't ever doubt that.

But I digress...

This week was a great start back to work for me. Yes, it took a lot of work. Yes, I am very fortunate to have a loving and very helpful family (including the Hubby and Mojo!) and Yes, fatigue is cumulative and I would like very much to face-plant into my bed for the entire weekend and not get up until Monday....but life goes on and I'm looking forward to going back to work next week....let's just hope I still feel that way 3 weeks from now!

An Open Letter...

Dear self-absorbed jack-ass,

Let me begin by saying that I do not believe myself to be one of those people who thinks that others owe them something. I'm a pretty hard worker and I try to be fair and courteous when I can. That's why, when I am looking for a place to park my car, and I see your GIANT luxury SUV (for all that all-terrain, city driving you do) parked carelessly in one-and-a-half parking spaces - well, it makes me irate. Ditto, to you, the tiny sports car driver, whose car is so important, that you must park DIAGONALLY in two spots, just to make sure that none of us commoners park too closely to you.

While I'm at it, perhaps I'll address the, almost certainly senior citizen, who parks his ancient Lincoln Continental, TWO INCHES from my car, thereby making it impossible to open the door far enough to get myself out, never mind extract my kid from her car seat - thanks for taking notice!

In addition, all you able-bodied people, who walk with your heads...well, down, if not up your arse, who feel that the ramps provided for those who travel with wheels (i.e. wheelchairs, walkers, and yes, strollers) are there for your convenience, and will not step out of the way if one of those slower-moving people happens to need them as well - F- you! You are an assh*le. I know it's not always obvious when a person has need of those ramps, but more often than not, it is the handicapped and elderly that make way for the jerks who are using them, so it's not hard to tell who has manners and who thinks they are more important than everyone else.

I suppose if you're in such a rush that you can't use the stairs, then you're probably too busy to stop and hold a door open for somebody who could use an extra hand as well. I'm sure we all understand.

But just so you understand - YOU ARE A PRICK. May Karma do it's worst to you...after all, you've earned it.

As The Sands Of The Hourglass....

When I was a student teacher doing my practicum, my professor came to observe and evaluate my teaching. Afterward, we sat down and discussed what he'd seen and it was at that time that I got what I considered the very best professional compliment I could get from a colleague. He said, and I'm paraphrasing here, that my love of teaching was obvious and that it seemed to him that I would gladly do it, even some of the time, for free.

During my career so far, there have indeed been times when I felt like I would do the job for free. Not every day, but some. I have been lucky to find my calling and a job which provides me with joy, pride and purpose.

But today the Chimp is one year old, and as the clock winds down on my time at home with her, I feel very strongly that, when I go back to work on the 30th, it will largely be for the money. Because I don't need my job for joy, pride or purpose anymore - the Chimp gives me all of those things and more.

I am crushed that I won't be able to spend the day with her anymore. I am sad that I will likely miss many of the next milestones for her and that when I do get home from work that our time together will be marred by the stress I feel over my job.

I am nervous, also, that my work will simply not seem as important to me as it once did, and that I won't be able to live up to the standards that I ( and my co-workers ) have come to expect from myself. I would be very disappointed indeed to find that I am no longer worthy of my job.

But in the mean time, while I psych myself out, the Chimp is chugging along. She is hilariously expressive - I've never seen a 1 year old with so much eyebrow movement! Although she has only a handful of words, she is remarkably effective at communicating her needs and feelings. As luck would have it, she is a very happy baby. She loves "reading" her books and will hold one out for me to read for quite a bit longer than it would have taken her to bring over to me, but the mountain must always come to Mohammad - she refuses to budge. Unless she is coming over to maul me. She likes to pinch and poke - delighting in my reactions, comparing them to her father's. He is, of course, wrapped around her finger.


In short, she's perfect and I am so thrilled that she is mine. I can't believe that a whole year has passed. For as much as she's changed, I'm sure I've stayed the same - except that now, she's the centre of my universe. What a change is coming for both of us, so very soon.