Flying under the radar

I used to worry that we didn't pay enough attention to Scott. He has always been the easy going one, just cruising through life not letting anything bother him and not bothering anyone.

His sister on the other hand has been a fully fledged diva princess drama queen for the past 4 years. And you know the saying "the squeeky wheel gets the oil?" well Stephanie has been proof that if you complain long enough and loud enough and consistently enough someone will listen to you.

I have in the past worried that I'm selling Scott short, that he doesn't get the attention he deserves, that he was missing out in some way.

Then Scott turned 13.

And someone came in the middle of the night and stole my nice, easy going, placid, sweet little boy and replaced him with who knows what.

He is definately not flying under the radar anymore. He is a giant blip, dead centre. He is even managing to move his sister from centre stage. Ok. Maybe not. He's managing to share centre stage with her.

He argues about cleaning his teeth, feeding the dog, sitting in the front seat, having a shower, using his manners, I could go on and on and on....but then I would start sounding like my children!

And what is it with teenage boys and showers? Do they suddendly become allergic to water? He seems to vascilate from one extreme to the next. Either he takes 3 showers a day for 30 minutes at a time, or he has to be dragged in there and he's out in 2 minutes, leaving the towels all over the floor and filthy.

Teenage girls are hard work. They cry. They nag. They sulk. They obsses about friends, family, boyfriends, school, what colour suits them. But at least they smell nice!

From what I've seen so far boys smell, grunt, and just get downright obstinate.

So, my point? Well no point at all actually. Just observations. I think I'm in mourning a little for my nice boy, will he ever come back?

Decision time.

Well, I finally stopped procrastinating and made a decision. I wrote a letter (an email actually) to our District Officer in the Education Department. I have dealt with this man before and frankly I don't have a great deal of faith in him, but I've done my part now, we will see what happens from here.

It took me ages to click send on that email. It's a big deal when you could be affecting someone elses life. But I feel that my biggest concern should be for my children, it's my job to protect them so I have put Robbie first.

Hopefully this will mean that this teacher will get help. She has many emotional issues and I really hope she gets help with this. She was a wonderful teacher, I just hope she will be again one day.

Dear Lord. I pray that my decision today will help with the situation at Robbie's school. I also pray for the teacher in question. I know she doesn't believe in you but I pray that she will seek help and overcome her issues. Thankyou that Robbie is now learning in a loving and kind environment. I pray that he will continue to enjoy his learning and make up for lost time.

That perfect tree.

Well its really starting to hot up now isn't it. Tinsel everywhere. I bought a new Christmas tree this year. I've always wanted one of those nice ones, like the perfectly decorated trees you see in the catalogues. I've always had to resist the urge to "fix" the decorating job that the kids do on the tree. Now that I have my perfect tree and my kids are old enough to decorate it accordingly I find myself missing that slightly scraggy, lopsided tree with no decorations any higher than two feet.

Funny how we look forward to something and we forget to enjoy the journey. I've decided to just enjoy every day that I have with my kids. Before I know it they will be gone and I will miss them terribly. At the moment thats kind of hard to imagine but I'm sure it will hapen!