School started....

School started for two of mine on Wednesday, Mr 6 Almost 7 was very happy to return but a bit confused about the whole not being a Prep anymore. He knows he is in a different room with a different teacher but has not quite grasped the idea that he is now a Grade one boy. He has an older teacher who whilst firm handed will give him all the help he needs as she is of the "old school" of teachers who have many tricks up their sleeves. She also has a background in cued articulation which is one of the visual cues used by his speech pathologist in his speech therapy. He will retain his aide from last year for which I am very grateful as it turns out she was very, very happy and helpful in the session she had together with Mr 6 Almost 7 and his s/p last year. The cued articulation will go a long way towards helping him increase his sound repertoire and word annunciation. The down side being it is a 4/1 teacher split, he has teacher "W" 4 days a week and teacher "T"on Tuesdays. Teacher "T" is the teacher I swore would never teach any child of mine again after Miss 9 had her in Grade one. She is computer illiterate,yells at the children A LOT and has done so in front of parents, and generally lax in her approach to teaching but, hey, that's just my opinion and a few twenty or so other parents. What would I and three others who are qualified to teach know anyway???? So that is the trade off so to speak, "T" is there in Tuesdays but, WAIT his s/p now works Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays and as Mr 4 has kindergarten AM Tuesdays, it allows plenty of time for a round trip to Woodend for speech whilst Mr 4 has kinder. SO that means he has her for maybe an hour in the morning, he returns for lunch and if he has Japanese in the PM,( which he is being withdrawn from...why try and learn another language when your own is a mystery to you) we'll be lucky that she only has a few hours to muck up everyone elses work with him:).

Miss 9 started with the teacher of her dreams, "M". Miss 9 has always had nice teachers apart from the horrendous 6 months in Gr 1 with "T". Teachers who care and are innovative, teachers who are true leaders and encourage all children of all capabilities. I know "M" from outside of the school environment and whilst young, she has the grit to teach senior classes but with the compassion that is also required at such a level. She is approachable and friendly but often seeks me out to chat about our mutual interest and teaching in general. Miss 9 has been told that she needs to study more and not just cruise, she is capable of may things but chooses her subjects for excelling in and cruises by the others when she could excel. As a parents, we always believe our children are good at something. As a parent I see this in all my children, as an educator; I can see so much potential within her it astounds me. A perceptiveness that is beyond her years, empathy which is boundless, an ability to create in word, paint and cardboard any myriad of worlds, images and lifeforms.
Whilst I am not a fan of over parenting, the education system today relies too heavily on completion of the syllabus rather than the associated outcomes of spelling,comprehension,logic, grammar, sentence structure, letter formation, basic combined math problems, etc. Much of the learning of these skills fall on the parents, I get tired of the "parent information nights" where they tell you to "encourage your child to add up items from the shopping or play spelling games at the dinner table" all under the guise of involving you in their learning.....NO, it so you can teach your child the basic things the school is not spending time teaching them. Yes, they learn spelling in literacy but there is o subject on the syllabus titled "spelling" or "punctuation" or "everyday math skills". This is where our schools are failing our children, this is why I fought for an aide for Mr 6 Almost 7, because the system as it was would fail him( as it does many children across the board) because it is poised for syllabus completion not student comprehension.
Mr 4 has started kindergarten, he had an hour on Wednesday and an hour and a half (without mum) today by next Thursday he will be on a full schedule. He is very confident with kinder as he spent a lot of time at Mr 6 Almost 7's kinder in 2005 so he is very familiar with the content, the toys, the activities and the format of the program. I had a hour to myself today, a precious glimpse of the times to come and a smack in the head reminder that time is marching on and my babies are growing up.

Summertime

Ain't summer a grand time ? The lazy mornings, the late lunches , BBQ dinners , the sounds of kids playing late outside. Reality rarely fits in with the picture of what we'd like though, does it? Muggy mornings with scorching heat, lunches late because you really cannot be bothered to eat, BBQ dinners only if its not too hot outside but too damn hot to cook indoors, kids playing outside if its not too scorching or if they have a pool.
Gone are the days when people rarely had an air conditioner, now my suburb resounds with the constant "hum" of ducted air con and the occasional "whirr" of the odd wall/window mounted refrigerated unit. Days when a hot day meant playing in a dam, creek, river or in the suburbs..under a sprinkler, now the dams are dry, creeks and rivers dry or/and polluted and water restrictions no longer allow for water play incorporating watering.
Vegetable gardens we once used to supplement our food sources and to teach our children about horticulture and seasonal change are a luxury, not a necessity. Flower gardens of annuals, bulbs or banks of European influenced horticulture are for the dedicated and obsessive now. Lawns, oh, you mean that patch of straw coloured covering in front?? Well, that's going soon when we revamp our front garden. Shame it cannot be said for million of others who want a patch of green on their dream 600m sq. block.
I miss the days when summer graduated from Spring in a truly gentle format, days of temperatures varying from 25-30degrees Celsius. Not days of sleet, rain,hail and yes, SNOW!!! Two weeks before the advent of Summer. When bush fires were a January/Feb occurrence not something that took hold in October and carried through to the New Year.
Days when people joined forces to help the fire victims, not relied on corporate well doers or government hand outs. People actually went and helped fight the fires and rebuild towns and services whilst on holidays, not cruise about sightseeing at others losses and misery. There was a time when bush fires were just a part of living in the country, no one blamed anyone, what you leveled for grazing, you used all of it. No one every back burned except undergrowth of bracken in late winter, no one ever burned hectares or bush to protect it from bushfire. The Department of Sustainability and Environment did not exist in guise it does today; so there was no one to blame. It was a fact of life of living in the bush.
I wish my kids could see what I saw, feel what I felt, do what I did..but they only have what I can tell them and show them. Because some one, somewhere along the way lost the map for how things should be and now most of society wonder about aimlessly like sheep .

What Have you been up to.....

Different spin on things today, I'm tagging a few lucky(?) people who may be( may be not) at a loss as to what to post, they in turn need to tag another FIVE people. Whoever is tagging will nominate the subject of the post, it can be the same topic for every one or different ones for each person. So todays guests are:

Guruann
Mr Brian
Jamie
Sceptic
Sign Language

Your topic of post will be what I got for Christmas and do I really want/like/ need it and why. You need to be brutally honest in this subject matter. ENJOY

Belated Readers Digest Greetings

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Report time

School reports were issued last week and both Mr 6 and Miss 9 did tremendously well. Mr 6 is on par with much of his class but is below required level in speaking and listening...Um, hello the kid has DYSPRAXIA. He was never going to be marked on his own achievements but against the curriculum standard as he is learning the curriculum by regular means and has no IEP(individual education program). I think I'd rather he have a IEP and be marked against his own success and not the packaged deal set by DET/CEO. His grade for PE is below expected level also..There again I wish he'd been graded on individual successes as he is now able to kick a soccer ball left or right footed whilst in motion. He's going to try Milo cricket next year and see where it goes, 2IC has some cricket gear to pass on including his club cap and a very good bat. He has overall done better than we expected, given that at age 3 we were told he'd never be able to attend a mainstream school and today we have this. NEVER, say NEVER to me. He still struggles with the ideals of school yard politics and will try and right any wrongs he sees..Even if the kid is twice as big and twice his age. He's is the personified protector of the under dog.
Miss 9 , what can I say, she just blows us away each time. She is 9 and in year 4 so she is 12 months younger than the average Year 4 anyway. She reads at end of Yr 5 level, which grades as a "B" but as the revised grading have yet to be confirmed it's really an"A" as is writing and speaking. She writes using many genres and needs to be encouraged to move beyond this comfort zone as she is showing some great talent, the child writes well I can say that. Her stories are full of emotion, feeling, character depth and imagination. Maths, well, she take after me...Doesn't care much for the use if Trigonometry and the circumference of a circle for use in every day life.Dad will undertake some tuition in the maths area as it is neither my forte nor can I be unbiased about it. Miss 9 want a tutor as it seem to be the flavour of the month but she is only lacking in one or two areas and it more of a catch up then anything else so she is more able to grasp the later concepts of maths. It's our decision based on the student feedback sheet she completed not an academic requirement, she wants to be batter at math. What is it Michael Grose says about first borns?...."They want to rule the world" and second borns "want to change it".

Oh and for the very little person who I know reads this from the people of the Sidhe....

Go hlfreann leat

Busy doin'...I don't exactly know what

I'm not sure what I have been doing that has kept me from this journal journey. I was Christmas shopping a bit, I have been training the boy dog more now as he has matured to be showing a lot of aptitude in the scent and scent discrimination area of trialing apart from his natural abilities in herding and athleticism for agility. I have been helping out at school fixing some broken readers and such, organising a collection for a gift card for Mr 6's teacher and getting all the class to sign a gift bear for her...Now that is a task and a half!!! Gardening; which was a waste; as the dog who digs decided after a month of my petunias and snapdragons being there, yesterday he required a new cool hole and that patch of garden bed was IT!! I decorated the interior of the house for Christmas, 2IC is in charge of the outside and he has located a seller on Ebay who does the wooden cut outs with an Australiana theme ( no, I am not telling you where or doing a link, we may want to get more) We bought one new light figure for the house at the Christmas Cave and he is on the roof, far away from thieves and miscreants. Want to try and climb the gate and get out with two legs, good luck with that LOL.
Mr 6 had his last speech session for 2006 and his speech pathologist is going to be working THREE days a week next year and getting her own premises. She was leasing a room at a medical centre. This is a boon as it means I can arrange Mr 6's appointment around Mr 4's kinder sessions...YAH. Also means no more dealing with the silly "I'm having a blonde moment" receptionists at the medical centre when I am paying for the gap on the previous and current session and handing over a cheque from the health fund for the previous session. After a year of it, you'd think she'd get it ...But no.
I have been having dinners out with some very good friends who have been a great help with Mr 6. R and D were Miss 9's kinder teachers, and I specifically wanted them for Mr 6 last year..Got them, but due to some parents need for full frontal lobotomies, he lost one before he was really prepared. Any way she went on to have a beautiful baby and now we all get together for some very LOOOOOONG ( and late or would you say early??) dinners at her place with some other mums who owe them both quite a debt of gratitude. It's fun and entertaining as we all have different yet strangely similar lives and the common bonds being that we all respect and love these great teachers of our kids. I'm sorry Mr 4 will not have both of them but I have kicked up enough dust at the council that they switched him to the kinder where D is and by God in heaven she'd better not get moved in 2007. They just do not seem to understand that parents choose a preschool based on the staff and not the location...I will be traveling 3-4 kms out of my way next year to get Mr 4 in with D, passing the kinder from hell, which is around the corner en route.
My friend, AJ had a stroke like collapse a few months ago and whilst her body is repairing ,her speech is problematic. She speaks in a halting manner, as she has to think of the next word. Her sister had a similar attack a few years ago. AJ, and I went out Christmas shopping a few times and to the market...Just to get her out of the house and doing something as although she is seemingly fine physically, she gets tired, dizzy and has good and bad days speech wise...I know when she has a bad day as she screens her calls and doesn't really want to talk to just anyone( except me). AJ is one of my bestest friends and she needs to look after herself more but its hard with two children with autism spectrum disorders.
Now I've written down a lot of what I have been doing,I can see where my time went.
Last night I perfected the shortbread biccie recipe I continually stuffed up last year..They just weren't right to me, even though everyone ate them. But last night, without much interuption..2IC was watching cricket, boys were in bed and Miss 9 was reading ..I was able to create the most perfect shortbread biscuit ever made..No, I'm not telling but it has to do with allowing the butter to soften before using a rubbing method with the flour etc but I am not telling any more. The biscuits went off today to Mr 6's class for him to pass out in lieu of Christmas cards..He has neither the dexterity nor patience to write out 24 cards.

Tolkien and the Rainbow Bridge

Miss 9 very often mentions our old boy, Tolkien or Tolly. He was a blue ACD of true working lines and we lost him in 2001, he was 13. He died when he swallowed a part of a corn cob thrown over the fence by a neighbor's child. It caused him to have a perforated intestinal tract, and blockage. Surgery was a risky option as there could be no guarantees that all the tears in the lining would be repaired or picked up. A second opinion gave us the percentages of success and the highly likely scenario that a missed perforation would result in septacemia and death. We decide to let him go. It was the hardest decision ever made and I have always lived with the loss, harder still is the fact that Miss 9 was old enough to understand the loss. Mr 6 was only a baby and Mr 4 ,a distant star in the sky. Miss 9 annually takes Tolkiens photo and some obedience ribbons and trophies to school to show her new teacher and class. She has his picture in her room and will talk about him often. She asks if Gemma misses Tolkien or if she should tell Lawson that Tolkien was the first boy dog in the family. Things such as this come up occasionally, not often, but I choke when I hear his name as she speaks about him with such freedom that I envy her.
Yesterday, she asked if Tolkien was in heaven. I told her I was unsure but that I think animals wait for you to join them in heaven so every one is happy again. She asked where they wait and I remembered a great site that has some great visuals and music complete with the poem by Paul C. Dahm called "The Rainbow Bridge". She watched it with tears steaming down her face, I felt bad but after she told me it was such a nice place that the animals must be happy and not miss their families too much. Maybe it will help her not to worry about him too much now.

What's the difference?

I have been pondering the current upsurge of intolerance for others in society of late. The increasing banning of hajibs,burkas, etc in some countries and States is of some wonderment to me. These women and girls wear this as a symbol of their dedication to the beliefs of their religion. Nothing more, nothing less. Their religious principles and steadfastness are a honorable and noble in the mixed societies in which we live. I do not believe they attempt to stand out, nor create trouble , nor do many of them want anything more but acceptance of their beliefs. They seek not to convert the non Muslim nor prove the Catholic, Anglican, Unitarian or Seventh Day Adventist wrong...They simple want what we all have had. The right to worship in our way.

I think back the days of my childhood when nuns wore habits and garments much not all that different from the dress worn by many Muslim women of today. I don't recall the patients some of these nuns ,who were nurses, complain about the habit. Nor did I ever hear that an Irish nun; of which there were many; was a terrorist threat because she came from the "troubles" and might be a member of the IRA, or may harbour a bomb beneath her habit and gown...No sorry, folks, just the Catholic Church. But watch those Rosary beads, they could be made of C4 or Plastique. Or maybe the nuns who taught many of us in the 70's and 80's and before where secretly planting in us the agents for the uprising of the faith of Vatican 2.; the New Crusades..Bit late now, we missed it, people.

Within the Orthodox Jewish faith there is a need for women to have their heads covered, they utilise wigs for this purpose in many cases, but the premise remains static; that of an religious observance, humility and a sign of faith in ones religion. Many European women of many faiths, no doubt; covered their heads as either a religious matter or when in mourning. Did we ever worry about this? NO. Was a call ever placed to ASIO by any wig outfitters to say a woman of the Jewish faith was purchasing two wigs for herself? I really doubt it. We can be alarmed by what we are being told or were can be just lerts, looking for a reason to habour ill will against that which we do not try to understand. I'd rather be neither.

I am sure I am not thinking on such a vast plane ,that no one else can see the parallels I have touched on here. Nuns were cloistered away in convents, yet lived, worked and worshipped amongst us all and still do where the community is fortunate enough to have them. Women of faiths that have clothing as a religious observance do like wise...So why do society sneer and taunt the other religions? Is it a lack of understanding? I think not, for the life of a nun was always the unknown question of every Catholic educated child and no doubt the fascination of many non Catholic people as well. I never heard of a nun being stoned, spat upon or ridiculed in a public place except by a inebriated misdemeanant. I feel it is the Governments increasing creep towards a quasi "WASP Australian"policy as opposed to the "white Australian policy of the 1950's. I have yet to see a picture of the PM in a handshake with any indigenous leader, non Christian based religious leader or any real meaningful, proactive talks that weren't a photo opportunity with any of the above. They tell us to be alert, not alarmed, based on the US information( and how infallible is that ?) that it was a religious war that is being wrought by the Muslim faith. Yep, and the Sheraton bombing was the result of Holy Water disguised as nitro.

Of toys for boys and such

I'm not supposed to post about this under threat of a nasty comment, but 2IC has some talking dollies. Really, they are the Boonie and Botham talking "figurines" that you have to buy two 24 packs of Victoria Bitter beer to get. Oh, well lots of cheap beer for the Christmas/New year visitors. 2 IC is normally an social/occasional beer drinker and drinks Crown, Red Back, Beez Knees,Boags,boutique stuff...So VB in our place is a hardly ever occurrence. Any way, back to the dolls, and they ARE dolls which is "a small model of a human figure" (Oxford Dictionary) and they speak intermittently when the cricket is on but during the news, cartoons, whatever. So they are TALKING DOLLS. For those not acquainted with the wonders of 11 men running about in white clothing or now pajamas as night cricket in known, bowling leg side, stumps, ducks, wides, leg spins, maidens and other such terminology...Boony is a replica of David Boon who is a legend to cricketers and drinkers Australia wide whose claim to fame is drinking 52 cans of beer on the flight from England to Australia. Botham, well he was perhaps over rated but a Pom to boot.
I can say that being half Pom myself, nah nah nah. It all has to do with a marketing ploy and a pay on words: Battle of the Tashes ( Ashes: England V Australia cricket series))as in moustaches...Both had/have moes.
Any how, these DOLLS talk and have a niggle at each other with sayings like:
Boony: "I feel like a beer, your's is in the oven"
Botham: " Where are the crisps?"
The kids are fascinated by the randomness of the comments and I have encouraged them to call them what they are ....DOLLS. "Dad, your dolls are talking" is a common catchcry about the house..With "they are not dolls, they are figurines" Well, they are annoying anyway you call it.
Now how many households have these dolls but would freak if their son wanted a Barbie, I wonder.

Oh diddums.....

1974 VOTES as at 2208

Geez, who's that I wonder.

LMFAO!!!!

My, My , My What have we here....

Seems the Christian Right has spoken and says that the ALP, Greens or Democrats because they have "blantant humanist anti Christian ideologies and agendas" should not get your vote as a Christian. Seems homophobes stick together. Last I recall of my history and Philosophy classes was that being a humanist was being concerned with the human race and not ones self . This in it basest form is not a bad thing as opposed to the direct opposite of caring only for oneself, and, on that basis; if you are against caring for the whole then you care only for yourself, tsk tsk, tsk not a great attribute for an aspiring politico.
Read the last few lines and see whom they want you to vote for, in case you "catch fire" here it is for your reading pleasure;

WHOM TO VOTE FOR

In the Upper House, vote (#1) for Family First or CDP, as we don'’t want the Greens to hold the balance of power.

In the Lower House, vote (#1) for Liberals or Nationals. If you live in the electorate of Mildura, vote for Russell Savage (Independent candidate in the Lower House), or if you live in Gippsland East, vote for Craig Ingram (Independent candidate), or Macedon vote for Steve Medcraft (Independent candidate).

Some things just need to be seen and left unspoken...........................

How to get lost in two easy steps...Of dogs and maps

On Saturday I attended a dog training and behaviouralist workshop...Yes, I do take my dog handling seriously for those who even doubted it. I booked in as a participant with meant I took the boy and as it was all day and I was unsure if kennel or crate provisions were available decided to book a hire car for the day too. A Subaru with sports transmission and of course the dog was not in the car with me as that would be against the hire agreement.
Anywho, I had to be at Lysterfield by 0930, so I ;ever the inept navigator; was directed to WHEREISIT which gives directions and/or maps. I utilised the direction part, turn left at this street, right at the round about. Problem is it tells you to take a right at Thompsons Rd which should be a left and later tells you to take the third turn at the roundabout into Glenfern Rd...There is NO ROUNDABOUT. Suffice to say at 0930 I was god knows where, unable to locate the street I was in ,in the Melways as I had no idea what suburb I was in. I called 2IC who asked me where I was????!!!! Um, hello, I am lost so I don't know where I am. I was sick twice. I should not be allowed past East Melbourne alone in a car with a Melways. Yet I can find my way back to Gippsland, no problem. 2IC being the darling that he is stayed in intermittent contact with me as I threaded my way past the Burwood Hwy on the wrong road, doubled back after overshooting the Glenfern Rd turn off and ending up in Tecoma ( close ,but no prize) and finally arriving at the workshop 5 and 1.2 hours later at 1230.
It was a great workshop and if you ever get the opportunity to hear Steve Courtney speak, he is an endearing and competent speaker. A dog enthusiast for all, non prejudicial, he helps train all dogs, consults on court cases, has effective and non threatening methodologies and isgenerous with his advice and ideas. People in the protection industry, show, obedience, herding, breeders, and just general dog owners attend his limited number workshops. He was in Vic for several workshops and did private consults as well, I witnessed the results of a Thursday private consult on Saturday...OUTSTANDING

What are they really reading?

I noticed over yesterday with Miss 9 spending an HOUR on YOU TUBE looking and replaying THIS.
She has read three of the series but seems fixated on whether two of the main characters will or will not get together. Not really intrinsic to the plot of HP, given that Rowlings has admitted the series end will result in the demise of a main character in a manner which will not allow any future author to resurrect in any way, shape or form. She reads Clarice Bean by Lauren Child, the Rainbow Fairies series by Daisy Meadows, Judy Moody by Megan Mc Donald, she loves the "OLOGY" books like Wizardology, Dragonology, Egyptology, she read all my Enid Blytons, several dozen Pony Pals, Kids night In ( Book 1 over 750 pages). Yet, the fixation on if Harry will be with Hermonie or not remains a question of the ages for her. When I was 9, I wanted to be as wickedly smart as "The Naughtiest Girl"and cared little about such tripe, only thing about boys which concerned me was whether I could beat them .
I was reading an article about the masses of mags aimed at "tweens" ( 9-13 age group) the demographic which was once forgotten as being the target group for anything much more than toys. Now is the group at which is aimed new music ( if others like it, its cool to them) makeup,( many now wear makeup for dance recitals, plays, competitions, etc)clothes ( designer labels are becoming more and more known to children at a much younger age) and a myriad of other consumer items that our kid DON"T NEED. If I see one more poster of Jessie bloody McCartney or what ever his name is, I will scream. Delta, Kylie, Pink I can tolerate and handle, women of substance and strength who sing and write from the heart. High School musical is harmless, like Grease. But the talentless ,tarted up pretty boys like Jessie which are being shoved at our kids ( read girls) is harassing and harking them into the belief that you need to have a "crush", you need to like someone of the opposite sex at any age.
So, so, so wrong.
I continually tell my kids, you don't need to marry ( although ask Mr 4 and he's marrying ME!!) and Mr 5 is marrying NO ONE!!That people can be happy no matter what and that they are only children for a short time and grown up for a very long time,so not to wish to grow up too soon. Whilst Miss 9 has a grasp on same sex relationships ( she understands that gay doesn't always mean you are just a happy person) the mechanics of it have never been discussed nor approached. My choice, my children. It is not the role of the media on any way, shape of form to force onto my kids the conformist notions of relationships and accepted behaviours. As parents, it is a subject that is the responsibility of them and them alone. Accepting diversity in all its realms enters into this fray, for if kids magazines are conducting quizs to find "Who's Your Crush"yet defining only heterosexual or monogamous relationships when the reverse may be the norm in a child's world, what message does that send the child?
Magazines aimed at any age group be in tweens to teenagers, need to be more responsible to the reader and less to the advertisers, some social responsibility and educational content needs to be addressed in some of these magazines.

The begining of the end.........

Hahahah the begining of the end, the Democrats have taken the House of Representatives in the USA....the death knell for ultra conservative war mongers. Next domino Dubya then it'll be his mini me, HoWARd.

Lessons for little players.....

If you are a consultant as in "government consultant" it means that the government sought information or advice from you. Mr. Hulls or his office invited you.
"..as a representative on the Sentencing Advisory Council" "As a result of my determined lobbying via the Sentencing Advisory Council the Government has been forced to accept the Councils recommendation..."

Means your name would be listed as a contributor on such documents asRepeat Drink Driving Report
or
Detention Supervision
But its not, is it?. Only a little, tiny line on page 2 with a suggested penalty, which was a direct quote from a newspaper article anyway, not a quote from being present. And a name listed amongst 16 odd other contributors of information to the INTIAL INFORMATION GATHERING STAGE. I guess "poor and ineffective representation" is better than false representation?
Perhaps the phrase you should be looking at is lobby as in seeking to influence, solicit support of? But doesn't quite have the ring "representative on the SAC", does it? And we're about the ENVIRONMENT we live in now? Enlighten me, now does that mean this person are for or against the Evans St Grasslands? Last soliloquy I read had rants against it, bit of a about turn complete with half nelson, completely choking on ones words it seems. IF we are about the environment we live in ,is it environment as in all surrounds?? Or just in terms of persons and society...Trying for the green vote by using the big "E"word, desperate spin by lesser people.
Try the big "V" word for vigilante instead.
Forget tall poppy syndrome, just weed the garden for the pretenders.

How exactly does this pose a threat to Australias quarantine regulations? Please tell me.........read on below 

Now how does this ......

How exactly does this dog collar pose a risk to the quarantine and import laws of Australia? Dunno, you'd have to ask AQIS ,as in their wisdom and without much explanation they deemed my package from NewZealand; which contained a custom made woven dog collar with my dogs name and breed club on it, complete with two "D" rings for sized adjustments and a brass ring for lead clip connection; as in need of being opened and inspected. I got a pamphlet that told me "OPENED FOR INSPECTION"Duh, obviously with the "passed quarantine" yellow sticker and the bad tape job resealling it. And" no items have been removed" Ahh, yeah, you would have had to remove it to inspect it, wouldn't you? Then it goes on the speel about it was "opened by Australia Post for inspection by AQIS" as the screening process using "detector dogs and x-ray machines, indicated there may have been an item of quarantine concern in your mail"
Nope, sorry guys not enough evidence of that, see there is no law about importing dog collars except used ones from OS and pinch or pronged ones to Victoria. Nothing on your websites or in any paperwork. A dog would have picked up nothing as the collar is BRAND NEW and made from webbing and an x-ray would have shown you what it was EXACTLY or at least the two "D" rings and brass ring.
So I call the AQIS mail centre and get a different story, that mail is randomly opened by AQIS ( contary to the pamphlet information"opened by Australia Post) for survey by AQIS...Not good enough, which is it? Apart from the pamphlet indicating that there should have been another brochure enclosed about what can and cannot be mailed to Australia, there was no other information, including the brochure that should have been enclosed.
The customs declaration clearly stated it was a "dog collar" the weight would have told you it was neither all metal not used primary product, a feel of the package could have told you exactly what it was without knowing. I find this invasion into ones privacy neither in the interests of Australia's protection nor in the rights of the Government nor its bodies.

Of little boys fingers and how writing should be done

Had a meeting yesterday with Mr 6's pediatric occupational therapist ( P O/T). She saw him last week at school and assessed him. ( will the "assessing" of this boy ever end?) He has the pencil grip of a 4.5 year old and has hyper extended thumbs. His thumb at the first joint bends in a "U" almost which is a sign of low muscle tone, hence he pushes harder on the pencil or crayon to attain a better grip, he writes from the elbow or the shoulder, instead of the wrist. P, the P O/T; suggested a sloped writing board for him which was implemented almost immediately. We discussed about how children are taught too early the foundations of cursive script and get hooked on the little tails they need to place on their letters instead of the basic "ball and stick" version of learning to write of yesterday. Mr 6 does not recognise where a word ends and starts when he is attempting to write, he spaces all letters at equal intervals regardless of if they are part of a new word or not. SO you have s o m e t h i ng l i k e t h i s h a p p e n i n g b u t w i t h i l l f o r m e d l e t t e r s.
Hard to read isn't it? Imagine it scrawled all over an A4 sheet.
Anyway I have some more therapies to work with him on, join the dots are a good one but not too high in the numeric range so he can concerntrate on going from dot to dot. Any activity which helps upper body strength, hanging from the trapeze, climbing, etc. Getting him to air write his letters with correct starting point and formation in the air is good for his muscles to remember the formation of the letter, using a blackboard or white board allows the wrist to have the right curve to it needed for writing skills. Holding a coin to the palm of his hand with his ring and pinkie finger helps to increase the power part of the hand ( see you learn something new everyday). Getting him to write one really well formed and correctly initiated word instead of sentence will go a long way to helping him. And surprise of all, using UNLINED, yes UNLINED paper, as children like him get caught up in the mish mash of letter formation, tails, spelling and then top it all of with trying to keep it all on a line..Well, no wonder he is struggling.
I am glad his teacher bought it up and now the therapies need to be implemented at home but the P O/T wants Mr 6's aide to work on some of them with him during literacy... We'll see. I know his teacher will attempt to incorporate as many as possible into the classroom as she can. on that note, the P O/T mentioned that she found Mr 6's teacher to be patient, in control and aware of all aspects of the classes needs; a rare find indeed. This from a professional who spends her days in various classrooms in many local schools. Kudos to you Mrs R, as the kids say "You Rock".

"Chasing Cars" Snow Patrol and Greys Anatomy

Incitive, wonderous and bonus with Greys Anatomy clip...so sad. GA season ended last night on a clincer (what's new?). Predictions for the new season.
Meridith will go back with Mc Dreamy ( Shepherd)Really, how long can they pay Chris O'D for?
Issie will get back with shithead( Kovack)
Kelly will turn out to be some sort of psycho a la the nurse in that Stephen King novel
Yang and Perfect Preston will split up

My baby's FOUR now

As of 13 minutes ago (1334) my baby became a four year old. We had "Acdonals"( Mc Donalds) for lunch as his birthday lunch *gags and dry retches* . We shopped for his birthday cake. He got a present from his sister ( travel MagnaDoodle) and his brother ( Lightning Mc Queen car with removable wheels) and Granpas present, he picked himself ,which is a hobby horse..You know a horse head on a stick thing, he loves it and granpa will be happy as he will think his youngest grandchild is following him into equine breeding. He has told any one who we crossed paths with today that it is his birthday and are they getting him a present, including the lady from Energy and Water Ombudsman, the parcel delivery guy, the lady at Acdonals, Mr 5's teacher, the school secretary, two mums whom I don't know, three mums who I do know and the guy at my favourite fruit stall a the Vic Market today. He's tries, I'll give him that.
Tonight he'll get his big pressies, a Tonka helicopter and a wooden garage for the umpteen hundred Matchbox and HotWheels cars they have, courtesy of Mattel Toy Club membership. NAH NAH NAH.
Childrens birthdays are unique at this age ,as the concept of it all is lost to them apart from presents, cake and some special treats ( he ate 3 Vic Market donuts) For the other children, you might score a pressie from a grandparent who cannot bear not to give a present to everyone or if you get to pick a present for your siblings, you might be able to con your parent that "yeah, he really wants the Buzz Lightyear outfit" or "Yes, she told me she wanted a skateboard complete with kick plate". For relatives and friends it's and time for indulgence and spoiling. As a mum, it's a time of wonder as to where it all has gone to, awe that they learn so fast, joy that small things still make them happy( sometimes) and sadness that it has all happened so fast.

Happy Birthday my bubby boy