How Not to Answer a Religious Ed Quiz - if you are a Teen Boy.

1. Who was St Anthony and what was his relationship to monasticism?
WRONG:- St Anthony was the pope’s evil brother who tried to take control of the monastery
RIGHT:- Helped to spread the concept of monasticism, particularly in Western Europe through Latin translations.

2. In what ways did monasteries help people respond to gods call to know him better?
WRONG:- Monasteries helped people get closer to god by getting them high for them to believe they are able to talk to god.
RIGHT:- Monasteries helped people respond to gods call by giving them a place to pray and practise their religions.

3. Among other things what did monasteries develop into?
WRONG:- Monasteries mostly developed into churches buy some did end up turning into night brothels
RIGHT:- Monasteries developed into churches.

4. Describe the two different ways of being in a religious order?
a) Monastic order
WRONG:- When they weren’t allowed to have sexual intercourse in a relationship with another woman.
RIGHT:- Living by yourself and only coming together for holy gatherings.
b) Apostolic order
WRONG:- When they are allowed to have sexual intercourse with women but they have to apologise and pray afterwards.
RIGHT:- Apostolic order is when you live with others all the time.

5. What is a monk or a nun?
WRONG:- A monk is a man that is not allowed to have sexual intercourse with a woman until married.
RIGHT:- A Monk is a man who takes the Celibate vow and a Nun is a woman who takes the vow.

6. What was the ideal that underpinned monastic life?
WRONG:- Pray, east, sleep, pray, eat, sleep and then pray again.
RIGHT:- Monastic life was underpinned with the ideal of celibacy.

7. In what ways was monastic life of service to others?
WRONG:- Because they raised finds for the poor.
RIGHT:- It helped them because it gave them a life to live free and closer to god.

8. Which lines from st Matthews gospel motivated the monks and nuns to serve?
WRONG:- Everyone for themselves.
RIGHT:- The short answer is the book of Matthew proves Jesus legitimate authority by highlighting His wise teachings and righteous life.

9. Describe each of the three main types of prayer to be found in a monastery?
WRONG:- The bored prayer, The sleep prayer, The food prayer
RIGHT:- Prayer, meditation and contemplation.

10. What is the message that is being suggested in the illustration in the top left hand corner of page 80?
WRONG:- People
RIGHT:- To trust other people and live in equality.

11. Describe the variety of books that might be found in a monastery library?
WRONG:- Theology, Bibles
RIGHT:- Theology and bibles.

12. Describe the scriptorium and list its contents.
WRONG:- Is where they re-write all old books by hand, onto newer paper
RIGHT:- A room in monasteries devoted to the copying of books by monastic writers.

13. What motivated such care in the copying of the scriptures?
WRONG:- They treasured the teachings of knowledge to others.
RIGHT:- Them being able to say “a person can hold the Bible in his hand and say without fear that he holds the Word of God, handed down from generation to generation through the centuries.

14. What was the chapter house and what role did it play in the life of the monastery?
WRONG:- Where they all met up
RIGHT:- The chapter house was a room where monks met daily, to discuss business and to hear a chapter of the monastic rule

15. What was on the daily menu in a monastery?
NOT ANSWERED
RIGHT:- In a monastery the daily menu was vegan food.

16. What is the cloister?
NOT ANSWERED
RIGHT:- A cloister was a monastery devoted to religious seclusion.

17. Why could it be said that monasteries provided the first hospitals and schools?
NOT ANSWERED
RIGHT:- St. Benedict required in the monastery an infirmary for the ailing, and to organize particular care of them as a special Christian duty.

18. What was the herbarium?
NOT ANSWERED
RIGHT:- A collection of dried plants mounted, labelled, arranged for use in scientific study

19. Describe one of the functions that needed to be fulfilled in the monastery?
NOT ANSWERED
RIGHT:- To offer a home to the poor and unfortunate

20. Name two monastic orders that can be found in Australians and say where they are.
NOT ANSWERED
RIGHT:- Third Order of St. Dominic – Ballarat
Anglican Order of Preachers – Warnambool

LETTER OF APOLOGY!

I’m sorry for you finding offence in what I wrote and it will not happen again. I have realised what I had wrote was inappropriate and it will not happen again.

Thanks,

The child has been punished, that I can promise.

When I received the letter from school, I had to try very hard not to laugh!!!!!!!! I mean seriously? Didn't you dream of doing something like this when you were his age?

Anyway, I doubt VERY much that ANYTHING like this will occur again, because next time.... he has been warned - you will be removed from the school, not because the school asks, but because I say so. (He loves the school, just not R.E.)

Responsibly or lack of it – Police Chases – do we or don’t we?

I am so sick of people looking for more ways to stop people doing things that previously common sense dictated were stupid and life-threatening.

In the 10 days of the year 2012, several things spring to mind. The first being the incidents on New Years Eve, one resulting in death, another possible blindness in one eye and another resulting in broken ribs. These fireworks were illegal. Fireworks in the state of Victoria have been illegal (note the word illegal) since 1985. 2003 - Fireworks Every year, people are warned to avoid ILLEGAL fireworks, they are dangerous and they cause noise pollution, which in turn frightens animals nearby.

Add to this the risk of scrub/bushfires in the vicinity of the illegal fireworks and you have a mixed bag that when shaken can cause death. At about 6minutes after midnight on the 1^st January 2012, the CFA website listed approx 12 fires that were thought to have occurred after fireworks were lit. 30 minutes later exactly the same thing happened in South Australia o the CFS site.

Now, the most recent event, which will involve more laws aimed at curtailing the power of the authorities and giving more power to the hoodlums of Australia are police car chases, which most of the time involve stolen vehicles, mostly male occupants, mostly under the age of 25, and often affected by drugs or alcohol or both.

QLD
2011 - Editorial - Qld police lose faith in car chase laws
“Police Commissioner Bob Atkinson said the average penalty was inadequate.”
“Nineteen people have been killed and 737 injured during police pursuits since 2000,”

2011 - LNP (Political) CMC highlights Police Upset with Car Chase Penalties
“criminals had a green light to evade police on our roads under this Labor Government and its anti-pursuits stand”

NSW

2011- 2 Car Chases, One Car, 100's KM Apart
“RTA checks found the vehicle had a cancelled registration and was not fitted with number plates.”

2010 - Horror Car Crash Sparks Call for Police Chase Ban
"It almost invites people to flee and to avoid the police after potentially having committed very serious crimes,"

2010 - Police Want Tough Law on Car Chases
"Highway patrol officers have called on the State Government to introduce a mandatory three-year sentence for people who force the police to pursue them."

VIC
2011 - 19yo Dies in Tree Car Crash After Cobram Police Chase
"It is a concern as to why young people don't want to pull over,'' Commander De Santo said.

2011- Spikes Fail to Stop High Speed Driver
“but called off the pursuit after the driver turned off the headlights and the chase was deemed too dangerous.”

2012 - Man Dies adter Police Chase in Stud Road, Dandenong
“Police said they started a pursuit after trying to stop the allegedly stolen and speeding car in Stud Rd about 3.50am.”

Add to the above with blatant speeding and alcohol and drug impaired driving, again (often but no always) involving the same gender, age and stereotyped driver. There seem to be few penalties if ‘Little Johnny’ screws up and kills a couple of mates. There is little consequence if ‘Little Johnny’ is 23 years and hasn’t held a full license, since the day he sat his driving test.

Some posts I’ve written about personal experience/exposure to the youth of today and why I’m scared for them and why I’m scared for you the road user, the public.
2010 - Why Hasn't he lost his licence yet?

2010 - Flashing Lights and Drink Drivers

2009 - Road Rules and Laws

2011 - 1 Weekend and 8 Dead on Victorian Roads

2010 - Youth and Alcohol, are we Killing our Kids

Please add your thoughts.

Melbourne's Crazy Weather on Christmas Day 2011

Here are some photos I took near Whittlesea as the storms progressed across the city and suburbs - Noting that the sun set at 8.44pm on the 25th December 2011

Melbourne has had some pretty rough weather this last week - these are some of the shots I've managed to capture - noting that each frame is dated and timed AND in date order. just to give you an idea!

18th December 2011 - 22.09hrs - Lightning to the West of Whittlesea

24th December 2011 - 23.11hrs - Lightning to the West of Whittlesea

24th December 2011 - 23.20hrs Lightning to the South East of Whittlesea

24th December 2011 - 23.20hrs Lightning to the West of Whittlesea

24th December 2011 - 23.26hrs Lightning to the South East of Whittlesea

25th December 2011 - 18.13hrs - Now this is interesting - I posted a tweet at approx 6pm "#melbweather - cloud forming in round 'shape' over Greensborough -lightning seen 2B coming from it - Could get interesting/could be nothing" Not long after - reports started coming in of a 'tornado' in the Epping area and the BoM issuing a tornado warning for the Fiskville area!

25th December 2011 - 18.13hrs - "Tornado"

25th December 2011 - 18.13hrs - "Tornado"

25th December 2011 - 18.13hrs - "Tornado"

25th December 2011 - 18.14hrs - "Tornado"

25th December 2011 - 18.15hrs - "Tornado"

25th December 2011 - 18.15hrs - "Tornado"

25th December 2011 - 18.17hrs - "Tornado"

25th December 2011 - 19.07hrs - Lightning over the CBD - noting that it is quite hard to capture lightning on film during daylight hours - this was taken at 7.07pm and sunset was 8.44pm

25th December 2011 - 19.09hrs - Lightning over the CBD

25th December 2011 - 21.21hrs - Lightning over the South East Suburbs

25th December 2011 - 21.23hrs - Lightning over the Eastern Suburbs

25th December 2011 - 22.14hrs - Lightning over the Outer Northern Suburbs (Upper Plenty)

25th December 2011 - 22.41hrs - eastern Suburbs

25th December 2011 - 22.43hrs - eastern Suburbs

25th December 2011 - 22.53hrs - eastern Suburbs

The weather Chaser - sequence of radar images, showing the storms moving across Melbourne and Victoria http://www.theweatherchaser.com/radar-loop/IDR023-melbourne/2011-12-24-23/2011-12-25-18

Youtube - flooding in Eltham http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOqi3lH4Xzw

Fitbody Fifty Blog - Blogger lives approx 15km south of me and took a belting http://www.fitbodyfifty.com/2011/12/dear-santa-thats-not-what-i-asked-for.html and Kek's public album on facebook https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150548048993023.441440.728803022&type=3

The Police, The Public and Law and Order

Another day, another death, another story about how the police got it all wrong.

The most recent event occurred in Sydney, resulting in the death of a aggressive individual.

Aggressive, in that he was attempting to break into a house, he was carrying two knives.

The incident in police speak was a ‘domestic dispute” the man then confronted the police officers, whilst carrying two knives.

The police tasered him in an effort to control him, they had their safety, the safety of the public and the safety of the residents to consider.

From the news reports I have read, he then lost consciousness and then his life.

This is the second death in 24 hours, concerning the police and aggressive members of the public in NSW.

If the police hadn’t acted in the manner they had, and the aggressor had left the scene, still carrying the knives or acting aggressively and the offenders subsequently harmed a member of the public. Imagine the outcry.

The police are incapable, the police are useless, the police need to get tough on people like this.

So when the police DO get tough on ‘people like this’ they are then accused of murder.

I’m sorry – but you can’t have it both ways.

The police are employed to protect the law abiding public, the police are employed to stop people assaulting, harassing, or killing other people and yet when they do stop the offenders and the event ends in the death of an offender, they are the worst in the world.

The police are doing the best they can, in a society that appears to have little respect for law and order.

The police don’t use guns now unless absolutely necessary (I agree) Tasers are the next best thing. They at least don’t leave a hole in the chest of the offender the size of a small car.

Next time you call the police in your time of need, don’t be surprised when they can’t come because they are short-staffed, the job of policeman in any state as a career must take beating every time the media reports another death and flogs the members in public for the role they played in that death.

The police do a fantastic job under very hard circumstances and all anyone seems to be able to do is tell them they aren’t doing their jobs.

In my eyes they do their job and more, and yet no-one takes the time to consider they are people too, with fears and family and they too deserve the right to live without being injured on the job.

I nearly hit a pedestrian today…….

It wasn’t my fault.

How could it be my fault, if
a) he was crossing an 8 lane highway,
b) climbing over a traffic barrier,
c) wearing ear phones for music
d) the pedestrian lights were 200m up the road

I am stunned at peoples stupidity, both in high speed traffic areas and also slow speed traffic areas.

Just yesterday on Hoddle Street, Melbourne, a pedestrian was killed by a truck, No - the truck didn’t climb the curb, nor did the driver run a red light. The truck was stopped in traffic and the pedestrian chose to climb OVER the hitching between the dog and trailer!

In car parks, they are the best, people step off the curb and onto the road, hold up their hand, just like a police officer and expect you to wait. Excuse me, the pedestrian crossing is 20m up the road.

Another thing that really gets up my nose, people with children in tow, instead of waiting for the ‘little green man’ when the button for the lights is pressed, the carers either cross against the lights OR cross 50m away from the lights, without the protection of a pedestrian crossing.

People wonder why children get killed when trying to the cross the road. It’s because the children have no idea of HOW to cross a road. They have never been taught.

Cars can be dangerous, but don’t blame the driver, when the pedestrian walks onto the road, at a spot NOT designed for pedestrians, or actively discouraged by pedestrian barriers.’

I am sure you can add to these examples.

Remember Look left, look right and look left again BEFORE crossing the road. Remember a car is bigger than you and if impact occurs you COULD get killed.

Stay Safe

L is for learning, P is for Practice

Well that’s what I thought this meant when displayed on a vehicles front and rear windows. Until now. Last week, I saw a bronze Mazda, travelling south on Merriang Road, tailgating, speeding, applying make-up AND talking on the mobile, all whilst displaying P plates!

Alright, multi-tasking to the extreme, but let’s look at this closely.

P Plater – needs all their concentration just to drive the vehicle

Tailgating – did not pull back when the vehicle in front applied the brakes, nearly up their clacker

Speeding – the speed limit has just been reduced, yet maintained the old speed of 100kph

Make-up – as soon as the traffic slowed down to 10kpm, the mascara comes out

Mobile Phone – the mascara brush goes down and the phone goes up

FFS – no wonder our kids are being killed left right and centre on Australian Roads, either they don’t care or their parents haven’t drummed into them the importance of driving and single concentration.

It was two weeks ago – that a major newspaper showed that 75% of drivers failed to see the clown on a unicycle whilst talking on a mobile phone and they are experienced drivers!

I keep coming back to the same thing – and that is that my daughter has already been threatened with loss of vehicle either permanently or temporarily depending on what punishment is dished out by the law. We figure license suspension – lose vehicle; demerit point loss – 1 month per point. To disable the car is as simple as applying a steering wheel lock and or removing 1-2 tyres and placing on blocks. Something I am quite capable of doing by myself.

The reason for this is that we own ½ of the car, in that we are paying for 50% of said vehicle, she pays the other 50% and registration AND insurance – so we have the power to disable/sell the car if we choose to due to a poor driving record and don’t think I won’t.

I would rather her walking and alive then driving and dead and if that means a sullen attitude for next couple of months/years then so be it – she can’t afford to buy a car without our funding assistance.

Big Dog, Little Dog, Sad, Dog, Vicious Dog, Dead Dog

I am not even going to pretend I know what it’s like to be mauled by a dog – I am sorry for those that are affected.

Please don’t blame the breed of dog, blame the dog, blame the owner, BUT not the breed as a whole.

I had a Rottweiler when my first child was born. People said I would have to get rid of the dog because she (the dog) would get jealous and hurt my first born.

No – I refused to get rid of Rottweiler, instead I made an effort to incorporate that dog along with my baby into the family unit. I had my Rottweiler for a total of 14 years of which 8 years she lived side-by-side with my daughter, protected her, guarded her, pulled her pram and helped me around the house. (The dog, not the child)

The dog was known to bark when my daughter was getting up to no good, the dog would not permit people near the pram when the child was in the pram. The dog would sit between myself and the person I was having a conversation with and play verbal tennis. Her head would go from speaker to speaker, listening/watching the people and the conversation.

This dog was truly a member of the family, she was socialized, she was well-adjusted, she was loved and most of all she loved.

Dogs, just like children need discipline. Dogs need to know that you are the master. Once the pecking order has been established, they understand where they stand in their ‘society’ as they see it.

Dogs, just like people, have the good, the bad and ugly. The causes could be upbringing, genetics, all sorts of events that can cause trauma. Sometimes a dog will instinctively try and protect itself, not mean any harm but do harm inadvertently.

Other times a dog will just lose the plot, just like humans; again, genetics, upbringing, illness, old age.

Children SHOULD NEVER be left alone with a dog of ANY size, I’ve been attacked by terriers and poodles, yet have not been attacked by Rottweilers, Ridgebacks or German Shepherds. Often this is because the owners of large dogs acknowledge their responsibility in that owning a big dog requires that dog to be disciplined and controlled at all times.

Often you will find that dogs which do attack, are dogs that belong to young males, who ‘rough’ them up for a bit of fun, teach them to attack cats and similar small animals, simply for the thrill of controlling another animal.

These dogs are often un-socialised and allowed to rot in the backyard until it is time for some entertainment by the owner.

Dogs do get jealous, dogs do get lonely, dogs do feel pain, dogs do feel panic, dogs do feel aggression. They may not be able to express these feelings and many people can’t read these feelings in animals, but they do feel them and often display these with ear movements, tail location and even lip movements.

It is not the dogs fault as a general rule – more often than not, it is a human’s fault, for allowing unsuitable dogs to breed OR not socializing animals, or not integrating them into the new family properly.

All non-breeding animals should be de-sexed, it should be compulsory for all dog owners to get a license, something like a drivers license, to permit the ownership of animals, and if an animal kills another animal or human, then the dog should be euthanized immediately. No court rooms, no argument, If your dog kills, due to your lack of care and responsibility then you and the dog are punished. Then IF the owner of the dog can be located, they are banned from owning a dog for 10 years and the ‘license’ revoked, pending a new application in 10 years time.

These thoughts and ideas are mine alone, but sometimes, once again, common sense needs to be re-introduced into society. Without common sense, many things go wrong which could cause devestation to a family.

Take care.

Go to Work Naked Day

I’ve just got off the phone after talking to my darling daughter, the conversation went something like this:-

Daughter – have you seen my purple shirt?
Mum – It’s in the laundry, folded in half, I can’t remember which basket
Daughter – I’ve looked, I can’t find it, it’s not on the clothes horse, not in the baskets, not in the tunble dryer, not in the dirties either. Where is it? I’m going to be late
Mum – I told you, it’s folded in half in one of the baskets.
Daughter – it’s not there
Mum – take one of my shirts
Daughter – HUMPH
Mum – then go to work naked

And I hung up the phone.

She’s 18 and working 9hrs during the day and 15hr of an evening through the week. She pays minimum board (See **Here**) She doesn’t help around the house at the moment unless she wants something, so I am not going to make her life any easier than normal.

I think I handled it well - would you have done anything differently?

Don’t Slam that Door Again

The door slams once, the door slams twice. The door seems to slam every time the teenager enters and exits the room. If this is what family life has deteriorated to, then I am not sure I want to participate anymore.

Laying in bed, thinking, thinking, thinking, how can I stop the door being slammed and the paint cracked?

Thinking, thinking, BINGO!

The next day an ultimatum is issued. Slam that door ONE more time and I shall remove it from its hinges.
“NO, you won’t. You can’t. I’ll tell the teachers”
“Yes I can and Yes I will. I am sick of you trying to bully me and thinking you can get away with it”

Door slams

I grab the meat tenderizer (my great multi-purpose tool) and a 2-inch nail. I enter said teenagers bedroom and proceed to remove pins from door hinges. The entire time abuse is being yelled, threats made and ignored. You know the story, I’m sure.

Pins remove, door off hinge, bedroom no longer has a door.

Silence ensues. Silence is golden. Manners return. No more slamming doors.

Door re-instated 48hrs later and no longer is a door slammed in my house.

Don’t slam that door, Kidlets – it ain’t worth the punishment.

The Magical Mystical Handbag of a Woman

As a woman, I am just as guilty as the next……. If the world were to end tomorrow – I’m sure I would be able to feed, water and cater for the needs of at least 10 human beings, all from the confines of my overweight, over-sized handbag!

In theory this might be great but……….. it leaves many women with sore backs, arms and necks, simply because they do carry too much ‘stuff’ around on a daily basis.

Let’s be honest, let’s be minimalist. We carry far too much around and it is affecting our health.

Hands up – who carries, make-up, pen/s, notepad, book, diary, phone, headache tablets, chocolate (for a quick pick-me-up) This can weigh almost 2kilos. Bet you never thought of that.

Add to that keys, wallet and ‘other’ stuff and you are carrying the weight of small newborn child on one half of your body.

This affects the muscles in your neck as the weight pulls down on your shoulder, it can compress the ribs on the side you carry your bag. It can harm the tendons and muscles in your arm if you prefer to carry the bag over your arm. This can affect the way you walk, it can cause headaches and muscle aches, that would not occur if you didn’t carry this much weight around.

If you are fortunate enough to own a mini-PC, you know the type less than 30cm/12” in length, don’t go adding that to the burden, get yourself a slim-line back pack to take that weight.

If you have children, it is tempting to add their ‘stuff’ to your bag also, you think it is easier than taking two bags to the same location. Do get a second bag for the kids’ stuff, because as sure as there is day and night, you never quite take all the stuff out when you get back home, thus adding more weight to your bag.

So in closing, think of these things:-
1. Do you really need such a big bag?
2. Get a backpack for mini-PC’s
3. Get a 2nd bag for the kids’ ‘stuff’
4. Make a regular thing of checking what is actually in your bag and be critical
5. Consider a stylish backpack, instead of a ‘handbag’
6. If your shoulder, arms, neck or back are sore – get it checked out
7. If you can manage it – use a small/er bag as often as possible

Good luck and remember – you were only given 1 body to last a life-time!

Charging Board to School Leavers (or kids still at home)

(Reposted from other blog)
Sitting in the car, whilst Miss17 almost 18 drives me home, (she is on L Plates) School has now finished, last exam was mid-November. We were discussing what her movements would be until the exam results came in and between university.

Response went something along the lines, dunno, I suppose I could find something that’ll get me $100.00 a week. I said what? - $100.00, are you planning on allowing someone to pay you $20.00 a day?

Oh, I’m not going to work full-time. No-one else is. My response to this was, remember once the exam results come in – you are expected to pay board of $50.00 a week.

That’s not fair, I don’t have a job, I said that’s why you have to get a job, $50.00 is nothing. Her response – I can live in a flat for that.

Excuse me!!!!!!!!!!!!!! - $50.00 a week won’t even pay your telephone bill. Rent (Cheap) $120.00 per week, Food $100-$50.00 per week, electricity $50.00 per week, buying your fridge and washing machine and don’t forget your bed etc.

Oh……………………….. is it THAT much?

The head was returned to the shoulders and nothing else has been said, but come the 19th December, a bill of $50.00 has to be paid. It is now in her hands as to how that money is generated and the funds paid.

I’m not the only parent having this conversation, friends of ours, waited until their son finished university before they decided to charge board. He kicked up at the $50.00, same argument, same results.

When will kids learn, that nothing is for nothing and ‘digs’ like the parents are even more expensive if you want to move out.

How many rentals have someone to do the washing, cooking, cleaning AND pay the bills on time?
No commercial properties that I am aware of!

Remember the responsibility of board is a learning experience, so charge the kids and put the money aside for a house deposit or similar in later life. But charge them on principle, it teaches them another life lesson!

Schoolies – My Job as a Parent

My Job as a parent is almost over. My daughter will be 18 this month, she has finished Year 12, (with Certificate of Merit) and the exams are completed. All in all the year has been reasonable – not too stressful for either parent or student.

Ms almost 18 came to me last week and said I have been invited to go away for schoolies……… I was dreading the thought. Before I was able to comment, she then piped up………………. “But I don’t want to go, I don’t want to be babysitting them, while they get drunk and stuff”

This got me thinking – firstly I must have done a good job parenting, if she can already see this, secondly what is ‘and stuff?’

She told me some of what the girls are planning, getting drunk, trashing wherever they go, seeing if they can find some marijuana and get stoned. I imagine in there is the gratuitous sex, possibly unprotected. Oh I can’t bear to think about it.

In her wisdom, she said no. She realized it would lead to nothing but trouble, that she wouldn’t be able to enjoy herself as she would be babysitting the immature people of the party.

I understand that some people, both parents and children see muck-up-day and schoolies as a sign of growing up – what happened to getting your first car, getting your license, being allowed out late, your first legal drink.

My daughter already has a car, she is well on the way to getting her licence, she is allowed out late, (midnight) as long as I can pick her up. She may have tasted one or two alcoholic drinks but has certainly not been drunk.

These are all benchmarks in the growing up part of life. If parents think it is okay to allow the 15yo out after 10pm and not know where they are, that is not my problem. My problem is my child and where she is and what she is doing.

Schoolies is just another excuse for another party. What I want to know is where is the money coming from to fund this alcoholic binge? – If it is coming from the parents, they ought to be ashamed in permitting good money to be thrown away in this manner.

If this money is coming from government money, then they are being paid too much.

If this money is coming from part-time work, then the expenditure is fine, because the children have had to save the money and have learnt a lesson in doing do. My problem is that money could well be spent on something far more worthwhile.

Perhaps I am a party spoiler, perhaps I am too strict, but I certainly know where my children are, what they are doing and when they are doing it.

Schoolies is asking for trouble and from an accommodation point of view – I fully understand WHY certain establishments REFUSE all male or all female parties AND why around schoolies week they vet heavily AND increase costs. It’s called self-protection from a selfish minority.

If you have children attending ‘schoolies’ please please read them the riot act and hopefully no harm will come to them.

I’m late – so are 1,000,000 people – hold that bus

Every family has this problem, doesn’t matter if it is Monday morning for school and work, or Sunday morning for sport. The kids can not get organised.

Every weekday I have the same argument, This argument is no longer.

I fixed it, plain and simple. I started for a week telling them that the bus into town doesn’t wait for them, so why should I?

Then that progressed to me starting the car and waiting 2 minutes. The next stage is waiting 1 minute and driving 100 metres.

I think you get the message – the longer they take – the further away you are from the front door. I suppose I have the advantage in that I live on a farm and the nearest public bus is 7km away, the school bus only 800m (which I normally make the kids walk) and my sons school is something like 20km away.

But they are getting the message – 1 bus will not wait for 1 person, because that bus has a schedule to keep and so do I – so now my bus leaves on time, more often than not with all passengers on board and I no longer have a yelling match trying to hurry them along.

Once again – have fun – children and schedules and all that fun – are just part of growing up – the less you pander – the easier your life will be ;)

House ownership – for and against

I’m not sure why there is an argument regarding this issue. I really don’t know.

I’ve owned property since I was 19yo – simply because the price was right, the area was right and bugger paying someone else for me to live there.

Consequently I now live in an area that I want to – I am not yet mortgage free, but I am certainly better off paying a mortgage than paying rent – thus lining someone’s else pockets.

The average rent for an average house in suburbia is $300-$400 per week.

Using the same suburb, the median houses prices are $300-$400k – let’s assume you have $10-$20k stashed away somewhere. The average mortgage repayment would be $430.00 per week at 5.64% per annum.

The difference being $30.00 per week MORE for something that will be yours sometime down the track.

Notice I have worked on a slightly higher figure than the current rate – you have to be realistic.

Alright – so you have the maintenance costs, the rates costs, all that sort of thing, perhaps add another $50.00 per week to cover this expenditure.

The difference is now $100.00 per week (rounded up for the sake of convenience) more than renting.

I understand that some people rent for convenience, ie, their job requires that they move, they are testing the area, they are trying to locate a property in the area. There are many reasons to rent.

The problem I have with people renting, especially those that have an established income stream is that they are throwing money away.

Refer to this post Mortgages, Ownership and Interest Rates http://itaintalwaysso.blogspot.com/2009/10/mortgages-ownership-and-interest-rates.htmlwhere I make reference to affordability and being realistic. You can’t always have the best house in the best street, but you can be realistic and buy something you can afford and get ahead that way.

By considering a mortgage it will save you money in the long term – just like money in the bank. It won’t be easy, but I know I would prefer my money be in my pocket and not a landlords pocket.

This is a PERSONAL view, please consult a person with a financial background before committing to anything that you may see written here.

Muck up (Get Arrested Day) for Students

Yup – that is what it seems the celebration for finishing year 12 has come to.

I woke up this morning to the radio news telling me that an incident occurred on and near a railway station in the Eastern Suburbs of Melbourne. That the same school students who were doing the assaulting (Which is what it is) were under attack 2 days prior and I believe 1 or 2 students still remain in hospital. Those attackers have not been located yet.

In the railway station attack a teacher was man-handled when they tried to intervene by removing 2 cartons of eggs from offending students.

Is this considered acceptable in today’s society? – I think not. But perhaps I am wrong.

On the way to taking my son to school – who I normally drop off approx 1km from school and let him walk, I decided to drop him off at the school gates as there were students in costume yelling and screaming, with air horns and sirens, I felt threatened – I can’t imagine what my 12yo son would have thought. But knowing him – he would likely join in – which is something I wanted to avoid!!

Has there been such a drop in moral standards – that today’s children think it is acceptable to threaten, bully and attack both other students and people in authority because ‘it is their right?’

My daughter who has just completed Year 12 – and her muck-up day was Tuesday, she said that they had no problems, that everything went smoothly. Only one concern, which she did mention but didn’t seem to think odd. One of the rabbits (there were two) did not speak and no-one was aware who it was. This didn’t raise an eyebrow with her, maybe I am too suspicious, but I thought perhaps an interloper? Don’t know, but all was okay in the end.

Today’s youth, from about the ages of 15 to about the age of 25, seem to think that they can do as they please, whenever they please, regardless of who they hurt/kill/maim and it doesn’t matter.

And here we go – when I was growing up – if I EVER spoke back to my parents or an adult in authority – there were consequences. God help us if we spoke back to a police officer. I understand that not every parent, every person in authority, every police officer is always right, but what about the majority? Do normal law-abiding citizens have to cower inside their homes and cars and hope that nothing happens.

Does the ordinary citizen have to walk away from helping people in distress because of the threat of attack?

Muck-Up-Day – is not only the responsibility of the school, it is the responsibility of the parents, to ensure that they know what their children are up, that those children know the boundaries, that these children know when enough is enough.

Life is not a video game – you can’t just press reset.

Muck-Up-Day as a celebration is fine – but get it off the streets, and back in to the school yard, away from the public eye and punish those students that do things off school ground IN school uniform and bring the school into disrepute.

God save the youth of today, because it would appear no-one else has the power.

Kids and Discipline

I love my children, I would like to think they are the best out there – we all want to think that – we all wish for that.

The difference between my children and the next is often only in the beholders eyes.

I would like to think my children are perfect, but in my heart I know they are not.

I would like to think my children can do no wrong – but that is not possible

Every child and every adult on this planet has faults, that is human nature.

Often I find that children that are classified as troublemakers or similar, aren’t necessarily bad at heart, they are just confused. They receive mixed messages from home, from school from someone they look up to.

One of the worst things a parent can do is contradict the school and the teachers. An example of this was a child that didn’t wear his blazer, school policy requires that he wear a blazer, when in school uniform off the premises. That was a condition of attending the school. The child was subsequently caught NOT wearing said blazer and received a detention. The parent decided that it was only a small ‘infringement’ and the child shouldn’t have to do the detention. This causes two problems. The first being that school knows nothing and rule breaking is no big deal, the second is that the parent shows the child that rules can be broken and it’s okay.

I disagree completely with this attitude, if my child decided not to wear his blazer (different school, same policy) I have asked him to consider how he is getting home after the detention (we live 25km from the school and 7km from public transport). My thoughts being that if he chooses to break the rules, he can sort out the consequences and repercussions of such behavior. 12 months in and still no detention for not wearing his blazer, which indicates one of two things, either he is wearing his blazer OR he hasn’t been caught yet.

Another example, was my darling daughter, you have met her before, was caught wagging, she received 3 lunchtime detentions and I had to sign a note indicating that I was aware of this. I signed the note and then added please double said punishment. Didn’t hear anything back from the teacher, but my daughter in the 3 years since has never been caught wagging again, so once again I can only assume that either she hasn’t been wagging OR she hasn’t been caught.

Children need boundaries, they also need to be able explore their environments and be able to suffer the consequences (as long as those consequences won’t harm them) as often as possible.

I have blogged about bits and pieces of this previously – here are some examples:-
I hope this will save my daughter’s life sometime in the future – a little pain now – might save a lot of pain later on:- Children, Roos, Seatbelts and Windscreens - Childrens, Roos, Seatbelts and Windscreens

I hope this shows my children that yes I can be hard, but there is a reason for being so and sometimes, you think life is pretty hard, well this shows that you have it pretty good by comparison:- Kids and Life

Children, Roos, Seatbelts and Windscreens

Setting the scene

8.00am, dropping teenage daughter off at bus-stop because I am passing. I’m not normally so nice. It’s only 800m!

There is a ‘dog-leg’ in the road, and often as you approach or come out of the ‘dog-leg’ there can be roos, jumping over the fences, generally getting in the way – It doesn’t matter what speed you do – It ALWAYS happens.

As we approach the corner – I notice that my daughter is not wearing her seatbelt – I thought I had drummed into my children, get into car, close door, put seatbelt on; in that order. They are now old enough that I shouldn’t have to check. I commented to her “Are you comfortable?” – She replies “Yeah”

I touch the brakes, a light tap, she head-butts the windscreen. The abuse starts. By this time we are at the bus stop. I stop car, she gets out and then the REAL conversation starts via SMS.

Daughter – Thanks a lot now my head I pounding n I feel really dizzy I hope your happy with yourself

Reply – Failure 2 wear ur seatbelt is $180 fine and points off your license. Even as passenger. Besides that I thought I’d always taught you – get in car put seatbelt on

Daughter – wells that’s a great reason to attempt to put my head through the windscreen

Reply – No. That’s the whole point. I want you alive

Daughter – So u smash my head against the wind shield and have no thought that it will actually hurt

Reply – Personal Responsibility! What’s difference between my car and yours? You drive yours. Wear your belt 100% of the time or prepare to die. Who will you blame then?

No further reference has ever been made to this conversation – but I notice now that she always puts her seatbelt on.

So a Win? A Life Lesson?

I can only hope it is enough of lesson to teach her – no matter how short the distance, you can die 400m from home.

**All names have been changed to protect the guilty

**All texts are presented as sent

**Any spelling mistakes are the fault of modern day TXT speech!