I say Trolley, you say cart!

I woke in the night to hear that damn noise, that reverberates around the house and into my sleeping ears, commonly called the Water Softener, that sets off the sump pump, that jiggles up and down and pumps the water away from the house. It started before 2am and was still going at 3:30am. Should it really go on that long? Should it really wake me in the night? Of course, once I am awake, Huffle wakes. He somehow senses my awakeness (is that even a word?). So there we both were at 'stupid o'clock' trying not to hear the 'noise'. Then the door opens, Smallest walks in, bumps his head on the door, tells us he had a bad dream about 'Larry', his soft toy from when he was a baby. He climbs in between us, cuddles us for about ten minutes and then politely asks if he can go back to his own bed. I tucked him back in and came back to bed. It seemed ages till the 'noise' stopped but eventually we got back to sleep. I am taking my Shuffle to bed tonight and if it starts again, I will put my headphones in and hope to fall asleep to music instead. Suffice to say, I am tired today and I bet Huffle is to.

The boys went off to school. It was a cold morning but the sun was out. Still needed gloves and hats but no big coats yet. I rang Drew and told her I was going out at 10 to visit the furniture consignment store if she fancied coming along. She did.

The two sofas, that I wanted last time I went in, are still there. Not down in price yet but such a good deal and they are so comfy. My lovely green rocking chair is also still there. If I can just wait till 24th November it will be half the original price (will be a lot for one old chair but it has a name which I can't remember now but it is supposed to be good). Apart from a rocking chair I saw that I thought would be nice for Small's bedroom (do we need any more rockers?) for me to sit in when I read to him, there wasn't anything else I liked.

How do I persuade Huffle that this (and it's pair) would look lovely in our house, instead of a leather one that can be easily wiped if him or the kids drop stuff on it. I have never been one of those people that don't allow the kids in certain rooms. For me, a family house is a place where family can be. Maybe I don't want the stinky boys in my bathroom, but I wouldn't want to stop them sitting on a nice piece of furniture just in case they spill something on it (how do they learn anything that way?). So any ideas?

Also, the green chair I really like doesn't really go with the sofas. The sofas make the chair look small. I could put it my bedroom or the loft but for the money it will cost I would want to sit on it all the time. Apparently they are different styles and different periods (I'm not sure I could tell!).

We went to Bulk Barn and spent the whole time saying what English words were and what Canadian words were. It was very funny. Drew makes me laugh a lot. I asked for Marzipan and the lady in there said "do you mean almond paste?" DO I? Apparently I did. I now have everything to make the Christmas Cake - a bit late but it'll be okay. Wish I could wait for the new oven but that's still 3 weeks away. We also went into Dollarama and tried on hats. Do you like?

We came home, Drew went off for her Yoga and I had lunch and skyped Moo. We had a good chat as she has been away on her Activity Week with her friends. I tidied up, blogged and watched a bit of TV and put my feet up (as instructed by Moo - see I do listen!).

I collected the library books, took them back to the library and bumped into Mr & Mrs Royal. I had a good old chat to them, collected some more books and went off to school to pick up the boys.

Tonight we went to our Parent Teacher Interviews. First of all we saw Small's two teachers. They said he was doing 'okay' and was progressing well. They showed us some of his work (which was full of spelling mistakes that they hadn't corrected and didn't see anything wrong with), said they were happy with him but that he could use his time more effectively in the classroom and put in a bit more effort as he liked to talk to his 'table buddies'. I asked why they thought he was doing exceptionally well (and doing year above's work) in England and yet 'just okay' here in Canada. They said they couldn't answer that question as they didn't know. I said his spelling had gone downhill but they seemed to gloss over that fact. Huffle asked them why the grading system said he was good when they said, for example, about his Maths that he was very good. They explained that as it was a progress report and not an end of year report, they couldn't say he was doing very well in case he didn't suddenly do so well later. If he got an A now and then mid way through the year he got a B, we would be asking why that was. YES OF COURSE WE WOULD ASK. IT WOULD BE A TRUE REFLECTION OF THE WORK HE WAS DOING THEN AND AT THE END SURELY? I felt like we had been thoroughly fobbed off.

I asked the teachers if they thought the two teacher system was working and they said that yes it was working perfectly. Huffle asked about the incidents that happened with the supply Teachers, in that some of them had been picked on and another teacher been in to reprimand the class and teach them about respect. They had no idea that ever an incident had occurred. WHY IS THAT THEN BECAUSE I KNOW FOR A FACT THAT THE TEACHER THAT REPRIMANDED THEM IS NOT THE TYPE OF PERSON WHO WOULD KEEP SUCH A THING QUIET!! They seemed to blame 'the system' a lot for the marking structures and reports. I asked about the constant supply teachers and one of the teachers was very defensive saying "I was made to go to ........twice and I was ill last Friday". She reminded of a child. One of the teachers said I could come in whenever I wanted if I had any concerns. I think parents tend to come in more here to talk than we probably would have done in England. I told them that I felt Small needed to be pushed, he was clever enough but just needed a nudge every now and then. They seemed to think it was the child's responsibility to push themselves. I partly agree, but then they are only nine years old. Surely there is plenty of time for them to learn to push themselves - give them a bit of ownership and responsibility, not suddenly expect them to do it all themselves just because they are in Grade 4!. Huffle wants me to talk to some of the other Mum's and see how their interviews went and to see if they want to take it further with the Principal.

Next we went to see Smallest's teacher. I was a bit worried about her at the beginning of the term because I knew she was a bit more structured and a bit more stern. Smallest absolutely loves her and the feelings seem to be mutual. She said he was doing fabulously. Above average on his reading and writing and progressing well with arithmetic. Today he helped her because he finished his work and was checking the work of some of the others in his class. She said he had three good friends in the class, one of whom was a girl (Huffle and I looked at him and winked and he got all embarrassed). He always puts up his hand and contributes in class. She was very happy with him. Now she said that the forms they have to fill in aren't great for parents as they don't give a true reflection of how their child is doing. So she told us how she gets 'around' that. SEE IT IS POSSIBLE TO GET AROUND THE SYSTEM IF YOU CARE ENOUGH!

We left the school, drove home and started on dinner. I made Beef Burgers and Falafals earlier, they just needed cooking. The boys played on the Wii. Huffle and I discussed the interviews. I called Drew and said I wasn't walking. I made her tell Huffle how nice the sofas were. He has agreed to look a them. I said if he really doesn't like them then I will not talk about them ever again.

We had dinner. Huffle tried to fix the new computer (its playing up) and the boys tried to help him.

Me and the boys played on the Wii (while I cycled).

Huffle put them to bed. We watched TV. Thank you once again to those lovely thoughtful people who put our favourites things onto YouTube. We are now watching IM A CELEBRITY GET ME OUT OF HERE. although, I have a confession to make, I struggle to understand what half of them are saying. Am I getting too used to hearing the Canadian Drawl? OH MY GOD!!!!!

I have a new app that I have been playing with. These photos are nothing new but displayed differently.

 

 

 

Please don't use my photos without asking first. Posted with Blogsy