Saying goodbye

It is never easy!  Especially when it is somebody extremely close to your heart.

Today we said goodbye to Marg, the most wonderful and amazing family support worker at CCF.  We met Marg way back in 2007 just after Bianca was diagnosed with leukemia.  She was the one who came and dropped off this big bag with essentials - a toiletry bag, some vouchers, lots of reading material to help us understand this new world called child cancer (and leukemia).  She was the one who organised a pink bandanna for Bianca when we asked because we were so worried about her losing her hair and wanted her to get used to wearing a bandanna before that actually happened.  When Bianca was diagnosed it was around 2 weeks before her 4th birthday and so suddenly with hearing the words "she has leukemia" everything changed and we had to cancel her birthday party, the venue, the friends, the entertainment - everything.  But it was too late to cancel the cake.  Marg organised an impromptu birthday party right there in the hospital for Bianca - organising some of the other patients, nurses and doctors as guests, organising balloons and some snacks and all we had to worry about was bringing the cake (not that Bianca ate any of it, she was on steroids and had a firm craving for salt and vinegar pringles chips).

Marg was more than a family support worker.  She was a rock in a very uncertain and unknown time.  She was a constant when the world felt like it was collapsing. She was a presence when all you needed was somebody to be there, an ear when you needed somebody to listen, and a voice when we needed to fight a hospital system not very understanding.  Marg was and is like family.  And she truly understood the road we were walking - once, a long time ago, she too was a child cancer parent and that aspect made her an amazing family support worker.  Somebody who could anticipate your needs, your fears, your worries without you needing to say anything.

Now after dedicating nearly 15 years to CCF, it was time for Marg to leave CCF and do something just for her and for her family.  But oh boy!  We are so sad Marg is leaving.  We will miss her so much.  But we wish her all the very very best.

Go well Marg.  You will never truly realise just how much you meant to us, you changed our lives in such a great and positive way.  Marg, it was such a privilege to have met you.  May the road ahead of you be filled with amazing blessings!

School Feedback

And it is school holiday!  Hard to believe that there are only 2 terms left.  These school holidays we are not really doing much.

Next week Terence will be flying to Melbourne where he will attend some or the other course for work.  So it will only be the girls and I.

Caitlyn will continue with daycare (except Mondays and Fridays when she is home with me) and in the first week of the holiday Bianca will have a netball holiday programme Monday to Thursday for 3 hours each day.  Hopefully she'll not only have fun, but learn some new skills and techniques.

Bianca really enjoys netball and this morning's match was really good to watch.  Bianca played GK and the teacher was really impressed - twice saying "I really like you in that position".  At this age though, they rotate every week, so every week she plays a different position until she is a bit older.

Earlier this week we had parent-teacher interviews.  There are a few small areas Bianca needs to work on (nothing too big or serious), but she got really great feedback.  In particular she is turning out to be a really good teacher assistant.  This meeting confirmed again what we have known since the start of this year - Bianca is with the right teacher.  A teacher that not only believes learning should be fun, but that kids should be challenged to help them reach their potential.  And Mr Forster has put a lot of focus on Glossary which really really helps with building vocabulary.  So much so that Bianca often points out when she hears a glossary word in conversation or in an advert and will often insist on using a different word to describe things.  Maths too.  Bianca absolutely loves maths - which I'm so pleased about because maths was really a weak point when I was at school.

One thing that I've noticed about this teacher is that he has so much passion for what he does and that feeds through to the kids and I have seen kids so excited about school and learning.  Even doing the weekly homework sheet is something that Bianca feels very very excited about. 

And so I'm starting to feel just a little bit anxious about what next year might bring for Bianca.  You see - Bianca is gifted.  Especially with things like reading and spelling and vocabulary.  When she started school in Auckland, Bianca was a new entrant for 6 months and then started Year 1 the start of the following year.  At the start of Year 1 (age 5.5) Bianca was already reading past orange level (which was approximately age 6.5) and so along with another child in her class they started with proper spelling homework.  Her teacher always knew she was ahead and insisted on providing additional challenges and making sure that Bianca was at a suitable reading level and so on.

Then we moved here.

We really like this school, but Bianca's year 2 teacher (here) was very young and straight-away put Bianca down 2 reading levels because that's where all the other kids were reading at.  She simply did not have any suitable books for Bianca's reading level at that stage.  Bianca was already reading at silver level (actually beyond that, but her comprehension was tested to silver level at that stage).  And so at the age of 7 Bianca was at a reading level for 8.5 - 9 year old kids.  At first I didn't think Bianca's teacher really understood and as far as she was concerned all the other kids read to purple level and as long as Bianca was reading then that was all that was important.  I felt strongly that Bianca needed to be challenged otherwise reading would become boring.  So at that stage we got Bianca tested and armed with the test results met with the teacher and insisted they allow Bianca to read at silver level and since then the teacher made a real effort and offered some extra challenges.

This year, Bianca has had a great teacher. The teacher last year was good too, but I think this year's teacher is much much more experienced.  A teacher with a lot of passion for what he does.  It is obvious that it is more than a job to him.  It is obvious that he does what he loves the most.  Bianca loves glossary, she loves math and she loves singing (Mr Forster is known as the singing teacher).  Mr Forster writes his own songs and have published a children's book with a CD (You're not eating me which you can find on this website).

I can't help wondering who Bianca's teacher in year 4 will be.  Not all teachers focus as much on glossary and not all teachers are doing homework sheets.  For us it is really really important that Bianca will continue to be challenged and extended in class, something we felt Mr Forster has been able to do really well with her.  I wonder if the school will consider moving Mr Forster to Year 4 next year...

Stupid Dora

Once upon a time Bianca loved Dora.  So much so she watched her Dora DVDs over and over and she even had a Dora duvet cover and pillow case.  And I didn't mind Dora so much.  Bianca used to like Teletubbies when she was 2.  Then we thought she liked Barney because she saw it from somewhere and got her 1 DVD which we started letting her watch and that was sooooo annoying that the DVD conveniently disappeared very quickly.  Teletubbies I could handle, Barney most definitely not!  And then after that it was Dora.  Caitlyn wasn't so much into Teletubbies, she liked the Wot Wots and In the Night Garden, but also likes Dora.

This morning I kept Bianca home from school.  She has a fairly bad cough and didn't sleep well last night and since today is a half day anyway I figured it wouldn't really matter anyway.  So we had the TV on for a little bit as she is busy with the colouring competition sheet she got from school yesterday and guess what comes on?  That's right - Dora the Explorer.  I couldn't help smiling:

Dora: "Can you see the nutty forrest?"
Bianca: "It's right there, stupid!"
Dora: "We had 3 wishes and we used one, how many wishes do we have left?"
Bianca: "2, stupid!"

She got so irritated by Dora and her "stupid" questions and I had to remind her that Dora was made for little kids not for 8 year olds :-).  And of course morning TV is aimed at little kids not 8 year olds normally in school.

So all the parents out there pulling their hair out at shows like Teletubbies, Barney, Dora, In the Night Garden and so on... Rest assured, it does get better.  When they are 8 they think those shows are thoroughly stupid :-)

I'm nuts!

Utterly nuts.  And obsessive. 

So recently we watched Rio.  What a cute movie!  And one of the voices is from one of my favourite actors - Jemaine Clement.  I think Rio is going to be one of those movies we'll probably watch quite a few times.  And you should have heard Caitlyn laughing throughout the movie.  She thoroughly enjoyed it and of course her laughing would just set us off.  Then as I watched the movie I started wondering about exotic birds.  Like macaws.  And Cockatoos.  And all sorts of colourful parrots.  And what do I do? I start reading up on them.  And reading some more.  And I found myself actually wanting one of these cool birds.  And not just wanting one, but maybe even breeding.  We once visited somebody who actually breeds birds like cockatiels and budgies and we got to see the tiny birds that she was handrearing.  So cute.  So yes - in my mind I have this all worked out you see.  I would have this cool, colourful bird.  It would be tame, sitting on my shoulder, possibly even talking.  And how rewarding to go into breeding...

And really only one small problem.  We have cats.  And I don't really fancy our cats eating a bird worth a few hundred dollars.  Oh and there is the issue of noise I guess.  It could potentially likely drive us nuts if it was like a macaw or a cockatoo.  And they mess.  And they are like kids wanting lots and lots of attention.  They say cockatoos can live up to 80 years (so for 80 years I'd have something that is like a 2 year old). 

So in my mind I know that sure maybe one day it would be nice to have an aviary of birds with some being handreared, but now - with cats, with very little garden space (for aviaries) and small kids who could get seriously hurt - not a great idea for now.  Apart from the fact that Terence most definitely has not been convinced...

So yes, I know it is not going to happen right now.  But what do I do?  I keep reading.  Like I said - I'm totally nuts!  At least with all the reading if this ever was to happen, then at least I can say I've done loads of research!

Wild weather

So I understand there was a tornado here in Waikanae this afternoon.  [Insert shocked expression here] and I understand it affected the very bottom of our street (at the more rural side).  Not too severely, but still...

And the thing is... I slept right through it.  I probably would not have seen anything, but the wind would have been wild and I believe there was hail at one point and lots of rain.  The only way we were affected was with a brief power outage, but all good now.

It seems this is the year of extreme situations everywhere.