Well after almost a 6 week break, the kids are back to school 2morrow.... My youngest is starting her first day at OPS in a school uniform, big drama, books for mommy to cover..... The eldest, SHannon, is not looking to forward to returning......
DO you remember your first days at OPS?
Yes. That was in after the winter holidays in 73. I was in std. 2. There was a girl sitting in front of me that left town at the end of the year. She had tiny and light coloured freckals on her nose. That's why I called her sausage-nose. I think Nicky Hodge and Barb. Fry were in that class to. We were definately together in std. 3 in Mrs. Coffins class.
I just remember everything being so new and being homesick about having left PE.
Georg, thats wierd, I have just been dealing with a guy in PE....
First day of school .. everything looked so big and intimidating .. I suppose the fear of whats unknown can sometimes blow something up to bigger than it is .. strange as we get older we learn to deal with fear of the unknown or at least modify our approach or how we deal with it .. and then most things do not loom so large in front of us anymore .. actually once we got settled in .. Kind caring teachers .. and yes FUN .. first year always easy .. then they start flexing the brain .. at least i did not ahve the horror of being in Tinka Castles class for an entire year .. I think my untidy scrawl of a handwriting is a rebellion against the time that she tortured me for a few weeks when our teacher was off sick , and our class was split up between her and another teacher ..
My first schoolday in OPS (st.2 -1973) was the scariest day of my life! Arrived in OMund in Dec. 73 - did'nt meet a lot of kids during the holiday, but then the schools started in Jan. OMG - I think the only English words I actually knew and understood then was yes and no. I was in the Afrikaans class, but still...... And then I ended up in Mrs. Ralph's class for English. I think the poor woman sometimes still has nightmares about me. It took me quite a while to adapt to the large number of pupils and the different cultures and the English.
Hey Dalene. I had Mrs Ralph to. She was my class-teacher. The last I heard of her was she was having a baby about 1977. Do you know what happened to her?
No clue what so ever. Not even sure when they moved from Oranjemund and where to.
My Sub A teacher was Miss Clarke.Something I've never forgotten is going to the loo during class in the early days of Sub A and not being able to find my way back to the classroom.
Hope you find your way back to the bedroom if you go to the loo at night Diana.
my daughter started high school today - i got such a lump in my throat after dropping her off - i remember her first day in grade 1 like it was yesterday. i just wanted to be there today to protect her from all the bitches that you find in every high school but i know i can't, she has to find her own feet - besides, i know she's quite capable of standing up for herself and putting anyone in their place who messes with her. can't wait to get home tonight and hear all about her first day.
i remember Mrs/Miss Jordan ( think her name was Patricia?) was my Sub A teacher at OPS, I think for Sub B as well then Dawn Johnson was my Std 1 teacher. i don't remember anything major about my first day of Sub A but what does still stand out vividly in my memory of that year was Andrew Pienaar standing up in class and telling us his dream was to lie back & float on a cloud, he said they looked so comfortable, like big balls of cotton wool..........amazing what sticks in the head.............oh, the colour factor blocks i remember very well.............
I felt the same way with all 3 of my children Delia. Now they all out there working in the big world and the worring and wanting to protect still continues. Which high school is your daughter at?
@Boy Georg I tie a piece of string around my ankle and the other end to the bed post when I go to sleep at nite.
So true Diana - we worry, protect (try to), stress and it always turns out okay in the end but you can't help it hey - that umbilical cord may have been physically cut but spiritually it'll always be connected. Caryn's at Table View High.
Talking of trying to protect even once they grown up - I remember how my mom used to lie in bed at night and wouldn't fall asleep until she heard Lance's motorbike coming up the driveway and he was in the army then - only when she heard his bike could she relax and finally fall asleep knowing he was safe.
My 3 were also at Table View High my youngest finished 2years ago. My son moved out of home at 26, all the time he lived here I would wake up at 2a.m. and panic.Mommy could hardly phone a 26year old and check on him,so would pace about and pretend to be asleep when he got in. I find I worry more now than when they were little.
Quote from: Diana Rudd (Boehme) on January 16, 2008, 01:41:28 PM
I felt the same way with all 3 of my children Delia. Now they all out there working in the big world and the worring and wanting to protect still continues. Which high school is your daughter at?
@Boy Georg I tie a piece of string around my ankle and the other end to the bed post when I go to sleep at nite.
dawoman
LOL : nothing like a mother worrying her head off - and as for hubby, well he's either lying snoring away or saying, "what you worrying for woman, the boy's old enough to look after himself, now get back to bed" - they just don't get that maternal tug, do they........
No they don't,or you get "The boys a man now his probably 'BUSY' "
Don't be to sure about your opinion.
They're so like and so like.
catchball
Lost you Georg???????????
Hello, Diane and Delia
Yes yes yes, the pain of seperation that we are required to endure is something too terrible when it comes to mother/teenager stage.
I have just come out of a very rebellious stage with my son, who started college this year, in the UK (he's 16) a baby in my eyes, having to make life decisions and demanding that he is man enough. I always say that he's on a leash (you know the one's that come with like 10m length) and I've just let it out to it's maximum length. I could and will and do still reign him in occasionally but have to let him out to experiment no matter how difficult it is. This has allowed to him to taste the fruits and face mistakes if necessary.
It's still hard, but thank god I'm still allowed to phone text and check up.
So as really really really old and experienced parents, would you say that girls are easier to bring up than boys?
idontknow
it's been said that boys are easier to bring up than girls - we tend to be more protective over daughters 'cos there's a feeling there's more out there that can hurt them than boys............there's a tendancy in life to think that boys can look after themselves more than girls can...........
Diana, you've got a mixture of both......what do you think......you can speak from personal experience?
Mike, getting back to Diana pacing & worrying while her 26 yr old son's out..............now had that been a daughter, dad would've probably been pacing up and down right next to Diana, every 2 minutes looking out the window to see if she's home yet........dads tend to be more protective over their "little" girls than their boys.........again, that thinking that we've been indoctrinated with to believe that boys can look after themselves.......
Quote from: Michael Alexander on January 17, 2008, 05:05:32 AM
So as really really really old and experienced parents, would you say that girls are easier to bring up than boys?
idontknow
You can take me by my word. That's true!
:buffo1:
IF that had been a daughter, she would'nt be out at the age of 26..... we can discuss it at her 40th Birthday....
meanpuff
LOL - sometimes i wish i could chain caryn to her bedposts till she's 30 - then again how are they gonna learn to handle life's lessons if we don't let them experience them - as barbs said, gotta know when to pull that leash in or let it out - it's just so damn difficult knowing exactly how much rope to give them.
mike, re your kid starting grade 1 yesterday - enjoy the time now when your kids still allow you to hold their hand up the school driveway and are even happy for you to hang around while they're settling in - it's over all too soon. yesterday i was told, not asked, to drop Caryn on the corner of the school road & she'll walk to the school gates - it's just not cool to be seen with mom dropping you off in high school...........that's when the lump in my throat appeared remembering how she was only too happy to have me there on her 1st day in grade 1. but, i know it's all part of the growing up years - i was exactly the same...........if she can be with her friends as opposed to the family, that's where she'll be......altho' i do insist that she spends family birthdays, xmas, etc. with us......she's happy to tho for those special occassions so i can still count myself lucky.
Delia, stop it... you're making me morbid...... My 2 girls are always gonna be my 2 little girls, no matter how old they are.... their boyfriends better watch out for me... shooter
mike, whenever i start feeling morbid re the situation i try and keep in mind how i was as a teenager - the source of many, or probably all of my mom's gray hairs - i was exactly the same - just not cool to hang with the folks when there's more exciting things happening around the corner with the buddies. but you're right, no matter how old she gets, caryn will always be my baby.........i've been told by many to have that shotgun close by............but i'll wait a while, caryn's told me her guy friends are shit scared of me..........suits me fine
:36_2_35:
Cold comfort I gave my mom .. They were on holiday at the same time as me .. I was Toering and H.... ring around the country , anyhow Our paths crossed at Ians place in Kempton Park .. they ended up there at the same time I was dossing over for a few days .. anyhow off I went the one evening to the City of gold .. re-appeared the next day at 11 in the morning .. now remember there were no cellphones in those days etc .. I got this worried look and lots of questions from mom .. My cold comfort was .. " Mom if something bad happens to me you will hear about it .. If nothing bad happens to me then you will not hear about it . " she had to accept that .. looking back think I also promoted a good few grey hairs on her head ...........
I found my son easier to bring up But I worry about him more than the girls. After all girls have a bit of savy,boys are boys hey. They tend to do stupid things. The girls have their Boyfriend/husband to look out for them but it's your son that does the looking out. you can still check on your 28 yr old daughter,the boy would be made to look like a woes.My girls also tell me most things.
So from a worring point of view I think girls are easier.
"My girls also tell me most things." ..... and there be the problem.... most!
:emot19_2:
Yeah - should be "ALL", but never is .......
Don't really know. Each has his / her own set of problems , depending on the stage they are in or the situation. At times I think my son is easier, then at other times I think my daughter is easier. THEN - at times I am very sorry that I did not "kill them with love" when they were babies, for then I am sure to do it at that moment. Read a very funny thing : Mother of teenage kids - "Now I know exactly why some animals eat their young!"
Not so bad - mostly I am very proud of my kids, don't have loads of trouble with them, have good and open communication with them, they do good at school and in tech, etc. Not saying that they have wings and will just rise to heaven in a second - they are normal kids with normal personalities who do normal kid stuff, that include the things like smashing the bakkie into the gate post, telling lies about homework that has not been done, stealing my meat from the freezer to go have a braai with their tjommas out in the veld and then NOBODY knows what has happened to my steaks or braai tjops, ..........
e154
advice... If you are to strict with them as youngsters, is there more of a chance of them becoming rebels when they turn 16?
bling1
Mike, I tend to think so. I am not saying that one should leave your kids to do whatever they like and spoil them to become brats, but I think there is a negative impact on them and their development when your are too strict with them. I think by that you also limit your communication level with you - you rule the household like a dictator and no one else has a say in any matter, but when they are adults or more grown up, now you suddenly want to have a good and honest conversation with them and that just ain't gonna happen, for you have already blocked the channels since when they were small.
A good hiding at the right time, repremanding when needed, the correct amount of strictness - no problem. Then again, no two kids are the same ever, so one has to learn to assess them for who they are and apply your rules to each of them as per their own demand for it! I think we can talk about it, but I can never advice you or someone else how to raise your kids, for that is something you have to figure out for yourself, and neither can someone give me that advice on how I have to raise mine. (But I would kill you if you know my kids are up to something bad and you don't inform me about it - we tend to think that we are not going to meddle in someone elses life, but by doing so you might just save the life of a kid or two.)
Wise words Dalene, I knew many a kid that grew up in a strict home, and the moment they were old enough to go to the bars (at 16) they just went beserk, right of the rails.... kids that had more passive parents, also did it, but not to the same magnitude..... One wonders why Parenting was never a school subject....
I think listening to your children is very important. Sometimes we think we just know best and tend not to listen to what our kids have to say. We need to discipline our kids that does not mean we need to be to hard on them but to lay rules down and stick to them. They need to respect their perants and when they don't they should be put on the naughty stair, for eg. and have time out (which is their age for exsample if they r four then that is the time they should sit on the naughty stair or naughty corner, four min) then after ask them if they understand why they have been punished and then ask them to say sorry. It does work. Everyone has different set of rules. Shouting does NOT work at all. We should not shout at them when they r having a fit cus it won't work, we lower ourselves to act just like kids our sleves so, u need to ignore their tempers and when they r fin u should talk to them. well that is about it for now....
Very true, Sharon. To listen to your kids, does not mean you should give in to every demand or request, but you have to have an open ear and mind when dealing with kids. Same applies to arguments - you don't change a conversation into an argument, 'cos then you as the adult are the loser. It has to be an open communication port, not a fight zone, when talking and listening to each other.
I do NOT believe in the modern "GEHOORSAME OUER" methods - but I, as the partent, have to set the example by acting right and dealing according to my set of rules with each situation as it arises and not refer back to old issues and fishwife methods.
As Dalene said very true Sharon. I must say I've also been very fortunate with all three my kids,had the car bumping episodes,and temper tantrums etc but nothing major as alot of other parents that I know have had.Moral grounding is important, good morals applies to most things they have to make judgements on in life. Love them,which takes different forms. Really one does the best you know how,often making mistakes.