Are laptops for school children a good idea?

I’m sitting here with my daughter’s school laptop in bed (feeling crapola with a cold) as I write this so I’m aware that I’m being a bit hypocritical…

Here’s the thing. My daughter has gone to a new school this year. A school that insists that every child should use a laptop from Grade 5. Their argument is that we live in an age where computers and digital devices are a part of our lives and that we should make use of every tool we can to educate our children. And yes, I get that.

But since we’ve had this third computer in the house we barely see our 11 year old. It’s Youtube 24/7 - or until Groover goes mental because we’ve been shaped again. She doesn’t seem to read books anymore - it’s chapter after chapter of fan fiction.

We insist that she uses the computer in public and we’ve learned that you take the laptop away from her at bedtime - what I’m not seeing is a whole lot of homework done on the computer and given that, I wonder why the school doesn’t store the wretched things in the classroom. Do they really need to take them home?

The only good thing is that at least she’s not fighting with my son now over the second computer.

So here I am enjoying her MacBook interface on our wireless system (which doesn’t seem to work for my work laptop) and whinging.

Partly it’s the lazy parent in me that finds it hard to cope - I get tired of continually taking it away from her and telling her off for exceeding our bandwidth quota again.

And part of it is my old fashioned sense of media. I want my child to enjoy books as books! Not fan fiction. Although, having said that if she was writing her own stories… well now, that would be different. And maybe endless reading of it will lead to writing her own…

In the meantime my darling Dipp has earned a merit award at school. So maybe the laptop isn’t the monster I make it out to be.

Oh, you ask, why do I have precious time on the new toy? Ah, she’s out on her brother’s bike getting some fresh air.

I asked her first!

Some parenting tips please! How do you manage computer time in your home?

photo credit: Apollo-Jack

Sleeping bag cover up!

Dippity is going camping. Her first camp with her new school. She’s pretty excited but a little worried that she won’t be able to get her sleeping bag into its bag. And I don’t blame her.

What is it with sleeping bag makers!

Why can’t they design a bag that makes it easy for a kid use?

Now sure, I could have TMATP* and bought a down filled stuff-in sleeping bag. I have one of those myself and they are great. Warm, compact and best of all easy to store in its little bag. Instead I decided to cut the price tag by more than half and buy a very warm, good quality bag that you need to roll up and put in its bag. IMPOSSIBLE.

It’s hard enough for me, let alone a 11 year old.

Am I alone?

Tell me about your sleeping bag woes…

*TMATP = Thrown Money At The Problem

My youngest child is 11

There have been a couple of things lately that have made me feel old. Trying to buy something hip hap’nin and groovy today… sigh. Being asked if my 18 year old daughter also had her hair done at my salon (I look old enough to have an 18 year old daughter now?!!!) and now little Dippity - The Pigeon - turning 11.

But it’s not about me. Here are seven photographs of my girl.

Yeah. That’s my baby.

Happy Birthday gorgeous one.

Journey to the Mid-West

Last weekend I drove up to Geraldton with my dad and two small people, Hugamuga and Dippity. Dad wanted to visit his step-mother, the kids were on holidays, and it was a good chance for me to visit our Geraldton office as well as seeing my step-Grandmother. Now 86.

I thought I’d tell this story in pictures.

We drove up on Saturday. First stop was lunch at a little picnic spot just north of Badgingarra.

We stopped at the old convict bridge, washed away in a recentish flood. I lost my akubra (well Groover’s hat) but luckily had written our name and phone number inside it and the lovely gentleman at the Hampton Arms Inn rescued it for me.

After rescuing my hat, the kids and I decided to visit Greenough’s historic village which was quite well preserved, if a bit dusty. The new cafe is very swish. This is the jail.

A classic Greenough tree. A river gum bent double by the strong winds off the coast.

It is still very dry at Greenough.

My step-grandmother and father in her crowded kitchen. She has two stoves and four fridges, although she only uses two at the moment. I’m making a video of her house - it has to be seen to be believed - so if I get permission - stand by. And yes, you picked it, she is Japanese.

Hers is an interesting story which I will tell when I show you her house.

A sunset view from the house.

The next day the kids discovered the Merry-Go-Round by the Sea, inspired by Randolph Stow’s famous autobiographical novel.

And we visited the memorial to the crew of HMAS Sydney, especially poignant since the discovery of the wrecks and the fact today is after all, ANZAC Day. Now they can, rest in peace.

Ever wondered who lived at the end of the rainbow?

Yes it rained. But the earth seemed so dry as to reject the water. We were a little worried about our night camping but the weather bureau’s radar looked promising so we headed to Cliff Head, via Dongara.

We had to go to Dongara because that’s where my dad built his first solo construction. Aged 13.

Dad went on to become Engineer of the Year and was involved in a great many projects. My favourite is still The Stirling Bridge in Fremantle which was his first project as project manager. I remember going to the opening… ah but that’s yet another story.

So we made it to Cliff Head. Camping to my kids means marshmellows:

And to my dad, means fishing:

He used to fish here with his mum and dad.

We slept on the beach which wasn’t as successful as we hoped given the bright moonlight and my Dippity falling ill and the next day mooched our way home, stopping on the way at the Pinnacles Desert near Cervantes.

It was my dad’s first ever visit to this famous West Australian tourist destination.

And it was my first visit too. I’m not sure why they are such a popular tourist destination…

PS: I didn’t break a nail til I came home and did the washing. Meh.

PPS: Here’s where all the photos live.

The baby name wizard’s name voyager

Name Voyager is a fun web-gadget. You just type in your name and the wizard tells you how popular it’s been over the ages.

So my little family in order of number of times the name was used per million babies born today:

Cellobella!

Ranked in the top 25/1000 in 2006.

Then Hugamuga:

No 371 in 2006.

This is Groover:

Ranked 826 in 2006.

And finally Dippity:

Not in the top 1000 since the 1960s.

Emily is the most popular girls’ name in 2006, and for boys? Jacob. The lists.
Naming trends… did you know that hundreds of babies are named “Unique” in the US every year? Poor darlings.

Warning: This is a BIG timewaster!

How long should it take to name a child?

There is a high profile person in Perth who has recently become the father to a healthy baby girl (as opposed to a fully grown one). She is beautiful and the mother is by all accounts a very lovely and organised person.

The baby was born on the 14th March and to date the babe is not named.

Now there are probably very good reasons for that. Who knows what is going on with them.

But I find it hard to imagine going three weeks without naming my babes. I think I took one look at my babes as they were laid on my chest and said “Welcome to the world little Hugamuga/Dippity”, barely seconds old.

With Hugamuga we’d had a tulmultuous time… first births often are. I’d gone into labour two days before and after getting to 8cm and having my waters broken in the home birth centre at the hospital it was decided to transfer to the hospital proper - so I could have an epidural and a rest.

Things didn’t proceed well - the baby was posterior and presenting the widest part of his head - and I was transferred from the labour ward to theatre, prepped for an emergency caeser and they tried first to suction him out… yep, I got the cut.

I was pretty high on drugs at this point but what I remember is that the doctor was pulling on the suction thingy and the bed started going with it. The brakes weren’t on!

Then we heard a loud sucky sound and we thought - omg! Here he/she comes! Then there was a loud theatrical “pop” and the suction cap fell off and the doctor went flying.

The monitoring equipment went wild and it was decided they couldn’t wait for a caeser - they just had to rip him out. The student midwives observing at the back of the room visibly winced as the forceps went in and Hugamuga came out. (that’s not a good sign)

He scored 4 on his first apgar, and 8 on his second. He looked like a little blue frog with a squashed nose and bruises on his head both where the suction cup had been and by his ears - like sideburns - where the forceps were clamped. But he was okay. Safe. Yes a rocky landing but the plane didn’t crash. I was lucky.

Meanwhile at the other end of the bed the doctor was busy practicing his needlepoint. Third degree tear. 40 stitches. Please remember I’m still very high on drugs. “So you won’t be able to have sex for two months and you’ll need to take laxitives regularly for 6…” sew sew sew… “Oh,” says I, “So I guess anal sex is out of the question?” The midwives glare at Groover. I was joking! I think I’m hysterically funny. “Don’t distract the doctor darling”, says Groover, “you need him to concentrate at the moment…”

But I digress what were we talking about again???

That’s right. Names.

I don’t think I’m especially well organised but I did have the name thing organised. We’d agreed on both a boys and a girls name for Hugamuga… he would have been Madeleine if a girl.

And for Dippity we had a deal, Groover got to name the baby if a boy - Declan (hmmm not so much) - and I got to name her if she was a girl, which happily, she was. But again no delay.

So (finally) here’s my question. Did it take you a while to name your babies?

And if so, why?

Religious reasons perhaps? You’re the Crown Prince of Denmark maybe? You had the baby unexpectedly early?

I’d love to know your story…

The Grumpy Sherpa

Do you have a Grumpy Sherpa living with you?

We do.

The phrase was coined by Groover watching Dippity stomp off to school one day.

She was carrying her backpack, a sportsbag and a third bag carrying her laptop.

At least these days kids get backpacks. When I were a young lass it was a gaping stretched bag with one handle over the shoulder and the other about a foot to the side, stretched by more lever arched files than I knew what to do with. Plus lunch. Plus sports gear and all those heavy books. It can’t have been good for us yet I don’t have a back problem. Touchwood.

I used to walk along reading my favourite novel trying not to poleaxe myself on bustops - which were just at the height that made them difficult to notice with my peripheral vision.

I try to be sympathetic, I really do but often I find myself waving cheerily goodbye.

“Ta ta darling! Have a lovely day…” As I snigger at our newly minted description - our little grumpy sherpa.

Bless.

photo credit: Boo Boo Bumpy Bear

The best thing since sliced bread

Here’s a question for you:

What did people say before sliced bread was invented?

The best thing since… Shakespeare? Spring-loaded pegs? Sanitary girdles?

photo credit: BinaryApe

An awkward conversation

Watching this gem from Servant of Chaos:

Me: Laughing at video

Dipp: Can I see mum?

Me: Um yes.

Dipp after watching final ad: I don’t get it. What is that?

Me: It’s a vibrator.

Dipp: A what?

Me: It’s used by women to feel good.

Dipp: ???

Me: Er… um… it’s a sex toy.

Dipp: …

Me to myself: Hmmm that went well…?

Making friends

It’s not easy making friends at a new school, even if you know some of the girls already.

My daughter has recently moved from a small school with just five girls to a big girls’ school with 56 girls in her year, and she’s finding it surprisingly hard to make friends.

She’s generally a confident little soul but I think all the “newness” is a bit overwhelming. Also I imagine she had the idea that the gang of 5 would stick together. That hasn’t been the case. The other girls seem to have hooked up faster than she has and she feels left out, and a little lost, maybe even betrayed.

But what can you do as a parent?

One night last week she was inconsolable. :(

I offered to have new friends (or old) over for a play. I suggested she listen more to new acquaintences to see if they had some things in common. I even asked her to consider chatting to her teacher - also new - who might have some ideas.

On the train to work I met a colleague who had had a daughter go to the same school. She suggested I contact the principal of the junior school and see if she had any ideas but I hesitated.

I don’t want to necessarily rescue Dippity - I mean, this could be an important life lesson for her - but I don’t want her to be miserable at school either! (She of course wants me to rescue her)

Today she came home with the crumbs of new friendships. One girl had mentioned that she liked Avatar - Dippity LOVES Avatar, and she had fun with another girl during sport. She seemed happier and more like my darling Dippity.

So what’s your advice?

Hang back and be there for cuddles at the end of a disappointing day? Or is there something proactive I can do?

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