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Has been the second week of the school holidays- where have they all gone.  School again in Monday.  Hardly feel like I’ve been on holiday, mind you I do do different work which makes my life interesting.  Today is Anzac Day in Australia.  It’s the day when we commemorate and remember the sacrifice Aussies have made on the battlefield.  I was intending to go to the TTG RSL dawn service but  I’m afraid that when my alarm went off at 5:45am, and I’d had maybe 3 hours sleep, my decision making process opted for more sleep.  Didn’t even see the march which 2 of my sisters and a brother were involved in marching bands.  I’d like to go to Gallipoli one day to attend the Dawn Service there.  It will have to be when I’m sleeping better, not having problems waking up in the morning and have some money.  That’s ok- I’m not going to stress about it.

Have just spent 2 hours chatting to my sister through MSN.  Have had a ball!

Playgrounds

It has been school holidays this week in Adelaide- one more week left and back to school again. I’ve been working Vacation Care which I find more fun than the normal everyday Outside School Hours Care. And really it should be, because who really wants to go to school in the holidays! Yesterday we went on an excursion to the St. Kilda Adventure Playground. I haven’t been there for years, and although I was the ‘adult supervision’ it was fun (and secretly I wanted to go down the big slippery dip). I remember going there when I was younger and having a ball. Well done to the City of Salisbury for continuing to develop and expand the playground in a time where it seems that lots of the fun (and risk) has been removed from adventure playgrounds because of soaring Insurance Premiums.

I find the whole concept of going to school in your holidays weird to get my head around (even though I work in the industry). I grew up in a time and place where most of my peers mothers were stay at home mums and it was the dad that went to work. Maybe once or twice- a day here or there- I went to a school holiday program, and I particularly remember hating being at one program. School holidays were the time when I could hang out at home and do things with my family. Now before you all yell at me and say that it is a different time, not all families are the same, and mortgages need two incomes to support them etc, etc, I know. But I do wonder what a child loses when they can no longer just hang out and do fun things at home.

Last week of term

Hooray it’s the end of term! Eleven weeks makes for a very long term, tired teachers and tired students. Nothing like 2 weeks of holidays to recharge the batteries!

It was another good week, yes again tiring, but I’ve also been doing split shifts with my OSHC work this week too. Have been trying to use my Choice Theory training in my interactions with the children. It was great when the Principal walked into my office in the middle of me working with children to see us working on the Total Behaviour Car- she could back up what we were doing and continue to encourage the children to take responsibility for their behaviour.

I’ve been thinking lots about choices the last couple of days. In the past 18 months and my journey in and through depression and anxiety I have finally seen that I do have choices, and that I can make choices for myself. For me, depression was a place where I felt frozen and out of control, controlled by my circumstances and my out of control emotions. Mind you, they were feelings that I had pushed and pushed down, and not dealt with. Well, finally I’ve had to deal with them. Anyway, now I’m starting to see the responsibility that is linked with taking control, with making choices, especially when there are things that I don’t necessarily want to do, but that I need to do. There’s probably nothing new or life shattering in that, but for me it is something that shows me that I’m moving and changing and growing and still questioning. And that’s good.

Jane

What a week

I had a good week this week- what no complaining I hear you say.  Yes it was a good week and although I find myself exhausted, it’s a good exhausted.  This week I finally started my extended hours as Christian Pastoral Support Worker at Dernancourt Schools.  The school won some of the National Chaplaincy funding last year, but it has taken a while for the money to get through.

At first I was concerned that I wouldn’t know what to fill the 18 hours with, but I soon found that I could fill them and more.  Today I was overwhelmed with students wanting to see me and I filled my three hours and completed four.  And I wanted to, and could, give more than the minimum.  It was liberating to realise.  Now I know that it’s not going to be always easy in the following weeks, and I will struggle… and complain again, but today I am happy.  I feel like I have been able to give… that I have been able to do that thing which enthuses and (dare I say it) gives me some kind of purpose.  I am thankful.