5 more weeks to go! Yippee!!

It's almost the end of the school year and boy, am I glad that it is going to be over soon! Never had I felt so tired emotionally, mentally and physically than this year.

 

Teaching in a suburban school where many of the parents are educated and have lots of time on their hands, is a terrible stress. Having taught for 3 years in an urban school, the stress comes from rude children or not being able to teach the pupils as well as we would have liked. Teaching here, the stress not only comes from rude children, totally badly-behaved children, it also comes from the parents and administration.

 

A few parents whom I know are so obnoxious that they think they are much better than the teachers. Of course, this feeling is passed on to their children as well. In a recent storytelling competition that I took the children to, one of the parents of a child who has transferred back to his old school, kept complaining about my colleagues and the administration and questioned my choice of stories for the children from my school! I mean, come on! To each, his own. I chose the story because I think it is suitable la. Don't blame me if the child had asked stories from you but had decided to use the story that I gave her instead!

 

Hmm...not only am I stressed out at school, I have children from the school as my neighbours and their parents are overzealous, I can tell you! I reach home, "Ding Dong!" "So how is my daughter at school?" Hmm...I take my dogs out to pee, "Hi! So, my daughter says the teacher didn't come to school today. Why ar?" I take the garbage out, "Hello! Yesterday the teachers got meeting ar?" Basically, I need to hide in the house and pretend that I am not at home when I am busy. Cause if I don't, I'll be stuck talking to the parent for 2 hours, minimum.

 

So parents, relax! Give the teachers a break! If you think you are not OTT when you catch the teacher for a short chat every other week, imagine if three of the parents are like that, the teacher's free time is gone! Tension only!

 

Luckily, I still have these two stress-relievers to keep me sane!

 

 

 

Baby (1998- 2012)

I have done it. I have been a monster and decided to let Baby go to Doggy Heaven sooner than God had intended. 

My companion of 14 years, still wagging her tail when she got into my car, not knowing that I was taking her to the vet to be put to sleep. 

I don't know if I have made the right decision. She was blind. A little disoriented as she could not identify the direction of sounds. She had arthritis and barely moved anymore. She had lost most of her teeth and barely ate. And the most recent bouts of maggot wounds that were eating her alive were just unbearable. 

Am I cruel to send her to sleep?

I just kept saying a little prayer for her. I hope she understands the reasons I have decided to let her go. And I pray that she will be reborn into this world to a better life. If fate would allow it, let the both of us meet again as mother and child. My dear, dear, dearest dog which has given me much joy without asking for anything but a pat on the head in return.

Rest in peace...

God's delayed fulfillment of my wish

I read somewhere not too long ago that God answers all of our prayers, it is only the matter of time that it is answered.

Many years ago, I was an angsty teenager/ young adult who hated humankind. I felt that being a human is the worst kind of punishment God can give to a living being. I declared to my family members that I wished that I could be a dog. I told everyone who knew me that I felt that I was a dog in my past life. Of course, that didn't just got me weird looks, it caused much concern to my poor parents and people who cared for me.

Why did I start the post with that sentence about God answering all our prayers? Well, I didn't suddenly transform into a dog (haha...I still wish I could exchange bodies with one of my dogs though! Such pampered lives they have!). Among my many wishes about dogs at that time was that when I grow up, I don't want to have children as that would be bringing more lives into this cruel world and making them suffer. I wanted to have a house filled with dogs.

Well, for now, I haven't got any children even if I wanted them. And there is a new member in my small family. Meet Daisy, a six-week-old Spitz mix.

We saw her in a small pet shop that put her and some other poor puppies in dirty cages. When we saw her, she was sleeping in her food bowl and her fur was filthy with her urine. We decided to ger her the next day (actually my hubby, who never liked dogs much before he was with me, cajoled me into buying her).

And it has been a VERY long time since I last had a puppy this young. I forget how messy and naughty they can be. (-.-")

My house is cleaner now because of Daisy. I have to sweep and mop the floor every day when I come back from work because she would have peed practically all over the ground floor. We keep Charlie and her in the study room when we are away so the room would be full of poop as well. Charlie has been a real gentle(half)man so far. He dare not eat from the same bowl as Daisy as she would growl and eat IN the bowl. He gave up his bed. He gave up his toy (a soft toy he mutilated when he was a year old or so). He also allowed her to nip at him although I saw him bark in a frustrated manner a couple of times yesterday.

:)

Daisy still doesn't know her own name and she is a glutton who overeats and pukes after that. Her bladder is so small that she is almost always peeing some where. She is being bossy over Charlie and bullies him whenever she could yet can't bear to be not around him. We had wanted to separate the both of them for Charlie's sake and also because Charlie has some skin disease; but we had to suffer to Daisy's whining from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. So, ever since that 2 hour separation, Daisy follows Charlie every where and she is beginning to show signs of mild skin disease.

Well, you can say that my days are fuller in many ways because of this naughty girl. Yet, I wonder if any dog lover out there know how I can help Charlie be the alpha dog in this situation? :) Hehe...trying to help Charlie cheat his way through the dog hierarchy. Do comment if you have any idea. Have a great day!

A New Year, A New School

Well well well...it has been a LONG time since I last updated, as reminded by Colourless Opinions. :) Sorry folks. A lot has happened in the past few months that I hardly have time to relax.

I have transferred to a new school, very near to where I stay, thanks to the cable-pulling efforts by a few people. At first, I was quite happy that I no longer have to wake up and leave the house before the Muslims' Subuh prayers. But after 10 weeks, I can say that I miss my old school 200%.

Well, actually it is because I am teaching only Year One. And as easy as it seems to be, I cannot control them the way their class teachers do. And truth be told, I feel that the children are now better behaved in class compared to how they used to be. But the typical Chinese school teachers feel that the children are "bullying" me because they walk around to sharpen their pencils and tell me stories that have absolutely no relation to what I am teaching in the class. Hmmm...

True, it is easier to teach when the children are seated quietly and zombies, but they are children, for goodness' sake! I feel that it is all right that they move a little after they have finished their work. And they have learnt most of the things that they learn now in kindergarten, so I think it is quite understandable that the smarter ones are restless during English lessons.

Speaking of restlessness, I have a few hyperactive/ problematic children in Year One. On top of my "inability" to make the normal/average ones to sit down quietly, these children are plain disruptive in class. One thing I realised is that some of these special children enjoy causing pain to the other children, by way of pinching or hitting their friends. I wish the parents would understand and send the children to special schools because they are not only not learning much in normal schools, they are disturbing the other children.

Sigh...sometimes I wonder if it is my problem or my inability to truly accept the way Chinese schools operate. If you ask me now, I still feel that sending your children to Chinese schools is equivalent to robbing your children of their childhood. What is your take?

On a brighter note, can you guess what animal this is? :)