SECONDARY SCHOOL

It is a fact, I know it is also a fact of life but still.., I have lost my son to secondary school. Suddenly I have a stranger living in his room and sleeping in his bed. Suddenly everything I say is not to the point and not done. Whereas last year we chose his notebooks in every colour of the rainbow with funny texts and pictures,  this year everything is BLACK. Black with graffiti, black with skaterboys in black or just plain black. This morning I was 'ordered' to go and buy a black backpack because the (black) bag he had chosen is way to small for all the books and notebooks and ... I don't know what else. Of course I didn't make the mistake of actually buying the bag but looked around and know which shop has the 'blackest' bag of all so when he comes home this afternoon we can go and buy it, or if I'm not 'allowed' he can go and buy it himself.

Of course I'm proud of my boy and enjoy watching him grow up but somethimes I wish I could turn back the time and once again take him in my arms and kiss and cuddle him without being pushed away after only one little kiss.

Back to school again

We're back from our lovely holiday home and have to get used to waking up in  'normal' bedroom. The first thing in the morning that I saw for the last 3 months was the blue sea, now when I open my eyes I see my bookcase.

The last day at the beach we said goodbye to our 10 o'clock cat, who had become an all day cat who even came into the living space on many occasions, but who would not not be touched so we couldn't take her home. We kissed our friends goodbye and got on our way, as a 'gift' from all those people that were jealous of me (lol) I got a speeding ticket on the way back home, but that is not here or there.

And now I'm sitting at my desk thinking that in 2 weeks time school will begin and both my boys are changing schools. George (oldest) because he is going to high school (junior high? he is 12) and Cornelius will change school becaus of the low standards of the previous school.

My last two weeks of 'freedom', although freedom, I have decided to enter the world of online teaching and am learning to use a virtual classroom. After 23 years of teaching face2face I think it is time to try it. Besides being a traditional teacher and a counselor I will also be an online teacher and still dreaming of being a writer.

But for the moment I am going to make myself a cup of coffee and browse through our vacation photos.

Feelings

Today has been a curious day, I came across The American Chronicle.com site, it's a news site and everyone can contribute. I have always thought that the news or articles that you write must be based on facts, unless it's a tale (for old wives) and not be discriminating or racist in anyway. Well nothing is further from the truth, you can choose about which country you want to read and I chose Greece, as I was thinking of contributing myself some articles about the country in which I'm living for more than 23 years. To my surprise I saw that this man, Risto Stefof, has written 28 articles about the Macedonian issues that have been going on between Fyrom and Greece. He twists the whole history of Greece around the way that suits him and no-one opposes to this. I looked this man up on Google and read that he is a known propagandist and his view is based on nothing. I read a list of articles that prove with accuracy that he is blabbing his head off but it made me thinking. How easy it is to turn the world around because someone who doesn't know or isn't that interested reads articles like this and presumes they're true. This is especially disturbing for the younger generation, before we know it the history of the world as we know it can be changed by a bunch of empty heads if no-one protests. That's why I decided to apply for a membership to the American Chronicle and to write articles about this beautiful country that are based on history facts, but also on the way this country and its people really are. Of course there are a lot of things that bother me, that I would like to change but that is my personal opinion and if I write about that I will make sure people understand that it is my opinion and not based on any fact.

This whole thing with the articles made me a bit nostalgic and I spent quite a few hours listening to old Dutch songs on YouTube and loving it,a real trip down memory lane. My kids were enjoying their selves with their friends so it was a day of me and my memories.