Sunday, July 04, 2010

School Holiday Bitzer Edition

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After carefully counting out the days on a calendar, Cherub realised there was only 90 more sleeps! till his birthday and immediately began preparation of the Secret Birthday List, which I am not allowed to look at. I said how can I get you what you want if you won't show me the Secret List? and he quite saw that that might make shopping a problem so he will let me see it as of September 15th. It was going to be a mere one week before the birthday but we haggled.

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Yesterday we took Nell and the boys to Arthur's Seat to run around The Enchanted Maze. We had a great time. As well as a proper hedge maze, there were brain teaser mazes, like the giant tyre one where you have to get to the middle following the red-blue-green pattern, or the one where you can only turn left or go straight ahead. There was also a childrens' maze featuring a big Snakes and Ladders game (Cherub defeated me) and to cap it all off, a lolly shop. The boys loved it, and we adults also had a good time.

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Look, two Cherubs!

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Mister Fixit was once again awarded Outstanding (in his stream) Apprentice at TAFE but the award ceremony was a daytime event, possibly un-catered, so we didn't go like last year. The certificate arrived in the mail last week, unaccompanied by a cheque sad to say. Last year it was a sponsored award and he received $200. But Fixit says he'll tell his work about the award because when his work eventually got the memo about last year's achievement (6 months after the fact) they gave him a Myer voucher for $100.

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And Fixit's Mum says if work doesn't come up with the goods this year, she'll get him something. So ace.

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We've done a lot of talking with and in front of Climber (and Cherub) re the whole dropkick-threatener-Dad situation and I hope the lesson my boys have come away with is that they absolutely must come talk to us if anything like that ever happens again. I'm still very cranky and not hiding that from the kids. As we read Harry Potter together the other night I said I'd love to send The Loathsome Bully a Howler, right in the schoolyard. How good would that be? Climber tells me that if he'd seen the Creep in the playground he used to detour so as not to walk near him. Flipping heck.

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I mentioned in Climber's hearing that I thought that the way in which Climber had been so fulsomely and excessively punished for a relatively minor wrong-doing (he laughed at the other child, for goodness' sake!) had resulted in him feeling unfairly hard done by when he'd received other more legitimate tickings-off during the last 6 months since that idiot threatened him. It was like the scales fell from Climber's eyes when I said that, he said yes, that's exactly how I did feel! That really makes sense. I suspect that all that non-specific misery he's been feeling about school was in large part related to this, and am therefore hoping he can now relax and enjoy again, and concentrate on learning.

Even though this was a negative thing to have happened, we can still take some positives away from it. Such as learning that the worst thing you can do in such a situation is to bottle it up and not tell someone, and that bad things are survivable.

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19 comments:

  1. It is indeed possible to survive bad things and come through the experience as a stronger person. I'm so glad that Climber has been able to learn that lesson surrounded by your gentle love.

    Congratulations to Fixit - a worthy winner.

    As to lists written 90 days BEFORE the actual birthday... I can't imagine Cherub managing to contain that excitement for the next three months!

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  2. 90 DAYS? My god he has some skillz. And congrats to Fixit! Skillz also evident :)

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  3. People who can work out how to get through mazes certainly deserve to be Apprentice of the Year, or related to him. Well done.

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  4. poor climber - grrrrrrr i would like to bite that family - or rather send some really nasty creature to bite to menace them.

    the arthur's seat place looks like fun although the idea of the tall maze makes me feel a bit nervous - was it as frightening as it looks?

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  5. That maze place looks like fun! And as you said if you can learn from the negatives you'll come away stronger. Good he'll know now not to bottle such stuff up....And congrats [again!] to Fixit!

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  6. Congratulations Fixit. I'm glad that Climber (through you) is beginning to see what the truth of the whole thing really was and that it truly wasn't HIM, but the bad dad who had the issue.

    I predict that the Cherub will cave before the 90 days and will drop generous hints. Maybe.

    That maze looks like fun! At least it's low. I was imagining a hedge row thing and I would need GPS to get out of that!

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  7. We just watched 'The Sining' last night... no way I'm going into that tall maze any time soon!

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  8. congrats to Fixit!!!

    so glad you and Climber are talking about that incident and he is working it out in his own mind.

    hugs

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  9. It makes me cry inside when I think of the horrible things our kids will have to go through while roughing out the playground, but to read that a father would handle himself that way makes me sick. I'm so sorry to read this, and I'm sure you'll come up with a very appropriate way of dealing with the worm, but so so glad climber has the two of you and not that rotten dad.
    On a happier note, the boys look great. Love that Cherub is growing his hair out and congratulations to Fixit.

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  10. have I ever mentioned how awesome I think you and Fixit are as parents?

    XXX

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  11. I've never been to The Enchanted Maze...it looks great. Definitely now on my "to be visited" list.

    Fixit is a dead-set apprentice legend.

    And I'm glad you can see some positives from the whole nasty parent situation. I think I'd go with the Howler option myself.

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  12. What a nice post and with pictures too!

    Congrats to Fixit!

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  13. The mazes look like a lot of fun - I haven't been down there in years.

    Hope that things improve for Climber from here. Still can't believe how horrible that father was.

    Congrats to Fixit, and I look forward to seeing what's on the super secret list! In September.

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  14. I had completely forgotten about that mazey place - you may just have saved me from an embarrassing (don't ask) school holiday pickle. But mostly I am pleased as punch to hear all those positives oozing out of all that negative. Fabuloso parenting, you two.

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  15. Yes, a howler from loving parents of a wronged child would be JUST the ticket I reckon.

    Great work you two(and great apprenticing, Fixit)

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  16. Well done on your award Fixit! Well done Stomper family on school holidays well spent, too. Ours are being wasted away, I'm afraid... Nice work interpreting life's lessons Climber, and just think, only 90 DAYS! That's like 89 sleeps!!

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  17. I mean just think Cherub, 90 days! I do in fact know that you are two different if equally gorgeous boys.

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  18. Arthur's Seat???? That's Edinburgh's biggest hill. (Never seen that maze here, though it looks like you were experiencing a Scottish summer in the photos.)

    (Isabelle IS my real name, by the way. Just not my first one.)

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  19. That maze looks like a blast!

    I'm glad Climber is coming through the nasty experience well so far. It can be challenging to make a positive out of a negative.

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