Tag: relationships

My Christmas 2007

I had a splendid day. I was tired from my trip. My beautifully cleaned home soon turned into a turbulent chaos of unpacking from the trip, gift wrapping and unwrapping. My kids were in and out all day. Their dad is walking distance from my house so we met up a few times during the day’s activities. I have lots of great new possessions and have been showered with the love and generosity of my family and friends.

I enjoyed a great afternoon with my mum’s family yesterday. I was the only niece/nephew at the extended family Christmas feast and I felt very special there too! Kind of funny to be the only child at 42. It was a more intimate meal that we are used to due to so many family members being away this year, yet I really enjoyed it more to be honest. Mum is one of eight children, so add spouses and offspring to that number and you can imagine how large it can get. We had real conversations with everyone included. We laughed heaps, shared news and had a scrumptious meal.

I remembered those who aren’t with me but still firmly alive in my heart with love and gratitude. I communicated with absent loved ones via email or phone call at some stage of the day and felt peace and goodwill to all as I snuggled into bed last night. A perfect Christmas.

Girlosophy: The Breakup Survival Kit by Anthea Paul

‘The Breakup Survival Kit’ gives a well balanced action plan for girls who have split up, whatever the circumstances. It contains some good, common-sense advice for young women and lays a positive path for moving forward into a new future.

As with the other Girlosophy books by Anthea Paul, it has healthy suggestions and gentle messages about keeping your self-esteem in tact and building on it in a situation that can be demanding. It has beautiful images and although a smaller format than the other Girlosophy books remains true to the uplifting philosophy and beauty of the series.
I enjoyed this book and highly recommend it for both young women and men to help to gain perspective during one of those trying times in life. Breaking-up is a big life challenge and most people experience it at least once in their life, this little book contains many wisdom’s that can ease that passage.

Restorative Justice

Tonight we had a speaker talk to us about ‘Restorative Justice’. Terry O’Connell came to our school to run a session and it was a bit of a shame that only about a quarter of the teachers attended, because it was brilliant. I totally agree with most of what he said and I can’t wait to explain it to my students and practise it with next year. I am going to be one of the year 9 co-coordinators next year.

The result of the no compromise situation, I ended up getting the position I wanted!

The power of restorative justice, I feel is that it is relationship building. It also gives all involved to have a learning experience. This is the kind of environment I want to work in and belong to. Read the article in the link about Terry because it outlines more about what this system is about. It works equally in all relationships I imagine and I had a play with it tonight with my son over a small situation and found the questions very satisfying and the outcome pleasing.

I have learnt more in the last three days than I have in a long time. My brain feels very satisfied! It’s wonderful when you have highly productive learning experiences. A great high for me and rare too! Often it can be tedious and hard to get through, yet both courses I have attended were really interesting and useful.

I didn’t get home from work until late and have mounds of corrections so I am beginning to feel a little under the hammer.