[Sarvi]

*Ants*? Is that an autocorrect error? If it’s really ants, and you don’t harbor a deep love for insects — I’d say just turning the iron on would drive them out pretty quickly.

[Tamara]

Yes ants! They don’t seem to want to go even with the heat! I know they want the water but they are so terribly annoying!

[needlewoman]

Help, J. Wretched little animals! They get everywhere here too when we haven’t had any rain/very hot; looking for moisture or coolth as you say – spiders too! Can you add something to the water you put in the iron? First thought is vinegar. Good for cleaning out any mould/bugs in iron and you could use it up ironing something that won’t stain – not that I think it will.

Re: funny stories. Many years ago, a friend’s son told his class that his grandfather was an Aboriginal (he’d been given a boomerang that his grandfather had owned). Humour for his teacher (who told his mother abt this) is that little boy had flaming red hair and translucent white skin as do his siblings. More Irish/Anglo Saxon would be hard to imagine.

Nicole, thank you for your encouragement abt the polycotton poplin, and of course, I welcome ‘Fiona’.

Heidi, LOL abt your sandwiches at school. I was given the same!! My father (a doctor) was firmly opposed to anything sweet for myself and my brothers (except for extremely special occasions). Vegemite and Kraft cheese is the filling I remember best; one’s mind boggles now about all that salt! But there was so little to choose from in the 60’s for conventional families, not only for sandwiches but for food in general. Thank god for migrant cultures gradually gifting Aussies with their food/drink over the last 50 years. I love Barry Humphries’ description of that time – “when bread was white, and cheese was Kraft”.

[Sarvi]

Crikey! We use peppermint oil on our thresholds and it has worked well so far, but try it in an inconspicuous spot first … It bubbled up some of the varnish near the kitchen when the bottle tipped. Not sure how it will react with the cord. Maybe stick to using a spray bottle for steam instead of filling the iron?

[Tamara]

I’ll have to clean out the iron I think. Never had this happen before so the poor little critters are feeling the heat as much as us humans! I’ll try the spray bottle too but I am concerned about the ants in the iron as I have me or two be smeared over something white and it now has a dirty brown mark that won’t come out unless I soak it.

My darling son has woken up so early this morning probably due to excitement! Today we are taking the dog to school for news. I washed the dog yesterday and that was exciting enough. He was so good but was ready to jump out when the water started getting a bit warm. I was expecting him to howl but he was quiet which saved the ears. Now to just figure up how this harness goes that doubles as a seat belt hook.

Needle woman we have some aboriginal children with snowy blonde hair – natural as they are babes in arms. I’ve heard of red head aboriginals but it is funny if he really wasn’t only thinking that he was. My son said that his dad looked I aboriginal on his head, arms and legs but on his tummy he’s not! Working outside in the sun tend to do that to European olive skin.

[meleliza]

I think those uniforms look cute, actually, and simple. Though, it would be better if they weren’t giving away the goods when they sit down for sure. 🙂

[Tamara]

Yes I am liking the dress and I think that once they get used to it, all the fuss will be forgotten. Apparently there was a huge song and dance about the current one when it was introduced. I think the gold polo shirts are overkill and they just don’t wash nicely and retain the nicer colour somehow. Black bottoms are versatile because of our dusty environment but I think the main objection is to the white shirts and how unsuitable they would be to keep clean. The way I see it is that provided they have a clean shirt for almost every day of the week, it’ll give mums a chance to wash the worn ones and keep them clean that way. Not to mention for art, they have to wear smocks and in winter they will be covered up. The fabric is easy care and wouldn’t be worth having if you couldn’t get the stains out with a bit of napisan. The buttons if they fall off, can be sewn back on but some people are lazy to not do that.

The whole uniform is a smart one but I still think the girls should have the option to wear shorts – ones in the check dress fabric would be ideal and even a skirt in the check fabric would have been great also. I still want to make at least the dresses and bottoms though.

Well, we took the dog for news this morning and he was a big hit! Had to talk to miss 10’s teacher regarding her homework policy because she was up until 8.30pm last night and still protesting. She is not a fan of homework at all but now that I know that what I have been telling her is consistent with the teachers view of homework and that the circumstances I have dished out are not too harsh at all, I’m good to go on with being consistent in order to get the message across. One thing I hope she will realise when she goes to mark the homework is that she is a little ahead with learning long division that some of the other kids as they haven’t formally been taught this in class yet and it was an exercise on the homework sheet.

They say it takes 21 days minimum to form a new habit and we are four days in!

[with love Heidi]

Needlewoman, the sandwiches were in the 80’s and 90’s, I had cheese and Vegemite and my brother had peanut paste (butter for you americans) and Vegemite. We were not allowed sweet fillings either. It’s funny but it’s still my go to sandwich if I’m in a hurry or need to take one somewhere! 🙂

[Tamara]

I loved curried egg as a kid but I’m off the bread at lunchtime thing for a while (trying to shed kilos). We would have honey, PB and banana after school – really really high in calories and great for the energy boost before the frequent two hour dance classes. I don’t really remember my school lunches much but K know the old ham and salad rol was a bit of a favourite in high school.

[rastis]

we wore a school dress like that when i was in primary school (i was in a public school)! my mum made mine it was a simple blue/white small check… i think they were quite $$ to buy and much cheaper for mum to make them… i think for a public school (that was just a small country school) we looked quite smart… they were a pain on the monkey bars though… we had to wear “scungies” (which were just thicker, black stretchy undies that cover a bit more) over our undies so we could go upside down… the same school now has the children wearing polo shirts and shorts and personally i think they look pretty scruffy these days- although i’m sure shorts are more practical things for girls to wear…

i must confess, i do like a smart school uniform though 🙂 and i like uniforms in schools- i think it helps all children to fit in a bit better and be less judged by their appearance

[meleliza]

every time I hear the word Vegimite, my stomach turns. 12 years married to a Brit and I still can’t get over the fact that people actually eat that revolting stuff. And to pair it with Kraft singles? Shudder. Was that really thought to be a healthy lunch in the 80s?

[needlewoman]

I’m surprised a British spouse is prepared to come at Vegemite; in my experience they are wedded to an even more revolting substance, Marmite. Looks like Vmite, but sharper/more bitter in taste. I must admit I was surprised to hear that V/C sandwiches were considered ok in 80/90’s. My friends then were giving their kids apples/sultanas or hommos or canned fish, or cheese and tomato/lettuce. I associate this combo, along with devon (fritz-processed sausage of zero nutritional worth) with tomato sauce/ketchup; jam, cheese and gherkin relish/pickles (still my personal favourite), and egg and lettuce with the 50’s, and 60’s. It wasn’t a lot more inventive in the 70’s either, but more kinds of cheese was available, and other processed spreads.

Justsewit, I would love to have a been a fly on the wall as the dog was shown off at school. I think it’s gorgeous that you felt obliged to wash it before its ‘news’ debut. Checked out uniform style and fabric; could be worse, mate. How is the ant problem going? Just be grateful they’re not millipedes. And hang in there about the homework. Everybody has to come to it sooner or later, and the sooner kids get over the sense of burden/resentment abt it, the better. Which isn’t to say that you (and all the others in this forum) don’t keep an eye on the amount appropriate to age. Teachers are often so hard pressed to get through the curriculum, that dumping the job on parents (via homework) can be irresistible.

[needlewoman]

PS Sarvi, that peppermint oil sounds like scary stuff. Ant Rid does less damage to the paintwork.

[meleliza]

Oh, no, he wouldn’t dare to keep it in the house, if you could even buy it here. I don’t think he likes it all that much, but he’ll eat a lot of really gross things. They really are the same thing. Can we really split hairs over the fine details of that kind of stuff? 🙂 I suppose it must have seemed like a good idea when people were on war time rations or something. I’ve only seen the Vegimite because our old neighbors own a coffee shop with an Australian theme. Her husband is from Australia and they import their coffee as well as some candy bars and stuff from there. I believe they officaily have a Vegimite sandwhich on the menu but I’m sure it doesn’t sell. ick.

[Tamara]

I remember thinking and having a chat with my English nan when I was about Ns age and asking her about why the English Vegemite was different. I’m sure it was called Marmite or Promite or something and maybe they are two different but slightly similar products.

Here’s a bit of trivia for you, it was war related – it was included in the rations of the guys on the front in Ww2 and it came about due to the shortage of supply after the First World War of Promite and Marmite. They stated is was good for the kids and that is probably why the advertisement and song says “it puts a rosé in very cheek” we’ll it certainly isn’t the case these days. I had a vegemite sandwich and it didn’t tast the way I’d remembered it. A lot saltier these days than I remember it being. My kids aren’t fans but I do have the occasional vegemite on toast. To me a vegemite sandwich needs to be on fresh white bread, not whole meal.

Oh he needed a bath and he was excellent despite the slipping and sliding. Lots of dust in his coat and a few fleas that were giving him grief. I didn’t fully follow the instructions of the flea shampoo though so he is consequently still scratching – mind you I have never seen feal shampoo really work. The kids want to bath the cat next and I told them “not on your life!” He’d scratched the living daylights out of me!

The homework is part of school. I know that but if a year one student can consistently read his book and now in year two do comprehension questions AND read every night, then so can the year 5 student do even portions of seven blocks of questions spread over three nights. It isn’t hard and by far and away much less than what she received in year 3! Her teacher dished out three sheets a week!

I just wanted the teacher to know that I was on the team to encourage this if this is what was expected as some teachers dish out homework and they don’t expect it to be handed in – which was the case last year. I remember getting homework in year 5 and it was actually fun to do because I had a friend to test spelling with etc. I have offered my services as the hired help in homework but I have stated very clearly that K have done year 5 so I’m not going to do her homework for her. It isn’t hard and she can do the work it is just the fact it is homework. She declares she wants to be homeschooled thinking she won’t have to do do this but I’m afraid she wouldn’t like me homeschooling her!

Her year three teacher was blaming me for not getting her to do the homework and lectured me on the importance and blah blah! It had nothing to do with the curriculum per say as WA hasn’t had a curriculum as such for at least a generation. It has all been outcomes based. Now the the national curriculum has been introduced we can get our children’s education back on track. In terms of aspects of the curriculum this school seems to place the criteria on a needs basis especially when it comes to subjects such as Social rules etc which would fall into the health sciences section. I had the teacher last year say they couldn’t go into great detail about the subject of respecting others and bullying etc because there was so much else that had to be fulfilled. That was when we had an incident in a public place concerning my daughter and another student at the school which other classmates by standing.

Yes teachers are hard pressed to get everything done but there are ways around it. Our homework isn’t totally related to what they are learning as is proof to the long division questions she hasn’t officially learned yet. I do believe though it reinforces the essential skills and it can be fun depending on how it is executed.

Ants are still milling around the top of the iron but I have really had a lot of time the last couple of days to sort them out. Will do so today though. They just want the water.