sewingmama
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Posts posted by sewingmama
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My family' heritage includes European gypsies - so yes we have experience with paranormal things :D
My grandma lived in a haunted house as a child - every night at the same time her (locked and closed) wardrobe would be opened and papers at the bottom would start being moved around and searched through. The ghost never did anything else so they just guessed it was looking for something and left it alone.
My mother has had a few experiences of doors opening (actually seeing the doorknobs turn) and no one was there but she could feel a "presence" enter the room.
Her mother also visited her the night she died - my mum was awake and she heard her mum calling to her to help her and she looked everywhere for her - even outside but there was no one. Her mum lived in another State at the time and the next morning after that happened she got a telegram (do they even still use these LOL) that said her mum had died at the same time as the experience had happened. My mum didn't even know her mum was sick at the time -no one had told her.
When my aunt and uncle died at aged 18 &21 in an accident in another State my grandma woke up screaming that something was wrong and something had happened to them -the police knocked on her door the next day.
When I was a kid we lived in a house that had an animal ghost. I'm pretty sure it was a dog. I would wake up in the middle of the night and hear it running up and down the hallway into the end room (my bedroom). We had no carpet just wooden floors so it was noisy and sounded just like an excited dog playing would. Galloping legs, toenails scratching the wooden floor, panting. When it would get to the end (the wall beside my bed) it would do a slide like it was about to hit the wall (you would hear the slide and toenails scrapeing along ) and then it would run off in the opposite direction till it got to the other end and do the same thing - back and forth for ages. I heard it on many occaisions - the noise would wake me up :001_huh: I remember being so freaked out I would freeze and my heart would beat so hard - I was so scared it would jump up on my bed:001_huh: - I would so rather see a human ghost then an animal one -maybe because the animals ghosts on tv are all portrayed as evil :D This one wasn't - he was just playing his favourite game I guess:confused:
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My DH works the hours he would even if I was not homeschooling. He's a PS teacher - a regular working day means he heads out at 8 and comes home around 4.30. However he works at a private school so is involved in a lot of extras - depending what he has going he gets home around 5.30-6 and sometimes later.
His work is 10 minutes from the house -so no commute time.
However DH is heavily involved in leadership positions with our church (LDS) so he often comes home from work and then goes out half an hour later and doesn't get home till around 9. He is always gone all day Sunday but is home usually all day Saturday.
My kids see him plenty - and I see him enough for me - so it works fine.
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Well I'm just a bad momma because I can't resist and only put them back to bed if "I'm sick of the sight of them" :lol:
Normally the bigger ones stay in bed but I often look behind my chair to find the 19 month old lying on the floor behind me with his blankie and paci :D
So I pick him up, put him on my lap and snuggle him till he falls asleep. He is probably going to be my last baby so every snuggle counts - and I don't mind if he gets up if all he wants to do is sit with me till he falls asleep.
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I have never - ever seen a family given the opportunity to prepare a family member's body for burial. Here (in all the ceremonies I've seen) the body goes from the hosp/home/ wherever to the funeral home. The immediate family members are given a half hour before the funeral services to make any changes (which the professionals will then handle) and that's it. I've been to about 9 so far (friends and family). And the bills are astronomical.
Having worked in a nursing home I got to get the inside dirt on quite a few funeral homes:D In Australia at least from what I have experienced it is absolutely encouraged that the family dress the body if they wish too. The actual prep and embalming of the body is done by the funeral home but you can do the dressing, make-up, hair etc. You are also allowed to decorate the inside of the coffin however you like. I once saw a coffin that had been "decorated" for an elderly woman by her grandchildren. They had taken all their favourite photographs of themselves and glued them to the inside of the lid for grandma to remember them :001_smile:
I'm LDS so I've always just accepted that the family or other church members handle the dressing of the body. My mother helped her best friend dress her mother - there were no restrictions - they could basically dress her as they wanted and they also did her hair and make up. My mother said it was a very special experience - not freaky at all - as my mom's friend sang her mother's favourite hymns as they dressed her and they talked and chatted to her as well.
Really the only time a funeral home discourages the family dressing the body is if it is in a distressing condition -and even then the family is still allowed to make the ultimate choice whether they want to or not.
The hospital would not release my mother to anyone other than a funneral home.Just wanted to mention that the dressing is done at the funeral home - you can't actually take the body home with you to do it.
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Yes I certainly do believe in ghosts and no way would I stay in a haunted place.
Ask any nurse who works in a nursing home (epecially those who work the night shift) and you'll get a whole array of spooky and not so spooky ghost stories.
However if I had to choose to stay in a motel with human ghosts or one with animal ghosts I'd choose the human ghosts for sure. Animal ghosts freak me out more then human ghosts.
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It seems that both LDS and EO are trying to sway their members' opinions with some (imo) pretty pertinent Biblical examples. Neither group seems to believe that one MUST be buried, but that it's preferable. Sort of like saying, we prefer you don't paint your hair, because (insert Biblical reference here), all the same it's ultimately up to you.
The reason why the LDS church only says it is "preferable" rather then "mandatory" to bury a body rather then cremate it is because we also believe in following the laws of the land -and there are countries where it is the law or the custom to cremate bodies.
I know in South Korea there is just no room for burial -most people are cremated. So what would the LDS people in SK do with their dead if their religion said "you MUST be buried" but the laws of their country said " you MUST be cremated"?
Ultimately the LDS believe that God made our bodies and that when he comes to resurrect them he will know where all the bits are to remake it :D After all there isn't really much left after a burial either.
The point of preferring burial is simply that we believe our bodies are sacred - given to us by God - and that we should not desecrate or destroy them by our own hand of our own choice (in that light things such as tattoos and multiple peircings are also discouraged). People can be cremated if they choose to for whatever reason however it just isn't LDS custom.
Whether you are buried/cremated really has no bearing on your salvation so that is why it is only a preference and not doctrine- it's just the customary way we choose or "prefer" to deal with our dead.
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I'm a flight attendant and flew into and out of this country (Canada) twice weekly, which my passport reflected. I
Yeah it seems to be a Canadian thing. About 8 years ago I flew to Canada from Australia with my 10 yo sister. I had to bring her birth certificate and a letter from my mother saying I had permission to bring her into the country. They still acted very disbelieving (her last name is different to mine) however they finally said it was ok because she was old enough to be questioned and she told them we were sisters and that she was not being kidnapped and in their words "she didn't look afraid of me and seemed to know me" :glare: I've flown other places and never had a problem with it either.
I would bring your baby's birth certificate for proof of age. It isn't just for kids nearing age two - some airline check-in people really are clueless. I remember watching a very distressed mother who was trying to get on a flight with her 12 month old (very obvious to me she was nowhere near 2) and the airline would not let her on the plane without proof she wasn't two. I mean the baby wasn't even walking yet. I don't know what happened as I left to catch my plane but I certainly hoped they called a manager or someone with eyes in their head. The person who was checking her in was very young so probably had no idea about what a 2 yo looked like :glare: (well I'll give them the benefit of the doubt anyway).
The last thing you need is unexpected trouble when trying to get on a flight - bring whatever you think you might need - just in case.
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My DH is a teacher -he gts a lot of requests from parents asking if he can tutor their kids in this or that. If it's a friend or DH knows the kid and knows the kid is genuine (will listen and appreciate his time) and he knows the family isn't well off then he happily helps out for free. If he knows the kid and knows he/she will just goof off and DH will be wasting his time he just says no.
Usually if the kid comes and asks him sincerely themselves DH will always help them out for free.
I don't usually volunteer his time - I usally reply that he is very busy but I'll ask him and he'll get back to you if he can/wants to.
Helping out once or twice is fine - for repeated requests you should hand the lady a card with a computer repairmens number and say "Sounds like your computer is having a lot of problems you should take it in and have it checked properly and here is the number of a someone who can do it" :D
If she doesn't take the hint then she isn't as smart as you think she is :lol:
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Here is something more likely to happen then an abduction or a fire that parents don't always think about.
A child playing with an electric window puts their head out and crushes their windpipe - it's instantaneous so even if you are standing right there you won't be able to stop it.
Just a warning not to let your kid play with them is all.
For me the biggest reason I don't leave my kids in the car is that I have a terrible memory and the chances are high I will forget them - not for hours at a time but for 10-20 minutes which is long enough for things to happen. Thus it is not safe for ME to leave my kids in the car. I never forget they are in the car with me in the first place but I could if I walked away and got involved in other things. My kids are young - they cannot always figure out how to open the door yet and get themselves out if I forget them.
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True story that happened in my my area.
Mum parked the car on the opposite side of the street to go to the ATM. She left her three children in the car (oldest was about 8) strapped into their carseats/seatbelts. She was in complete sight of them the whole time and literally just a few feet away. One of the kids undid their seatbelt, grabbed the cigarette lighter and dropped it onto the seat. The car went up in flames so quickly that even though their mum only had to run across the road to get to them - by the time she reached them there was no way to save them and she watched them all burn to death. They were parked by a brick wall and the scorch marks were two stories high up the wall - a horrible reminder everytime you drove past. If I was that mum I don't think I'd ever be right in the head again after witnessing that.
Also I know the chances are slim and I'm an excessive worrier but what if your kids are sitting in a car and another car rams into them.
There are just way to many incidences of kids undoing the handbrake -what if they did this and a sibling was playing behind the car.
It's just too dangerous to risk.
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No but I worked in a nursing home and saw how difficult it is for families to deal with.
My DH's grandmother is in hospital right now being assessed for a nursing home because of her worsening dementia. My DH is beside himself when he calls her and she doesn't know who he is -he was her favourite grandson. My MIL was caring for both her and her very elderly father and cannot cope anymore as she is starting to have her own health troubles. It is really difficult for her to have her mother call her and beg her to take her home from the "place where they are killling her".
:grouphug:
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Yes she is plenty diva -ish but honestly if you read any books about her early life you can see why she would be so proud about how far she has come. Kind of like Oprah except that Barbra actually has real talents :D
My favourite movies of hers are Yentl, Prince of Tides, and The Mirror Has Two Faces
I LOVE her duet with Celine Dion
and this from The Mirror Has Two Faces - duet with Bryan Adams
Hello Dolly also has the added bonus of Michael Crawford - another great love of mine
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Wow - all I can say is that I would rather have a Tiger mother then a part-time mother -at least the Tiger mother doesn't act as if you are an inconvienience.
I never knew my father - he took off when I was 4 and I was raised solely by my mother who was a very loving and good parent. No matter what anyone says it does not make up for the abandonment you feel when a parent voluntarily leaves. I still have many issues that I suffer with daily because my father left.
At least when parents divorce there is a reason why the parent leaves - they couldn't get along anymore. At least the child has a chance to grow up feeling the parent leaving was not about them. But what about a child who's mother turns around and says "I can't stand being your mother full-time I need to find myself and I can't do that with you hanging around me anymore" :confused:
When I was working in South Korea we had a new woman who was hired. She had come from Canada and I was chatting to her one day - getting to know her. She told me she was married and had two children. I was suprised that she was married since she was planning on staying for 2 years in Korea but I figured that maybe her husband had a demanding job and they had decided it would be ok for her to travel a bit. I totally assumed her kids (two boys) were at least older teenagers with their own lives since she had left them there as well. Turns out her boys were 7 & 13 :001_huh: I could not understand it. I asked her how she could stand not to see her young sons for so long - didn't they miss her? "No" she said "They are independent now -they can get themselves ready for school and they connect better with their dad anyway".:confused: I then assumed there was trouble in the marriage but she assured me it was fine and she had just decided she felt like travelling to do something for herself and her boys were independent enough they didn't need her around all the time.
In my opinion if you bring kids into this world and don't choose to adopt them out then you are responsible for raising them - you do not get to run off and "find yourself". It's the absolute most selfish thing I can think of that any mother could do (Ok putting your kid in an oven is probably worse but YKWIM). I'll admit there are times when I imagine myself childless -but no way would I run off and leave my kids to parent themselves.
People have no sense of responsibility any more - it seems anything goes these days as long as you explain it as "finding yourself". Doesn't matter who you hurt because we all know that "mothers should put themselves first so they don't loose their identity".:glare: In my opinion I will have plenty of years after the kids have left to "get myself my own identity" - the whole thing is a crock to excuse people's lack of responsibilty.
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That was me as a kid - I hardly ever got money or treats so I agonised over what would give me the most value for my money :D
I would not spend 3 hours waiting for her to decide. I would tell her if you can't make a choice within X minutes then we will go home and think about it and we will come back when you have decided. Then she will either suddenly realise there is a choice she doesn't want to leave the store without and grab that one or she will get as much time as she needs to make the decision without wasting your time. I always take all my kids to the store with me -the little ones would not wait three hours for their subling to make a decision. Plus it is not a bad thing to learn to go home and think over your purchase choices -stops impulse buying.
For things like clothes I just say "You can choose from A or B and if you can't decide in 5 minutes then I will choose for you because we can't wait all day". Usually this spurs my kid to make a choice because she doesn't want me choosing but if it doesn't then she probably appreciates you choosing for her anyway.
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Dd used to have to clean it with a Magic Eraser & would lose drawing privileges for a while. She still gets that for drawing on anything outside of her room. That is NOT. PERMITTED. However, I gave in on her room :lol:. I told her I am not going to paint it or decorate it myself, because there's no point. She gets to self-decorate it. She is an extremely artsy girl. I got mad at the room drawing the first couple of times, but she would do it again pretty much the moment she got crayons back. I gave in when she did a large mural of herself pretending to be a boy so she could be a knight (completely with multiple riding pictures). There is now also a large (child-size) insect, a mural about Harold & The Purple Crayon, a lot of writing & numbers, etc. Her lightswitch is purple too (I don't even know how she got purple crayon to stick on a lightswitch). She wants to decorate her room, fine. Saves me the trouble of painting it :tongue_smilie:. But no drawing outside of her room is allowed and that brings instant removal of drawing privileges & implements for days and if I have a Magic Eraser she has to clean it. She has only tried that once in probably the last year, and it stopped within seconds (I caught her). I think her room as an outlet channels all that decorating urge more appropriately (although I know in many houses that would not be considered an option). She already spends a large portion of most days drawing & coloring & painting on paper.
Aww what a great mum you are. Your DD sounds so much like my own 4yo - she crafts, paints and draws from the moment she gets up and when she goes to bed I often find her asleep with some art/craft book beside her :D
Unfortunately for us we live in a rental so I cannot allow wall drawing at all. If I let my kids do it anywhere they take it as permission to also draw all over everything else as well. I tell you I should own stock in the Magic Eraser company - they are a permanent item on my shopping list :glare:
In OP's situation I would just take the markers and not let her have them without permission again. If I paid money for something then the kids do not have a right to destroy it -not in the name of free expression - and not even in a place I can't see. I guess I view it as part and parcel of learning to take care of your things. There are appropriate places to draw and furniture is not one of them.
I do admit that if I was left a little love note on the wall or my kid made an especially cute drawing I would leave it up at least till the next house inspection when I HAVE to wash it off :001_wub:
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Desperate Housewives -
I used to wonder how people could "watch that crap" until there was nothing else on tv one night and I got totally addicted to the storyline :o I still deny watching it to my DH - luckily he never joins me watch my girly shows so he hasnt caught me out yet.
Taking two showers a day is probably a guilty pleasure although I think it more a necessity of good hygeine :D -truthfully I probably wouldnt die from toxic germiness if I cut it down to one a day.
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The gap under our couch is very small so no toys or sippy cups fit under there -but it's the first place I look for lost library books and dvd's. Food wrappers and crumbs and plates fit too -despite the fact no one is supposed to be eating in the lounge room :glare:
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Those of you who shower twice a day how do you afford the water bill? I try to take showers as quickly and efficiently as I can because I see dollar signs instead of water drops. :lol:
I don't drink coffee or alcohol or smoke - so I save money that way and use it up on my shower treats instead :D Seriously being in a drought stricken country you would think I would know better but I just can't stand the icky feeling.
My DH showers once a day (wish he's take more - he stinks) and my kids are still so young they share one bath/shower - so that leaves more water for me. When the kids get older I guess I'll have to take quicker showers (notice I said quicker not less :D).
Even with two showers a day and never using lotion I never have dry skin - I guess it's the humidity we have in Aus. When I lived in Canada I did have very dry skin and I only took one shower a day then. I'm guessing it was because of the in house heating. Houses in Australia rarely have central heating so less problems with dry skin I guess.
My baby had two showers today - the first when he got into a bag of flour and covered himself in it and the second after eating a spaghetti dinner and smearing it head to toe. My other two kids had already had a shower by lunchtime - one also got into the flour and the other got her face painted at the mall and wanted to wash it off. Like I said before I don't see how people can get away with not bathing little kids daily - my kids just must be unusually messy.
Just a thought--are you using wet wipes (baby wipes) or a wet cloth? My kids reacted to any brand/variety of baby wipes, especially dd7. I used a wet cloth to wipe, and then a dry cloth to pat dry. Maybe it's the wipes?Either/or it doesn't matter. All three of my kids had super sensitive butt skin. If they bathe daily they never have a problem with rashes or redness -if they don't they get sore very quickly. The wipes I use are alcohol/perfume free but I also use just plain water as well. Even my older kids (aged 3 and 4) get owies and itchies in their "areas" if they don't bathe daily. They don't wipe themselves perfectly so anything left behind irritates them very quickly. My baby's skin cracks and bleeds if I don't change his poopy diaper within a couple of minutes - he actually goes from perfect/blemish free skin to fiery red and bleeding in as little as 3 minutes.
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What about the foam letters and stuff?? That could be good for teaching them colors and numbers, too.
Be careful of these if you have teethers - they where my kids No1. favorite thing to chew on and they never lasted more then a few days - my older kids will still take a chew on them if I buy them (which I don't).
We just use the odd cup or empty shampoo bottle -but make sure you put the full ones up high. My kids took this as licence to empty out the full ones so they could play with them :glare:
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My DD goes to Pre-K 3 days a week. She is 4.5 and still doesn't share perfectly -most kids that age don't. However the teachers at her school understand this - if they commented at all they would simply say - she is having trouble sharing but then quickly reassure me it was age appropriate and they were encouraging her to suceed and then explain how they were doing it.
To call a child "hostile" at 3 yo for not sharing - to me they have a negative view towards your child by labelling him - I would never leave my young child somewhere where an adult felt negative towards him.
I would ask questions and define exactly what she meant my the word and exactly what your son did to have her judge him this way - and if she still kept using the word to define age appropriate behaviour I would pull him immediately and just wait for a place at the other school.
Honestly - the fact that your son asked the teacher for help and didn't just snatch it from the other child I would say your child was actually non-hostile and had very mature social skills for his age. My 4yo is only now just starting to ask for help rather then just wrenching things from another child.
The teachers at my DD's kindy are always using positive words to describe the kids there - even some of the more "difficult" ones. They are always very encouraging and assuring that the behaviour can be changed and they willing work with it. Calling a child hostile and then not making an effort to discuss it properly with you- equals red flag to me.
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I actually never got why people shower in the morning rather then before they go to bed. Sweat and dirt on the sheets :confused: I can't do it :001_smile:
I actually take 2 showers a day - one before I go to bed to wash off the sweat and dirt of the day and one in the morning because I have health problems and it wakes me up and unstiffens my muscles.
My kids bathe EVERY night. I don't see how they could not. They are all so covered by dirt and food and craft play and none of them wipe their butts properly yet either :ack2: My baby gets a rash on his butt if he doesn't get a bath to wash away the urine from wearing diapers - even though I wash him with wet wipes at evey change -it just isn't enough.
I guess we live in Aus though -we are outside more and sweat more I guess.
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There is quite a debate worldwide about the benifits of having three- young four year old ( kindy) doing craft and learning through play instead of learning their letters. MANY educational specialists look at the great results Scandinavian countries are getting educationally and put it down to the kindy kids doing craft. They are way ahead academically than most western countries by grade 5 or so.
Just because Australia has a different way than America doesn't necessarily mean it is terrible
I didn't mean to imply it was terrible - just more relaxed. Obviously if I had a problem with it I wouldn't be sending my DD there. Actually it is the non-academic atmosphere as to why I chose the place for my DD. My DD's whole being centres around crafts - it's her reason for living :D The other benefit is their playground/yard is HUGE and we have a small crappy backyard at home so I LOVE that she gets to play outside everyday for an hour in a nice area. I actually woud not send my DD to an academically rigorous kindy because I don't believe in it is beneficial at that age and I hate the idea of little ones sitting at desks (unless they are doing craft of course). I am teaching her all the academic stuff she needs at home - kindy is her "playdate" :D I'm just trying to point out to OP that she needn't think her DD won't be able to keep up because our academic standards are not so high as she might imagine - to me the US sounds more rigorous and if she had a child in Pre-K over there that child would probably be way advanced for a kindy here.
Woah. Well, I'm glad we're prepared to homeschool!Not all IB schools are like that in SA - there are some pretty fantastic ones nearer the city. The area I live in is not really a good place to make comparisons from because it is a low socio-economic area - the schools are fighting a lot of social problems and so things like running an IB program correctly is not really top of their list KWIM. Also not ALL schools are terrible in Australia - there are plenty of private and state schools that do a good job - but that basically means you need to live in a good area (expensive) or nearer the city (super expensive). I don't want you to get a false idea of the entire education system here - for the most part it's adequate to great - but like any country it has it's bad points and trouble areas. The area I live in is rural with a high percentage of teenage mum's and Aboriginal families - we live here because my DH got a job here at the local school and it's just too far to commute from anywhere else (plus it's cheap):001_smile:
Ha ha, no. If you're looking at teaching, there are plenty of options. If you truly don't care where you live, look into the Northern Territory remote teaching program. You can make some good money there if you are prepared for that level of isolation.As I mentioned before we lived in Alice Springs and my DH had a great teaching job there - paid very highly. We stayed for 3 years before we couldn't handle the isolation, heat and flies any more :D There are a LOT of Americans living in Alice. It's good if you like the quiet life - not much going on there at all. Housing can be hard to find - the demand is high and houses are few. We rented a 2 bedroom tiny apartment for $275 a week - when we left the landloard put it up to $300 a week and whenever they had a viewing to show it to potential renters I had to wait outside as so many people turned up there wasn't enough room for them all inside at once:001_huh:. Even with my DH's high salary we couldn't afford to rent a house.
If you want to get an idea of prices - go here -
I should stop posting - it sounds like I am trying to discourage you when I'm really not :D I've moved countries several times and I know what it feels like to have imagined ideas of a place only to arrive and face the reality and then really wish I made a different decision :glare:
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They have two little ones, and she told me she gets paid $800 a month to stay home and take care of them. They make it look so easy! I suppose Sale isn't a very expensive town to live in, though.
That would be the govt. Family Tax benefit. The amount you get paid depends upon your income. I have no idea about Sale - but I do know that South Australia has one of the lowest costs of living for States in Australia. I agree about not going to Sydney if you get a choice - SUPER EXPENSIVE.
Here's a little hint - I'm not sure they run this program in the US - I know they have it for those trying to immigrate from England - but if you agree to move to South Australia the process can be shorter and some allowances made for you - maybe because the state is not as populated as the others but we live here and it is a very nice place to live - and one of the lowest costs of living in Aus. I'm not sure how your DH would go getting a job in the public system - it was very difficult for my DH because they wanted experience in the SA education system first - but he got a job at a private school no problem. Queensland also at the moment is only hiring part-timers/casual teachers. We used to live there but it was why we moved - DH could not get a permanent teaching job. Your best bet would be Victoria/South Australia.
I wouldn't worry about the accent -even if your son goes to school I doubt he will loose it. My kids are Aus born and so am I but DH still has his Canadian accent even after living here 8 years - and all my kids have a Canadian accent :D in fact I'm picking it up as well - everyone keeps asking if I'm from the US LOL.
Does your DH teach science or math? I know those are very wanted subjects here and might fast track him.
Just a question -can't your DH's brother in Melbourne sponser him on a family visa? I think that would be your best bet to coming in.
I'm not sure about dual citizenship with the US. I'm pretty sure you can keep it but if you can't that would be the US rules. Australia allows dual citizenship as far as I know. My kids have dual citizenship with Canada and they weren't even born there -we just had to apply to the Canadian govt and it was granted. My DH also has dual citizenship.
As for the IB program - I don't know if we lucked out or what but the area we live in every public school here runs the IB program - however the effectiveness of the program depends upon the principal of the school and if they understand the correct way to run it - as I said before I looked at all my local schools and IB or not - I would not send my kids to them. In truth it is my secret opinion that these schools are trying to lift the image of their school by claiming the program but the benefit is lost because they really don't make it a priority. I've seen some of the work displayed at a local shopping centre from one of these schools and I honestly thought it was 4th/5th graders who had done it - imagine my shock when I discovered it was done by the 9th graders at the IB school - seriously - cut and paste straight from the internet and stuck on cardboard posters and what little handwriting was on it was such terrible penmanship and literary standard I could barely read it - and it was on display to the public as a sample of thier work - freaked me right into homeschooling then and there.
I'm assuming you missed the zeros and mean $300,000 and $350-400,000??Otherwise we are moving to Adelaide :D
Whoops - wishful thinking on my part LOL - I went back and edited it. I know I often look at houses in the US and think wow if that gorgeous house (4 bedroom/basement/ huge yard) was that price
(around $250 000) in Aus it wouldn't last a millisecond before it was snapped up. We seem to get so little for our money here.
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Here is a link to a government run website that compares all the private and public schools in Australia. We have benchmarks for literacy and numeracy at Years 3,5,7 (called NAPLAN). You can see how well the schools are achieving the national standards - basically pink is bad and green is good. http://www.myschool.edu.au/
This is the proposed national curriculum which is still being created for the higher grades and some subjects in the lower grades so you can get a basic idea of the standards http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/Home
We are looking at New Zealand again. Much easier to get in (their teachers flock to Australia, from what I've heard :D) and he could teach. We're not really picky about where we live or where he teaches, but teachers are paid less in NZ than Australia so we have to look at that. Dh is going to contact a teacher placement agency.Keep in mind that cost of living is very high in NZ (it's a major reason so many NZ's flock to Australia) It is also quite high in Australia - as an American you will get sticker shock when you see the prices here - eg. right now gas in our area (adelaide city) is 1.39 a litre or $5.26 a gallon and it's been promised to go up by quite a bit when they add a new carbon tax on by the end of this year.
The average price of a very basic, 3 bedroom (No basement/attic) house in my area (a low income area and supposedly listed as one of the cheapest areas to buy in Australia) is 300,000. If you want closer to the city it will start at 350 to 400 000 for a basic no frills house. I know you said those expenses will be paid but that's to give you an idea of the cost of living.
My DH is Canadian and it took him 3 years to get full citizenship - although he had a working visa when he entered the country and could work right away. He did not have a problem being accepted in because I am an Australian citizen.
My DH is a PS teacher earning the top level income a teacher can get in Aus -around $80 000 and even though that sounds great - due to the cost of living here we struggle to meet our basic bills and we do not own a house - his income is not considered high enough to get a loan from the bank when the houses here are so expensive.
There are many, many advantages you get in the US that you will not get here. As I said EVERYTHING is expensive compared to the US. Online shopping is still pretty much non-existant unless you order from overseas (and it's often much cheaper to do that then buy locally) food is unbelievably expensive (there are no such things as coupons here).
Honestly I don't think the Australian education is all that great - I couldn't find a decent school to send my kids to in the local area and that is why I will be homeschooling. In fact when I read about what the public schools are doing in the US all I can think is wow -your academics are so much stronger. My DD goes to public Pre-K (kindy) at the moment and they don't even teach them their letters - they do craft, they play and the only academic thing they do is a 15 minute story time at the end.
I wouldn't worry about your child keeping up - she is probably way ahead of all the public schools here - especially if she was homeschooled.
That Oprah special sure was nice -but to tell you the truth - most of the places she went to a regular Australian could never afford to visit (although I did visit Ularu since we used to live in Alice Springs). It is a beautiful country -IF you are rich enough to afford to travel that is.
The medical system is not "free" although it is certainly less expensive then the US system. Anything past basic care will cost you. Last year I got sick with a mystery illness and after seeing some specialists and having an MRI my out of pocket cost was $800. Not as free as people think it is - only for people on welfare is it free. Still much cheaper then the US though. Public hospitals are free though - my DH had to have his appendix removed a few weeks after he arrived in Australia- they operated in the middle of the night - he stayed 4 days and all it cost him was $7 to hire the tv.
Anyway - hope I didn't rain on your parade too badly but if you're planning on making such a big move then you need to know the actual, dirty truth and reality :D
Am I allowed to have baby fever???
in General Education Discussion Board
Posted
In my case it did. As soon as my kids got over their newbornness (around 6 months old) I would start feeling baby fever. I got pregnant when my first was 6 months old and then again when my 2nd was a year old. I also got pregnant when my 3rd was 9 months and 18 months but miscarried both of them.
I am not the best person to be having babies so close together (I'm terribly short on patience) but the baby fever ALWAYS wins :lol:
Plus each miscarriage I have only makes it worse andI get more desperate to have another - even though 3 probably really is a good number for me to stop at.
I'm a terrible family planner :D