A post from 18/09/2015

I found this post i'd written from last year, man oh man how things have panned out since :-/

Two connected posts on social media really struck me today.

The fact that Donald Trump is even a candidate for the elections astounds me, but when I saw this post it just made me cringe?? :-(

Donald Trump criticised for not correcting 'Obama is Muslim' man

It really makes me worry when people who have such a large political sphere of influence and they are 'allowing' or not reacting to such small minded, ignorant and intolerant views. I will be watching this election with all my fingers and toes crossed - GO HILLARY!

This story being a parent obviously touched me to. Such a sweet kid, such a disappointing story...

Misinformation breeds ignorance, and ignorance breeds fear.

It's such a shame that someone's enthusiasm to explore and to invent was taken in such the wrong way.

My kids were talking about WW2 the other day, as they wanted to know why their school is called as it is (named after a leader of the French resistance movement). I caught A saying 'Yeah I don't like Italians' to his sister. I was like WHAT? WHY? 'because they helped the Germans in the War' This opened up a great discussion about acceptance and understanding, which led them to talking about the Charlie Hebdo attack, which was discussed at great length in every school in France, which I thought was really positive. We talked about individuals and how a group can't be blamed for their past or for people within their culture.
We talked about making their own opinions, we talked about organised religion and what I don't agree with. I tried not to indoctrinate them in my own beliefs (An atheist) - I am trying to allow them to formulate their own spiritual beliefs.
At the moment A says he believes in God which is fair enough and M always one to sit on the fence says she isn't really sure - which is fair enough to.
Through this discussion I realised the kids don't know any of the stories of the Bible. So I am currently looking for a good children's book on the History of Religion.
I felt very proud at how interested and open they were. We talked about difference and Racism/Homophobia it was really great. Someone once said aren't they a bit young to know about Gay people... Ummm WHY?
M x

The WORD

As a language teacher, words and how we use words is something that I love. The nuances, the turn of phrase - how emotive words can be... and how the phrase "sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never hurt me" makes no sense to me at ALL!

Having bilingual kids brings a whole new element to language use and misuse - sometimes super cute! "Mummy my hands feel all sparkly" (tingly)
"Oooo yes I love cardigan potatoes" (Jacket).

I suppose this is why I have always been drawn to spoken word, performance poetry, hip hop and song lyrics. I used to work in a pub in Brighton and we used to have an open mic night every month and it was my most fav thing, especially spoken word - when people stand up and lay bear their feelings, bring knowledge to an issue or speak from the heart just blows me away.

I have chosen two poems below as two that really struck me.

This first one resonates personally, sexual assult and rape are so omnipresent in our lives as women, I know within my friends more than a handful who have been attacked, then if I asked their friends it would be another 2/3/4/7/10 and if they asked their friends the numbers would build and build,and as a friend said to me the other day - one is too many...

RAPE JOKE - BRAVE NEW VOICES

Those women kick ass!!!

The other poet I wanted to present is Kate Tempest, I love her (one of my many girl crushes, power women)

Hope you enjoyed! x

Man Up!

I saw this video today and thought I would share it with you. Gender stereotyping and stigmatisation works on both sides. As much as I see the ideals and goals and role models for my daughter streamlined for a world of pink and glitter and princesses, I see for my son the ideals, goals and role models suppressed into a fighting, gun touting, emotionless macho.
I feel so blessed to have two kids and a boy and girl, they are such different people, they're their own people, and my relationship with them is so different, they have different needs and different desires and I as a parent need to respond to them differently.

If I had to pigeonhole them as the world tries to make me, I would say 100% that my son is the "weaker" he is the "girl" he is extremely sensitive, he sometimes has a sad thought and will burst into tears, we were listening to the soundtrack to Les Miserables the other day and I was narrating the story and at the end when Jean Valjean dies he cried because he was moved by the music. He lay down on the floor of the cinema last year beating his fists and covering his eyes shouting why did I want to watch this film, both in Star Wars and the Jungle Book when a character dies. My daughter is also sensitive (Poor them... they both inherited that from me...) But she seems to have an inbuilt support system within herself where she can rationalise, she can compartmentalise, she can move through her emotions, he just hits a wall at full speed.

These are just my kids they're individuals, but the fact that already my son is being told by exterior forces that he should 'man up' he shouldn't cry, that he's 8 1/2 that that's not what 'boys' do. That he should like watch, play certain things breaks my heart..!
SO as much as me being a women I am hypersensitive to all the BS my daughter will face, that, I witness and feel and battle against these stigmas my daughter will face day in day out...
My son, i've got your back and you can always cry and have a hug x

A little humour...

There is so so much I can say about Trump and I will... but my goodness we need a little humour right now...

Why me? Why now? Why at all...?

Over the years I have had a few blogs, long abandoned or deleted or put away for another day, what started in the early 2000's a blog about my kids and early motherhood became 10 years later a more desperate cry for help when motherhood, life and work became overwhelming and I sank pretty low into depression, it moved to a blog in the following years in which I survived and climbed back to health and a work in progress happiness, I have had many journeys in this life of mine, and perhaps one day I will feel brave enough to share those...But many a blog was just too much of me to give to the world.
So why now? Why in a world with a million blogs, within a world where I am trying to understand this complex relationship we/I have engaged in, trying to talk to, to reach out to complete strangers? Trying to be known or to know others? Is social media helping us? Or is it driving us under? With so much news/fake news/leaked or engineered news, with SO much content flying around it is hard to tell.
Why join in? I don't have a very good answer, other than I just cant keep it all in anymore, so this is written for me as much for anyone who may read it there are certain political and sociological events that have baffled, berated, belittled and befuddled me in the last couple of years. I don't quite know what is happening and I don't quite know how to stop it. In times of need we reach out for people's help and we hope that someone is listening...
I am a person
I am a mother
I am a spouse
I am a charity fundraiser
I am a feminist
I am a runner
I am a trying to be healthy food eater
I am an expat or an immigrant depending on how you see me
I am a teacher (not in some faith sort of way an actual literal teacher)
I am trying to be better...
I have suffered, I have learnt I am still learning.
In this blog my plan is to write about the things that matter to me, being a parent, being a woman, food and trying to help out any which way we can. I am currently fundraising by doing the Brighton Half Marathon see Instagram I am injured at the mo :-(
I am fundraising for The Homeless Period and Mon Cartable Connecté
https://www.lepotcommun.fr/pot/44rc2jp5