Inside Life

Labels: photo challenge

Photo A Day - Day 1 - Your Reflection

Sunday, 1 April 2012 0 comments

Click here to see all of my #photoadayApril posts.

Labels: photo challenge

April Photo Challenge

0 comments

Shane has decided that just for fun, he is going to participate in Fat Mum Slim's Photo A Day Challenge for the month of April.

Here is the list of prompts for April:

Feel free to join in via facebook, twitter or wherever else you feel like sharing! And if you do join in, leave a comment with the link to your photos so we can have a look.

Click here to see all of my #photoadayApril posts.

Labels: wordless wednesday

Hard at Work

Wednesday, 14 March 2012 2 comments

{Click to enlarge photos}

Labels: artwork and creations, school

Art

Tuesday, 13 March 2012 0 comments

Shane's homework for art class - practicing shading techniques.

Click to enlarge

Labels: death, family

RIP Sophie

Saturday, 10 March 2012 0 comments

On Thursday night our lovely cat Sophie was killed when she was run over by a car.

She had been in our family for over 3 years and we are very sorry to lose her.

RIP Sophie

Labels: school, teenagers

This morning Shane came to me with a notice from school, and said “Here Mum, I have to show you this.” From the tone of his voice I thought it had to be something bad, maybe a letter sent home about bad behaviour – clearly he didn’t want to show it to me but had been told he had to.

It was only this:

I looked at him, a little confused, and asked “Do you want to go to this?” I was confused because he was standing there, teeth gritted, jaw clenched, with a look of irritation on his face, and he’d flicked the paper at me in a way that showed he really felt there was no point in showing it to me at all. Maybe it was something he wanted to go to but he thought we would say no?

Through his clenched teeth he said “No. Not. At. All.”

I was even more confused then, and it must have shown on my face when I looked at him, because he said “We’re not individuals. We’re just maori.”

I could absolutely feel his frustration as he stood there, and I explained to him that the school were just trying to be culturally sensitive and allow maori families to be connected to each other and to the school, and that this is important to a lot of maori families. He said “Oh yeah, that’s right, because we’re all stupid. And we can’t read. We probably just want to get drunk and go off the rails.” He continued mumbling sarcastic remarks about how he hates maori food and doesn’t need a stupid dinner, while Neihana acted out getting drunk and falling over and not being able to read. I sat there having flashbacks to my own high school years and trying to find the right words to say to him.

Shane’s not ashamed of being maori. It’s just that he doesn’t want that to identify him entirely. He’s also part Scottish, English and Irish. He’s also a Christian. He’s a student, he’s a teenager, he’s a boy, he’s a Cantabrian, he lives in Southland, he comes from a two-parent home. All those things play a part in who he is and he’s at a stage of his life right now where identity is everything. He doesn’t want to be boxed into any particular label, or have any assumptions made about who he is, based on something like the colour of his skin. It’s incredibly dissatisfying. I know because I had the same sort of experience when I was his age, and I think he has a point.

He’s 13. He doesn’t want to go to school and feel like he’s ‘different’ or ‘special needs’. And because of an invitation to a pot luck dinner, that’s how he feels. As though the teachers have said “Hey, we’ve noticed you’re different from the mainstream and so you need special treatment. Come to dinner with your family and all the other kids just like you.”

To me, it was just another school notice. To Shane, it was an attack on his individuality. Ahh the teenage years.

Labels: poetry, school, Shane writes

Action - A Poem by Shane

Wednesday, 29 February 2012 0 comments

Car chases, strong guys

Burglars with lots of guns

Good guys always win

Explosions make it fun.

Goodies and baddies get bloody

Always fighting crime

Murderous killers on the loose

The bad guys are just wasting their time..

Labels: prayer and praise

Prayer/Praise Points

Monday, 20 February 2012 0 comments

From time to time I’ll be posting about the things we’re praying for with Shane, so that if any of you want to join us you’ll know what challenges he’s facing and can pray with him too.

Although Shane has made a good start to the year at school there have been a few issues with...um...organisation... Yea, he’s been pretty unorganised, some would even say a little ‘lost’ at times, and I think a lot of it is to do with him being a bit overwhelmed with the new high school routine. He’s doing ok, but we’re praying that he will continue to do well, settle in quickly, enjoy school, not be distracted by things (such as friends/girls!) and really just find his place at school and...I don’t wanna say “blossom”, but whatever the boy equivalent of that is. J

School camp is coming up in a few weeks. We’re praying for the funds to pay for it. Also praying that it will be a fun and memorable experience for Shane, and that he will be safe and healthy during this trip to Mavora Lakes Reserve.

Shane’s phone is broken. Devastating to a teenager, but also pretty annoying for his parents, since he’s out and about so often and his phone is important to his safety (and our sanity, if we’re going to give him any freedom at all). We’re praying for the funds to get him a new one. Money’s pretty tight at the moment with school fees, camp and a wedding in a few weeks in Christchurch, so we’re really looking for God’s help with providing these extra things!

We’re praying for good influences around Shane at a time when friendships are hugely important to him. He makes pretty good choices with friends, but he tends to only really see the good in people, and overlook the bad – we don’t want that to change, but we also don’t want him to find himself in negative situations that he doesn’t know how to get himself out of. So we’re praying for God to place good friends in his life, who will not drag Shane down, and who will influence him positively as he goes through his teen years.

Praise

***Thanks God for keeping Shane healthy and strong.

***Thanks God for the awesome weather we’ve been having. We’ve been able to do so many cool things.

***Thanks God for the boy who found Shane’s wallet on the bus, and kindly returned it to him.

***Thanks God for the good relationship between Shane and Neihana at the moment. As Neihana gets older, they are becoming really good friends, and it’s so good to see.

Labels: events, something new, sports

Surf to City 2012

Sunday, 12 February 2012 2 comments

Today Shane participated in the Surf to City 12km bike race from Oreti Beach to Queens Park.

It was his first time entering and he has been really looking forward to it. He had a great time, and really can’t wait to do it again next year.

By the time he got to the finish line, he was exhausted and starving! It took a while to find Mum and Dad but when we finally all got together Mum had packed a huge lunch for everyone. Shane also enjoyed the free sausage sizzle (I think he had 3!) and we spent some time hanging out at the park. Then it was time for the Kids in the City fun run, which Faith had entered, so Shane decided to jump in and run it with her so she wouldn’t get lost along the way. (Dad was really stoked about this. He was quietly freaking out about his little girl running off on her own, but with Mum’s hip playing up she couldn’t do it this year L)