It has been one of those weeks! Everything that could have gone wrong did go wrong. For some reason my students were particularly #### and this week trying to do anything right has been like trying to dig a tunnel with a teaspoon! grrrr

Hopefully next week will be better, it can't get any worse!

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Your signature says it all...

Does it?

I was thinking so...
You changed it recently,didn't you ?

Yes.

Don't worry, things will turn better

Hmm...

When I was 18, I was often sad and confused and tired, and wrote things like your signature too...

My week has been quite bad as well. Loads of A level work, failed a Chemistry module recently (a mock one) and gave myself an RSI playing Erlkonig by Schubert while accompanying a singer in the middle of the piece, where the Erlking is singing while the piano has arpeggios in the right hand. Had to stop as it was that painful! So now I'm out of action pianistically for a few days!

IrisH - LoonY

LOL out of action!!




I was about a second away from breaking my neck nd dying yesterday....right now i cant move my neck left at all. Blooooooody painful.....................................................AAAAAAAAAAAARGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

wOww im loud

First part of the week: maths exam, friend fall outs and me stuck in the middle = ARGGGGHHHH

Second part of the week: birthday and birthday party

hope everyone has a better week next week!

I had a bad day at school yesterday - one pupil dissolved into tears when I told her I couldn't change the time of her lesson to suit her so I compromised and let her out a bit early instead, and my least favourite pupil (have ranted about her in the past!) turned up without her music - yet again - with some pathetic story about pages have gone missing from the middle of the book, so i asked her which pages and she said she didn't know, so I asked had she practised and she said yes, so I said how did she know what to practise, and in that case the missing pages weren't the ones she needed so she should have just brought the book with her, etc. So then I went next-door to try to borrow some music from my colleague and I could swear that while I was out of the room, the cap for my pen went missing. I looked everywhere and I was so sure I'd left it on the piano. I asked her had she seen it and she said no, but I'm wondering if she took it or hid it out of spite - I certainly wouoldn't put it past her - but of course I can't accuse a pupil of stealing, but in future I will be very careful about leaving her in the room with any of my stuff on her own. Foruntately it was only a bic biro but it's the principle of the thing, and the inconvenience (and mess!) of having a pen in my handbag without its cap on. And it's made me more determined than ever to get her off my timetable for next term.

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Phew, I needed that!

Well, after 6 weeks of in and out of the garage, and after parting with nearly £1K, my car has apparently been fixed - it hasn't gone wrong again yet, anyway.

We've started thinking about what to replace it with. Definitely not another Vauxhall.

I've had so much work being piled on. I've been feeling like *bleep*, no idea why, i NEVER get ill but in the last few weeks it feels like I've had cold on top of cold with a cough thrown in! I've just felt like everythings getting far too much and I just felt like crying (in the end i was but I digress). I was starting to think that my flute playing had actually improved, well my teachers at college said it had at parents evening yesterday, but after my flute lesson today... Yes... best not for me to finish this sentence. On top of various other things.

Just wait until uni.....it all gets sooo much better. *cough*

At least your music lessons then will be taught by me! I'll be nice!

I hope so

Teachers upsetting students, students upsetting teachers...oh dear!

We had fire drill this week, and even though I was LISTENING for the alarm, not one person in my class heard it, and eventually one of the office staff came to ask us politely if we would care to evacuate...doesn't bode well for actual emergencies.

I grumbled at my students for not preparing a certain piece of work, and they reminded me that we actually hadn't finished the preceding item...blush.

But all my classes seemed happy and productive this week, and Our Lady of the Sighs stopped sighing and gave me a wonderful speech on social prejudice in Tintin

And I'm all ready to send in the final invoice for a translation job!

BUT!!! I had a raging angry complaint from a parent at son Airman's school, because my son stood on her son's foot and I "hurt" him. Apparently it slipped her son's mind to mention that YET AGAIN he had attacked Airman, and had pushed him up against the neighbor's concrete wall and was in the process of strangling him when Airman lost his balance and stood on Strangler's poor tootsies. Airman's friend called me to help, and I admit that I did actually pull Strangler's T-shirt and briefly grab his wrist to get him off Airman...AFTER asking him to let go. Nor did he tell his mother why he'd attacked Airman - because Airman "cheeked" him by saying "Huh?" when Strangler made the very reasonable observation that Airman ought to throw himself under a passing truck and die.

This is a boy who threatens other kids with violence if they don't call Airman names, who punches him right in front of the staffroom and gets no more than a telling-off, who holds Airman down so his friends can beat him up...and gets no more than a telling-off...and so on. A pox on him, and as for teachers who go on about "equal access to education" while the crud and the bullies frighten good students into staying home...and who tsk-tsk and walk away from what would be crimes out in the real world...may every stick of chalk splinter in their hands, and may they get diarrhoea in the bus on their next school trip.

So there! Rant over

Sooo... what happened?



My advice: enrol your son in the local karate / other martial arts gym. But then he might get teased for that... (I certainly do, but no-one dares to try and hit me anymore)

My week has been mixed, but Thursday was definitely a low.

All ears, my daughter occassionally "practises" her karate with her karate mates at school during playtime... to show she can't be called very rude names anymore. Her teacher is very good but though offenders are punished umpteenth times, they still do their own thing! My neighbour who is a teacher got punched and her back seriously injured by a boy bully at school! The boy was just told off with a "serious" warning. But my kid's karate? Well, it worked!

EDIT - Just preventative hinting that you are not a soft target, that's all. No need to be of a high discipline/grade.

ok. highly undisciplined karate people arent all that good...

Things don't always get better, you know. My toddler kid smashes his head HARD!!!!!!! yes, HARD!!!!!!!!! on the floor and wall when he gets upset (a change in routine or his music got changed) and people REALLY upset me sometimes, I tell you, when they say things like - He'll get better and snap out of it or grow out of it or You have to be firm or something? What utter nonsense! Lots of adults with his neurological condition still bang their heads repetitively against the wall literally whenever they experience a meltdown or a change in routine... and has to be stopped by a pal. I'm not saying he can't be trained to control his extraordinary fear of change. In fact, right now we are (lovingly but seriously)training him to talk and behave in socially acceptable ways for his own sake. But some well-intentioned people (not being personal here, ACP, so please, I beg you, don't be hurt by my brutal honesty, OK?) MUST try not to say meaningless things like "things will get better", sometimes? Because that phrase means nothing to someone who is down or depressed...

What's consoling is NOT "circumstances will change" but that I myself find the courage/energy/grace/hope/etc. to change/cope. I have a friend who writes to me and longs for a normal life - to be able to sit up like normal folks and stand like everyone else instead of lying on her back all day and all night. I sat with her saying nothing knowing not what to say. Loss for words. Then she said - Thanks. I asked - What for? She replied - For being there. It'd be nice to be there for one another if we can.

The whole point of karate is so you can defend yourself, you are never supposed to use it in any other situation. Everyone gets told that in theor first lesson.

exactly! if people use it to beat other people up then thats not good. you're feeling better then Nat?

No, my face is really hot, and I am so tired.

I didn't take his comment in the wrong way.

I agree. All martial art says that including taichi which I did a long time ago. But all the martial art teachers will also agree that it's a preventative measure because once you do it, your level of self-esteem and/or fitness hopefully changes in time and you no longer look like a soft target. I know this because I was traumatised by bullying as a young child. I don't deserve to be bullied for sure but I did look like a softie bookwormish sort of person for whom bullies tend to be on the lookout.

Wasn't saying you did. Just including you as another person who may feel a bit tired or depressed today.

I wasn't talking about that. VN shouldn't be practising karate in the school playground, even with her karate friends, that is just showing off she can do it. The point of karate is too learn how to discipline yourself, improve level of self esteem/fitness as you said, but it is used to DEFEND yourself, and SHOULD NOT be used in any other situation.

The thing about VN is, she is very very quiet and unassuming. Not the show-off, look at me, look at me, type. She is also academically gifted which makes her look like what some folks call - geek? Well, she was bullied. Now, she isn't.

So, I don't agree with you at all, Nat, because as a parent, I find many parents in school who agree with me that karate is to
learn how to discipline yourself,
improve level of self esteem/fitness
DEFEND yourself (she's not attacking anyone, is she?)
prevent yourself from being bullied by not being a soft target.

If you are a parent of a very quiet, unassuming and bullied child, then, I will take your advice seriously here in this context. Put yourself in MY shoes for once... and think about it. Think about it.

EDIT
1. Genuine apologies if I hurt anyone by my frank honesty.
2. A parent has to do what a parent HAS to do to avoid her kid going through the same trauma (of being bullied without redress) as the parent did in childhood. The school can't (not won't) help at times.

What are you talking about?? One of the first rules of karate that I was taught, and so should everyone else, is to not use karate for anything other than defending yourself.

WWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!
Does this thread count if you've had a bad month?????
Well, none of my friends are talking to me and I don't know why. One has suddenly become best friends with a girl that neither of us liked 3 months ago but now they totally ignore me. Her brother doesn't talk to me and another friend doesn't even look at me.
Then, one of my other friends never leaves me alone and is always dragging me away from my best friend which upsets her.
On top of that my sister's are making my life miserable, I'm always in trouble at home and we're moving house.
Sigh.

That's better!!

Take up Karate!!

My friend has an interesting way of letting off steam - he takes an axe to the pile of firewood in the garden.
When my I've seen my friends (well ex-friends) and been upset by them I thump out 'Learn to be Lonely' on the piano then stick my nose in a book. The characters in there tend to be in more trouble than me.

i once saw a great way for letting off steam, breaking plates
it was at this gala thing and all the kids were paying to try and through balls to break plates. it was really funny to watch.

It's like saying 'don't worry, your time will come' to someone who's been trying for a baby for several years.................................

Sympathy to everyone who's had an AAARGH-type week.

I can't say specifically "things will get better", but I do say:

I HOPE NEXT WEEK IS BETTER.

Cheers

Katyjay

Thanks Katyjay. Next week really can't be any worse!

Aw, noodle, this thread was such a good idea!

As you know, I have had an absolutely **** week and have been in tears for most of it - now gone down with a bug as a result and had to miss today's teaching (and income ).

I would like to do Helen's scream but times 2!

The situation I'm in at the moment makes me feel like both a **** teacher and a **** person, so I'm not exactly Miss Self-Esteem just now.

So thanks to all who put nice encouraging posts and hugs to everyone - and yes, I hope we all have a better week next week!

How's the cow saxophone, Noodle?

Right, I think I should start panicking now: I still haven't sent off my UCAS form. Am still waiting for recommendation and have completed a pretty much finished personal statement. I have to send it off next week....
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Arggggh! On Thursday I was playing in front of about 500 people at my school awards evening. I was in a brass ensemble, with my on euphonium and 4 trumpets. And we had to repeat the tune from the top of the page. I saw one trumpet tell another trumpet something, and wondered what it was. Just as I had started playing the first time bar, he leaned over to me and said "No repeat". So i carried on playing in the hope that they would too, but they stopped, and I still carried on going And then he went "stop" and I stopped. But it was going so well!!!

Oops...maybe do as they say next time

There won't be a next time

Then you won't need to worry about practicing that piece for next time!

Well sorry you all have been having an 'AAAARRGGGHHH!!! X10' week. What I can say though is that I've been through such a week myself and this week for me was nice.

My worst week? Well, being told by someone I really fell hard for (also because he did things that let me believe he liked me a lot) that we are 'just friends' and then getting involved in a car crash because I was depressed and kept bursting into tears the whole week. Lucky not many people noticed. I was very withdrawn and couldn't sleep and it got worse because depressed people get even more depressed when they can't sleep. The only thing that kept me alive was God, although I said I don't think He knows what the feeling of a broken heart is like. Anyway, I've lived through it. And I think (and hope) am a better and stronger person because of it. Yaey! So I hope you all will hang in there too.

Hello Cyrilla! Sorry to hear you've had such a bad week. Things will improve soon, honest! Hope you feel better soon. I'd like to do Helen's scream times 20!!!
We'll talk soon!





It's fine thanks Katyjay. I can 'moo' the scale of D minor reasonably now!! And your violin??

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That any better?