Oh My Gosh...I had rang someone in the process of all the calls yesterday that the education deparment had given me the number of and had organised an appointment with her via the phone at 11 this morning....She is a consumer advocate...Hmmmmm Well our meeting this afternoon is off and we will be having it on Tuesday at 11....the psychologist is no longer involved in the meeting and neither is Aidan...I will be sitting there with my mouth closed and this person will be going into this with all armed information she needs on Aidan and the way things have been going with the whole situation...I can not believe this It is a good thing...She is someone who will fight them for what is right...Give my son the education he and any other person with a mental illness deserves...Then after that she is going to look at the education department policies and do what she can about Having mental instabilities and illnesses included with their many other special circumstance illnesses they have...So I will still keep you all informed it just won't be until Tuesday now...WOW She was so helpful so all Of you who think they are having an injustice done to them...I suggest call a consumer advocate and tell them and ask for help if they can...
Mwah till next time
Cheers
Angie

Aidans school hmmmmmm Where do I start...Okay they told us the other day they did not think a dull time program was working for Aidan that they were interested in Looking at hree days a week for him and 2 days of work experience...We spoke to Aidan and he thought this would be a good idea as well as we did as the stress of school was getting him down and we were getting a bit of school refusal from him...We went to a motorbike shop and talked to them about getting him some work experience wrking with small motors and things and they seemed keen so told us to write a cover letter and send it to the boss etc....Aidan went to school on Friday all excited about the whole thing spent the whole day there working things out and waiting for the final things to be done with this etc...Anyway got a call wednesday from the deputy and he told us that this arrangement was no longer on the table for Aidan...He was cancelling his enrollment dor non pariticpation in the schooling system... I was in shock WHAT THE...I rang the education department and spoke with them and was told some things that this can not be done so easily...I then had talks and talks to them about following their compaints policy along from their own website and the education department told me to organise a meeting with the headmaster...I try to do this and am given the run around...When We rang for the fourth time...My husband did it...His words were You tell Mr ...... that we want an appointmet with him and aidans pasch and us on thursday 3.30 or I will be there on Friday with the media...Within a half an hour the phone rang...The Headmaster started to talk and I was saying things and I thought to myself hmmm...I said to him am I on speaker phone...He siad yes...I said hello Mr.........To the deputy As I knew he was in there...I asked for the appointment with him and aidans psych etc and he told me there was no need for Aidans psych to be there etc....I have a right to a support person of my choice...WHo the hell was he...I then said so and I would be having her there...I was rpetty much told it all was all to bad etc.. And i should live with their decision...And was spoken to pretty badly...I hung up from them and called the ducation department....i also rang the Xomplaints against schools number and told them of my dramas and the way things had gone etc....At 4 yesterday afternoon I recieved the weirdest call...It was from the headmaster again...there was no mention of no psych etc...He organised a meeting with me for 3.30 this afternoon with her and no deputy...isnt it weird....I will go to that appointment this afternoon and I will state my case...The education department sees there to be no reason why a child with speial needs can not have the program that was first offered....I sadi to the Education department yesterday which got me the answer I told them most people would feel....If Aidan had cancer or a psysical sickness that could be seen we would not be having this conversation about hi enrollment would we...His answer to me you ask??? NO we wouldn't....Just because mental illness can not be seen in psysical symptoms that does not mean it does not exist... I will fight this all the way and will do the best for my 16 year old son to complete his grade 12 to the best of his ability at this time...So if things dont work you will be seeing me in the media...Not just for Aidan but also for the fact that there are alot of kids out there that have just fallen to the wayside because of the stigma surrounding mental illness....I think it is way overdue that the ecucation department puts something in place for kids in this situation...There are no clauses in there policy to recognise mental illness exists...So where is the stigma surrounding it coming from then?????I wonder hey Maybe our goverment shoud get up and have a look at that???? I will keep you all posted with what goes on with this all.....
Until then take care
Mwah
Angie

Well yesterday I recieved a call from the teacher involved in the below blog entry and was given an apology from her as was Aidan at school...Hehe...He feels so much better himself about things...More confident that he can complete his year 12 the last year of hgh school feeling that teachers are human too...She gave me a bit of a lecture about how what she said was not meant to humiliate him etc...but I said well thats not the point it did...We had another appointmet with his new psychologist again on thursday and things seem to be moving along well....On another note I have been setting myself some goals here on Minti to whivh I have finally made one and I am heading to the next one...I wanted to write 150 articles by the end of the weekend and I did it yay for me...Hehehe..For those who know me or have followed my blog you all know why I have made this goal for anyone else my reasoning is that I want to be able to be the same person I was before my brain tumour was removed I want to write with the ability to flow and with articles to make sense...i think my articles have definately improved since my first one...You know I love Minti as much as I did when I first joined...I would hide in my house before Minti and talk to the odd person who rang me...Now I talk to lots of people on here and have made some very true and dear friends who I love heaps and heaps....I moved my lounge around the other day it looks so much more welcoming now...More roomy too...So I am happy with that ....Well I must keep going and do something that should be done around the house...take care all
Mwah
Angie

The rollercoaster of emotions never really ends in life does it? We all struggle with it day in and day out...Some of us handle it alot better than others don't they...As most of you who keep an eye on my blig know I have my ups and downs on a regular basis with Aidan...He is unmedicated at the moment for his own health reasons and life has been a bit touchy right now...He went off them himself and now the doctor is looking into changing his meds to a more suitable one for his illness...Yesterday He went off to school and we had had an incident a couple of weeks ago that had left him unable to attend school so he had missed a certain thing in his class...The teacher had the class in a circle and told them they were going to be quizzed on it...Two kids asked as they hadn't been present for it if they could sit out she said yes...When Aidan asked she told him NO you have not been here by your own choice so no you can sit it...this upset him no end as he knew he would not know an answer...When she got to him and asked him he answered I don't know miss and her reply to him was you ask??....Well she laughed at him and so did the whole class she then went into detail in front of the calss well maybe if you had not been away you woud know the answers...then the words why do you even bother coming to this class at all she smiled and they all still laughes at him...She then move don to the next child and asked him a question as the class still looked at Aidan smiling...Now you tell me...What gives a teacher the right to humilate a child in front of his peers like this..A teacher who knows of his mental instability...A teacher who knows of the reason why he was not attending school for that known time?? What give any person the right to humiliate a teenager in front of their peers to make themselves look good?? Well the headmaster myself and the education department say she had no right....Where did she learn to do this?? was it uni as she learnt to become a teacher?? I think not...there were legitimate and extenuating circumstances that my son was not at that school that week and she knew them she knew it was linked to his mental state and still she chose to do this to him...I am really hurt that a person would try to put him in a place again that was not good for his health after knowing all the details??? My questions will be answered....I will make sure they are...And then as she publically humiliated my son she will publically apoligise to him...On a different note..Tiana left for camp yesterday for 3 days...She was soo excited about the whole event but I soo miss her...It was soo quiet last night at tea.. there was less conversation around the table and the question that went around by the kids was I wonder how she is enjoying it in this rain lol..Michaela admitted she missed her lots and told us all she is her best friend and her sister...told us how lucky she is to have her around even if she is messy and stole her favourite bra which mind you is too small for Tiana...Oh dear teenage girls hey...they are so fickle LOL....I miss her heaps she really does add some life to our house....Well That is all for this blog... I am going to move my lounge room around today to try to make things look a little more comfy in there....hehe so till later bye all and take care....
Mwah
Angie

Starting with name, location

How did you find Minti?

1. What's your favorite thing or feature at Minti?
2. What's your favorite thing about being a parent?
3. What has been your biggest parenting challenge?
4. What worries you most about parenting? (education, health, mental development, physical development, teaching manners, etc)
5. What's the best parenting advice you've ever gotten from someone?
6. What were your babies first words?
7. What is your favorite song?
8. What is the funniest thing you or your child or significant other has done or said?
9. Using just one word sum up Minti.
10. What is the best piece of advice you have got from Minti?
11. How do you deal with your Minti addiction?
12. How does your family deal with your Minti addiction?

Well thanks for chosing me to be a featured minti member....  I have to answer the questions so I will write a little blog I suppose to answer them.... Here we go... 

1. Well my name is Angie short for Angelia ....I live in Toowoomba, Queensland...
2. My favourite thing on Minti would have to be reading the responses to anything....Seeing the different opinions and feelings and thoughts of others.....Seeing how similar they are to me I suppose...
3. My favourite thing about being a parent would have to be that I learn something from one of my kids a least once a day...they constantly show me how old I am and how much of my innocence I have lost lol...They see things so differently....Wonderfully really....
4. The biggest parenting challenge I have faced so far would have to be the constant battle with my eldest son and his illness...I knew parenting was hard but never in my wildest dreams...no nighmares did I ever expect the roller coaster ride I have happening with him on a regular basis...I really do not like Bipolar at all....
5. HAHAHA everything....Nah really probably the thing that worries me the most would have to be drugs and the lowering of the ages of kids experiementing with them....Followed closely by teenage sex and the age lowering with that tooo...So probably our kids are growing up way to quick...
6. The Best parenting advice I got from someone would have to be Raising teens is like trying to nail jelly to a tree hehehe...No really the best advice i got was from my mother and she told me never go to bed angry with your child or hubby always sort it before your head hits that pillow and never ever leave each others company without telling them you love them...Dont just say it every day but show it in everyday  too....
7. There is a lot of kids first words to come up with there....I only had 4 of the kids I have now as babies so Aidans was mum....then not much more till he said a sentence...Michaelas was dad...then once she said one she jsut would not stop talking even in her sleep lol....Nikitas was dad she would call me that till she was at least 1 year old hehe....Then Corrie he mainly screamed things but his first word believe it or not was FORD...Yes the kids were trying to teach him ford stinks....But he said just Ford ...Wasn't my ford man Ken proud....
8. Hmmmm I have heaps of favourite songs but one that we all seem to jump around to and sing word for word would be tainted love by soft cell....Or a wiggles song with the words mashed potato in it we all sing away to that one too....
9. When Aidan was little I worked in a pub and lived there also...There was a conversation that had gone on between some women in the kitchen including myself about something to do with how it was unfair about men having better paid jobs because they have a penis etc....I then asked Aidan if he would like to come to the shop with me or go to Nannas...He turned and said to me then...Mummy I will come with you but can I have so money so I can buy you a penis so you can get more money too.....Oh dear My home the vege shop LOL the corn does have ears.......
10. Ummm this is hard to expalin it in one world supersupportnetwork LOL Sanitylifesaver maybe LOL sorry....
11. There are too many to even name one because I have a few....But there was one written a while ago that is one of my favourites here it was written by the Mentormum and it was sooo wonderful as it really was what I needed right at that time...But there was a member called breannababy a while back who wrote the most wonderful and inspriational stuff and there is a member called Ozbinky to if you ever get a chance read her advice too....this is really putting me on the spot...Dam I just love all of the advice as they give me something else to try and think about...I think most articles I read give me bits of advice...
12. When I am dealing with my Minti addiction I just feed it LOL...I love this place and so many of the members on here they have all at some time helped me and I miss them when I am not on here so I can't starve it so i feed it....
13. Ummm hehehe sometimes my kids argue to get in the front to read an article i think might be of interest to them...Minti has bought me out of my shell alot...After i had my brain tumour I changed alot from a confident and shining person to a person who struggled daily with things....i think that Minti has helped me to be closer to the person I used to be sooo they deal with it....As long as I give them my attention when they need it when they come home from school they are happy...My husband but sometimes thinks I should marry Minti hehehe....Oh well he is cool about it but LOL
14. Oops I missed a question LOL I am not sure how I found Minti...I think I was looking for a new vacuum LOL but a new vacuum doesnt even cut it with what I found instead....A wondeful supportive community that welcomed me with open arms....

Well that is about it for the questions but I do want to add this...In the time I have been on Minti I have met the most inspiration and wonderful people I have ever met in my life...I will not mention names as I am sure to forget some and then may offend...I love all my mates and the friendships I have formed with them on and off Minti and soo Look forward to forming even more so if you want to be a mate with me and get to know me that little bit better drop me a mintimail with your messenger addy and we can chat there in group chat with other minti mums I already talk to...I have had times lately where Minti has been my saving grace in my mixed up life with Aidan and the support I recieve from all who give it is fantastic and compares to no other....The friends I have in my computer are wonderful...I luv yas all Mwa okay finished being soppy now LOL Thanks Rachael and Clay and Matthew and anyone else who had a hand in creating this wonderful site...I am sure you are loved by many for this...

Mwah

Angie

 

Well today is the anniversary of the removal of my brain tumour...I thought it was yesterday but just realised it was today so I can feel happy about it all again...4 years no signs of it coming back...I was so lucky and I still am lucky...Four years seems so long ago now...It hink having the tumour made me look at life different...I know it has chnged me in my abilities... to do what I used to do so easy now comes hard....But now I have a different outlook on life....My thoughts are you just never know what tomorrow will bring...My thoughts on life now are dont sweat the small stuff live today as if it was your last with no regrets and never ever go to bed angry with anyone...Tell the people you love that you do love them daily....Never let them walk away thinking your angry...You never know what the world will deal you...It has a habit of dealing you a dud hand occasionally...Now onto my bad....I was doing some cleaning around in Aidans room told him if he didn't do it I would and came across a big stash of medication he was supposed to have been taking...Seems he feels he no longer wants to take it.....He is nearly 17 What can i do?? nothing thats what...So I am buckling myself in for the ride of my life with him its been a week...Ever since his psych has been ill he has been on a rollercoaster ride well now after seeing the stupid social worker at the hospital he is even worse....Had an appointment booked with a new psych yesterday a private one and he was happy to go until we pulled up...He was mucking around and acting happy BUT when we pulled up he started to abuse me and tell me he wasn't going in...He ended up taking off on me and the psych invited me in to have a chat with her...She is fantastic...She really wants to work with him and see him regular...We talked to him again after the hour i spent with her and he agreed he would see her but if he didn't like her then he would not go back...See the social worker at the hospital told him he is an alcoholic because he binge drinks on the weekends...And he should go to aloteen...or whatever its called...He is not an alcoholic...He does binge drink but not an alcoholic...He goes without it if he has no money...He likes drinking but it helps him to forget he says....Mind you when I try to explain to him that it is a depressant and it will still be there when he sobers up I know nothing....Oh well I better go and keep trying to get him to go to school today...He has already refused and he is on a roll this morning....So take care all..

Luv to all

Angie

Yep that you too.....Hope everyone has had a wonderful day so far....I wanted to write this now as I do not know how much I will get on with what my older kids have planned for today LOL.....I woke up this morning and my kids told me today was my day and they bought me in bacon and eggs and hot chocolate....mmmmm...They then told me that later they have planned that we can all snuggle in my bed and watch my favourite movie....then i am not allowed to make my own luncha nd aidan is making a roast for tea tongiht WOW....Tiana is doing the washing and Michalea is hanging out....John is asking me every couple of minutes if i want anything and they told me I can do what I want to today as it is my day and every other day is kids day....I just love my kids....they are sooo wonderful....Anyway guys have a great day to all the mums out there HAPPY MOTHERS DAY
Mwah
Angie

Well today is my gorgeous little ones birthday....She is four today...Oh wow how they grow so quick!!!!  It just seems like yesterday that she was a small bundle of joy...She was my tiniest little one weighing in at 7 pound 5 ounces and 55 centimetres long....We will have a cake today for her and a little party just with all our kids....I will put some photos up later on of Nikitas when she was born and how far she has come....This is really just to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY at the moment.....XXXOOO....
so my gorgeous little one Happy Birthday to you
Hip Hip Horay......

Hmmm hi all I know it has been awhile since I have blogged....This last couple of weeks have been hard for me...Had a few family problems and a few with AIdan too...Which is really nothing out of the usual...Well Yesterday was a hard day again for Aidan and you know what I really do not know why...He has gone back on his medication and he has been back to school so I really can not see why it would be a problem but he is not coping with day to day life now....I am struggling with this everyday as I do not seem to know what he is going to do or which way he is going to turn.....Oh I have had some great news but just to put a bit of light in the blog....Tiana has been chosen to have a scholarship for weight lifting....They say she has great potential and has been offered a scholarship to do this and have a private trainer and all....I am over the moon about this for her....Her life has just seemed to fall into place for her...She got her first mark over a c this term ever in her entire school life and she has made alot of friends at high school and she is now excelling with sporting things....All these years of struggling and fighting with schools has finally paid off I think even her counsellor seems to think it is time for her to be out on her own without her woo hoo... I am soooo Proud.......I am kind of falling in between feelings of being proud and worrying alot about Aidan and his mental stability and Ken is taking his medical discharge from the army pretty badly....We will get through it all but We all do and we all have each other...We do have a very close relationship all of us really...In times of need in the family we all seem to bond together no matter who is not liking who between the kids they are always there for each other...I love my family so much...The kids mum has been causeing trouble again for me...She rang yesterday after probably about 7 or 8 weeks and demanded she have access to her kids haha she wont even tell me where she lives or who with so why would I let her have them on access...The court orders state that she has to give us this info within 24 hours of her moving etc....I still have no details from her...It so annoys me with her that she feels that because she gave birth to them she has all the rights in the world....If she did then the Judge would not have taken the kids from her and given us custody would he? The kids dad is on a trip of changing religions to buddism(not sure if that is how you spell it) but I need to look into it a bit better....He was roman catholic and was always picking and yelling and this last time the kids said it was sooo peaceful and said that he has learnt alot about peace within himself since he has been following his buddist faith....So I spose what harm can it do if it makes the kids lives a little easier on access....If they are less stressed and happy when they come home I am happy tooo...Well I better go have to take Aidan to his work experience today and get a few things for Nikkis birthday on Saturday....I want to pick up something small for Blackwidowkates birthday tomorrow too...So if your hanging around her homepage don't forget to pop in and say happy birthday to her tomorrow hehe....
Cheers
Angie