Tow Truck Strikes Down Children, Three Dead.

No, this didn't happen. But it nearly did only two days ago, all because the tow truck driver thought his time was more important than the lives of a Mother, her two children, and four other school patrols. I'm thankful our school has an adult school patrol helping these young 9-year-olds out with their duties, because without him, that headline is exactly what you would have seen in the paper yesterday.

Everyone knows what this is:

Yet, more and more Winnipeg drivers are relying on the old "Manitoba Roll-through". Which I wouldn't mind if the streets were deserted and the driver was the only one on it. However, that is not what is going on. Winnipeg drivers are doing these at all times of day and most dangerously in school zones. These days according to drivers, stop does not mean stop.

Everyone knows what these are:

Or so I thought. Lately, it seems they have no clue what patrols are, and they are apparently invisible beings as well. Take today when I was picking my son up from school. A lady didn't even stop before the stop sign. She stopped just after the stop sign right in front of the patrols who now cannot let their school mates across the street because this vehicle made an illegal stop. The kicker? Two other vehicles were stopped properly at their stop signs before this lady. One was waiting to make a left turn, but couldn't because the lady's stop wasn't a full stop. It was a roll through. You know, the push on the brake for a one second stop and then go without paying attention to anything else around you, because surely you are the only driver on the road. So not only do stop signs, not mean stop, and school patrols are invisible. But you guessed it, the Winnipeg driver is the only person on the road and only their time and life are valuable. What a self-centered city we have become. What ever happened to Friendly Manitoba? Oh wait, that's only when we aren't driving.

I personally am sick and tired of being worried if my child or another child will be run down by an impatient driver. Guess what, it's not only, "strangers", I have seen parents of the students who go to my son's school make very dangerous stops, and decisions. Like dropping their kid off at the corner, while they are stopped at the stop sign. 1. Bad decisions you are teaching your kids. 2. You are holding up traffic 3. In winter especially, they can slip and fall under your vehicle and you can run over them. Not Possible? Stranger things have happened.

I did make a report to the police about the tow truck. Unfortunately, because they were not there to see it, he won't be ticketed, etc. And that is one of the biggest problems. Unless, the police are there to see it, not much can be done. Drivers know this and continue to act stupid. This is how people get killed. I'm over it. These are our neighbourhoods. We know where the schools are, we know the children that patrol and who go there, yet when it comes to our time they become faceless strangers. It's time to wake up before it's too late.

As for me, I'm going to keep taking liscence plates and descriptions. I will keep vigilant in making sure I'm driving safe. I am also considering very seriously standing at this particular intersection with a video camera and handing that in to the police. If that doesn't work, you never know, you might be the next Winnipegger starring on YouTube.

Here are tips to make the drive safe for yourself and the school children in your neighbourhood:

1. Be aware of your driving habits. If you are completely incapable of driving like a responsible adult don't drive. If you must drive, stay the heck away from school zones. But it's the quickest way to get to your destination? Too bad, drive the long way around, or drive like a responsible adult.

2. Be aware of where the school zones are. Generally, those giant brick building with the jungle gyms and bus loops are these learning centers we like to call Schools. They house hundreds to thousands of children during the school day. These zones extend from this brick building for a few blocks, and during the hours of 7-9:00am and 2:30-4:30pm they extend to your entire neighbourhood.

3. Stop just before the stop sign. When you do this, you leave a good five feet before the sidewalk and a good 8 feet between you and the pedestrian. In this case, the patrol that is required to stand in the street using their body as a shield between you and the school aged child and sometimes their parent. You get that? Patrols in all regards are human sheilds. 9-YEAR-OLD HUMAN SHEILDS!

4. Don't just look at the patrols at your stop sign. What are the patrols doing to the left or right of you if you are turning in that direction? What are the patrols doing right across the street from you? Are they standing on the sidewalk or are they standing in the street helping their charges across? Don't just drive willy nilly into the intersection and then have to stop half way through. This makes everyone nervous and causes our 9-year-old pratrols to make bad judgement calls because they don't have the life experience to go off of like adults do. That would be why we are old enough to get a driver's liscence and they are not. They get scared and want to jump back onto the sidewalk forgetting about their charges. I don't know about you, but even as a 35-year-old woman, if I saw a huge metal beast coming at me, I'd want to head for the hills too.

5. PEDESTRIANS HAVE THE RIGHT OF WAY! Really? Do I have to explain this to you as well?

6. If you are late, too bad. Leave earlier. Why should my child or someone else's have to pay for your inability to get your ass out of the house earlier?

I'm pretty sure I've covered it all. If I haven't, and you can't figure out what else you can do to keep everyone safe, than nothing I've said or could say will make a difference and you really have no business driving.

Craftiness in Spades! - Support Local

I'm gonna be busy getting a few things ready this month. My son's Minecraft quilt, finishing up my writing course, working on stock for the craft show I"m in. Come check it out! Support Local!

Foster, My Foster

My life is never dull. Lately though, it's not been something I've felt was really something to talk about. Then last week happened. It actually all started maybe a week to two weeks prior to last week. A lady I met had some pamphlets on pet rescue and animal fostering. I grabbed a pamphlet and talked to my husband. What a great idea. Our kids have been bugging us about a dog for a while, and fostering would give us a better indication if our family was ready for that type of commitement. So last week I sent in the fostering forms and that is when all hell broke loose.



(My mom's adorable, beastly, baby.)




I won't be mentioning the name of the rescue organization here. I am not here to slander the group, although I do believe that they should be held to strict laws. Not just them, but other rescue places here in my Province. To date anyone can take in animals and call themselves a rescue place. They can claim they are a non profit organization and helped many animals find homes. There are no laws requiring them to have proof of anything. They can charge what they want for adoption fees. They can lie and do what they will to get the results they pesonally desire. There is absolutely zero accountability for these rescue places. This needs to be changed. But until it is, I feel I need to write a post on what you need to look for in a good place to foster for.

All my life I have been around animals. I am very animal saavy and know what behaviours they should be exhibiting around children. Well cats and dogs that is. Other animals, I truely have no clue about. My mom used to breed dogs as well, so I have seen the gammot. I've grown up with big and little dogs and never had any problems with any of them. So of course I wanted my children to have that chance as well. But, we are a very busy family and just got our first cat from the Humane Society last Summer. Our cat has fit in well and we wanted to go ahead and see if a dog was going to work before we took another trip down to the Humane Society or another avenue to bring home another family member.

We knew what we were getting into when we started filling out the forms, early mornings, cleaning up lots of dog poop, daily to twice a day walks, possible crate training and house training. This wasn't my first rodeo, and I was raring to make a difference in someone's life.

We had never fostered before, so we took it at face value when the forms we filled out said there would be a home inspection done, at which time we'd meet the people and find out their process. We also got a message through facebook stating this exact same thing. So I sent in my forms and waited anxiously. I didn't expect to get a response within the hour to take in a foster. They were in a bind and needed a home for the pet a.s.a.p. I asked the pertinent questions. Is the dog good with young children and a cat. What would be coming with the dog? Is the dog neutered/spayed? The age of the dog. Assured all was well with the children and cat we went that evening to pick up his things. I would get the dog the following day from another home. He was great at first. The next day he started herding my two and four year old and nipping at their hands. By day three he kept going after my youngest son in play and nipping at his head, and wasn't doing so well with listening to my commands of no. I went to work and this continued for my husband. The dog spent quite a bit of time in his crate that night. At 5:00pm I sent an email to the rescue stating the herding and nipping issues and that this dog needed to be placed in another home, as it was no longer safe for my kids. I checked my email the next morning and no response. At 10am the dog was playing with my two year old son and began nipping at his head again,so I put him in his crate for a time out. I brought him out and he started again, this time he started nipping at my son's throat. Holy beans! That dog had his mouth over my son's throat! He needed to go. I put the dog on his leash and tied him to me. The kids were told to stay away from the dog, and of course they couldn't understand why but complied. My husband saw the dog leashed to me at noon and asked if there was a response from the rescue place. With none, he told me to email again. I got a response that they were lining a place up and needed more time. An hour later my husband overheard me telling a family member that the dog had been nipping at my son's throat and that was why he was tied to me. Understandably he was upset and gave me two hours to get rid of the dog or he was taking him to the Humane Society. I emailed the lady the predicament and what I was going to do if we didn't get him out immediately, and she freaked out, telling me to return the dog and all his belongings to her apartment. So I did. I felt terrible. I was already falling in love, but my children came first. It was made even worse when another of her fosters started attacking this dog I brought back and he tried to escape back to me. I told the lady that there was a ball we bought for the dog in there and a brand new bottle of dog soap. Also recommended that the dog only be placed in a home with older children. Her response was, "or a home with dog saavy children". At that point I had to walk away. I was fuming. The kicker was when I got home and only the smallest part of what happen was posted on their FB page. The part where I said they had two hours to get the dog a placement or we were taking him to the humane society. I was then attacked by people who said if I wasn't in it for the long haul I should never have fostered. That how could I foster when my house was so clean. And other really disparaging remarks. I was angrier than when I left the dog there to be beaten up by another dog. At no point in time did this rescue state it was for safety for my children and the dog. In fact, they tried to justify their actions in saying that they put up just that because asking nicely for foster homes doesn't work. So to get a home quickly for this dog they villianized me in front of people in a city I live in. I found out through the interactions that this dog should never have been placed in my home, and should have been in a home with older children. But I was blamed for being a bad foster. Except for three or four people, everyone else was on the side of the rescue and I was a bad foster.



(These are my mother's dogs. I can leave my children with them in a room and not have to worry about anyone getting hurt. My kids are very dog saavy.)




So here are some things you should do:

1. Investigate the fostering system in your city. (Are there rules and regulations they must follow? Are they supposed to be registered as an organization in the city? How well known are they? How many years have they been running?) Don't just go by word of mouth. If you cannot find any information on a rescue place, go straight to your city's Humane Society, they almost always have their own fostering program and would be the best and most reputable place to foster from.

2. Check out all their policies. And make sure they follow them!

Red Flags I missed: They didn't do a home check. They didn't call my references. They didn't know me from Adam, yet asked me if I wanted to foster the dog.

3. Know everything there is to know about the dog. Do your research before taking the dog on. On their site it should state what kind of home the animal should be in in their adoption section. Or if they are linked to a place like Kijiji, it will be stated there.

4. DON'T feel pressured to take the first animal on that they throw your way. You obviously have a good, caring heart if you are doing fostering in the first place, so it's hard to turn an animal away. Places like I dealt with count on that. A rescue place should not have so many animals on board that they are desperate for people to foster. Desperation like this leads to misplaced animals and often injuries to the animal, child(ren) or both.

5. If they don't answer your questions in a timely manner, don't be afraid to keep "pestering". We live in a time of good technology, there is no reason why an email cannot be answered in 2-3 hours tops. (this is counting on a high level of email volume)

6. Lastly, don't feel bad if the foster doesn't work out. That is why you foster, to test the waters. People foster for many reasons and it's better to foster for a short time and know what works for you and your family, than for a long time to please the rescue place and risk injury to anyone including the animal.


If you follow these tips I'm sure your fostering experience would turn out much better than mine. I have learned that right now we are not ready for a dog of any kind. While there is someone home all of the time, there is still a lot of running around and things that need to be done that is suited more to an independant cat than a dependant dog. Right now we are just strictly a cat family.

However, due to the most awful experience I don't think I will ever foster another animal again. Unless it's my mom's. At least I know if it doesn't work she'll take her back.

Good luck and happy fostering!

Spring Ahead!

I'm Sprung! I am so ridiculously happy about the time change. No, I do not like losing an hour of sleep. The good Lord knows I need more sleep than I currently get. Self inflicted, but still. So why does the time leap forward make me want to dance a jig? Because, this means that Spring is on it's way!

Nursery/Preschool Registration Time!: River East French Exposure Nursery School

Snow Science Fun: Preschool Edition

My daughter is in preschool this year. This is her first and last year in preschool. We wanted to get her in last year, but E was in the afternoon Kindergarten program so it wasn't possible. Unless we figured out teleporting, it just wasn't happening. So we waited until E was in school full days and got A in the four year old program. Part of the program is that each parent needs to fullfill parent helper days in order to keep the class going for the day as they need to follow adult to child ratios like in a daycare. So today was one of my turns. I have seven days in all.

I don't mind parent helper day as it helps me get some one on one time with A. I have no distractions such as cleaning, the computer, work, etc., just time with A. She loves it, although she doesn't listen very well to the teacher sometimes because she is too busy looking for me. I got a call on Monday night while I was at work letting me know it was science day and to wear something warm because we were going outside. My husband laughed at me, and I dreaded today. I normally don't mind the cold, I'm a Winnipegger and by January you're pretty much climatized. But we have been spoiled these last few winters, and this winter Mother Nature is kicking our tuckus' bringing us a real Manitoba winter for a change. Meaning we are up to our eyeballs with -31.C to -39.C windchills. Brrrrrr. I was not looking forward to today at all.

Once bundled up in toques, scarves, snowsuits, and boots we were more than ready to tackle that frigid winter air. First we went to Snow Island, if you used your imagination it could look like this:

(Google Images)

It was a plot of land, in the bus loop that has three spruce trees and lots of space. The kids go there first stop after leaving the warm air of the school, watching for buses and cars. Once there we get to touch the snow, feel the air. Then, we go exploring. Has someone been here? How do we know? And so on. The kids found some small hills, boulders, footprints, an inukshuk and what looked like a ditch made by a dinosaur tail! The children were asked to make their own inukshuk to let people know they had been there and then were asked to gather containers of snow and put in a giant container. These containers full of snow were to be brought inside after the outing.

After the containers were filled, everyone was asked if they wanted to go on another adventure. We walked to a giant hill that everyone could climb and slide down. The kids had a blast! Two pictures and a few slides later we were on our way back inside. The South wind was angry and we could tell on the way back to the school. Once inside we had hot chocolate and marshmallows. The kids then put their snow into small cups and had a sheet to perdict what would happen to the snow in their cups. They all guessed it would melt into water, their cups would show how much water would be left behind by next class, in two days. The kids got to play with the remaining snow, analyzing it, and then it was time to go. Everyone had a blast including this Winnipegger whose gone soft in the last few years.

Today totally reminded me of my younger years, and scenes like this:

(Google Images)

Families together in the snow. No one seems worried about the cold. It was just the way I remember it. Just plain fun and the cold didn't touch you until you hit the warm air of the building on the way in. I may have been the Grinch about parent helper day all the way up to getting to the classroom, but I walked away with heart of fun three sizes bigger.

The Bitch: Teachers and The No Child Left Behind Plan

Ugh. Gaah! I want to pull my hair out.

Let me state this first. I don't hate teachers. In fact, I admire them. There is a reason I could never homeschool, because I couldn't deal with whiney, mouthy shits with their "I'm entitled to the moon" bullshit attitudes. (Yes, I love my children, but this generation thinks if they blink they should get whatever they desire. My fault, but mine are no different, trying to change this.) I couldn't deal with parents who sit there and bitch at me because little Johnny failed English in grade 9 because the education system pushed him through school due to the No Child Left Behind plan the government said was a such a great idea. They don't care that little Johnny is illiterate, they just don't want him to feel embarrassed because he's kept a grade behind while his friends move on ahead. He might be bullied. Really? Um, here's some real life logic for you, if little Johnny is illiterate and it's discovered when he's older, those are the ones you should be afraid of bullying him, not some kid in grade 3. From experience, Middle School is the melting pot of hate.

What also doesn't fly with me with this whole No Child Left Behind plan is that it doesn't help little Johnny or little Emily prepare for how the real world is going to treat them. The real world couldn't care less what excuse older Johnny or older Emily comes up with for showing up late to work if they show up at all. The real world couldn't care less if Johnny's teachers gave him all A's if it doesn't show in his practical work that he can do the job he wants. The real world couldn't care less if Emily forgot her media project for work on her table at home. The point is that it wasn't there for the investors meeting, now they lost their investors and need to start again. Emily lost millions for her company, they could toss her if they wish, for any reason they wish. Funny how the real world works, eh? We don't get to make excuses for poor decisions and still pass go. In the adult world we are expected, and rightly so, to be accountable for ALL of our actions, not just the ones we want to take credit for. Our schools are helping to raise whole generations of children. A wise teacher once told me, "We are not raising children, we are raising young adults." Children have none to little consequences and everyone holds their hands. Adults live in the world of sharks and they need to be self-sufficient and problem solvers in order to survive.

Now on to today. Last week the science teacher called about my son. I called her back today. He's at a 59% in Science going in to the exams. He missed a lab, and now he's not living up to his full potential. But these kids have to email their labs in and then bring in the hard copy the next day if they forgot it at home. So my kid emailed it but forgot the second part. This was in December. How does this help anyone now? It's January 15th. She's so concerened about his mark so she tells me a month after the lab is due and can no longer be handed in? That sounds more than a bit backwards to me. She went on to say how he needs to study hard for exams and there is free peer tutoring available until then, as he needs a good mark on the exam to pass. Exams are in two weeks. How does this help anyone now? I didn't question it, as this was not the first time this has happened. Not with this teacher, last year it was the electronics teacher. (My son refused to go back into electronics after that session strictly because of the teacher. Pretty sad he had to stop doing something he was interested in because of a teacher.) Seriously, does anyone else see what's wrong with this picture? I should be preventing something from happening, not trying to do damage control after the fact. It doesn't teach my son anything and all it does is waste 10 minutes of my time on the phone when I could be doing something else. Once she heard my answer to her, she became curt in her conversation with me.

My answer was this. "I'm not going to argue with my son, he knows how he learns" (In regards to her saying that if he does the science review and hands it in he'll get marks and he said no. In more words of course). "I don't know if you know, but he was bullied for a good four years. Finally, this year it's settled down and his marks have improved immensely. I talk about his potential, but I feel that his marks are showing he is finally trying. (He was practically failing every course the last four years.)So, if he fails from not doing his work, the onus is on him. I can only do so much. But I won't be sending him to Summer School and he'll be held back while his friends go on. C'est la vie." Then she tried to get me off the phone. Well, if you don't like the answer you might get, don't call me. I'm pretty old school. You don't do your shit, you end up behind. You fall behind far enough, there is not going to be anyone there to hold your hand and make it all better. You'll be making up the time again next year and graduate a year behind from your friends. I had to go through it, and there is nothing wrong with anyone going through it. The things in life are not there for you because you deserve it for just being you. They are there for you when you work for it. Without working for it, life is just a big department store and you are a permanent window shopper. I don't want my child to be a window shopper. He has more potential than that. Alas, I see I am the only one to teach my child this, as the school system believes the perfect system is us all sitting in a circle singing "kumbaya" until high school and reality smacks these kids in the face.