It is a week since my last public blogging. A lot of that time was spent in bed feeling like I had been run over by a bus and very sorry for myself. I had what is commonly known as Man Flu. It's just the same as the normal everyday flu that women get, but with added whimpering and overacting.
On Thursday Holly to go her first school trip to the Sea Life Centre down towards Oban way where she got to be brave with real life starfish and bought Daisy a present from the shop.
On Friday she came out from school babbling about Jesus and how we should talk to him and how he is everywhere...
Let me explain. I don't do God. At all. I have never done God. Neither have my parents, nor does Merriol. God, and all talk of Goddy things, Jesus, Holy Spirits, Giant Flying Spaghetti Monsters and all the other big sky fairies is noticeable absent from our house. (Thinking about it The Giant Flying Spaghetti Monster is probably mentioned most often around here) . I have varied over the years from utter indifference as to people's belief systems, to standing and heckling Bible thumpers on the street, and all points in between. At the moment I'm towards the 'don't give a damn as long as they don't fucking annoy me with it' end of the spectrum but I also know I don't want my kids Bible thumped until they have the mental tool kit to take on board what religion (ANY religion) is all about.
It turns out there had been an assembly at the school and one of the local Ministers had been in preaching at my kid ( he didn't single Holly out I think this was a scatter-gun preachifying).
What pisses me off about this is we were given no warning about this. No one asked us if it was OK to have our kids preached at by one of God's local franchise holders. The same day as this happened she also came home with a medical history form to fill in. 'Has your child had the following shots?', ' Does your child have any allergies?,' Is your child missing any bits we should know about?' That sort of thing. At the end of the form was a small consent section asking our permission to weigh, measure, and check her eyesight etc. We were to sign if it was okay with us that that was done.
So the school has to ask our permission to do measure how tall Holly is but doesn't have to ask if we mind having some outside visitor filling her impressionable little head with one of several hundred (if not thousand) unproven Bronze-age Creation Myths which may or may not conflict with any particular unproven Bronze-age Creation Myths we might subscribe to at home.
Apart from anything else this puts me as a parent in the position of wanting to tell my child to ignore what people in school tell her because they are wrong. It's hardly good start to my child's education for me to tell her her teachers are talking rubbish.
Luckily Holly has an imaginary friend - who she knows to be imaginary - this gives me a quick and simple way to explain this Jesus thing to her and, incidentally, a great deal of hope for her future. She is five and knows her imaginary friend isn't real, which is a fuck of lot more than a lot of 'grown-ups' appear to.
I'll go back to utter indifference as to people's belief systems soon. It's better for my blood pressure.
On Thursday Holly to go her first school trip to the Sea Life Centre down towards Oban way where she got to be brave with real life starfish and bought Daisy a present from the shop.
On Friday she came out from school babbling about Jesus and how we should talk to him and how he is everywhere...
WHAT!?????
Let me explain. I don't do God. At all. I have never done God. Neither have my parents, nor does Merriol. God, and all talk of Goddy things, Jesus, Holy Spirits, Giant Flying Spaghetti Monsters and all the other big sky fairies is noticeable absent from our house. (Thinking about it The Giant Flying Spaghetti Monster is probably mentioned most often around here) . I have varied over the years from utter indifference as to people's belief systems, to standing and heckling Bible thumpers on the street, and all points in between. At the moment I'm towards the 'don't give a damn as long as they don't fucking annoy me with it' end of the spectrum but I also know I don't want my kids Bible thumped until they have the mental tool kit to take on board what religion (ANY religion) is all about.
It turns out there had been an assembly at the school and one of the local Ministers had been in preaching at my kid ( he didn't single Holly out I think this was a scatter-gun preachifying).
What pisses me off about this is we were given no warning about this. No one asked us if it was OK to have our kids preached at by one of God's local franchise holders. The same day as this happened she also came home with a medical history form to fill in. 'Has your child had the following shots?', ' Does your child have any allergies?,' Is your child missing any bits we should know about?' That sort of thing. At the end of the form was a small consent section asking our permission to weigh, measure, and check her eyesight etc. We were to sign if it was okay with us that that was done.
So the school has to ask our permission to do measure how tall Holly is but doesn't have to ask if we mind having some outside visitor filling her impressionable little head with one of several hundred (if not thousand) unproven Bronze-age Creation Myths which may or may not conflict with any particular unproven Bronze-age Creation Myths we might subscribe to at home.
Apart from anything else this puts me as a parent in the position of wanting to tell my child to ignore what people in school tell her because they are wrong. It's hardly good start to my child's education for me to tell her her teachers are talking rubbish.
Luckily Holly has an imaginary friend - who she knows to be imaginary - this gives me a quick and simple way to explain this Jesus thing to her and, incidentally, a great deal of hope for her future. She is five and knows her imaginary friend isn't real, which is a fuck of lot more than a lot of 'grown-ups' appear to.
I'll go back to utter indifference as to people's belief systems soon. It's better for my blood pressure.
1 comment:
Wow. Holy shit.
That's scary stuff. Which country are you living in again? Are you going to talk to the school?
I'm glad you are feeling better.
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