Jun 02 2008
Gnomes and gremlins and teachers…oh my…
Please welcome my dear friend CanadianFlake as today’s guest-blogger!
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Hey all, I am thrilled to be here today with a guest post for the
amazing and talented Brillig. I am grateful that brillig has
entrusted her readers in my care for one day. Of course, I
think she totally rocks…as I am sure all of you do too. I have
been a loyal “brillig-fan” since the first day I stumbled across
her blog (who could forget the SOS “chad” saga..lol)
I have been pondering the subject of this post for a few days.
I have been excited to be guest posting for the very first time
and wanted to sound intelligent, humorous or insightful (or
at least, I didn’t want to sound totally lame ..lol)
I guess I should start by introducing myself. My name is
Canadianflake and I have been blogging for just over a year
now. I have a gnome and 2 gremlins that I both love and
get frustrated with in equal measure. The gnome and I have
been together for 6 years. Like every good gnome, he can
drive me to insanity with the best of them but I love him so
very much with all that is in my heart. My gremlins are 16
and 13 and anyone that has ever had a teenage gremlin
KNOWS that this is never easy…but totally worth it!!
After relocating in 2006, I began working at a job that
is out of my home. Because I have no friends here and I
work alone, the material for my posts more often than
not comes from the antics and goings-on of the above
mentioned gnome and gremlins….and it is something that
happened this week that I wish to share with you all, as I
have shared with my regular readers.
I should first explain that both of my gremlins have a
learning disability. Both have really struggled in school
from the beginning and I have had to battle teachers and
principals on many occasion. This war that I have fought
is somewhat of a 2-sided coin. There have been many
tears shed and worries that neither of them would be able
to finish school and be able to make their own path in life.
The flip side of that coin is that I have grown to appreciate
every litte victory and taken hope in small things that others
might overlook as insignificant. It is one of these victories
I share with you today…
Earlier this week, gremlin #2 had to an assignment where he
(meaning WE) had to read a story and answer questions.
One of the questions asked him if he thought it would be
a good thing or a bad thing if everyone “was cut from the
same thread”. Right away, I knew that my answer would
have been to say it would be a bad thing…because we
all need to be individuals etc etc…
When I read the question, his answer was the following….
“It would be good if we were all woven from the same
thread because then we would all be equal both physically
and mentally. If everyone was equal there would be no
wars, no racism and no poor people”.
I was so proud of this answer I almost cried. I emailed
his teacher so she would know who impressed I was and
her response was the following…
“wow- what a breakthrough! I had tears in my eyes while
I read his response - that is fantastic! I am so proud of his
logic! If only our peacekeepers in the world could see his
viewpoint! ”
For a momma bear that has had to scratch and claw just
to get her gremlins to learn how to read and write (with VERY
little support from the school system), these words mean
more than any award!!
Thanks for having me brillig. Looking forward to reading
all the other guest posts over the next month!
Gotta love those unexpected answers that cut right to the core.
It is so moving to hear someone who struggles outside the norm yearning for some sense of equality, with a completely different take on the world. Wise beyond his years. He sounds like a great kid.
I admire any parent who is willing and able to fight to hard for her children to receive an education, regardless of difficult conditions. Congratulations to you and your gremlins!
It sounds like you have one, great gremlin there. What a tribute to you, too, as you scratch your way through the system.
I know the fight well. I was so proud the day my daughter graduated. But this reminds me of the day I realized that we put too much emphasis on the GPA and not the person. I have one child that has had straight A’s since Kindergarten. One (the above mentioned daughter) that struggled with her learning disability. One day when they both brought home midterm grades I looked at the B+ on my son’s report and said “What happened here?” I then looked at the C on my daughter’s report and started cheering. That was the day that grades stopped mattering to me and accomplishments, such as your child’s, became the focus.
It is interesting to read your blog. I am just a beginner on blog and will learn more from you. Good to know the words “Gnomes” and “gremlins” for me.
Congrats on that awesome answer. I’ve never had to deal with that kind of thing. Thank you for expanding my life with your point of view. Great post.
Great story, CF! And you SHOULD be proud… what a wonderful answer. You should send it to your local politician…
What a clever, clever boy! That answer should be reworked into a song lyric. It’s like something John Lennon would have come up with.
I think this post is about Gnome desktop environment on Linux, but I’m wrong.
It’s a good post, thank you..
Isn’t it wonderful when our children surprise us with insights we couldn’t have imagined? What a great story — and how nice that his teacher is also so proud of him for this too. Thanks for the great guest post.
Thank you all for your kind comments and for making me feel welcome as a guest blogger.
Robee- not sure what you meant but this story is a true story about my family…they are the “gnome” and the “gremlins” because I prefer to protect their privacy.
Thanks again ev1!!!
What an insightful thought from your gremlin. Most of my gremlins sailed through the public school experience, but one really struggled. We homeschooled for a bit and that helped a lot.
What an awesome answer and what an awesome mama you are. Keep fighting the good fight for your kids, it sounds like it’s really paying off!