Megan Bayliss's comments

A Trip To The Mountains - Blog Entry

14 Aug 2006 02:19 PM

Yum Teresa, those marshmellows with chocolate chips in them sound divine. I've never had them like that before. In Australia Bananas cooked in their skins on the coals are a camping favourite. We make a split in the banana and push in as many cubes of chocolate as will fit, wrap the banana in alfoil and throw it on the coals. DELISH!

The Ten Commandments of Marriage - Blog Entry

13 Aug 2006 11:37 PM

Wise words indeed Miriam. I'm going to print them and blutac them to my mirror so that I have a constant reminder.

What do you say to someone suffering from depression? - Blog Entry

12 Aug 2006 06:24 PM

Good article Beth and a GREAT additional positively framed question from Tracey. When I am dealing with people suffering from clinical depression I keep uppermost in my mind that they can't do some of the tasks we expect of them. Just because their outside looks fine doesn't mean they're not debilitated as a result of the depression. One lady described it to me as "my arms and legs have been cut off." Research suggests that one in 4 people suffer a mental illness at sometime in their life. That's a lot of people that I know. I'm really happy to build up a repertoir of helpful phrases so that I can assist the people I love and care about. I'm always happy to offer good food for their health so I will now think of "helpful phrases" as food for their recovery. The more I feed them, the easier their path back.

Sexual Harassment in Schools - Blog Entry

12 Aug 2006 06:05 PM

Great overview and questions Kaye. In Australia sexual harrassment is covered by a national law and it is unlawful for students 15+ to sexually harass another student. My view is that 15 is far too late and children need to be socialised against any form of violence from childbirth. In 1995 I did some research into the infiltration of the sexual harrassment laws into high schools. I was dismayed to find that most teachers didn't even know that it was against the law. From the students perspectives, the kids interviewed nominated that they handled the harrassment by dropping or moving subjects as a way to minimise contact with the abuser. Many of the girls either became so withdrawn that they failed to exist in the class room OR they harrassed back and ended up getting into trouble for it. Double punishment! Sexual harrassment is indeed a serious problem facing our kids. It is not just a school problem but rather a wide reaching social and health issue that needs a global approach for eradication. YAHOO to you Kaye for raising this issue. Well done.

An Outsider's View - Blog Entry

07 Aug 2006 01:15 AM

Anger is a wonderful motivator. Good for you Lisa on using your anger for education and difference rather than bigotry and harm.

I think you must be the third billy goat gruff. Trolls and control will lose me as a member of this site so I'm glad you tossed him off the bridge. Trolls, monsters and ogres are also the reason I am no longer a practicing Christian. I sure like going to church to sing though - I don't care what church or how infrequently. The welcome faces, the handshakes, and the sense of community is what does it for me. Doctrine matters little in my worldview. Peace is contagious so I'm glad you caught it from the close physical contact you had with the Mormon congregation. Maybe, just maybe, I'll wander down the road to the little C of LDS and see if I can catch Peace too. My vaccination seems to be wearing off and I need another good dose of Peace to keep me immune to the self-combusting world this coming year.

Useful Websites: Child Fun - Blog Entry

05 Aug 2006 01:54 AM

Thanks Emily. This has come at a perfect time for me. I'm writing a child protection training manual for child care workers and I can include some of the safety printables from this site. AND - there's some great activity ideas about wild life in Australia. The Australian glossary of slang made me laught though. We don't speak like that ALL the time.

5 Things You Should Know Before Attending an Air Force Function - Blog Entry

05 Aug 2006 12:35 AM

Oh my gosh - this was a blast from the past! I really imagined that the etique of military family dress was over. Perhaps this was my wishful thinking and rebelious nature kicking in.

My father was a career officer in the Australian Army. He did three tours of Vietnam and was on loan to the US for one (or two, can't remember) of those tours. We grew up in Army camps over-seas.

I so remember Mum dressing to standards and us kids being threatened with all sorts lest our true natures dared to show themselves in front of Dad's out ranking colleagues.

I laughed at the Don't get drunk tip. Oh dear, do I have some stories in my attic about what some of those young officers got up to when they though they were out of sight of the O.C's children!!!!!!!

Thanks Lisa, you have reconnected me with some very old and submerged memories of my childhood. Mum, I hope you also read this and laugh.

Don't give your children everything - Blog Entry

05 Aug 2006 12:20 AM

Touche. I am not in a position to give my children a better material life than I had as a child but I am in a better position to teach resilience. The global standards of consumerism still tell us that better parenting is measured by children wearing and playing with the latest brands. My experience is that often the children who do wear and play with the best, suffer a constipated personality and never have had the opportunity to work out who they are or what they really want out of life.

Although we have had the ups and downs of family life, just as everyone else has had, I am proud that my children can all (well...maybe that's a stretch, the teenager going through menopause doesn't fit the model currently!!) use clear communication and articulate their side of an argument and problem solve around wants and needs.

The development of my older children's work ethic has been an amazing process to watch unfold. They both LOVE new things but also understand the work and maintenance that goes along with collecting nice symbols of status. Their status comes from an inner belief in their own abilities and they measure it against how they have assisted others.

As for me....I hate going to the shops soooooo much that my eclectic assortment of hand-me-downs has saved me sufficient funds to now be able to help the kids out with cash as they need it. But.....they know only too well not to even ask for assistance for frivolous or fad items.

And the youngest child....oh dear, I think I may have gone too far. He wants to sponsor the 10,000 needy children himself through World Vision. He went to a school disco last night and wants to put the change toward sponsorship. So now what do I do? Say "give me the change back please," or give him an economics verses community development lecture to help him understand the reality of mass sponsorship!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I think I'll let the accountant step-father deal with this one!!!!!!!!!

She Writes... - Journal Entry

04 Aug 2006 11:07 PM

FANTASTIC. Oh how I can relate. I am now trying to write in 15 minute blocks and post it to my journal daily. If I don't do it, the clothes, floors, lunches etc, take on more importance. After 24 years of doing all those things I'm just completely over it and figure that it's now my time to write. I've just had a children's chapter book published so its paid off. Now though I don't want to have to go out to work, I just want to write, write, write, in my nightie, when I want and not have to worry about paying the bills.

Like you, my brain became pitted once child one was born and it never quiet filled out again!!!!! In fact, after four pitting beatings it became completely eaten away! But, what I've found since writing daily is that my mind goes so fast that I often leave words out (they probably fall through the brain holes). I can't type as fast as I think and therefore I often end up typing the word that's in my head right at that moment. Sure makes for curious editing!!!!!!

In my journals I'm working my way through the alphabet. Tomorrow I'll journal around "F". I form a story around the first "F" word that comes into my brain and write for 15 minutes before I edit or develop. I love it becase it underwhelmes me rather than giving me too much poetic licence to create epic novels. I change styles to suit the short story formation and the household needs at the time.

I'm going to subscribe to your journal if that's okay so that I can read your entrys when you post them. I would LOVE you to give me critiques on any of my entrys too.

Take care and thank you very much for allowing me into your private space.

Megan

Prenatal Visit - Journal Entry

04 Aug 2006 09:54 PM

I've subscribed to your journal by email now so YOU HAVE to keep it up. Mxx