Tag SEA

Swimming in the S.E.A. (Part 7) – Land!

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I can’t believe we are FINALLY at the end! I woke up this morning and I legit got tears in my eyes when I prayed and reflected on the journey that Mam’zelle took to FINALLY get to this moment. It was really a tumble of a ride filled ease, elation, frustration and back to ease which made me think of literally being out at sea. When I started this series it was really an outlet to express my thoughts as an ‘S.E.A. parent’ the second time around (which turned out to be the harder time around given the joy that 2020 has been thus far🙄. For a recap of my past ‘Swimming in the S.E.A.’ posts see below, iz plenty, so yuh could come back and check it):

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Incidentally this post is Part 7 and as sevens tend to symbolize, now we rest.

Suitable rest pic

So in this final countdown I have to again resurrect my Oscar-winning performance as ‘cool, at-ease parent who cannot help but feel nervous now but cannot transfer said anxiety onto the child’. Now generally Mam’zelle was not nervous and really showed maturity and resilience particularly as COVID-19 put a screeching pause on……well…..life. I think it is largely due to her personality which is very ‘matter-of-fact’ and her relationship with her older brother to whom she relates as though they are peers. This morning though she woke up asking random math questions ‘to make sure’ and ‘casually’ wondered which school she would pass for. I suppose this is natural but I still elevated my performance of reassuring her (in a Viola Davis kinda of way) even though I knew she still felt some reservations (i.e. nervousness) and me, worse yet.

To say that I am relieved that this exam will soon be over is an understatement. I have bitched about it on my personal profile as well as in parent networks on social media. The use of this high stakes exam as placement for 11 year olds while setting the mindset that it is the be all and end all of their school careers, is archaic and plain stupid. It is time that in this 21st century (Anno Covidi as one of my close friends terms it), the powers that be in Education strongly consider a working alternative because S.E.A. ain’t it. COVID-19 come and mash up de whole dance only to reveal that there was no Plan B. That alone speaks volumes.

To all the parents out there breathing a sigh of relief, cheers to you🥂 particularly those whose children and families had to be put into 14-day quarantine as a result of attending classes and possibly contracting the virus. Hugs to those of you who still feel some reservations in sending out your children tomorrow🤗. It’s bad enough to have had to deal with the postponement of the stupid exam but the realness of the pandemic is still a clear and present danger.

I thank all of Mam’zelle’s cheerleaders, her teacher (who deserves the largest award fathomable and a week at the spa if Covid wasn’t so blasted fass) and also online support communities who allowed me to vent and commiserated with kind words, emojis and funny gifs.

I pray for us all as we clear this hurdle tomorrow, pick up our bundles and go home to truly exhale with games, music, food or whatever put in place other than the traditional…… Our children have been through it and they truly deserve it!🥳

Blessings!

TMIDM

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Swimming in the S.E.A. (Part 6) – What de ass??

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When I heard about Covid case #139 who caused two Pennywise outlets and a bank to shut down operations, my response was “What de ass?!? You couldn’t keep your tail home?! Ah whole week you sick and you moving normal, normal infecting people?!?”. I then heard about about the patient who was a minor, the child of a bank worker who caused another bank to shut down, rumour is the employee brought the child to work……what de ass??😳. Now today Trinidad has five more Covid cases, one of which is a child, an S.E.A. student whose parents sent him or her for THREE days KNOWING that this child was sick and had members in the family who were also sick😡😡😡

Context below:

KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM TODAY’S MINISTRY OF HEALTH PRESS BRIEFING

Chief Medical Officer Dr. Roshan Parasram: five latest COVID-19 cases are primary contacts of case #142.

  • 3 children among those 5 cases.
  • One child attended the Maraval RC school.
  • Pupils and staff at school to go into quarantine.

A sick child that was sent to school (for SEA prep) could now potentially affect 90 primary contacts and 200 secondary contacts.
All have now been placed on 14 day quarantine. (Express)

Dr. Parasram: If they had followed the guidelines which is to stay home when you are sick we would not be looking at 300 potential contacts.

I’ll say it for Dr. Parasram, WHAT DE ENTIRE ASS?!?!?

Now I am readily admitting that I am one of those parents who was relieved to hear that the exam was on August 20th with recap classes starting on July 20th. She needed collaborative space even with the social distancing and I was comfortable enough with her school’s (i.e. principal’s and teacher’s) Covid preventative measures. Again, I was ready for her just to do this stupid exam, get over with it and move on with her life. I may have mentioned this already……many times…….Notwithstanding, I also completely understood the argument against this position and the view by other parents to keep their children at home because…….you know Covid-19.

That being said….

What de ass you doing sending your child to school when you know fully well Covid running rampant in your household??????

What de ass is your excuse for being so damn selfish, not giving a shit about your child infecting other children AND teachers and OBVIOUSLY causing the school to shut down and create more anxiety and trauma for these poor children who have already been through it for the year?!?

What de ass people blaming teachers and principals for? For not ‘figuring out’ the child was sick and sending the child home? School administrators and educators are psychics? Doctors? Nurses? Healers? Mindbenders? Oracles? Witchdoctors? Telepaths? Obeahmen? Why don’t our nationals who are quick to cast aspersions HOLD THEIR ELECTED OFFICIALS AND MINISTRIES ACCOUNTABLE for providing everything schools need to function ADEQUATELY?! Schools are running on fumes, raffles and donation sheets which the same school officials have to sort out for themselves by begging.

I can’t with this nonsense😒.

My nerves have been on edge as Covid local spread is being reported on daily basis and I have to reset my mental to begin to accept that Dr. KCR* may send his wayward children back into timeout because of bad behaviour. This I am absolutely NOT prepared for. However, I also have to forget that and pay attention to my daughter’s mental especially with the real possibility that the ‘summer school’ may be affected, the exam may be affected and there is no certainty with our current reality.

However in the middle of this assness, the show must go on. When I’m done, I expect a stage to thank the academy for the performance that is worthy of a statue.

Blessings

TMIDM

*Dr. Keith Christopher Rowley, Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago

Swimming in the S.E.A. (Part 5) – Bacchanal

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So the date is set. Thursday 20th August 2020 and to quote one very Euro 80s rock band, it’s the finalllll countdowwwwwn.

There was a sigh of relief as I, like all other S.E.A. parents was in this perpetual state of limbo and limbo, while it may seem dreamy and amazing, could very well break you in half. When I told Mam’zelle of the new date, she broke out into the Hallelujah chorus and I don’t blame her. She reached the state of ‘fed-upcy’ a loooooong time ago. If you are an S.E.A. parent like me, you would have also found yourself practising these same three subjects (Math, Grammar and Creative Writing) over and over with no clear finish line in sight. That would drive any human up a wall and I really feel it for all those hamsters in labs all over the world.

Covid body included

It took me a minute since the announcement of the date to this present point to write this blog post because I suffered information overload to the point where I was ready to sky (read: fling) my phone. It would absolutely NOT be the land of La Trinité if there was no bacchanal included in damn near everything. So the minute this was announced, the commentary was endless and in some cases, outright insane. (Some of us really need a social media break eh 🙄).

Anywho, let me preface this by saying one of the reasons why my blog is called Trini Mom in D Middle because that is the place where I very often find myself…Switzerland. I am a sucker for reason and balance (except where there is jackassery and the obvious is clear). So the argument of whether the date should have been in August because “some frustrated and burnt out and Covid basically gone” or in October because “some are left out, it was unfair and Covid still here”, landed me square in the middle. Honestly, I understood both sides because I was fed TF up since March and I hate this inherently STUPID exam but I also understand the plight of the academically and economically disadvantaged because I teach them daily in Secondary school. Hence the reason why I wasn’t caught up too much in the debate and made the honest commentary of being more concerned about the uniform fitting (which I am ELATED to announce that it does but still I need to get a belt 🙄. Homegirl was also haggling for new sneakers but the line was drawn and to quote myself, “You have a month to make it work, so ease meh up and doh drag yuh foot too much” 🤨).

Now of course the new date of S.E.A. (and for that matter, Coronavirus) is not the MAIN issue anymore. With the announcement came a parallel announcement that S.E.A. teachers and some school personnel will be paid a stipend from the 20th July to the date of the exam to facilitate readiness for the exam.

Allyuh! What we, the nation eh say about teachers, we forget to say because the commentary was downright vitriolic. Now in case you may be reading and have been one of those who have had bad experiences with teachers and thus may be quick to paint with an 8-inch, let me put my teacher hat on and remind you of the main facts:

  1. Teachers/TTUTA (teacher’s union) did NOT ask for the stipend. TTUTA agreed with the Ministry that the exam should have been held in October. The Ministry rock back with the August date and the stipend figure as a dangling carrot to get ONLY STANDARD FIVE teachers to come out during their holidays and threw TTUTA off balance.
  2. Teachers have legitimate (meaning: written in law) holidays, they don’t get paid over time, if they take no leave they don’t get incentives and I’m not the person to fully detail why this is so at this point.
  3. Teachers are grossly underpaid including the “good for nothing”, “greedy”, “lazy” “bloodsuckers” who “didn’t do one ass but cock up dey foot” since school closed. Teachers need to be upgraded (imagine working 13 years in one position when you have offered proof to your employer of completed study to advance based on recommendations from the same employer). Teachers need to be paid increments as they are working with devalued salaries and moreover, need to be positioned correctly on the scale.
  4. Nurses and other essential workers find this move to be grossly disadvantageous and unfair as teachers were not seen on the frontlines of Covid19 nor could they prove that they added an essential service to the nation (they do have a point EXCEPT for the view expressed by the first part of #3 above because I know of one case where a teacher was up until 2 o’clock crafting online lessons for her students to not do 🙄.
  5. Teachers feel like they are being publicly crucified because 1) they still received salaries during lockdown, 2) ONLY STANDARD FIVE! teachers will now receive a stipend but the paint from the 8-inch brush is now dry (even though they didn’t ask for the stipend), 3) even if they were to now continue their plight to be paid their just salary, they would get ZERO support from John Public and 4) Teachers are divided on the issue (‘we deserve it’ vs ‘don’t be a sell-out’).

All of this confirming the whole ‘divide and rule to get my way’ ideology. How very Trump! Well played government officials.

Colbert is never wrong

Meanwhile (parent hat on now) I can’t stand that teachers are being vilified and I hold to the view that public resentment of ‘blue collar’ workers usually rotates between teachers, police officers, doubles men and KFC employees when the cole slaw finish. We need a 15 minute attention grab from Gary or Watson and we need it expeditiously. Teacher morale is at an all time low and who feels it knows it. Now I am not quick to surrender to group think, I like facts and quite frankly all I am studying is my daughter. Now that there is a date, we just need to get there and move on with our lives. If for some reason teachers decide not to turn up out of principle, or some court matter delays the process or Madam Corona decides to swing back and say “ah was just resting my eyes but I’m back baybeeee”, her mental will be off and I just might forget about this whole S.E.A. drama and start the hunt for a private secondary school (not really eh, but it must be nice to have that option because the way my salary is set up……issa whoole no). The fact is this is all too much bacchanal for one inherently STUPID exam. But then again…where we living again 🤷🏾‍♀️?

Blessings

TMIDM