Read Chapter 24 “Saying Yes Is an Art Form”
Getting Ready to Move
July 1st, 2019
I’m excited that we are going to try something new, but at the same time, the idea of such a significant change fills me with the usual anxiety. Of course, my mind wanders. What if the job isn’t what I expected; what if I won’t be able to manage the job, the school, the new life; what if the girls don’t like it. My mind loves being preoccupied with the usual worst-case scenarios. However, despite all the “ifs” I’m still willing to push my boundaries to allow myself to grow beyond who I was in my previous life. I was so over comfortable in that other life that feeling a bit of discomfort should have a positive impact on my life.
The girls have already begun packing their bedrooms. I haven’t even started thinking about packing mine. In all honesty, I’m not even sure where to begin. Even after clearing my house and all the car boot sales, I still have so much unwanted stuff. I genuinely hope this move will clear the house, and my life, of the rest of all the shit I managed to accumulate over the years and was never intending on using (the bonus of living in small spaces is that you don’t buy what you don’t use). Now, with the move and the new life, the new philosophy started slowly making its way into my life. The minimalistic lifestyle with a sustainable approach to every item I’m going to buy has become much more important to me than it was in the past.
I want my life to be as simple as possible, and accumulating unnecessary shit isn’t going to help with that. Also, the state of our planet, the pollution, global warming, and melting ice troubles me deeply. I don’t want to be the reason why my kids have to live in the world devoid of beauty, clean water and food. I want to be part of the solution and show my girls that life isn’t all about consumption.
I want my new life to have as little impact on the environment as possible. I do sincerely hope that the new me can pull such a change off.
The other day I had a specialist hospital appointment, and after waiting for an hour, my name was finally called. The appointment lasted a whole five minutes! Yes, five minutes of a blissful time with a doctor (I hope), who asked me series of ‘yes’ and ‘no’ questions, while copying notes from another doctor onto yet another piece of paper. It was an epic waste of my precious time.
This week I also got a letter from the council saying that the girls didn’t get into any of the schools I chose for them. Apparently, there are no spaces. Even though an email I got from the council a week before confirmed that at least one of the schools had spaces. Of course, the council didn’t offer any alternatives. Now I can appeal their decision, or I can be added to the waiting list. The council’s “no space, no alternative” policy is quite shocking, taking into consideration how obsessed the authorities are in the UK when it comes to school attendance. This is just another aspect of the hostile environment the Tory government has been pursuing.
The hostile environment, when it comes to schooling, especially kids with educational needs (my both girls are dyslexic) has gotten out of hand. The schools can’t cope with the kids they already have, who require extra assistance and admitting more is too expensive for already stretched budgets. I’ve read about schools systematic “off-rolling” kids with learning difficulties.
For a lot of families, homeschooling became the only alternative to provide education for their kids. The alternatives are very limited: you either have enough money to send your child to a private school, or you have no other choice but to accept what is given to you and if the council gives you nothing, tough shit.
Luckily, we will be gone well before September starts, which means that I don’t have to deal with the council’s shitty approach to solving problems instead of finding solutions.