Voyeurism

Every now and then when I get bored I'll check out the 'Blogs of Note' and see what's out there. To be honest, it's not often I see something I like and am interested in following. Most of the blogs I do follow consistently either belong to friends of the 'in the flesh' persuasion and friends of the online persuasion.
And it's almost like a bit of voyeurism. Whether the blog is about what someone did over the weekend, what they ate for supper or what they dreamt about last night. They are giving you a peek into their lives. Ironically, those are the blogs I enjoy reading most. I'm sure someone out there likes a book "book review" blog or a a travel blog but I prefer the 'yesterday we went to the grocery store' blogs.
The other day I was perusing the blogs of note and came across Red Means Go and got hooked by the first post I read. It's not exactly a ' yesterday went to the grocery store blog' but it's a girl looking to become famous through her blog. She's funny, she's witty and she's a smart ass and she doesn't take herself too seriously. So, I'm hooked. I'd recommend it if you need a smile.

Anyway, step into my life and have a peek.

Last week I went to some summer institutes put on by the Ministry of Education for the staff of the new Early Learning Kindergarten Program. It was a three day deal and I might not have otherwise gone but I thought it would be a good opportunity to see what exactly the ministry expects from this program. And more importantly, I thought it would be great for networking.

I'm really branching out from my comfort zone these days. I drove to Mississauga, which for me is almost 80 km one way. I don't mind long drives but I do mind them during rush hour (rush hour in the three cities I had to drive through to get there no less) I had to go to this seminar alone. I didn't know a single solitary person there, at least not more than at a casual glance. And the idea is to meet, communicate and network.

I gotta say, I'm getting good at this. I managed to be the first person there - the first person of like 300 people (which for people who truly understand my issues with lateness will not be surprising) But it also gave me the opportunity to pick a seat and have people sit with me rather than me having to join an existing group. And it worked like a charm because I found myself at a table with 6 other ECE's who were as equally unsure of all of this as I was.

The seminar part, boring. I think I texted Sean at one point that I was ready to stab my eyes out to alleviate the boredom. I did learn a few things but I think this seminar was largely for the teachers and administrators as it was all about play based learning which is an ECE's bread and butter. The social part, amazing. I was able to meet and get to know some of the other ECE's and though I won't actually work with them, it's nice to know other people in the board.

The true prize of the three day event though was the chance to 'be in the know'. You see, we are without a union in an industry that is entirely unionized. There are some legal issues which prevented us from being swallowed by an existing collective agreement so we must start from the ground up and let me tell you, those unions knew it and were outside the doors of the banquet hall courting us. I felt like a star and they were my paparazzi. Everyone of them wanting us to know what they could offer us.

So, later next week we (as in the ECE's) have a meeting set up with the union I'm particularly drawn to to see what they can do for us. I'm hoping that there are not too many gun shy people because September is rolling around fast and I shudder to think about what it will be like to start this job without a union having my back (and ironically, all this comes from the person who helped to get the ball rolling in ousting the very same union from a job I had 8 years ago. I'm not usually pro union but I have to look at the bigger picture.

Connor went to visit his new daycare yesterday. We call it school. (it works since the name of his daycare starts with the word 'school'.) He had fun. He played in the sand outside. He played cars inside. He found a sewer in his class (a drain cap in the ground - insert eye roll here) But Mommy stayed with him.
Next Tuesday he'll be going for half a day by himself. We've already talked about how Connor will go to school and Mommy will go to work and then come back to get him. He doesn't seem distressed about it so we'll have to see how it goes.
I'll be sure to post 'first day of school' pics.

Hope you enjoyed your peek into my life. For those of you whose blogs I read, I'll be sure to peek into yours too. And for those of you whose blogs I don't read....why don't I read them? Probably don't have a link to it so please, by all means, post me the link in the comments section.