Hello dear friends,
Today I’m back with The Sunday Post to chat with you about my life and what’s happened this week on the blog.
This weekly event is hosted by Kimberly at Caffeinated Book Reviewer. This is a chance to recap the previous week and announce anything for the upcoming week. Have some chit-chat with you anything really.
I experience these Sunday Posts as a time to sip a nice cup of tea (or coffee) and talk with you about everything life and bookish related.
Real life first
It’s been three extremely interesting but intense weeks at work with six meetings a day, training to give newbies and when I’m finally at my desk for 10 minutes I have three colleagues coming rightfully so with problems that I have to solve very efficiently.
The upside: time is flying by and I’m never bored at work.
The downside: I’m completely drained when I come home at night and can’t follow you all and post as I’d like. I’m simply too tired.
Now I know (hope) it’s only temporary and things will cool down a little.
Other point in real life: my son’s mental health.
We are currently in family therapy due to problems my son experienced years ago and that are still poisoning him. We want to help him as a unit, a family. This Friday I was homeworking when he called me at lunch asking: “Can I call you after school today? I need to talk.”
Why speak on the phone? Because he was rock climbing and running after school.
I offered to meet him in the city instead and walk with him to his climbing class so we could talk better than on the phone.
To make it short he’s been shaken at school as they stopped a class to have some “class therapy” and many students opened their hearts. They said they did not want to go to school anymore that the pressure was too high. The teachers were demeaning them and looking them with contempt. They did not help them. Etc. My son opened up too and heavy emotions he had kept bottled up resurfaced….
He needed to vent an that’s what we did.
I told him that his well being was more important to me than his success at school. That he had to do his best of course but if it did not work, what was one more year in a life compared to his mental health really?
But now I want to march right into the heamaster’s office and ask for changes and explanations.
That’s NOT acceptable that so many young people in their last year feel crushed, mocked and disrigarded by their teachers. How can they expect these young boys and girls to succeed if they don’t feel happy?
Needless to say that I told my son to have a weekend “off” and just to relax and find his bearing again.
And no that’s not me indulging him. He is determined, hard worker, knows what he wants to do in his life. He is courageous and has a high moral compass.
OK sorry I got carried away and my rambling probably does not interest you.
On the blog this week
We had an extremely slow if not sometimes unreachable blog Friday. It was due to a DDOS attack on my host provider. It is really annoying but there is nothing that I can do so I had to wait. I know that maintenance is also planned today and tomorrow so I apologize for all inconveniences!
As I said realier I did not have lots of time to read and review but I managed to post every day for our Book Author Challenge!
I also published a post with “Who Runs the world? Meet your next heroine”.
I chose Eva From Sand and Ash by Amy Harmon as my strong heroine. Don’t forget to enter the TWO GIVEAWAYS!
You can find the post HERE
I also did the Book Blogger Test:
And I explained that “I hide into the bathroom (read loo) just to finish my books! Yes as a mom I’m sometimes hunted by my kids to help with homework, chat about the latest school gossip, etc. But when I’m nearly finished with my book and it’s a dramatic time in the story I just HAVE to read it all. Hence hiding.”
Books I’ve read
I read Chaser by Kylie Scott (ARC) and the review will be published closer to the release date.
I read and reviewed Blood and Sand by CV Wyk and it’s been a real crush! You can find the review HERE
Yesterday I finished an ARC The Boy and his Ribbon by Pepper Winters and I hope to post the review next week. Suffice to say that I need the sequel now!
Meme and tags
I managed to publish my WWW Wednesday and to participate in our weekly meme “Top 5 Tuesday” hosted by Shanah.
The topic of the week was once more really interesting as it featured top books that lived up to the hype! Find the post HERE.
Blogger shoutout
My blog shoutout today is about Jay or “James J Cudney IV” running “This is My Truth Now”(really Jay I never told you this but it’s typically American to name your kids after yourself with a “2nd, 3rd, etc.” How do you know who they are looking for at home when your mom shouts after “James”? 😉 )
Why shout about Jay’s blog?
First because I’m mourning his daily posts already. Second because it’s a tribute to said daily posts as I know through my daily challenges the work to post every single day of the year.
Third because Jay wants to give back to this community and is thinking about features to help others write, to give advies about life, blog (if you want help Jay I’m here!) and many other topics he has to fine tune.
Fourth but not the least because Jay took a risk leaving his (I guess well paid job) to write a book “Watching Glass Shatter”. It is really courageous and I can’t wait to have time to finally read his book!
Here is the link to his latest daily post: https://thisismytruthnow.com/2018/03/17/365-challenge-day-365-finale/
That’s it for today! What have you been up to this week?
Thank you for reading! Have a great Sunday!
Sophie
Oh my gosh, your work sounds so stressful at the moment.
And I am sorry that there is so much pressure on your son. Graduating is important to a point but like, don’t make it bigger than it is. I also never understand teachers that demean students? Like how did you even end up as a teacher if you don’t properly teach?
SOPHIE!!!! OMG..you’ve got so much going on, how are you not about to drop and sleep for a week?? I’m so sorry about your son and this may sound dumb but since I’m from little old Texas, I’m a tad confused. Is your son in college (university) or high school? Either way, I’m glad he has such a wonderful mom to turn to and lean on! Just remember to take time for YOU, lovely! You are AWESOME!
Thank you for your kind words Trisy! He is in his last year of high school. And I will take time for me ….in two weekends hopefully <3
If so many kids are saying the same things about the school and teachers, it must be something of a widespread problem. It’s just so disheartening to me to when I hear students sya they feel they are not being supported, and even feel they are being demeaned, by the people and system they should trust! My kids are young now and my oldest only just started kindergarten but stories like these honestly make me feel worried for their future when they get into middle and high school.
Fingers crossed that it will all go really well for your kids! There are schools out there filled with wonderful teachers. But our school has ahd a change at the head two years ago and it’s going down.
I too have an ARC of Chaser and planning on reading it this week. Fingers crossed it’s a good one!
I’m saddened to hear about your son’s school. It sucks that so many kids are feeling like that. It sounds like you’re doing all you can to support him. Hopefully, things pick up and fingers crossed that works calms a little for you too so you can breathe!
Take care!
Thank you so much Nicci!!!
I’m glad you had such a great reading week! And for what it’s worth, I think you made exactly the right call with your son. Working yourself into an awful mental state is far, far worse for your education and your general well-being in the long run than taking some time to breathe, relax, and recenter. Your son is lucky to have a mom who understands that and supports him 🙂 I hope next week is less stressful for you both!
Thank you so much for your best wishes!!! Happy Monday 😉
Ugh, meetings. Hate ’em. 🙂 I always think about how much more I could be getting done lol. Hope your work gets a little less busy in the coming weeks! And good luck to your son! I think it’s awful they have a class therapy session (are they even qualified to do that?) and then are not supportive or are condescending. THAT sorta misses the point, geez…
Ha ha I’ve hidden to finish a book too. 🙂
Who Runs the World looks awesome, will have to check that post out! Have an awesome week!
Thank you Greg! And I’m happy to see I’m not the only one in need of a hiding spot 😉
I love how you handled things with your son. Nope, you weren’t indulging him. A weekend for mental health is important. It might be worth a talk to the school to see their perspective of what happened. It is wonderful that your son feels he can open up and discuss things with you. Hope this week is easier for you and him all around.
Thank you Kimberly and that’s exactly what I’m planning to do!
I am sorry your son is going through this with his teachers. They should not be allowed to do this to kids- how can they get their feet off the ground if they can’t be respected and loved by a teacher that is supposed to be supportive. It makes me so damn angry. I have some similar problems with my youngest but it’s not teachers its other students demeaning her and putting her down. She has even had suicidal thoughts which scares the sh** out of me. I am sorry I can’t talk about this for it makes me cry. I hope things for you son gets better. I will have you in my prayers.
Mary #SundayRoundup #10
Mary I really hope it gets better for your daughter! Kids and teenagers can be so mean sometimes. If she spoke of her suicidal ideas this is good you know. It means that she trusts you. Be there for her and listen. Show your love. And I will pray for you too!
Yeah, newbie training can be both fun and not so much fun at the same time xD the countless distractions are pretty much impossible, but you also kind of feel like a superhero 😀 I hope your newbies are fast learners though 🙂 always makes things easier.
That’s tough about your son though. But who likes school, in the end? In my case, it wasn’t the teachers, those were good.. It was the bullying. Yes, up to the very end – it only ended because I left to university. Figure that, huh? School sucks. This whole system of it sucks :/ I hope your son and you can figure this out.
And I hope you have a great week 🙂
Thank you Evelina! And that’s my hope for him too. I think once you grow up and attend college or uni you deal with more mature people. I wish you a great week too!
You have had a rough week. You sound like you’ve done everything possible to help your son, and I’m sure knows it. I send you much love and support so things keep improving. Same with the blog and your job. All at once… I’m so sorry. Let me know if I can do anything. xoxo
Thank you so much Jay! Just commenting is really good you know. I know things will get better I just have to support him the best that I can. Happy Sunday!
Oh, Sophie…. thank you for such a wonderful mention / intro / shout out today. You made my birthday morning! I was lucky enough to have a very good job and save enough money to take this risk for a while. It won’t last forever! I will of course work again, but I am giving myself this year to make a writing career work. Some days, I think it will happen… others I am not certain. But I am focused on trying. I would love your help with the new segments on my blog. I was sad this morning when I didn’t have one to write. Or I stopped myself from writing one, since yesterday was the end of 365 Plus 5 continuous days. But… by end of March, I will be back again. As for James 1, 2, 3 or 4… it’s tough! Luckily, my grandfather was James, my dad was Jim, and I was Jay. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have worked!
So the mystery is solved! 😉 And I’ll be glad to help you Jay. Happy Birthday!
Sophie I hope work calms down for you and that your son finds his inner peace. I’m so glad I’m not a student now. It’s so hard compared to when I was a kid and I think there is way too much pressure on kids these days! Good luck to you both!
That’s also what I was thinking Susan! We had easier days before. Thank you <3
I haven’t had much time for myself these past few weeks, either. Teachers are bombarding us with projects, and my friend recently fractured his arm, so we’ve been visiting him. I’m always drained when I get home, too. And it SUCKS that your son’s school is treating him and other students that way. How can they even call themselves an educational institution if they’re not empowering their students!?
My thoughts exactly Aimee! I hope you’ll get some free time to read and blog pretty soon! Happy Sunday!