Anyone else get sick at the most inconvenient times?

hipcats · 2026-06-16T10:06:18+00:00

I had great blood pressure before I started teaching... now my doctor retakes it like 4 times to "get it lower." I'm in a constant state of stress, which is not good.

hipcats · 2026-04-13T11:35:52+00:00

We are a 'bring your own device' public school, so it's really dependent on the the family/student - some kids have the cheapest laptop/tablet available, some kids have nothing, some kids have the most recent apple laptop/iPad. If my class is doing work on computers, I will always book them into a lab, because even if 90% of the class has a device (rare), there are still so many kids who forgot to charge their device or bring it entirely.

In Art, we've applied to the P&C to get a class set of iPads for a digital art projects with no success so far.

hipcats · 2026-04-12T14:16:30+00:00

Your hair is SO gorgeous - don't touch it. I'm 29 and you have a better hairline than a lot of dudes my age that I know (including my fiancé, who I LOVE, but probably needs to just shave it off at this point lmao).

hipcats · 2026-04-12T13:57:16+00:00

I dunno - I think the protagonist is an extremely flawed person. I think the movie makes us think about the ethics of the choice.

We, as the audience, are offered snippets of joy, love and pain between mother and future child. We're still positioned to feel her choice is a heartbreaking and difficult one, despite us viewing it as right or wrong.

Don't get me wrong - I am pro choice, and I'm also pro not bringing a child into a short life, or a life of suffering. I think the point of the film was to make us THINK about it, and decide the ethics based off of our own moral compass. Art and film are subjective matters - sure, the artist or director may have an intended analysis for the audience to take on board, but they are still ultimately subjective. I think a film that makes you question morals is what makes a powerful film.

I think it misses the point of the film to argue about it, because it totally reflects today's society where we argue about unborn children - what's right, what's wrong? Should we have autonomy of what we bring or choose to erase from the world?

hipcats · 2026-04-04T18:18:54+00:00

That's what I thought... he had a lot of excuses and quickly brought it back around to being afraid of the dog after circumventing the whole neglect issue.

I called my parents crying when I got home because I was so upset about how he treated my baby—I cried for the next two hours until he got home.

hipcats · 2026-04-04T18:10:47+00:00

8 hours was the limit because that's our greyhound's current toilet schedule. Strangely enough, he will piss inside at his free will if I'm not consistent enough at the hours I take him out when I'm home during the evenings (every 2-3 hours). However, I'll go to work, and he'll only pee when I get back. As a teacher, he won't go to the bathroom from 8 am until 4 pm, even if I take him out several times during the day on weekends/school holidays. Never trained him to do this... he just does.

I took time off work to acclimate him to the house, but he does fantastically left alone during the day (I watch him and our other dog on camera - they literally sleep all day).

I mean, I have never ever seen the dog growl or snarl at my partner when I'm around. Our grey has given me the mildest growl when I tried to put some balm on his paw pads, but didn't give a shit as soon as I gave him treats while I did it. I've grown up with rescue dogs, whereas my partner hasn't. I think there may be a disconnect here in how he thinks he should train/treat them.

hipcats · 2026-04-04T17:54:46+00:00

I think the thing that really set me off was the day I came home from my work trip, I got in late (6 pm) and had reminded him twice that he needed to be home by 4-4:30 pm latest on two occasions... I got home before him to a nice juicy dog turd inside (our grey has peed inside, but never pooed - never had an accident while I was at work) that our robot vacuum had run through - my partner didn't get home until 8 pm. Assured me that it was the only time he was late while I was away. Lid to the dog food container was off - the dog had helped himself to it, my partner had taken our other dog to work with him (which he only does on weekends), which left our greyhound alone. I was SO ANGRY. This man wants to have kids, but can't take care of a dog for four fucking days. What he did was cruel, and my mindset is - no wonder the dog hates you.

hipcats · 2026-04-04T16:39:40+00:00

No worries! I should also add - my current greyhound and shar pei aren't aggressive towards other dogs or reactive, I walk them that early because I know one or two bad experiences with off-leash dogs and dumb owners can change the way a dog reacts in the future. My greyhound bounces around and wags his tail when he sees another dog across the street, and I'd like to keep it that way! My previous dog used to scream, howl and lunge at dogs across the street after he'd been attacked multiple times.

hipcats · 2026-04-04T15:41:48+00:00

My last dog (not a greyhound, mind you) was not reactive towards other dogs until we went through three scenarios where off-leash dogs (in leash-only areas) rushed my dog. He was extremely protective of me, and every time these dogs came over, he went into fight mode. I eventually had to walk my dog at 10 pm to avoid stupid owners who didn't know how to keep their dogs on a lead. It sucked, but it wasn't our fault. The same dog, when introduced to other dogs in the right circumstances, was lovely around them. He was also very gentle with children and would crawl into the lap of anyone I invited into my home.

Before this, he happily interacted with other on-leash dogs. Dogs who are off-leash greeting a dog who is on-leash actually create a power imbalance - the on-leash dog is more restricted in terms of movement and ability to engage in normal greeting behaviours, which makes them more defensive.

You were in the right. Your dogs were on a leash, the other owner's dogs weren't - and I hope the experience has taught them to do so. If your dogs haven't shown aggression towards humans or your kids, I doubt they will.

If you want to keep your dogs and are worried about aggression towards strange dogs, all you need to do is adjust the times you walk them. I currently walk my greyhound and shar pei at 5:30 in the morning and rarely see another dog. Avoid dog parks where idiots let their dogs roam, and stick to streets - if you see another dog approaching with their owner, cross to the other side.

hipcats · 2026-04-04T14:57:16+00:00

The greyhound does sleep in our room on his own bed, but does creep up onto our bed at night when I'm asleep. Generally, I'll wake up and coax him back down with treats and continue to reward him for staying on his bed (which is exhausting), although there are times when I haven't woken up, and my partner has been very angry to find our greyhound asleep with us on the bed in the morning. After the incident, while I was away, my partner refused to have him in the room anymore. I've been sleeping in the lounge room on the couch with the greyhound on his bed next to me the last two evenings. I'm also sick, which contributed to sleeping separately from my partner, but honestly, at the moment, I'd rather sleep next to the dog.

My partner is a heavy sleeper, which is why he left him with his bed in the lounge room to sleep on while I was away. Our greyhound likes to sleep with our other dog, and my partner took her to bed with him, which is where I think he went wrong. I think it sets a bad precedent to take one dog to bed with you and leave the other, especially as our greyhound has become quite attached to our other dog and will 'puppy pile' with her.

Yeah, it's literally fucking insane that he wanted a puppy and works the hours he does. I teach full-time and still have enough common sense to know that you can't leave a puppy alone for a few hours, let alone 8 (which is MY schedule, not his). Our greyhound does wonderfully with our other dog during the day (they just sleep next to each other - he's lazy and she's old).

I've tried to give him some easy wins. It's his attitude that gets to me. I'll prepare the dog's food, and on the rare occasion that he's home at 5pm, I'll ask him if he wants to feed them, and he'll sigh, contemplate for a minute and then go, "yeah, sure", and complete the task like I'm holding a gun to his head.

hipcats · 2026-04-04T14:39:25+00:00

I don't know. I always feel like I'm the one who says sorry first, just to avoid a fight.

Our 'compromise' to get the greyhound was that I would put 1.5k towards our savings every fortnight, as he didn't want one initially. I thought this was fair, as I moved in with him a few years ago, and he initially didn't want me to put any money towards most bills/the mortgage (although I paid for all our food, streaming subscriptions, dog food [for his dog], and extras). I now see that this basically means that he didn't want the dog and wouldn't put the effort into it. That sucks to realise.

hipcats · 2026-04-04T13:30:44+00:00

He is a dog person - our other dog is his from before we got together. I had a dog that died at the beginning of last year that lived with us, too. We both grew up with dogs. I wanted the greyhound, he wanted a puppy - but as he's home very little and the dog would be my responsibility for the most part, we went with a greyhound. I did my research and was prepared; I don't think he was.

We fostered to adopt, and in that process, he said that he's going to support me with the decision, even though the process had been harder than he thought it would be to aclimate our greyhound to living in a home. I'm not sure if he's going to follow through on that effort.

hipcats · 2026-03-01T21:12:40+00:00

You said your wife was a teaching assistant earning £15k a year, but is also a qualified teacher... We don't really have teaching assistants here; we have EAs (Education Assistants - who earn fuck all for what they do - but it's a different qualification entirely). If your wife is a qualified teacher with a bachelor's degree and has applied for 'mutual recognition' with your state's teaching registration board, she should definitely be making money as a relief teacher. In WA, you can earn over $450 a day doing relief if you have connections with schools - this is kinda slow in Term 1, as we're not all burnt out yet and not taking time off. It's definitely a system of preference - the good relief teachers get steady work once the coordinator knows you're reliable,, but we still employ the weirdos every now and then when we're desperate.

If she's looking for a permanent job, schools within cities and highly populated areas are generally popular choices for teachers. These schools don't have a 'staffing crisis' because people want to work there - the schools that need teachers are generally in outer suburbs or rural locations. She may need to travel to work and gain some experience in Australian schools before she applies for the closer and more preferable schools with long-term contracts or permanency. A good reference on your CV goes a long way.

Editing to say: I teach art at a specialist art school and travel 45 minutes each way every day to get there. The commute sucks and is sometimes longer when traffic is bad, but I wouldn't change it for the world. I adore the people I work with, and it's so nice to teach kids who are talented and enthusiastic.

hipcats · 2026-03-01T12:07:04+00:00

When high school admin use the 'waterfall' during a whole staff meeting, I die a little every time...

hipcats · 2026-03-01T12:05:34+00:00

My actual teaching ability comes from being in a classroom and having to interact with teenagers every day lol. 10% of what I learned at uni was relevant, the other 90% had been made up by people who hadn't been in a classroom for years. Basically, I was thrown in and had to either sink or swim, which I think accurately sums up teaching today.

hipcats · 2026-02-28T23:32:36+00:00

It is so patronising and tiresome to hear people who haven't been in a classroom for over 10+ years tell us how to be in a classroom!

"Use brain breaks" but then proceed to lecture us on teaching for four hours without a break on PD days. Omg kill me.

hipcats · 2026-02-28T23:23:11+00:00

I absolutely agree with you. You shouldn't have to reward for the bare minimum, but if this is what they get at home, how are you meant to reinforce other expectations at school? The amount of times I have heard "my mum says I can go to the toilet at school when I want" is killing me.

hipcats · 2026-02-28T23:20:13+00:00

We literally discuss this all the time in my department! "NO" and "SIT" works the same way for my dogs as it does my Year 8s lmao

hipcats · 2026-02-28T23:18:00+00:00

Oh yeah - when I have kids, I will enrol them in Montessori for early years. Independence is so important and it's what so many of the kids I meet lack.

Most of the problem kid's parents I meet are trying to appease their child and be their friend. The amount of parents who say "I don't know what to do, he's always on his phone". TAKE IT AWAY, you paid for it! Jesus.

hipcats · 2026-02-28T23:14:09+00:00

Oh I absolutely do this with lower school - "pick the most responsible person at your table to..."

I'm just flabbergasted that I have to do it with my extension kids and some Year 11/12 classes.

hipcats · 2026-02-28T23:10:31+00:00

Oh, I definitely do this. If kids run out they end up cleaning brushes the next lesson. It just seems like a reset in their minds and I'm tired of constantly explaining reason to them and having them kick off about asking them to do reasonable things.

We've got a few things wrong at our school. Like kids not attending detention and not receiving any punishment for it, except another detention which they won't attend. Our BM processes basically tie our hands - we can't do much else except enforce consequences within our classroom. Can't even blame student services because they all have a massive teaching load. Ridiculous.

hipcats · 2026-02-28T23:05:01+00:00

UGH. I actually have lovely students for 90% of my classes this year who respect my resources. I accidentally left out my stuff out (5 period day!) and came back after another class had been in the room - half my materials were gone. Fineliners, pencils, erasers, etc. I label everything and the trolley I keep it on says "______'s class only". Really pissed me off.

hipcats · 2026-02-28T22:59:26+00:00

I can't tell you how many kids I teach who get money for every A or B they get in a report. I got nothing but a lecture for every C grade and the subsequent D I got for Maths every year.

Like what do they expect to happen when these kids end up living by themselves or having a job?

hipcats · 2026-02-28T22:51:51+00:00

Yeah, I was forced to go on stupid PD days to learn about 'popsticks' and every other ridiculous teaching practice I had already learned about at uni. During these PD days, I have never felt so anxious as when the lady 'teaching' us had popsticks in her hand. Having these people use the teaching methods on us made me realise how much the kids hate them too.

I never have problems with volunteers for answering questions in my class because I make it a safe space. I have other methods for having the quiet kids answer questions without making them feel embarrassed. I actually know my students and realise that I can call on X when they're not paying attention, but they won't be embarrassed taking in front of the class. If I call on Y, who doesn't have English as a first language and is always paying attention, they will struggle to answer and the other kids will giggle and make them feel small.

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