20190618 – Tuesday – Flu shot

20190618 – Tuesday – Flu shot

Jeff organised for us both to have ou flu shots today, so we ended up going to Cowandilla for that, why I don’t know, but to Cowandilla we went.

It was a very familiar area for both f us because we sent our children there for two years when it was a demonstration school, and Jeff knew the headmaster, Ned Golding.

One of the reasons was that our eldest daughter was very bossy and did not make friends very easily. 

Ned Golding thought that it would be good for her to attend his school with its open planned classrooms and modern teaching methods.

He was right, because our daughter loved her new teachers, Alex Kosihuw and Miss Wagganecht and thrived during those two years, grade 6 and 7, spent at Cowandilla 

Those years were notable for a few reasons. 

Miss Wagganecht had been married for 10 years and had not been able to get pregnant.

My brother Charles had told us abou the rhythm method when we got married because I did not want to use pills or other invasive forms of contraceptives.

So we had used the rhythm method and had succeeded at keeping at least 18 months to 2 years between each of our children.

So I got Miss Wagganecht to give me details of her dates and times and worked out what I believed were the best times for her and her husband to try for a pregnancy.

On the very first try, Miss W became pregnant, and she was so happy after her ten-year wait.

Cowandilla used to celebrate United Nations day, and each class would study a particular country for the year. 

On United Nations day all the students would dress in the national costume of the country they were studying, and there would be parades and all sorts of celebrations.

This, I remember was at the time when Peter Roberts came to Australia from NZ, because he took a number of photos of our children all dressed up in national costume.

One thing that stood out for me was how different things were then.

I remember, Helen must have been about 7-8 years old and she was studying Australia.

For her costume I dressed her in just a pair of briefs and nothing else, covering her whole body in black costume paint, so she was an aboriginal in just a “loin cloth.” 

This proved entirely acceptable to everyone including the teachers, and brought no disapproval at all from anyone.

I look at the photos today, and I am amazed that this was the case because I am sure  it would not be acceptable today, but those days were different, much more easy going and relaxed.