Ozzie GP

Well done Jenson !

Last Day at School

I've had 4 of these now in total. In the last 10 years the boys, between them, have left their respective current schools 4 times. That's 4 lots of tearful goodbyes, 4 lots of hand written letters to the special teachers, 4 lots of leaving cards, 4 lots of walking out of the school gates for the very last time. I could write a book ( or a blog) about it now that I've had lots of practice. Doesn't get any easier. At the time you make the decision to consider leaving one school and moving to another, you don't realise that although you're doing things exploratively, tentatively , the decision is already made and the writing is already on the wall. Once you entertain the idea that your child isn't at the right school for them you might as well start drafting the goodbye letter and planning a trip to the new school uniform shop. The deal is done, in your head at least.

I know this is the right decision for my youngest but I just need to witness the living proof that will come after he has one term under his belt. I need to go the first terms' parent's evening and be told that he's doing well and more importantly has settled well and is happy and has made friends.

I'm hoping that this is the last time I have to go through this. I watched through the open door of his classroom this morning as his classmates gathered round and presented him with a teddy dressed in the full school uniform as they signed his shirt with good luck messages in felt pen and saw his happy smiling face and realised that wherever he goes to school he will always be loved. He has that sunny disposition that will carry him far in life. My happy chappy.

Mother's Day

Always a bit of a mixed bag. It's been 23 years since I've been able to send my Mum a Mother's day card and even now when the shelves in gift shops are groaning under the weight of Mother's Day paraphernalia, I still tend to 'choose' something in my mind to spoil her with . I think back to the smiles she always proffered at my child like gifts of breakfast in bed - usually luke warm tea made from the hot tap in a doll's plastic teacup. When I was older and had pocket money, my tasted broadened and a trip to the local chemists would usually produce something like a Bronley's soap in the shape of a lemon . I thought that was the height of sophistication .... wonder if they still make them ? Then as a teenager I would spend a Saturday at the shops usually finding something eclectic from Habitat like a white acrylic jewelry box - SO trendy and would probably fetch a fancy price in the retro section of ebay these days.

I'm feeling well and truly spoiled. The boys brought me up a tray this morning with a copy of Hello magazine, a box of Thornton's Viennese Truffles, flowers, cards and the loveliest book from Theo called 'Thank You Mum for Everything'.
I'll leave you with this from it ....

"Thank you for fitting your life to ours. Thank you for making us feel that nothing that you have achieved is worth more than our love'

Beautiful isn't it ?

Double Standards

We're supposed to be buying a house. It is a stone's throw from the boys' new school. Apparently the decision rests with me as I'll be the one stuck there more of the time. Husband meanwhile will be OK becuase during the week, rather than commute up to town every day, he'll be able to stay with his father who, wait for it ....has just put in an offer on a house round the corner from us where we're living now. Apparently this is supposed to have no impact on our decision as to whether to move or not.

I think I'm living in a parallel universe. Especially so as when H told me this and the fact that precarious bridging loans are involved, I dared to suggest that bridging loans and an unstable housing market were a very bad combination I was rebuffed with a " What do you know" type response.
Days later his father's solicitor warned him that .... a bridging loan and an unstable housing market was a very bad combination. Was she rebuffed with a "what do you know" fob off ? No. H wanted to phone her and thank her for such sound advice. Living proof that my opinion counts for nowt.

Meanwhile youngest son is doing last night's homework on the EU. Rather than teach them about the political and social consequences that face us as Europeans, they have to fill out a chart listing facts such as currency , capital, language and national dish amongst other things ! Average inside leg measurement wasn't listed as one of the facts but might as well have been.
23 websites later I'm still struggling to find the national dish of Latvia . I'm tempted to suggest roast guinea pig and see if his teacher notices.

Must go. Have to decide whether we're moving house or not but I have far more pressing concerns . If anyone knows what the currency of Lithuania is , could they let me know ?

Hobbycrafts NEC

Got up early , made sandwich, drove 2 hours up the M40 the NEC and spent the happiest day meeting up with team mates Sheena and Rosie - that AND some shopping for stash . What a great way to spend a day. I spend an awful lot of time wondering how on earth I'd spend my time if I hadn't discovered scrapbooking.

Buying and Selling

Just trying to get these 2 in balance - the idea is that I sell more than I buy , well that's the theory.I love the Marketplace on UKS and have listed some items today. Whilst some of these are duplicates or just plain surplus to requirements , the photos always serve as a catalogue of a mis-spent trip to a scrapping shop. Still one scrappers trash is another's treasure. So if you feel like buying any of these pop on over to http://www.ukscrappers.co.uk/boards/forumdisplay.php?f=4 and check out my stash crimes !

On a happier note

The sun is shining, the homework has been done and I have an afternoon of scrapping to look forward to. Just need to find my desk under all this mess and play with some pretty paper. Sometimes my head is full to bursting with ideas I want to try and then I get sucked into something online and before you know it an hour has sped by and nothing has been achieved. Maybe I should put one of those parental locks on my own Mac !!

Weekends

Does everyone spend their weekends doing interesting things ? Seems so.

Mine are spent finishing off ironing ( what do I mean finishing , it's never ending, there's no beginning and no end) keeping the children away from screen based entertainment ( hopeless case) and urging our family to get up off our backsides and go somewhere , do something, anything. But no. Here I am again , 7th day out of 7 within these 4 walls.

These days , excitement comes in the form of a 12" x 12" box delivered to my door containing a few sheets of pretty patterned papers. I'm finding it sad that happiness should come down to that. Tragic even. Maybe that's just an indication of how trivial my life has become.

Once upon a time I had a life. I had a career that I'd worked hard for that was well paid. I could shop at the drop of a hat , travel , spend on a whim, enjoy life, go places, see things, experience life. I was well respected for what I did , got promoted, met challenges head on, considered options, embraced change, overcame difficulties, made friends , lost friends but lived.

Now I stay home. I still shop but only at the supermarket, travel but only on the school run, go places but only if it's for someone else, meet challenges head on but only if it involves homework or finding lost sports kit , consider options.... Sainsbury's or Tescos, overcome difficulties .... can I be bothered to get out of bed today, make friends .... usually through school and I'm usually known as my children's mum , then every time we change schools, lose them again . I don't think this is living.

I must stop reading my own blog , it's making me even more depressed.

Birds

Why do birds make me so happy ? Is it their chirpiness , their cute beady eyes or the fact that they're so synonymous with Spring ? Or maybe it's just that I would love to fly away. Whatever the reason, one of these little winged beauties is enough to bring me out in raptures. Without even thinking I've been subliminally buying the odd little bird trinket for as long as I can remember. Found these stamps at the Farnborough show and ordered the QK die online. Can't wait to use them.

Parent's Evening

This used to be preceded by a stiff drink and followed up with a few more. Yesterday was a very different experience. For a start the English teacher told me that he thought my eldest son would probably enjoy reading Dave Grohl's ( Foo Fighter's drummer) autobiography . Does he have him sussed or what ? I was seriously impressed.
On to science . Apparently he'd just sat an exam in this without even realising it ( that's what I like - no sleepless nights revising and that's just me ) where he'd come top. Not only that but it was apparent to the teacher that he actually enjoyed the subject.
Next stop was his Learning Development teacher who's managed to find a very subtle technique to encourage eye contact, something that's always been difficult for him. She' was delighted with his progress and told him so . Don't think he's ever received a compliment from a teacher and I don't think he knew how to accept it .
By this time I was in a delirious swoon and wasn't sure if I'd entered some sort of parallel universe. No , we were in the school hall and I was hearing words like delightful, hard working and helpful. This miracle place is called More House School and I feel like the luckiest Mother on earth to have found it.

New School , New Start

Two months until my youngest starts at his new school . Not a natural progression from Junior to Senior school , more like a rescue plan.

He is very dyslexic and struggling to keep his head above water in class. My eldest takes things very literally and so must I because as I wrote that last sentence I could picture his little blonde head gasping for air above the waves in a storm grey turbulent sea. I'm thinking of his new school as an azure lake of with gentle ripples undulating on it's glassy surface. No-one screaming at him to READ THE QUESTION or CHECK YOUR SPELLING - just an oasis of educational calm.

He is bright , loving and has the most wonderfully sunny disposition and yet these skills aren't graded in end of term exams. If they were , he'd have graduated with honours . Instead he gets the occasional 'good effort' begrudgingly penned at the bottom of an arduous writing task.

One memorable put-down which I found in my eldest son's exercise book once read simply 'Must try harder' . Really ? Is his best not good enough ? Who must he try harder for , Ofsted ? a League Table ?

Should they ever read this , here's what I'd like them to come top of class in... ( I think that might be a split infinitive or something grammatically hideous which explains why I was so pants at English in school)

Knowing that they are loved and knowing how to love.

Kindness - that ability to know when someone needs their help and knowing how to give that help.

Generosity - I'd like to think that they want for nothing, emotionally. They need to understand that material possessions aren't essential for a happy and fulfilled life ... as they say ... the best things in life aren't things.

Honesty - “Honesty is the best policy. If I lose mine honor, I lose myself.” as Shakespeare famously wrote.

Understanding that what truly makes you in this world is not what life throws at you but how you deal with it.

You can't teach any of these things in a lesso but it would be nice to think that, in between the curriculum strictures and the straitjacket of today's education , a really good teacher could just now and then instill a few of these qualities along the way.

Spot the Difference

Conversation I had with my 14 year old not so long ago .... went something like this....

HIM: Why can't I have that video game ?

ME: Because it's not suitable for your age.

HIM: But everyone else I know has it !

ME: Just because everyone else has it doesn't mean to say you have to as well.

HIM: I can afford to buy it with my own money

ME: Just because you can afford it doesn't mean to say you HAVE to have it

HIM: It's NOT FAIR ! ( stomps off)


Conversation I had with my (soon to be 50) husband the other night.... which went something like this .....comments in brackets are what I'd have liked to have said. Comments not in brackets are what I actually said.

HIM: Why can't I have a sports car ?

ME: Errrr ( Just because everyone else has it doesn't mean to say you have to as well. )

HIM: But everyone else I know has one !

ME: Errrrr (Just because everyone else has it doesn't mean to say you have to as well.)

HIM: I can afford it

ME: Errrr.. ( Just because you can afford it doesn't mean to say you HAVE to have it - what about the lethal threadbare carpet on the stairs , the broken shower , the peeling paint on the front of the house ???)

HIM: Stomps off .


The difference is ... One of them IS a teenager and the other one just behaves like one.
Incidentally we had the exact same conversation about a year ago.

Other People's Lives

I've been working on a scrapbook album for the friend's of a friend's 50th Birthday . Her husband supplied me with the photos ( mostly of himself !) . There were a few gems in amongst them of their children. This morning I received a phone-call from a young man by the name of James - his father had asked him to stop by after school and pick up the album for his wife. An hour later a strapping 6 foot tall chap duly arrived on the doorstep all smiles and gawkish gait to pick up the album . Of course I only knew him as a grinning nappy clad toddler from the album ! I showed him a few of the album's pages and he howled with laughter at the photos of himself as a nipper. It was rather lovely to have this glimpse of a family through their ages and stages. It reminded me of what scrapbooking is all about - making connections between people , time and places and might explain why I love it so much....well that and all the shopping !

Breakfast in Bed

As I tottered downstairs this morning I was greeted half way by my eldest son urging me to return to bed. He disappeared into the kitchen and re-appeared with a tray laid out with a plate of pancakes , 3 china dishes filled with assorted tempting toppings and a perfect cup of tea. What a sweetheart !

Valentine's Day

Dictionary Definition :

val·en·tine (vln-tn)
noun:
1.a. A sentimental or humorous greeting card sent to a sweetheart, friend, or family member, for example, on Saint Valentine's Day.
b. A gift sent as a token of love to one's sweetheart on Saint Valentine's Day.
2. A person singled out especially as one's sweetheart on Saint Valentine's Day

My definition :

Guaranteed to be the year's biggest letdown ( after Birthday and Mothering Sunday). Usually manifests itself as cheap supermarket (or garage) purchase ( made after closing time therefore choice severely limited) . Restricted to half pound box of Quality Street/Roses ( ie. homogenous gift usually bought for unknown relative in the absence of knowing anything about them).

This year I got lucky and in addition to my carton of supermarket after closing hours chocolates I was left a £20 note on the kitchen table. I'm supposing that I should be grateful for this token of affection but it went on groceries . Hardly romantic but then nor was the gesture.

As usual , I have to listen to friends' tales of surprise treats , luxuries and heartfelt tokens of love. Maybe one of these years I'll awake to breakfast in bed and a red rose . Best not hold my breath though.

Mr Snowman R.I.P

As I drove through Bushy Park yesterday the most curious sight greeted me. I can only describe it as a Snowman's Graveyard. Witness to the myriad children building enormous snowmen the week before after the heavy fall of snow , these giant snow sculptures has spent the week slowly melting into shapeless forms , dirtied by the passing traffic. It reminded me of one of those bath fizz balls you get made out of bicarbonate of soda that fizz and melt in bath-water, leaving a cratered sphere as they dissolve.

I couldn't help but feel sorry for them , their moment of glory having passed . They were now abandoned and cheerless, minus their hat and pipe accessories and looking rather grubby . Mr Snowman R.I.P. I could almost hear the distant strains of Walking in the Air playing in the background.

Cybercrop

Sounds like something out of Doctor Who. I won't go into details but it's something you do online with fellow scrapbookers whereby you all take part in the same classes and challenges and and then post photos of your efforts online for others to look at. Here's one of my efforts above.

It struck me as strange that in this day and age , as overpopulated as we are , it is possible to live a life hermetically sealed off from the rest of humanity. You can't beat a good together with like minded souls for a natter and a good laugh ... as they say a day without laughter is a day wasted . Still it has something going for it this cyberworld - at least you can stay in your PJs and it doesn't cost anything. Although I was planning on spending what I'd saved by not going out ... online of course.

OK the novelty of snow has worn off but one good thing is that I've been forced to stay indoors which can only mean one thing ... more time to scrap !
I found these the other day - the sweetest little digital elements designed by one of my all time favourite scrapbookers - Ali Edwards. I suppose you're really supposed to use them digitally on layouts but I'm way to fond of real paper so I printed them off and added a couple ( one in pink and one in acetate ) to my latest layout of my youngest son. They're timeless though and so versatile - I can see myself using them time and time again . Thank you Ali !

Snow !

Look what we woke up to this morning ! No school for the children. Wonder how long we can live off baked beans before venturing to the shops !

Snow

I'm feeling childishly excited at the prospect of a decent snowfall overnight. Eldest son has the prospect of a lie-in tomorrow morning although poor old youngest will still have to go as he's only walking distance away. A good excuse for soup , slippers and the heating on all day. No doubt the country will grind to a standstill ... oh, come to think of it, it already has.

Watched Attenborough on Darwin tonight on BBC1. Amazing to think that we were still believing in Adam and Eve and all that a mere 200 years ago. The power of sophisticated graphics brought it all so well to life . I think I tried to read Origin of the Species when I was a teenager and don't think I managed it . Children today can have the whole theory of Evolution delivered to them in sparkling computer generated special effects on a TV screen in under 52 minutes. Staggering.