Innocent revelations …

At the recycling centre with Sebastian yesterday. Almost done. Handed him the bag full of Saturday night’s bottles (yes, there were quite a few!). We strolled over to the bank and he threw in the first bottle – and shivered. Quite innocently, he turned to me and said … “Oooooo, I don’t like that sound’ (i.e. the sound of smashing glass). In true Pavlov’s dog style, he continued … ‘I always get into trouble when I hear that noise!!!’

??? Revealing, or what?

Gotta laugh and not dwell on it too much. I think I’d rather not know … LOL

Never a dull moment

It just doesn’t let up, does it? This mother stuff … but it’s all good fun – most of the time.

I’m currently dealing with career matters and it’s been challenging to say the least. I’ve got one who has gone from medicine to media in the space of a week, one who wants to be an actress, one tossing up between professional pianist and street dancer and one who is going to be a mermaid!

Joy!

On a different note, the Hyatt family has indeed been enlightened. The wisdom of 11-year-olds has dictated that indeed Steinway pianos are ‘absolute rubbish’ (his words)! Who can argue with that? Apart from 99.9% of the population – but try telling that to a stubborn kid who’s just messed up his scales in an audition because the action of the Steinway is so different from his own piano!!!

And did you know that the Cutty Sark doesn’t sit on the Thames? Nope. Greenwich, I’ll have you know – looks over the Nile!  Yes … don’t start me on education these days. I’ve been watching with some kind of horrid fascination as my primary school bunch have come home with various projects and bits of homework on Africa, India, WWII, WWI, various sporting celebrities and the occasional film star. All very interesting – but wouldn’t the country they’re living in be a good place to start? Give them a blank map of Europe and they can’t point to a single country and name it. Give them a map of Britain and ask them to fill in London and Glasgow – what a laugh! And as for Wales – is that a country or a city???????

I’ll stop there. Like I said – sore subject.

But at least I can rest easy that I won’t have to fork out thousands of pounds on a crappy old Steinway piano, eh?? LOL

Tags: education, map, mother, parenthood, piano, primary, steinway

Star struck

No, no! Not me, silly! Would I ever be starstruck? Well, with the exception of Johnny Depp walking into my living room (oh, the very thought – best go and lie down a minute!)

Now – where was I? Ah yes. I just had to share a couple of almost simultaneous texts I got from my two eldest children that really made me giggle. I mean – is it a boy thing, a girl thing? An age thing? A maturity thing? Don’t get me wrong, both kids were REALLY excited. In fact, I shall leave it up to you to decide who sent which text …

Text No. 1: Ian McKellen is in school today!

Text No. 2: Gandalf is in school today!

And God made …

Church schooling might have a lot going for it, but don’t you just love it when it falls a bit short?  I caught a great conversation the other day between my Rebecca (8) and Sebastian (11). Rebecca, always curious, was contemplating the family tree. She’d just worked out that every mummy must have a mummy – so where did the very first mummy come from? A valid question, no doubt about it. Before I had time to answer, Sebastian popped his head up from behind his game cube and offered his wisdom.

‘Monkeys, Rebecca’, he said. ‘Before we were mums and dads, we were monkeys.’

I was actually quite impressed at his knowledge of evolution. Then he continued …

‘But not everybody believes we came from monkeys. Lots of people – and especially the people at your school – believe that God created the first man and woman and called them Romeo and Juliet!’

Tags: evolution, God, Juliet, monkeys, Romeo

So Proud

My children never cease to amaze me. I mean, I almost feel guilty writing this particular post because all four of them are constantly making me proud, but this one was a first and I think it definitely deserves a mention.

Dealing with death is not something you wish on any child, is it? C lost her granny a couple of years ago and she really felt the loss for the very first time. Actually, my heart went out to her then if only because I think she was the only one who particularly grieved. Not to put a finer point on things, but Granny wasn’t the No. 1 Favourite – nor was she any good with children – but she had a special place for C which is not to be mocked or left unsaid. Points for that one, Mum.

But I digress, because it’s not about my mother that I want to talk. In fact, it’s about a very little animal that I’ve been jesting about in a previous post – and if C ever reads this, she needs to know that my mockery was certainly not about her, her situation OR her little hamster, Tribble. I’ve already praised her for looking after him so well. I never once had to tell her to feed him, water him or clean his cage. It was always already done, so full marks there, C. She looked after him and she loved him. Her first pet of her very own.

But even first pet’s die and I was amazed at how well she handled it and I’m so proud that she’s so mature and grown-up, in a situation where she really didn’t have to be. She could have stamped her feet, roared, refused to go to school, demanded a replacement … all of those things. But no! Instead, after 24 hours of wondering if he was dead or hibernating (see previous post on the evolution of hamsters) she admitted all of her own accord that he was in fact, dead and there was little point in taking him to a vet for confirmation. Not only that, but she insisted on burying him herself. She dug the earth, laid him very gently in a snug pile of hamster bedding, covered him up and simply stayed with him for a little while to say goodbye.

So it was only a hamster? I don’t agree with that at all, because it wasn’t about the hamster. Not really. It was about one child’s very personal experience with loss, with the inevitable guilt that comes with it, with the sadness and the ’shortness’ of life.

I know it’s not the same as losing a close relative, but it was a very big deal and I am truly proud!