Casual Sex

Little Z and I were sitting watching "Casualty" on Saturday evening after Big J had gone to bed and while PP was at the computer. I am not paranoid about what the children watch on TV, although I do try to be careful and make sure the programs are not inappropriate. I hope most people would agree that generally "Casualty" is not a program I would have to be concerned about letting Little Z watch. Then this happened:

The male ambulance driver (I don't watch it regularly enough to know their names) was trying to give advice to the female ambulance driver about her life. She, in return, gives him a "How dare you give me advice, when you are cheating on your wife" speech. He then takes her out in the amubulance and parks by the roadside. "over there is my house" he tells her. "That BMW outside belongs to my best mate". (Oh dear, I know what's coming now!) "Right now, I'd say he's probably upstairs shagging my wife." (AAAARRRGH!)

The scene continues and Little Z doesn't seem to have noticed. Great! Or maybe not. A few moments later, still looking at the TV, she asks, "What's 'shagging'". Now, having worked in customer services and sales for 8 years I am usually quite good at blagging my way out of anything. But I have to say, this had me stumped. So, I bought myself time with a "Pardon?" pretending that I was so engrossed in the TV to have heard her. Of course, she repeated the question. As I am not ready to have 'THAT' conversation with my seven year old yet, I told her it was "kissing and stuff". Well, what should I have said? I know I have to give this a lot more thought now, as I don't think it is going to be long before I get more questions of a similar nature. We have already had the "Why don't these eggs have chickens in them?" discussion. I daren't hazard a guess as to what is next.

Are you talking to me...?

Today was my day off, which I allowed myself after working 2 days. Well, I can't be expected to work every day of the week now, can I?

I have had an exhausting couple of days at a school I thought I would never return to. I have taught in year 1 at this school before and a friend of mine has taught in higher yeargroups. We both agree it is not the best school to do supply at, especially in the afternoons. So, why did I go back? Well, I was offered 2 days in Foundation which in a Primary school is usually the Reception class. In this particular school the Foundation stage also encompasses the pre-school children of 3 years and over. I had heard that working in the foundation stage at this school was a lot of fun, so I thought it was worth a second chance.

I was told they were expecting 2 supply teachers, one for Foundation 1 (pre-school) and one for Foundation 2 (reception). I said I thought I would probably have been put into F2 as I am primary trained. But no, they had decided to put me with the pre-school children. I was scared!

Actually, I really enjoyed working with the pre-school children. The most difficult thing was communicating with the children. Many of the children did not speak English as their first language, quite a few were too shy to talk to me as they had never seen me before and some of them hardly ever talked anyway. I was completely exhausted after the first day and wondered how I would feel by the end of day 2, but the 2nd day was easier and much more enjoyable. I learnt (with difficulty) the names of the children in my group and was able to build a much better rapport and find out a bit more about them. The major incident of the day, which will probably remain with me for many years was seeing a child turn blue after sniffing a lego-type brick up his nose and almost choking on it. A few sharp slaps to the back ensured the boy coughed the brick up and turned pink again, albeit leaving him rather bewildered not to mention leaving most of the staff feeling shaken yet relieved. Other noteworthy events include being called a fat sheep and making or attempting to make sock puppet animals. I guess the bottom line is that I got paid for doing very little other than playing all day, so I really cannot complain about feeling a bit tired at the end of it. I was grateful, however, to have planned today off.

I spent most of the day with Big J at Paultons Park., for which we had bought season tickets last Sunday. Most of the rides are for children of varying ages, but there are a few which are just as much fun for the adults, such as the Raging River (log flume) and the Cobra (single cart roller coaster).

We are very lucky with Big J. The rule at the park is that children under a metre don't have to pay. He is about 93cm so we are still getting him in for free. However, most of the rides he wants to go on only require him to be 90cm or over, so although we don't pay for him, he still gets to go on most of the children's rides. I understand that once they are over a metre, the trick is to put them in a pushchair so that they don't have to walk under the measuring barrier! A friend of mine took her son in a pushchair until he was 5, when the staff eventually said, "I think it's about time he had a ticket of his own!"











I don't think it will be very long before we go again.

Can you believe it?

I was just browsing around the internet looking for something good to post on my blog relating to Friday 13th (as I'm sure no one else will be doing that today! Original hey?). The more I read about it the more I realised there was not an interesting post to be had about the subject, so I started to broaden my search into superstition etc. when I came across a site quoting this:

"Seeing an ambulance is very unlucky unless you pinch your nose or hold your breath until you see a black or a brown dog".

WHAT?

I live 3 minutes from Southampton General Hospital and Princess Anne Hospital. I see about 15 ambulances a day. Surely it would be more unlucky (or plain stupid!)to keep holding my breath every time I saw an ambulance, especally as I really do not like dogs (Finally, she admits it in black & white!.) and would have to go looking for one.

I decided this was a one off and that there can't really be people out there who actually believe this. Can there?

Oh yes. Almost all the sites about "superstitions" I visited had this one listed. It appears millions of people (I use the term loosely) believe in this or at least are not brave enough to disregard it just in case something bad happens.

The scariest bit? Most of these people have driving licences!

♪ ♫ Food, Glorious Food ♫ ♪ ♫

I started my diet (again!) today. I subscribed to WeightWatchers last September and it worked really well for a couple of months. Eventually, though, I lost my will power and gradually have put on most of the weight I lost in those first few months. After visiting my friend K on Tuesday, and seeing how much weight she had lost on WeightWatchers, I decided to try to get back on track. After all, I am still paying my monthly subscription charge for the online service, but just not using it.

It is not easy when the children still have Easter eggs piled up in the kitchen, but I have done my best to hide them from sight and have asked them not to eat them in front of me.

I usually leave the shopping to PP. Most of my friends would not dream of letting their husbands do the shopping (neither would most of the husbands want to) but PP is actually very good at the shopping and at planning the meals for the week. However, I decided I needed to take control today and did the shopping myself. I spent about £25 more than he would have done (I generally do!) but feel that I have planned some healthy and tasty meals for the week.

It is hard to plan meals that we will all eat. Little Z and Big J both left most of the chicken salad I made tonight. I am not willing to cook 3 different meals every evening like my mum did when I was a faddy little 7 year old (as opposed to a faddy 32 year old!) but I don't want the children to leave all the food I put on their plate. I think the days are gone when you can threaten a child with "if you don't eat it, you'll have it for breakfast!" but I am going to have to find meals which the children like and which are healthy too. I have a feeling I am going to be up late with the cookery books!

Friends Reunited

Today was the last day of the holidays for Big J. He goes back to day nursery tomorrow after 6 days off (including the weekend). So, with a great sigh of relief, I can now put the prozac back into the cupboard until the next time I have him at home for more than 2 days!

Bless him, I am actually doing him an injustice. Although he is very lively which makes him difficult to keep occupied on rainy days he is well behaved when I take him anywhere and is very good at getting on with other children.

On Friday I got back in touch with a friend I have not seen for almost two years. Her eldest daughter is the same age as Little Z and her son is the same age as Big J (we met when we were expecting the boys)and she also has another daughter in between. As a teacher, I have the unusual trait of disliking other people's children! Well, I don't actually dislike them, I just don't like them in my house!These are about the only children I will allow to come to my house as they are well behaved and their mum makes sure they treat my house with respect.

We arranged to meet up today at their house and were all quite excited. Little Z and Little N had been best friends at pre-school until they both went to different infant schools and they moved house. We all had busy lives and although we didn't mean to lose contact we just did.

I am so glad we got back in touch again. We had a lovely day today and although K and I spent hours (in between sorting out various squabbles) chatting, I feel like we still have loads of catching up to do. The boys played together really well. The last time they saw each other they were only about a year old and didn't really acknowledge each other. Little Z and Little N loved seeing each other again and now Little F (this is going to get confusing!) is older she was able to join in with the older girls too.

It was so nice to see them again and this time we will definitely try harder to stay in touch.

A Long Day

What a fantastic day out. We spent the day today at Longleat Safari Park and although it cost us £56 for 2 adults and 1 child (we don't pay for Big J) it was worth it. We only managed to visit half of the attractions in the main grounds before driving to the Safari Park. Luckily, the "Passport Ticket" we bought allows us to go back within 12 months to visit all the attractions we did not manage to visit today.

There is no way we could have crammed any more into today. We got to the park at 10.30 (it only opens at 10am) and left at 6.30 (it closes at 5.30 - not sure how we managed that!)

By far, the highlight of the day was seeing an outgoing, confident (words never previously used to describe Little Z) Little Z running around the adventure playground, climbing rope ladders, walking across high bridges and going down long tunnel slides. These are all things which a few months ago she would not have contemplated doing. The mere thought of going down a big tunnel slide or climbing apparatus by herself filled her with fear. I never used to see the point in taking her to these adventure playgrounds as she never wanted to go on anything by herself. Now, I will definitely take her to theme parks etc as she seems to have gained some courage to try things out even if she's not quite sure if she's going to like it.

Other great moments of the day included feeding some fallow deer. We bought a cup of deer feed (looked like rabbit food) and let the deer eat out of our hands. We also gave a ride to a monkey (other than Big J) as he jumped onto the campervan and climbed up onto the roof taking a little peek in at the top window.

It was all too much for Big J and by half way around the Safari Park he fell asleep. He missed the Rhino (his favourite animal at the moment!), and the deer and woke up just as we got to the lions and tigers. I would have been more comfortable if we'd had a childlock on his door as we went through the lions enclosure, but luckily he was too sleepy to try to get out and play with the lions.

The only disappointment was that the traffic queues at the Safari Park were very long and we had to wait quite a while sometimes to move onto the next area. It usually takes about 1.5 hours to drive around the park. We were there for about 3 hours. It did not spoil the day though and it's a day out I would definitely recommend.

Happy Easter!

This morning began, as it does every Easter Sunday, with a mad rush to tidy up so that the children could do their Easter egg hunt in the living room. It did not occur to me until afterwards that it would have been much easier to do the egg hunt outside. After sorting out the squabbles over Big J picking up any eggs and not just the ones with the blue stickers on (Little Z's had a red sticker on so they would know whose were whose) they found all their eggs. We had to encourage Big J to keep looking, as once he had found an egg he wanted to eat it straight away. The baskets were hand made by myself a couple of weeks ago. I thought basket weaving looked easy and decided to give it a go using strips of coloured card. Apparently it is not as easy as it looks. I have since been told it is a therapy used for people admitted to mental institutions. Well, I got that right then!

We looked at all the gifts we had been given for Easter and it was obscene.



Apart from two eggs for PP and I, all the eggs on the left are Little Z's and all those on the right are Big J's. Who got the most this Easter? Cadbury's, I reckon! Apart from all the chocolate there was one really cool toy I just have to tell you about which came with a "Milky Bar Egg". It's a Milky Bar Kid Mr. Potato Head. It officially belongs to Big J, but I think I will have hours of fun with it!



Before anyone asks, the "true" meaning of Easter has not been forgotten by Little Z, who has spent much of the last week asking about how Jesus got out of the cave and how someone can come back to life after they have died. If you have a good explanation for this I would be very pleased to hear it. I am afraid her questions remain unanswered.

Have a great Easter everyone. Eat chocolate and be merry.

Sally Settles

Just a quick update on the goldfish situation. We have moved the pump so she cannot wedge herself behind it as she seemed to be doing to hide from her tankmate. She still tries to hide behind the plants and to the side of the pump, but I think she is settling in. She is swimming around more and I think she is getting used to co-habiting with a monster. Well, we all have to come to terms with that!

For Our Amusement

Today is hot and sunny, so staying in to watch TV with the children was out of the question.



I decided to take the children to the amusement park at the sports centre where there are about 15 different rides plus a few coin operated ones (which we just didn't have time to go on "on the way back"!) It has just reopened for this year and is super value for money. The price has gone up this year for the first time in at least 5 years, but I paid just £10 for 16 tokens which works out at just over 62p each. I don't think I can complain about that.

The amusement park is (as far as I can work out) run by one man and his dog. The dog wanders around the park among the people and the regular visitors get to know him. Of course the man does not run all the rides himself. He employs teenagers to help with running the rides. They are good with the children and very polite and helpful. For example, I went on a little train with the children and wanted a photo of us all on it. The young girl running the ride took lots of photos of us as the ride was running.

As always, it's the little things which make the difference with this park. Aside from the good value, I like the fact that the man running it does not appear to 'do it for the money'. Two years ago Little Z and I went there and we were the only ones in the park. The man was there more or less by himself and as I went to pay him (it was £5 for 12 tokens back then) he said, "no, don't pay yet. Let her have a few goes on things to make sure she likes it. Then you can buy your tokens." Again this year, I went to take Big J on the Astraglide, gave the man two tokens (one for each of us) and he gave me one back saying I didn't have to pay as I was taking Big J on. Somehow it makes the day more fun (see photos!) if you know you are not being fleeced by the park owners.















Okay, the rides are quite small and it's not Alton Towers, but as local attractions go, it is one of the best around here.

Hiding

I am a bit worried about our new fish. She(?)keeps hiding in the corner just above the filter pump. I am wondering if she is a bit scared of the big fish. There is a significant difference in size. I don't know if fish do get scared of bigger fish like that. I will give it one more day and see how she settles in. I have a smaller tank I could put her into, but then that sort of defeats the object of getting a new one to keep the old one company. I never knew Goldfish could be so complicated!

Swim, Sally, Swim!

A few weeks ago (actually it may be longer than that but I have a memory like a... oops, I've forgotten!) our pet goldfish died. We'd had him for about four years so he was quite old. Little Z was unconsolable (as she generally is about anything!) whereas Big J wasn't really bothered by it. He just kept saying "Our fish died" to random people.

Big J and I found ourselves in the petshop this afternoon after I had picked him up from day nursery. Pets At Home is next to Halfords where we had to go to buy a couple of Easter pressies for the kids (alternatives to chocolate from their Granny & Granddad). We only went into the petshop to look at the rabbits. He has not stopped talking about bunnies since visiting Toby my friend Sarah's house bunny.

We started off by looking at the rabbits and guinea pigs, when a little girl came along and shoved Big J out of the way. I was secretly hoping he would shove her back, but he decided to do the sensible thing (good job I can rely on my 2 year old to do the right thing!) and walk away to look at something else. We had a look at a few other animals before ending up by the aquariums where we found the horrid little girl with her (pregnant!)mum. (What will she do when her horrid little girl kicks off after she's had the baby!!!!). Big J was looking at a catfish stuck to the side of the tank. He was saying, "It's not working". The little girl came up to the tank and Big J pointed to the catfish saying, "Look. It's not swimming." Well, I think she was trying to agree with him, but had misheard what he had said, so, to my great amusement and in front of her mum and the shop assistant who was helping them buy a goldfish, horrid girl replied to Big J, "It hasn't got a willy!" I grinned even more when my lovely son replied. "No, it hasn't got a willy!" This was an opportunity I could not miss. I turned to the mum and shop assistant and said, "Goodness, where do they learn to talk like that?" The mother looked horrified. Well, she had better get used to it as I am sure she has worse to come. During my PGCE I read in a book that however annoying a child is you should remember he or she is someones precious son or daughter. I can do it in the classroom, but in my own time when I'm not being paid to do it, it's just not that easy, is it?

Anyway, Big J and I went over to the goldfish and decided to buy one for our big lonely goldfish at home. He looked quite a big one in the shop and we took the advice of the "pet shop man" who said it would be okay to put a young goldfish in with an older and bigger one. When we got it home we introduced it to the tank following the instructions they had given us. The old fish is massive in comparison to the new one. I hope they will be okay together.

I made the mistake (as I have before!) of letting the children decide what to call the fish. Big J had sort of decided on "Doodles" (the dog from the Tweenies) when Little Z talked him in to calling it Sally! Oh dear! So, 'Sally' it has to be.

Mrs Grass Head

I am the first to admit I am no good at gardening or looking after indoor plants. I have no idea how to look after plants. I have offended my mother-in-law on more than one occasion by accidentally (through sheer neglect) bringing about the death of every plant she has ever bought me. Needless to say, she does not buy plants for me now. I have even asked Big J to help, but as you can see, he has more disrespect for plants than I do!
The only plant (okay, I know it's not classed as a 'plant') I have managed to keep alive is a cactus, and quite frankly, you would have to be completely stupid to let one of those die. I used to have lots of them. Mmm... not sure exactly what happened to them. (No further questions. Thank you!)

On mother's day (No, I'm not starting all that again) Big J bought me a "Mrs Grass Head". You know the ones. They have a little mesh bag with seeds at the top, then filled with soil and tied off at the bottom. This one also has nobbly bits tied off at the sides and front to look like ears and a nose. It has a bit of string dangling from the bottom so that when you sit it into the little terracotta pot, the water soaks up the string to the grass head and makes the grass seed grow so it looks like hair. Yes, it would have been much easier to just put a picture here to show you.

So, I set it up following the instructions on the box and put it in the corner of the conservatory out of the way of curious little people. That was about ten days ago. I suddenly remembered this morning that it was there and thought it would probably have died by now as I had forgotten to keep it topped up with water. Oops!

When I went to find it, I was amazed to find that she was in desperate need of a hair cut. Here she is! Isn't she great.



I am now deciding what style to cut the hair into. Any suggestions?

If you would like to make your own grass seed man, please click here.

Parents' Evening

I actually summoned up enough motivation to go to work yesterday. After having a week off due to my lost voice (which I had gradually said goodbye to the week before at Twyford Primary) and then another week off after my mushroom poisoning incident (not really needing the full week off but taking it anyway - what's the point of being a supply teacher if you can't take a few days off when you feel like it!) I thought I ought to go back to work or else it may never happen!

I got a nice day's supply in Year 3 at Whiteley Primary. The day went well. We had no numeracy or literacy (which meant no marking), started the day with RE (okay, a little marking, but not much!) then Art, in which the children were making the body of their animal sculptures out of plastic bags and masking tape ready to cover with paper and paste the next lesson and then finally paint (Great idea. I will use that myself), French, which was taught by the French teacher, so I just had to sit and watch, and then Music (Don't let's talk about that!) I took the 3 minutes the class owed me (at least!) from wasting my lesson time during the afternoon and they went home at 3.18pm. A short trip down the motorway, picking Big J up on the way and I was home by 4pm. Fantastic. I was ready to relax for the evening, when PP reminded me I had Little Z's parents' evening to go to at 6.30pm.

So far, every time I have been to parents' evening, I have been told "She is a daydreamer!" or "She is a chatterbox!" so I was expecting something along those lines again. As I sat on the little chair (5 sizes to small for my bum!) at the little table (it's a bit like Dennis Waterman on "Little Britain")Mrs T (no relation to Mr T!) looked at me and beemed. "I am so pleased with how Little Z's reading has come along. She has made such progress and seems to be coming on in leaps and bounds." Wow! She went on to say similar things about her writing. She said Little Z has lots of friends (where previously she would only play with one or two children or maybe choose to walk around with the teacher). I am really pleased.

The last time I spoke to this teacher on parents' evening, I had my notebook and had to raise a few issues which I thought were affecting Little Z's confidence. I really feel like they have taken on board what I have said and that it has paid off. I don't think I can ask for more than that. I think it goes to show what a good school it is and so I am keeping my fingers crossed that the internal promotion of the Reception Year teacher to Deputy Head leads to the position being advertised as "Suitable for an NQT".

I am aware, though, that it is not just the teacher who has made changes. I also appreciate that Little Z has had to work very hard to make such improvements this term, so well done to her. I am very proud of her.

Like a Duck to Water!

Since early this morning, Little Z and Big J (encouraged by Little Z) have been asking to play with water. We had a few bits of shopping to do, so I said that when we got home and had had some lunch I would fill a big tub with water and they could play in the garden together with some of the bath toys and plastic containers etc.

We arrived home from shopping to feel the first few spots of rain. The rain did not stop and so after lunch I thought we would find something different to do. The children, however, wanted to play with water. So, against my much better judgement I filled a smaller tub with water and put it in the conservatory on a waterproof mat (getting flashbacks to apple bobbing in November!).

They were very excited and put on their plastic aprons. We talked about not getting water everywhere and they both agreed to be careful. I sent Little Z upstairs to get some toys (not squrty ones) from the bathroom. Big J in the meantime got his hands in the water and started enjoying the bubbles. He then came into the kitchen with the apron asking me to help him put it on and do the back up. I was pleased he was taking care not to get too wet.A few moments later, PP said, "Oh no. Look. He's standing in it. The bottoms of his trousers are all wet." As I looked into the conservatory, he had just sat down in the tub. Okay. This was not one of my best ideas, but then, no harm has been done. Big J will dry, as will his clothes and parts of the conservatory carpet (I hope!). The funniest thing is that he sat in the tub fully clothed (including apron!) and playing with his bath toys as if it was quite normal.



Maybe we'll have a longer chat before we play with water again!

The Most Annoying "Most Annoying" TV Programme

Last night PP and I had put the children to bed and, after putting away the last of the toys and doing a few chores, sat down to watch some TV. There was nothing on which really caught our attention so we ended up watching "The Top 100 Most Annoying Popsongs" on BBC 3. According to the dregs (except a few) of the entertainment business, the majority of whom I have never heard of (nor wish to), I have a CD collection and a taste in music to be embarrassed of. Among the songs on their list were:

- "Yellow" by Coldplay
- "What's Going On?" by Four Non-Blondes
- "Total Eclipse of the Heart" by Bonnie Tyler
- "Orinoco Flow" by Enya
- "That Don't Impress Me Much" by Shania Twain
- "Cornflake Girl" - by Tori Amos
- "I Don't Like Mondays" - by the Boomtown Rats

I actually like all of the above songs and am sure I am not on my own when I say I don't think they deserve to be on a list of most annoying pop songs. But, to top it off, they had the cheek to include "Every Breath You Take" by the Police (as if I needed to say).

How dare they? What gives these people the right to criticise the work of others when they themselves are not famous for much more than attempting fame at some time or for going on Big Brother (probably their last ditch attempt at fame!)

I turned off when they got to number 79 as I could not bare it any longer. The one consolation was that after pulling to pieces each of the songs, the narrator went on to say that despite this record, the artist actually went on to make millions. Funny that! Maybe that's because they knew what they were doing!

Doing it for themselves...

So far this week (and I don't think tomorrow will be any different) I have had a lazy yet unusual week.

After a lovely Mothering Sunday, I spent the whole of Monday night and half of Tuesday in agony having apparently been poisoned by a mushroom. I didn't realise that you could get food poisoning from eating normal button mushrooms bought from the supermarket, but that is what seems to have happened and now everyone is telling me their own stories of being poisoned by mushrooms. Well, thanks, but it's a bit late!

Luckily it had not come on until Monday evening, so Little Z (who had an INSET day)and I were able to spend a lovely (but very cold) morning together on Southampton common. Little Z took her bike that she is learning to ride. She has previously lacked confidence on her bike, being afraid to let it go very fast at all, but she really got on with it this time. It was nice to see her bike getting some proper use rather than the constant 'start-stopping' we usually have to stand and watch.



Since mother's day, I have been giving a lot of thought to parenting in general and how a parent's actions can have a long lasting effect on a child. With this in mind, I decided to refresh my memory on some of the aspects of a book I have mentioned before (and will again): "How to Talk so Kids Will Listen and Listen so Kids Will Talk". I first read this book a couple of years ago when it was recommended to me. I got through the first 3 chapters and found so much in it to be getting on with that I never got any further. So with nothing better to do on Tuesday (apart from what food poisoning gives you no choice but do) I re-read the first 3 chapters. There were definitely things there which I was still doing well, which was encouraging and there were a few things which I thought I could improve on with a little effort.

Big J is not too happy about having to do as he is told. I think it is fair to say that although generally well behaved, he does not like being told what to do and if he doesn't want to do something he just won't. Over the past 2 days, he has looked at me with a puzzled expression upon his face, wondering what I think I am doing telling him what to do. Today, we made a breakthrough. After much "discussion" (stropping, spitting, kicking, biting etc. etc. - yes, I know this isn't setting a good example to my children! :D), he saw the consequence of his behaviour. (He was made to wipe the snot off my back door, which he had smeared there on purpose after being asked twice to stop. Lovely boy!)

I decided to read the next chapter, "Encouraging Autonomy". Oh Dear! I have pondered for a few years over the question of why Little Z has little confidence and why at 7 years old she is still so dependent and doesn't seem to want to think for herself. It is actually a great relief to know that I can make a few changes (albeit quite difficult for me) to give her more independence. It may sound as if I am one of those mums who spits on the hanky and wipes her face (Is that a northern thing?)or won't let her out of my sight afraid she might hurt herself. In fact, it is a lot less obvious than that. I apparently have to take a big step back and let her make mistakes, let her experience failure without always giving her the "benefit of my wisdom". In short, I have to shut up more. I think we have a long journey ahead of us.

Speaking of long journeys (possibly a lot longer than necessary!) I had a letter yesterday from Bishops Waltham Infant School. After all the time, effort and petrol money spent on applying for the teaching post, the have written to inform me that my application has been unsuccessfull. Oh well, I'm sure there is a lesson there somewhere (one would hope so, considering it is an infant school!)

Enjoy your Friday. The weekend is almost here and the Easter holidays are now in sight (Sorry non-teachers. Teachers need to hear that!).

Mum Knows Best......or does she?

Happy Mothers' Day to all those mothers out there. May your day be stress free.

Lots of women take on the job without realising how difficult it is and, unlike other jobs, you can't just resign when it gets tough (as it invariably does).

I don't mind admitting, I took on the job accidentally and by the time I realised, I had (apparently) already signed the contract! I was not unhappy with the situation (although I cannot say the same for Barclays Mercantile with whom I had just accepted an offer of employment).

Little Z was quite an easy baby. Born weighing 6lb5 in a birthing pool where we both relaxed while everyone else rushed busily around us. Yes, she cried through the night keeping us awake (although PP probably still got more sleep then than he does now!) and always seemed hungry, but once she got through that stage she was a very placid and laid back child. Many of my friends were amazed how I could get on with the house work or work in the garden and she would happily sit in the baby swing or pushchair and watch.

Less happy times followed as we tried for another baby, and another and another.

Little Z was witness to some very sad and stressfull moments I am not proud to have shared with her. I know I cannot turn back time and protect her from seeing me break down. I wish I could. It is easy for me to look back and say that, in that same situation, I would definitely do it differently. At that time I was not emotionally strong enough to do any more than I did. Like I said, being a mother is not easy and you can't phone in sick. You just have to do your best.



Then we had Big J. And "big" he certainly was. Born weighing 9lb3 (almost in the car park) at the Princess Anne Hospital in Southampton after just 2 hours of labour. (Carefull what you wish for!)

Big J has the ability to laugh or smile at almost anything. Never a day goes by when I do not laugh out loud at something he does or says.

I have learnt a lot since having little Z. I used to shout a lot. I know I am not the only one. But I think we have all benefitted since I learnt to shout less and listen more. Big J has certainly benefitted from not being in an environment where people shout (either at him or at each other).

I am writing this here, because I am proud of myself for working hard to become a better mum. I know there were better and worse mums out there than me. I know there are still better mums and worse mums out there than me. I'm sure most mums would agree, we don't always get it right, but what is important is that we do our best.

In my search to become a better mum, I read a book called "How to Talk So Kids Will Listen and Listen So Kids Will Talk" in which the Author introduces the first Chapter by saying, "I was a wonderful parent before I had children. I was an expert on why everyone else was having trouble with theirs. Then I had three of my own." While I have opened a door to a, so far, quite private part of my life, I welcome people to leave comments. I only ask that you don't judge me. I know I am not a perfect mum, but I work hard at being the best mum I can be.

Battle Against the Bishop

I have never been the most confident person and because of this I have never had the courage to drive very far on my own. PP has always been there to drive me to most places I needed to go and I was happy to let him drive, particularly to somewhere I didn't know.

In the past couple of years I have tried to make myself drive to places I didn't know and to have confidence in my own driving and map reading ability, although I have still not ventured too far out of my comfort zone.

However, when I started Supply teaching in October, I found that I had to get a grip. No one was there to take me where I needed to go. I soon got used to driving all over the place (not as in "you should have seen her - she was all over the place!), and now find that I can hop in the car with a map and having checked the directions on Google Maps and go.

Last week I went to visit a school called "Bishops Waltham Infants" in Bishops Waltham. The directions looked straight forward and despite PP suggesting I go down the M3 and come off at Winchester as that is the simplest route, I was determined that I did not need to be patronised and go 25 miles out of my way to take a simple route. I was now an experienced & confident driver used to driving to unknown places and would go the quickest(!)way.

It took me almost 1½ hours to reach the school and I had eventually, after getting lost so many times, stopped and asked for directions.

The crazy thing is, that it only took the headteacher 10 minutes to show me around the school! However, the school was lovely. The headteacher was very friendly and welcoming and I decided that although it is a bit further away than I had hoped to work, I would apply for the job as it is only for the summer term initially although there is a possibility of an extension for 1 more year.

After getting so lost on my first trip to the school, I thought it would be a good idea to deliver the application myself on Thursday this week, so that I could give myself the opportunity to find the school first time and to find out how long a normal journey to the school from home would take. I looked at Google for a bit longer this time, wrote out the instructions, ignored PPs advice of going the simple route and set off on Thursday afternoon. I had 2 hours before I had to collect Little Z from school, which meant I had plenty of time, even if I took a wrong turning.

I got back to Little Z's school with 5 mins to spare after collecting Big J on the way. Unfortunately, as well as having Big J in the car, I also still had my application. I had not found the school. In fact, I had not even found Bishops Waltham! Eventually I'd had to abort the trip and come back as I was running out of time.

Okay. I decided to use the simple route (stupid bloody simple route!). So, Friday I set off after again looking at Google and keeping in mind what PP had said: "Just follow the brown signs for 'Marwell Zoo' all the way and then you are there." Actually that seems like it can't fail, doesn't it? Why then, did I end up outside the gates of Marwell Zoo? (Stupid bloody Zoo!)

I did actually find the school this time. It just turned out that I had turned off the road sooner than I should have done and was, at least, heading in the right direction this time.

As the weather was so nice, I had decided to take Big J with me for a drive in the countryside and we took his new Scooby Doo bike along so we could stop on the way back for him to have a ride about before I dropped him off for lunch at nursery. Unfortunately, as it had taken longer than intended to get to Bishops Waltham, there was not a lot of time to get him back to nursery for lunch, so I thought I might actually risk looking after my own son for the day. (what a thought!). We stopped at a shop and bought some food, plastic cutlery and plastic cups for a picnic and looked for a place where we could stop to eat and where Big J could ride his bike. I was surprised to find that there was nowhere obvious between Bishops Waltham and Southampton to stop for a picnic and so we ended up on Southampton Common.

A few weeks ago, I wrote a post about Southampton Sports Centre and how lucky we were to have it on our doorstep. Less than half a mile from the Sports Centre we have Southampton Common.





We had a lovely afternoon next to the lake. We ate our picnic lunch, Big J rode his bike, ran around and fed the ducks. If I don't get the job or even an interview at Bishops Waltham Infants, it will still have been worth it, as we had a lovely afternoon.

Taking Bookings Now

Last year I wrote a post about how much I love books and how many I have cluttering up the house. This situation hasn't really changed, although I do seem to have been able to organise them better, having given it more thought.

Today, I have spent some time making adjustments to my blog, adding a few bits to make it more interesting and updating the information. Under the section "Favourite Books" I noticed that all the books I had mentioned were either self-help type books (of which I seem to have collected so many that my friends now come to me rather than go to the library to borrow them!) and children's books (understandable as a mother of 2 and a primary teacher). I decided that I really ought to include a few adult books.......

After thinking hard for a while and then getting up from the PC to peruse the bookshelves for adult (not as in 'adult only' - we definitely don't have any of those!) books, I realised that I do not have very many adult books at all. In fact, I cannot recall the last time I read a book which was not either a children's book or a non-fiction book about teaching or to support a lesson I was going to teach.

HELP!

I am now appealing to anyone reading this to recommend an author to me. I don't really like horror or anything which will stop me from sleeping and am not into heavy sci-fi or Mills and Boon type predictable love stories, but am willing to consider any sensible suggestion before taking a trip (no, of course I am not going to get out of my chair!) to Amazon to purchase a book for psychologically sound grown-ups (of which I am not one, but would like to pretend!)

That's rich...

Having just about recovered from the shock of having to do some planning this week, I arrived home fairly early on Friday after collecting Big J from nursery. What a relief to be able to relax and unwind after a working week.

"Before you start to enjoy your weekend, we've had a letter" Said PP pointing to the table.

NOTICE OF INTENDED PROSECUTION
In accordance with Section 1 of the Road Traffic Offenders Act, 1988, I give you notice that it is intended to take proceedings against the driver of motor vehicle MG01 AHL (the completely made-up private number plate I will never afford but would happily accept as a generous birthday gift, should any rich members of my family be reading!)

Anyway, the long and the short of it is that, as they say in Southampton "they done me for speedin' ". I was caught by a camera last Saturday on the way to swimming, apparently doing 37 on a dual carriageway through town, which is actually a 30 limit.

I was surprised at my own reaction, as was PP. I could rant and rave and get myself all stressed out, achieving nothing but upsetting the whole family and making myself feel bitter. Yes, I like my new (to me) car and I like the sound it makes when I put my foot down and no, I do not consider myself irresposible doing 37MpH on a dual carriageway with my kids in the car. Yes I wish I had seen the camera, and more to the point, I wish the camera was not there or at least not working, but I didn't and it was. So, it seems I have worked part of this week for nothing (nothing new there, I already pay council tax and income tax) and will have a few points on my licence.

Thank you, Mr J R Baldwin of the Hampshire Constabulary, for making me see the error of my ways.