At the supermarket a few days ago, I saw a little girl and her mother. The girl, about four, was helping unload things. Her mother handed her some kale, and she hugged it, which was rather sweet, but caused it to slip out of its plastic bag and land on the floor. Her mum helped her get it back in the bag, and then said, And that's why we don't hug kale.
I have a feeling some of the conversations around their house may rival ours for oddness.
Sherlock brought his bloodstain pattern book to school today, which in retrospect was perhaps not the best idea. I didn't even think of it this morning when he asked, but Mrs N had words with me after school. Though apparently the problem was more that the kids found it fascinating than that anyone was upset by it. Some of their parents may not appreciate it.
His parents evening is tomorrow, and while it won't go quite as smoothly as Mycroft's, I don't think we have any unpleasant surprises in store. It does make me feel slightly sorry for my own parents though, thinking of them going to these things for Harry and I. Getting told Harry was smoking or leaving school after lunch and not coming back, or that I was starting fights again (which wasn't true, I never started them). It's like Judgement Day.
I've also got another interview coming up, speaking of judgement. Wish me luck.
I have a feeling some of the conversations around their house may rival ours for oddness.
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| Caves full of massive crystals, near Chihuahua, Mexico |
Sherlock brought his bloodstain pattern book to school today, which in retrospect was perhaps not the best idea. I didn't even think of it this morning when he asked, but Mrs N had words with me after school. Though apparently the problem was more that the kids found it fascinating than that anyone was upset by it. Some of their parents may not appreciate it.
His parents evening is tomorrow, and while it won't go quite as smoothly as Mycroft's, I don't think we have any unpleasant surprises in store. It does make me feel slightly sorry for my own parents though, thinking of them going to these things for Harry and I. Getting told Harry was smoking or leaving school after lunch and not coming back, or that I was starting fights again (which wasn't true, I never started them). It's like Judgement Day.
I've also got another interview coming up, speaking of judgement. Wish me luck.
67 comments:
Good luck :)
Hopefully Mrs N will have some useful things to say about the Boy Wonder.
Thanks. :)
I'm sure she will. How was your day? Better than yesterday at least, I hope.
Hah, couldn't be much worse than yesterday, right?
Lots of paperwork, including the accident book... more paperwork. Yeah, it was fairly good, although bloody cold.
good luck with the interview John :-)
I am dreading parents evening next week, I think I dislike it more than shorty ;-)
L - should hope not anyway! And yeah, it's definitely time for spring.
Anonybob - thanks, and good luck with your parents evening. I hope it goes well for you.
Good luck, John!
That photo with the crystals is amazing. My brain insists on seeing the person as miniaturized, rather than the crystals as enormous...
Yeah, there was another with several orange jump-suited people off in the distance surrounded by these huge crystals and it just looks...unreal.
AnonyBob - After Mycroft's, Sherlock's feels like an easy ride ;)
Danger - so who's your victim this time? And when? And will they be reading this d'you think? (He's lovely, whoever you are.)
It's possible. He's young - younger than I am. We arranged the whole thing through email, so I haven't actually spoken to him, but he seems nice. He said he's considered joining the RAMC, so maybe we'll just trade careers.
ooh, how thoroughly modern of you.
Just don't go trading Nannying. Or me ;)
Never. Although Sherlock looks like he'd happily trade me at the moment.
Well, he's survived both you and his school uniform up until now. I'm sure he'll manage to endure.
I think he's plotting against us with the degus. Don't be surprised to find out our bed is made of shredded newspaper and hay later on...
Or if he traps us in a giant cardboard tube...
I think he's plotting against us with the degus.
Pets are wonderful at always being on your side. :)
Happily he's in bed, degus are in bed, we're not in a cardboard tube.
All's well that ends well! :)
I always have mixed feelings about it when a parent won't let their kids look at books about things that the parent finds icky. Especially if the kids are clearly fascinated by the topic. But there are definitely things which a kid can be just not ready for yet, so...
The best argument I've seen for school uniforms is that they (hopefully) mean the teacher is looking at faces, not clothing. Don't know how true it is.
Did you know that they're building a cathedral out of giant cardboard tubes in New Zealand? Where are degus from, anyway?
Sleep well, everyone!
rsf
RSF - I'm just in favour of uniforms full stop. There are rules for 'normal' schools about them being fit for purpose etc., there are rules on prices, so no-one need feel different because they can't afford the latest fashions (and you can get grants to help buy them if you need it), and it's a very simple rule to follow. They give a group identity, hopefully a sense of belonging, and they stop kids being picked on for not having the best clothes.
I trust most teachers to be able to look at the child, not the clothes. I wouldn't trust kids to do the same.
Degus are from...a nice lady who breeds degus? ;) Chile, originally.
uniforms are important and they are good for kids but they are expensive sometimes AND what is this thing for making girls were a tie and blazer? they aren't men and shouldn't be made to dress like them!
My sister is in favor of school uniforms because it means never hearing "MAAAAAA! I HAVE NOTHING TO WEAR!" on a school morning. ;)
AnonyBob - Well, I'm not in favour of anyone having to wear a tie. I'd be perfectly happy if boys wore open necked shirts and girls wore blouses. Or the other way around, if anyone so desired! Just like anyone should be allowed to wear trousers or a skirt.
We used to buy Sherlock the more expensive polo shirts...but whatever the quality, I'm sure he destroys about one a week, so he gets the cheap ones now! His school has a very sensible uniform though - easy to maintain and cheap to buy. I know not all schools are the same, even though they're supposed to be.
yeah I made the expensive shirt mistake last year but this year she got two jumpers with logos on and the rest is the cheapest white polo shirts and the grey skirts I can find :-)
A lad at my school turned up in a skirt the day after they changed the rules to say girls could wear trousers ;-)
Good on him! Rules should be the same for everyone. I'm sure he'd have given up once he got cold, though ;)
Sherlock's the same - a few school jumpers with the logo, then cheap polo shirts and black trousers (or shorts in the summer, if he wants.)
I'm not opposed to uniforms -- at least not if they don't force the girls to wear skirts. And if they chose a style which doesn't look completely awful on kids who are heavier than most of their class. But I've seen some pretty catastrophic combinations get assigned around here. (And they never seem to include shoes, so all the money and showing off winds up on the kids' feet.)
What does Sherlock manage to do to his shirts? One a week!? yikes!
rsf
You name it, he's done it...
In my school uniforms never stopped the poor kids from getting noticed or picked on.
And for myself I was always too independent to want to be part of the group. I didn't want a group identity, especially not that group. It wasn't a very good school so that didn't help. They would say, "You represent us when you leave the building wearing our uniform." And what they were aiming for was to get the kids who were misbehaving to stop. I can remember though that my reaction at the time was, "I don't represent you. You don't get credit for my good behavior or any of my successes. I am going to succeed in spite of you, not because of you."
I was pretty bitter about it at the time. Enough so that 25 years later you say uniform and all my buttons get pushed. With the advantage of an adult perspective I still say my early education was sub-standard. They were more concerned with what we were wearing than what we were learning. We had to memorize Shakespeare but didn't have to understand it. We had to memorize the Bible but didn't really have to understand that either. And so I still associate uniforms with mindless following of rules.
Which isn't to say kids shouldn't have rules. Or that they shouldn't have something they want to belong to. Just that I think the rules should be about something more important than making everyone the same. Uniforms or no it doesn't seem like Sherlock's school is trying to force him into a little conformist box and make him stop thinking. So there's probably a much larger range than what I experienced.
I sometimes wish I had gone to a school that had uniforms. I really didn't have much of a fashion sense when I was a kid, or a teenager, so most of my clothes were jeans and tee shirt or sweater. Plus I was a bit overweight, so I was picked on for that. I think a uniform would have helped, in that it does level the playing field a bit.
Plus, I have the perspective of having lived in a uniform for over 3 years in the military. When I wore it, it changed my bearing, my attitude, and I knew it represented something. I do like uniforms, I think it makes some aspects of life easier.
For some people, though, I can see how a uniform would be too restrictive. I guess it's just a matter of different strokes for different folks.
A uniform you choose, that represents something you respect is different I think. At uni I worked very hard to earn a place on the school's tennis team. That was a uniform I wore with pride.
And I still only wear jeans and tee shirts because I don't trust myself to put together anything more complicated.
On a different note, am I the only one who can only think of Superman's crystal cave when looking at that photo?
That's the problem with white shirts, John. The giddy patterns of my youth may have been hard on the eyes, but if you spilled something on your shirt hardly anyone could tell through the paisley.
;)
rsf
And Kholly, yes! That's the first thing I thought of! It's amazing.
rsf
With my brother, it was his pants (trousers to those in the UK) that he destroyed at an alarming rate. My mom began sewing patches on both the inside and outside of the knees as soon as she bought them in the hopes of staving off the ragbag as long as possible.
I'm amazed that white shirts are part of school uniforms. I don't wear white shirts because they're difficult for me to keep clean and I'm a fairly neat adult!
I didn't have to wear a uniform in school and I'm glad. I like color too much to want to be restricted to navy and gray and white, with maybe one actual color as accent. Of course my high school was colorful enough to have overcome the uniform - inner city in the late '80s. Granted Minnesota inner city, but still. I'm not sure a uniform would have helped with the discipline problems much.
MNAnon
As a leader in a uniformed organisation (Brownies - young Girl Scouts for you lot over there) I'd agree on the matter of showing that you belong to something. We used to take my old pack on a day trip to London; uniform meant we could spot them instantly (very useful when climbing lions in Trafalgar Square), it also meant a lot of understanding from the general population, who were generally very positive, even when squashed in the tube because they'd fallen on top of them.
I had no idea uniforms would be such a popular subject!
I wish my school had done a lot of things differently. I wish they'd wondered a bit more about why I didn't have the right uniform, or shoes, and investigated. But I'd have fought it at the time, like I fought social services and everyone else. And I've no way of knowing if I did the right thing or not. Probably not. But who can know. I can't blame them for that, not entirely ;)
You all survived so you didn't do a bad job Greg :-)
How goes work today? I hope Sherlock went off to school ok :-)
SH, I was a Brownie, many moons ago. I understand they've got an even younger category, called Daisys now. L, one of my problems with school uniforms is that the school doesn't issue them. Or guarantee the fit.
rsf
The problem is that even with uniform there's uniform and uniform. My mother insisted on making my school uniform. So I ended up with a non-uniform uniform! Add that to the fact that if the uniform list said four gore skirt that's what my mum made when everyone else bought manufactured pencil skirts. Add that to the fact that I was built like a brick telephone kiosk. It was miserable and humiliating and didn't in any way reduce bullying (or at least I hope it didn't, I'd hate to think it could have been worse).
Sorry, rant over, but this is very much a thing that winds me up. The only way for a uniform to be uniform is to have a uniform supplier and that is so often a rip-off with the school getting a percentage of the (inflated) cost of the 'official' uniform. Sorry again, it turned out it wasn't the end of the rant ;)
Lancs. Anon
I get its not a magic remedy, but I don't feel like any of what people have said would be better if uniforms weren't there, to be honest.
RSF, we call them Rainbows in the UK and they wear mostly red (also good for spotting in a crowd).
Do their uniforms/flags involve rainbows? Do they ever get mistaken for very young gay rights groups? :)
I don't know about the Guides, but GSUSA recently made the decision that anyone who identifies as female is allowed to join Scouts.
(Of course, that doesn't mean that individual troops and leaders are activists or even discussing GLBT rights; just that the national organization allows for the membership of...I don't even know what the right way to call it is)
Danger, want some tasty take away after parent's evening?
Of course, if the boy gets a bad report it'll be gruel and stale bread for him.
Sounds good. What'd you have in mind?
Dunno Thai? Pizza? Indian? Fish and chips? I'm sure they'd all do gruel on request - one child's portion.
L - rainbows have a rainbow on their t-shirt and a small logo on their zipped hoodie. I think they're generally too small to be taken as anything too activist. Although Brownies are mostly lower forms of St Trinians.
Fish and chips. I bet their gruel includes fish guts.
SH - tshirt and hoodies sounds like a very practical uniform for children that small.
I'm NOT getting gruel! I bet I get a BRILLIANT report and Mummy said I could have a treat if I did NOT GRUEL
How did your interview go, John--or was that not today? ("Coming up" could mean anytime soon, so... :))
And what time is Sherlock's parents' evening event? (I'm sure you'll deserve a lovely treat, Sherlock.)
Bollocks, just leaving, I'lll have to meet you at the school boys, I won't have time to get home and get toschool
If I bring all my things can I ride home with you?
not with your cast on, kiddo.
Trust me, teachers are not fans of parents evenings either!
I once tried to do an entire meeting without breathing in cos of the 'interesting smell' of cigs, cheap whiskey and cheaper body spray to hide lack of shower coming across the table.
That and being told I hadn't found a child's genius once... I could've dug for oil with a teaspoon faster - in set 6 of 6! Please acknowledge that pressure just makes kids resentful - and sending 'the bright one' to private school but 'state was alright for this one's mind' isn't going to help family unity!!
Also... I was the first girl to wear trousers to my school.... we had asked, they said no... I turned up in them anyway with a letter from my mum saying that it was the trousers or else I'd get pneumonia again as we weren't allowed a coat and younger girls were not allowed tights, only socks.... I have NO IDEA WHY!!!
Schools... why am I a teacher again????
Good luck Sherlock - and the grown ups!!
(I'm being scowled at. Sherlock has declared my 'no bikes with your cast' rule as 'stupid' because he's 'better now'.)
Kira - I've always assumed parents' evenings are completely hellish for teachers.
Nicky texted me today to remind me I got excluded for three days because of my one-man-campaign that boys should be allowed to wear make-up... Thanks, Sis.
You know I always enjoyed them when I was teaching. You meet new people and I was always sure to be as fair as I could without giving a false impression about the kid. The only one I hated was one where a woman refused to believe the *nice* things I was saying about her son - she absolutely refused to believe I could be saying nice things about her son - I felt terribly sorry for the lad.
Hope it goes well
Lancs. Anon
she absolutely refused to believe I could be saying nice things about her son
That is incredibly sad.
It was. I wanted to take the poor little bugger home with me, but it's frowned upon. He was a thoroughly pleasant lad as well, never put a foot wrong, which I suppose was his attempt to please her, but I don't think it was ever going to work.
Lancs. Anon
Danger - sorry you have to walk home with the grump on your own. I'll meet you back at the flat -with the fish and chips! (And no gruel.)
It's all right, I think the walk will do him and his mood some good.
Dare we ask why he is grumpy?
No gruel means a good report, right?
It was...fairly good. He has not yet been raised up to the status of God. Nor has white smoke billowed from the school chimney to show he has been elected leader.
He has work to do... We have work to do. The first part of that being convincing him he has work to do...
which bit is he grumpy about? I would have thought if he wanted to be the cleverest person in his class he'd be eager to learn more.
Sorry it wasn't exactly what you wanted Sherlock, I hope you feel better about it once you've thought it through :-)
It's more the social/behaviour side of it, AnonyBob. I'm sure he'll do his best to take on what Mrs N said.
I've put a bit up on my blog.
That doesn't sound so bad, L. (Maybe harder for you two than for him, on the convincing end... ;))
If we can help at all, Sherlock, you just let us know. (But I bet you can manage just fine.)
How did your interview go, John?
rsf
Not bad. I'll post about it in a bit.
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