We Hear What We Want To Hear

That Time I Was Dissed By A Pre-Teen

It's that time of year, dear readers.

People wear hideous jumpers 'ironically', Starbucks' red cups litter the ground and the smell of donkey poop is in the air.

It must be Christmas.

I'm onto you, Donkey Face.

Don't be fooled by my flippant comments about Christmas, dear readers; I love it. 

From the music to the food to the drinks to the board games to the smell of cloves in EVERYTHING. 

I seriously love Christmas and can usually be found curled up in a corner making snowflakes or brightly coloured paper chains. 

Given my love of Christmas (and my family) it seemed only fitting that my sister and I join our dear mother at her school's Christmas fete. 

Nothing like this.  In case you were wondering.

Among the home made games stalls, tombola and bric-a-brac stalls there was a glorious tea, bacon sandwich and cake stand. 

It was here that we found refuge from the bitter winds and sat down for a cuppa. 

As my mother works at the school, lots of children would say hello or chat to her and, as a former small human myself, I have a fondness for the cute little snotballs. 

And so it was that I found myself talking to one such small human that we shall call Freddy.  Freddy was a friendly, if slightly shy, boy and so when I engaged him in conversation I was rather proud of myself as it seemed that he had opened up to me.

As the Christmas carols filtered across the playground and the welcoming scent of bacon hung in the cold December air, Freddy and I bonded.  

Until our conversation went as follows:-

Me: So Freddy, how old do you think I am? Because Mrs J is my Mum. 

Freddy: Err..I don't know. ...22?

Me: Well, that's very close Freddy! I'm actually 25 so that was a very good guess indeed. 

Freddy: ....I said 32.

Me: Oh. 

I'll just be over here...tears falling down my 32(!!) year old looking face.

So yeah...turns out I'm not all that fond of snotballs after all. 

Sorry Mum, add another few years onto the waiting list for grandchildren.

&&Fin.

Teachers Can Change Lives With Just The Right Mix of Chalk And Challenges

That Time We Celebrated World Teacher Day

What The Buzz: #WorldTeachersDay

It has been estimated that we meet between 10,000 – 80,000 people in our lifetimes.  (Obviously, if you are a somewhat anti-social blogger, slaving over articles each week, that number is likely to be at the smaller end of the scale).  I will openly admit that I am not good with names and have the memory of a sieve so I have very limited space to remember individuals.  This was never more true than when I went to a business meeting and greeted the host with a polite ‘nice to meet you’ at the same time he gave me a warm smile and said ‘lovely to see you again’.

There were not many warm smiles after that social faux pas.

But, despite the odds (and my limited brain power), there are some people in your life that you just don’t forget.  Favourite teachers are some of those people.

I’ll admit that I had a fairly pleasant overall experience at school so perhaps it is easier for me to find positives than those that didn’t.  But some of the teachers I had shaped the adult that I became and I would like to take the time, on World Teachers Day, to say thank you.

 

Teachers these days appear to have a, frankly, impossible task and I do not envy them one bit.

 

If they are not getting abuse hurled at them from jumped up 12 year olds, they are getting abuse from parents who don’t understand how perfect little Timmy could have done anything to warrant a detention and, in any event, he has a judo competition that he cannot miss so no, he will not be attending the punishment and no, they won’t take any action themselves.

And then parents wonder why their perfect little brat grows up into a rude adolescent with no respect for authority including (or perhaps especially) their own parents’.

I am a firm believer that teachers should be there to teach – how to write, how to express yourself, the facts and figures, lateral thinking, how to work in a team, communication and even a little bit about self-confidence.  But parents should be responsible for the rest – manners, respect, discipline and all those other things that develop children into well rounded adults.

 

So this is for all the teachers that go above and beyond their job description.  This is for my teachers that taught me to push myself further than I thought possible. For my teachers who made me fall in love with writing and reading and solving puzzles.  For the teachers that praised me when I did well and were disappointed when I didn’t try my hardest.

 

Thank you.  And happy World Teachers Day.

 

&& Fin.