There’s a very mumsnet conversation happening on my train…

[UpperLowerMiddleClass]

Two mums discussing their primary school aged children. Distinct frenemy vibes. Of course it goes without saying their initial conversation covered just how well their children are doing academically.

Discussion then moved on to extra curricular activities. Mum A proudly saying what grade piano her daughter is doing, how she’s playing violin in the school orchestra etc, when Mum B pulls out a trump card - her daughter is excelling at the harp! But it’s all such a bother, wouldn’t you know? The logistics of transporting the harp, the cost of replacement strings etc.

Mum A tries to rally with a swerve towards sports and there’s mention of her son making the school hockey team. But I can tell her heart’s not really in it. Deep down she knows she can’t compete with the travails of harp logistics. Mum B has won this round.

And before anyone asks why I’m being so nosy, or why I have nothing better to do: Their conversation is LOUD and PROJECTING. I can’t ignore them. I’d love to be immersed in my book but instead I’m now learning all about the intricacies of harp upkeep and maintenance.

Thank you for this post, it realy made me laugh!

My kid had a tutor whose daughter was a pole vaulter… I know a surprising amount about it. Those poles are NOT cheap.

Same 🤣

The funny thing about this thread is the amount of times I’ve read something and gone “yeah, I know someone whose kid plays the euphonium“ etc.
Despite living in an area rougher than a rough thing on a rough day, my circle is also a bit Overheard at Waitrose. Only last weekend one of my children was at an Oxbridge day course and another child we happen to know was also there. He’s 15 and very much on track to be an organ scholar… And no, I didn’t just make that up!!!

Dd is in year 7 at a very posh grammar. We live in a crap area with a lot of crime and unemployment so the difference compared to her primary school is quite striking.

She recently posted a picture of her McDonalds in the class whatsapp group, only to be outdone by another child posting a picture of a baby cow that had been born on her family farm 😳 The most exotic holiday any of her previous classmates had was an all inclusive to Turkey, whereas her new friends holiday in Thailand, Australia, or go on Safari in Kenya.

Thank you for that, I've been racking my brains trying to remember the name of them.

I think they look hilarious, they make the human look like a borrower playing a trumpet.

A few kids play harp at my child’s midlands grammar, too.

I'm 71 and, technically, I still don't own a table.

I've been looking after a table a friend's (now ex) DH made since approx 1981, when she decided it was too big for their (tiny) back room and he was living in a bedsit, so didn't have room for it.

The only people I've known personally who have learned to play the harp are from Yorkshire and Cambridgeshire.

Where don't they run? Genuinely interested.

A can of Harp lager takes up less space and has a pleasant tinny noise when pinged with a fork. Just saying…..

one of my children is at school with and very good friends with a student in a similar position to the one described here - a straight A* student, grade 8 in 2 instruments and applying to Oxbridge for medicine AND as a choral scholar on the side.
Like I said, despite living in one of the roughest places in the country, I see our circle reflected all over this thread!