ELEVENSES HERE *****************************************************************************************

[MaryAnnSingleton]

think we've been deleted,so shall we put ourselves here in other subjects ?
Sleepless night fretting about T and loos and lunches at big school - how neurotic am I ?!

hello ! funny old day here - the weather is too miserable for me,though a nice sunny bit appeared for a while but it was chilly. Went with friend S to have coffee at friend J's house - had never been before - she is a textile designer and her dh an art teacher so it's full of colours and pictures and things. She has 4 children,the youngest in yr 4 and is tiny,like a wee doll and always wears really great clothes - I feel positively monochrome. I'd also trimmed my fringe,or made a fringe because the fringy bits are too long - don't know if it's a mistake or not but can be remedied if it is wrong,I hope, by hairdresser on Friday - I sort of wanted to see how I look with more of a fringe so I could tell her what I wanted !! It's unbecomingly rain raddled and wind ravaged now so not a good look.
My friend P whose little S I have child minded has just got a new job and that means I am doing 3 drop offs and 1 school pick up and mind a week which is very good for my pocket money - hooray !

Hello you two

Another cold and miserable day... I spent an hour in the park after school yesterday with E. O had an after-school rugby club thing and it just was not worth walking home and then back again. So we waited... along with a handful of other cold and miserable waiting mums....
I could just make out O in the sportsfield in the distance doing rugby. Well, I saw him run up and down adn drop the ball a few times!! But he loved it, ended up covered in mud, wet, cold, but grinning from ear to ear with red rosy cheeks
It is a free after-school club lasting one term, so we will see how well he gets on. Co-ordination is not his strong point....

E and O both have another friend for tea tonight, so have just washed the kitchen floor on my hands and knees to get it half-presentable.

Not much else to report here. I should be doing my CV and covering letter for the personnel and SEN lady at Winston. They want it first week after the Feb half term.

How are things with B and the ballet school hotcross?

hippi, is this a new job ??
Am making hearts again, have just packaged 10 up to send to the shop in Ealing and will get on with making the new ones for the shop near here..
Took some ginger cake over to my parents - the garden is terribly muddy, a little path of sludge leading to the building site at the end. The studio is coming along nicely and looks lovely with it's shingled roof...can't remember now whether I mentioned the possible planning permission traumas ? ( in a nutshell - dad was told the height/width were within the restrictions and it didn't require permission, only to find the regulations were changed very shortly after he'd been assured it was ok, so now they have to apply and if they are turned down then the roof will have to be altered which will be a)expensive and b) a huge shame as it is beautiful with it's dormer window and blue glass. Another kerfuffle is that the neighbours on one side have discovered that there is going to be a loo and sink put in - again perfectly allowed -and they are fussing about it..even though it's at the bottom of my parents garden and will be checked by council afterwards for correct fitting etc and the whole studio is properly insulated - gah ! Poor parents a bit stressed.
How is doggle hotcross ?

Oh, your poor parents, what a nightmare... and boo to the objecting neighbours (tell them if there was no loo put in your dad would be urinating up the fence instead )

Sorry about the confusion, I sometimes forget what I have told you guys and what not..
Basically, Winston is the school I invigilate at (The Winston Churchill School) to give it it's correct name.
I really enjoy being there and have decided I would like to work as a Learning Support Assistant there. ONe of the mums who has a ds in Y1 (but not E's class) works there as a LSA. I spoke to her about it adn she has encouraged me to put my cv in. I then spoke to the two Exams and Admissions office ladies (who are in charge of us invigilators) and asked if they thought I'd be suitable as a LSA and they said (and I quote) 'we will sing your praises all the way'
So, I have been given details of the lady to contact, and been told the best time to get my cv to them is the first week after the Feb half term as that is when the current staff hand in their notice (if any indeed are) Also, that is when they start planning the following year and lookign at how many pupils with SEN they are receiveing in Y7 and thus how many (if any) extra LSA's they need. There are no vacancies at teh moment, but I would like them to have my cv just in case
All I have to do now is write my cv. Not easy, am struggeling to remember stuff

How is doggle hotcross? And ballet?

oh excellent hippi !! good luck with that - they'll be so lucky to have you
and at the idea of my dad weeing up the fence !! I know that in their last house where the studio was a distance from the house and had no conveniences that my brother and dad would wander off to wee in the garden (big wild place !) of course my SIL who worked in the studio too would make the journey down to the house !

Hello. I wrote a message earlier and it's disappeared - how strange!

Sorry your parents are having stresses MAS. I think building works inevitably create ill-feeling. People just don't like change and feel duty-bound to object in some way. I guess that's why we need planning officers etc. Poor things. Hopefully it won't be too difficult to sort out, and their building wont need changing. What a pain!

Ooh, how exciting about your CV Hippi! I wouldn't know where to begin writing a CV for me - there are such big gaps in my employment record, I don't think I'd employ me

I've been in school this morning. The teacher only just clocked I was a teacher, so I ended up doing some quite complicated spelling exercise with the lower groups. After that though, a theatre school came in to do a drama workshop which was fab. The children had a lovely time!

Doggle is perky and trying to do too much, but eating well and seems quite happy. Think the painkillers are making a big difference. We have an appointment Tuesday with the orthopaedic surgeon to discuss our options.

Ballet is still a stress. I can't get hold of B's previous teacher to talk it over with her. B's friend is sticking with the current situation, so may have to do that too Am v fed up with it tbh. Also I made the mistake of mentioning B was starting swimming, and now the ballet friend and her little sister are starting in the same class. It's a bit of a pain because the mum is very competitive... Oh well, it'll be fine, I'm sure

am glad that doggle is eating well and seems happy - that's good news indeed
Hope B enjoys swimming - at the competitive mum !

Glad to hear doggle is doing better

Peace has returned once more now O and E's pals have gone home. A nice time was had by all though!

How bizarre that competitive-ballet-mum has followed you and B to swimming lessons...
Am sure it will be fine, but I would be a bit about it.
Sorry to hear you are no further with the ballet teacher, hope you get it sorted soon

Right, am going to feed dilly dog, see what mess E and little S have made upstairs, get tidied up and get my dinner on. Dh working late tonight, so am having the last of the spag bol [yum]

Glad to hear doggle is doing better

Peace has returned once more now O and E's pals have gone home. A nice time was had by all though!

How bizarre that competitive-ballet-mum has followed you and B to swimming lessons...
Am sure it will be fine, but I would be a bit about it.
Sorry to hear you are no further with the ballet teacher, hope you get it sorted soon

Right, am going to feed dilly dog, see what mess E and little S have made upstairs, get tidied up and get my dinner on. Dh working late tonight, so am having the last of the spag bol [yum]

oops

maybe competitive mum admires and wants to follow hotcross's lead !

Sorry - was a bit moany about the ballet/swimming thing. It'll be fine. I'm actually quite good friends with the mum, our relationship just gets more complicated when our dd's are involved. She is quite intense and thinks deeply about things, and has a tendency to make a mountain out of a molehill. She is very concerned about her 2 dd's and desperately wants them to be high achievers, which they probably will be, without all the stress attached. If other children appear to be succeeding at things faster than her dd's though, she gets very worried, and pushes them harder. I just find it a bit exhausting, and have to try to be tactful at all times. She is absolutely lovely though, particularly when we're not talking children

Phew

About ballet... I finally got hold of B's old teacher and she told me a bit more about things. She's offered to continue giving B and friend lessons, alongside the new scary bouncy bouncy lessons, and enter her for the exams herself. Don't know what to do now. It's so lovely of her but a) the lessons are the other side of town on a Tuesday, and I've no idea if we physically could get there in time and b) two ballet lessons a week is a lot. Will have to think carefully about it.

Right then, off to ballet now, so may come back with further moans and groans, or B may love it and it'll all be fine!

Hotcross, take your lead from B. If she prefers the old lessons, can't you just do them adn drop the scary bouncy ones??

I see what you mean about competitive mum. I am a bit like her and am already fretting because I know dd's two schoolfriends who are in lessons with her will probably move up and E won't. And that is partly why I gave E such a hard time on Saturday.
Stupid really, they are all great swimmers and E will do it in her own time. But somehow I just fret if dd is not 'staying ahead'. How stupid is that

hey, a name addition !
I suppose I am a bit competitive in my head - when in other people's houses (where the dcs go to T's school) I scour their notice boards and see that their dcs all have merit certificates/achievement awards and so far T has none (except for 100% attendance) and I feel a bit grr,why hasn't he got one yet !

MAS, I am the same... my friend's noticeboards are full of star of the week certificates, sports commendations, oodles of party invitations for their children, their children are voted school councillor year upon year....
Mine are just not in the running for anything like that somehow...
I try not to mind, but it does rankle ....

Yes, the name addition is to do with the One Pound weightloss club. I joined nearly two weeks ago and have not lost any weight yet. So a pound would be a nice start

I'd forgotten the bleeding party invitations
good luck with weight loss club !

Urgh, weightloss not going well so far. Have just demolished two choclate brownies and a glass of milk

Party invitations are the worst, especially if they are from classmates I thought my O and E are friendly with...

Right, am going to get ready for bed. Dh working late again and not sure what time he will be home. No point waiting up (and if I am in bed I can't eat!)

good morning - though it's grey and wet - how is weightloss proceeding hippi ?
Have posted again on the yr 7 thread about T and friendships - I feel as though I repeat myself so often on these boards but it's a good way to get it off my chest and of course everyone is so supportive here !
Nothing new, just the lack of friends - the being on his own at breaktimes. I can't really think of anything else to suggest, but to try to join in and chat, just about anything really - I think he feels he doesn't 'know' about the things his peers are interested in and can't offer anything,and I suppose conversely he feels that they won't be interested in his things. His friend E and he seem to find lots of stuff to chat about despite E being quite intense and maths minded - they just get on. Am sure T would find common ground with lots of boys if he could just make that breakthrough. Am going to remind him every day to seek someone out, to join in more with the chat on the way to school. I'll also speak to his tutor at the yr 7 consultation evening.I've suggested he spends more time with P who he knows well and perhaps ask if he'd like to come home after school one day... but the moves have to be made by T really.

Have not weighed myself yet, due to do that on Monday morning, but have not been able to reduce my food intake so am not very hopeful...
It does not help that I am hosting a coffee morning here on Monday so will be baking (and eating!) more cake [sigh]

Sorry to hear about T. Am sure he will get there in his own time. Is P the boy who asked him to join the choir? Talking to the tutor is a good idea. They must have seen this a few times and will hopefully have some strategies.
Has T told you he is on his own at breaktimes? Does he seem unhappy about it?

hmm, coffee and cake sound tempting ...
P is a boy from primary school, L is the one who asked him to join the choir - he was from another primary - have suggested to T that he seeks him out too. T has told me about all this on several occassions so it must be bothering him.. he doesn't seem to be miserable, just a bit wistful

Oh, poor T
But yes, definately encourage him to seek out P and L. Are they both in T's form or in any of his classes?
And if L is in teh choir, then they already have somethign in common, so T can use that as an 'in'.

don't think T is in any classes with L but P is in his tutor group...

Okay, so T's mission is to talk to P and others, and perhaps walk down the canteen with them after lessons, that way he can sit with them
And to approach L at choir and invite him for T. That is a toughie, will be rooting for T!

Hope you are okay?

I am mildly fretting over E and her friends at the moment, I have come to accept this is a large part of being a mum!

invite him for T should be invite him for tea...
sorry

I understood what you meant !! if he starts with P that might be easier as he knows him well and P has been here before. Am hoping to get him invited to E's soon too. He says he likes having his lunch on his own - strange boy !! I will ask him every day to try,he usually has a go at a challenge.
I'm wondering whether I went wrong in the early years - but he did lots of stuff before going to school, gym and dance drama before he started at nursery, after school clubs, Beavers and we did have friends home to tea - not as often as some people seemed to do it, but they did come and T did get invited back,and he went to parties. He has always relished his own time and space and never pestered me to let him go to play at anyone's or to have people over- he seemed contented in his own world really. I took him with me out to coffee/lunch with friends and he sees how sociable I am.
I think this is all part of the parenting package,this anxiety !
I'm fine btw,and thanks for your advice..have just had my hair cut and hairdresser has rescued my attempts at fringe cutting and made me a decent fuller fringe for the first time in years, so I have a nice graduated bob and sensible fringe and don't look to awful !