Crepeys/Hagsnet - the moonlight beckons!

[MrsSchadenfreude]

Because moonlight gives you a nice glow and doesn't show up your wrinkles or grey hair.

Ds came home with a list of spellings last year and one of them was spelt wrong. And, yes, I did point it out....

Several years ago dd had a class teacher who couldn't spell for toffee. Probably couldn't even spell toffee, in fact. She sent home weekly spelling sheets which usually had at least one error on them. The worse one came with "Spelling practice" spelt incorrectly plus mistakes in 4 of the words. There were 10 words in total. I always pointed out the boo-boos and made myself generally unpopular by doing so. I would like at this point to say a few choice words about some other education professionals currently involved with my offspring, but I have sadly made myself too easily identifiable on here to anyone in my local area, so will have to restrain myself (whilst grinding my teeth down to gum level in frustration - gah!).

I wish we were back in ye olden days when pupils were responsible for their own homework and schools would never think of setting a homework that was actually for the parents. I wrote some very bad swearing at this point, but it was so bad that shocked even myself and had to delete it. I have not had a very good w/e. Grrrrrrr. Dh has asked me whether I will be coming back from London on Oct 8th. Current answer: No, I am running away to join the circus. As a bearded lady, obviously.

Ruby, from your description of your dd I can definitely see why you are worried. My dd only turned 13 in July, but she looks fairly grownup physically. However, she is very diffident which tends to give away how young she really is.

I am a pedant and cannot bear it that people do not know the difference between practice and practise. In England we have both words, we are not American who use practice for both.

Why a crap weekend Stropps?

Strop, can I come with you to the circus?

DD who only turned 12 in July, has turned into a teenage witch. At home only, of course (AFAIK) and mainly to me

Yes, Tilly, you can come too! I am packing my sequinned leotard and several bottles of sparkling wine. This is all I need. I am also teaching the dog some tricks as he is coming too (hope you don't mind)

BD, I am probably being thoroughly unreasonable and curmudgeonly due to being overtired (insomnia back again, dammit) and having the stress tolerance of er, um, something that is way too highly strung for its own good. But I am very pissed off with the amount of demands my dcs schools make. Holy shit, aren't they supposed to be teaching pupils to do stuff for themselves? And if I get another invite to some shitey "event" during the school day this term I will spontaneously combust. Sorry, but can schools not teach children that actually parents can't all drop their work to come in to school all the bloody time to view the educational equivalent of the opening of a fecking envelope? My w/e disappeared in a welter of nagging and bad temper due to projects needing to be done, piano practice that ds is really getting his head around and assorted other organisational tiresomeness.

Doesn't really sound that bad, does it? I am definitely BU, as the jargon round here would have it :)

Damn. "dcs' schools"

I doubt I will fit into DD's slightly sparkly competition leotard, so I'll come as a clown instead I'll bring the straws (for the wine)

Do not get me started on school...ds in yr4 - brings home homework books. They no longer issue a slip with page numbers on, they are supposed to remember the page numbers! (I know it is all about responsibility and independence, but how about getting them to write the page numbers down somewhere!) SO we flick through book and ds says 'I think it is that one, with the picture of the dog...' So god knows if we have done the right homework or not.
And as for come in and see us, between 3.30-5.00 to meet your child's new teacher - I work, I can't keep taking time off.......

I am instigating a cleaning rote in my house as I am fed up of being everyone's skivvy.....
Circus - hum, wonders what skill she could offer, eyes up dog and wonders if she could join Stropps in a dog act......

Oooh BD let me know how your cleaning rota goes. I would love not to feel like the skivvy.

I have already warned ds that if DVDs are not put back in the cases they will go in the bin........

dh has just asked me if it's OK if his new band can come here next w/e for their first "acoustic" practice. Oh they will only have amps for the guitar, bass guitar and the keyboard. Oh yes. And this will all take place in our titchy dining room, apparently. I am feeling so disagreeable today that I said he can only do it if he cleans the house first and then works out what he is going to do with ds. Who will want to join in and will not be welcome. I know I should just shut up and take the dog and ds for a walk. After all, the following w/e I am off to London . However, I am crabby at the thought of some random old blokes cluttering up my house of a Saturday afternoon dh has reacted by cleaning the loos and is now shredding branches in the garden (he hates gardening and I usually do it all). He has a plan...

We are both twitchy because we have no work in, I think. And I am just mightily cheesed off with how I now seem to spend every waking moment when I am not working organising educational activities of one sort or another for my children (includes school-related stuff) as I have finally had to admit that if I do not, their default setting is to lie on the sofa all day watching tripe on the tv. And dd's school is already going on about how they must all do as many clubs and societies as poss so they get plenty of material for their personal statements for uni. She is only at the beginning of yr 9.

Oh blimey. Is that the time? I must go and teach the dog some more tricks before catching up on the accounts. BD, what tricks shall we include in the act??

I am putting a sock in it. I really am.

btw, I am looking forward to seeing your clown outfit, Tilly

Got a spotty jumpsuit for starters. If I tuck it into my socks and wear a pair of DH's shoes............

I've just done a mammoth (for me) bit of cleaning - after getting side-tracked looking at old photo's (I can't believe how much younger I looked even 10 years ago), I have cleaned the top floor, hoovered everywhere AND cleaned both the bloody toilets as no-one else will do it

Stropps - hound is good at 'fetch' (particularly ds's shoes and socks), but less good at 'drop' or 'leave'. Is fab at begging for cheese and burying slices of toast in the corner of the sofa. Any of this any good?

Ds has been selected to learn to play the cello so not only to we have to find time for piano practise, we have to squash some cello practise in there too......(and we got told off for fact he doesn't read to us every night and we haven't written in his reading diary. She was 'most disappointed' apparently). I simply do not have enough hours in the day....something is going to have give (me probably)

This is reminding me of a very wierd dog and cat show we happened upon in a French street in the summer. Have you got some little outfits for the doggies to wear, and can they pirouette on their hind legs?

BTW, if anyone finds a way of getting their DC to do instrument practice, please let me know. DD flatly refuses to give up piano lessons, but will not practise. Ever.

No piano practise, no ds (nintendo that is...)

My dog is well 'ard and would not wear a tutu :)

StroppyDog will do virtually anything for a sausage, but I am not sure if he will wear a pierrot suit. That may cost 2 sausages. He also does not do "drop" or "leave" unless you either have a squeaky toy or a lot of sausage on your person.

dd has given up the piano (I wrote "paino" first, which is quite apt) after 2 years of refusing to do her practice. So because I like to suffer, ds has now started paino instead and I am having to get him into a routine. This is proving difficult and I am frequently losing my temper. This is not helpful. I may need special instrument-practice-related anger management classes.

Coincidentally, DD2 has just come back from Brownies waving a "Circus Skills" badge, after a couple of hours of stilt-walking and juggling.

Please feel free to incorporate her into your act. She likes dogs.

We have also given up "paino" because DD1 didn't practice nearly enough. She wasn't that bothered, and it was too expensive for me not to mind about that.

Aaargh. If only I could get her to give up the lessons, but she LOVES her teacher. And it's only £10 for 40mins

BTM - apparently you shouldn't say "practise" - sounds dull, effort required. You should say "play" which sounds upbeat and fun. It doesn't work here, but that was the advice I was given. DD1 is a perfectionist, but unfortunately being a perfectionist doesn't tally with the other side of her personality, which is putting in zero effort, so she expected to pick up the cello and play like Yo Yo Ma within a week. Sadly (for us as well) that wasn't the case.

May I recommend a trumpet with a silencer thing? Tis bliss, you can't hear a thing if you are in the other room. Or was that just DD2 not practising at all?

We pay 45 euros an hour for the joy of the cello lesson.

Ah, MrsS, my dd is also a perfectionist who likes to put in zero effort. She spends every school prizegiving muttering things along the lines of "Those prizes are rightfully mine."

We have also had that terminology advice re: play vs practice. And the paino teacher has invited all parents to some jolly seminars (at £10 a go, natch) about how to encourage said playing. I am grumpy about this. I mean, is it not enough that I take the sprog to the lessons and provide them with an instrument to play? Can they not just.... do it?

CV, have added dd2 to the circus team list. Will she come with a good supply of sausages and cheese?

Well, you will not believe this but she -practised- played of her own volition tonight I think this is because she has persuaded her teacher to let her learn something poppy - Patience by Take That. Sadly, it was unidentifiable when she -practised- played