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bigTillyMint ·
19/03/2013 08:02
I still remember all about ox-bow lakes and DD learned about them in Y7, but I don't think DS has done them! I don't think I've ever seen one in the flesh though, BD
We went to Caernarvon castle and the Isle of Man (both day trips) when I was at secondary school. DD has done 2 PGL type residentials, DS going in the summer. I refuse to pay out for expensive school stays when we go away alot with them as a family
Agree with BD's advice MrsS. Hope you found some good painkillers. I have just booked a check-up for the DC and me. I have the worst set of teeth in the entire extended family
hattymattie ·
19/03/2013 08:38
OQC I know how that lady feels about her DS though - honestly sometimes there is nothing more lazy than the male child. Just been told by DS's teacher that his french is "minable". He's half french - I don't know how my third child came out more English than French. Now I'm going to have to get his sister to work with him as I can't. Why can't he understand that if he applied himself at school, he wouldn't have to do extra work at home grr!
By the way I love ox-bow lakes and hanging valleys - bore my children to death with details like this.
All these trips sound very expensive - reckon if I can't afford them for myself I don't see why my kids should do them. Although did fork out for India last year - don't worry Mrs S they soon get over wanting to do good in the world and revert to type. 
.
Stropperella ·
19/03/2013 09:53
Ahhh, but Herbs, I didn't go on any field trips and I still know about oxbow lakes. And glacial moraines. We had olden days school jogfry TV. But yes, I do think there is a place for field trips. Dd was off at Lyme Bay looking at cliffs and other coastal thingies last week.
I went on two school trips but they were outwardbound ghastlies. Canoeing in Lyme Bay in just a swimming cozzie in a gale in November. Being sworn at by ex-Royal Marines until you finally jumped off a ridiculously high diving board (even if you were a non-swimmer), safety-free abseiling. That kind of thing. Things they wouldn't get away with now. Because things changed somewhat after this
Laziness - both dd and ds are very lazy and only do anything at all when threatened with regular arse kicks. I initially tried the nicey-nicey, praise the good and ignore the bad approach with both of them, but sadly no reward was ever enough to get them to sustain any kind of effort for more than about 5 mins. They just both revert to the default setting of lying on the sofa watching crap TV (at home) and doing as little as humanly possible without actually getting into trouble (at school). And the attitude from all the schools has always been "if they're able and can't be arsed but don't cause any trouble in class, then we can't be arsed either". I find it tricky to apply just the right amount of pressure to get them to put enough effort into their work: enough to rouse them from their natural apathy and stop them from missing out on too many opportunities but not so much as to make them feel over-pressured and anxious.
hattymattie ·
19/03/2013 10:40
Seems to be btm India must be full of overprivileged french children.
I've decided DS is going to do one hour of solid French every night in addition to his normal homework until he pulls his socks up. Honestly I've tried all approaches like you stropps and I'm in despair. Now I'm just going for plain mean. 
Talking of jogger - anybody remember grikes and clints and limestone pavement? I think I'll integrate "grikes and clints" into my day-to-day vocabulary as swear word substitutes (to be aimed at good for nothing son)
Stropperella ·
19/03/2013 10:59
@ grikes and clints. "stop being such a grike and do yr homework properly"..
Stropperella ·
19/03/2013 11:02
MI, I feel yr pain. (About the childcare issue rather than the dms. Although dms clearly v. irritating)
MrsSchadenfreude ·
19/03/2013 11:55
I have been working from home this morning, due to Child Back From India having a runny bottom. I have dosed her up with Immodium and said that as there does not appear to be much else wrong - no temp, no vomiting, no pain, she can finish tidying her room. I am going into the office for a 1700 meeting that It Is Essential That I Attend and No-one Else Will Do.
But having worked from home, and started early, I find I have also managed to tidy and clean the kitchen, doing all of the washing up that Must Be Done By Hand, do two loads of washing and put it away, and make a good start on tidying the linen cupboard. My paid work has not suffered unduly, although the cat did eat my Moroccan Carrot Salad when I went to answer the phone. I had no idea he liked carrots. He had covered the empty bowl tidily with a tea towel when he had finished too.
The parasites have suggested bringing sausages, bacon and tea bags. As this is the first time they have ever bothered to bring anything, I have gratefully accepted, although did wonder if this is because they will be expecting a cooked breakfast?
MI - I utterly loathe this "we." The mere sentence that starts "What have we done about..." gets me very stabby with rage. I am now directional: Please call the doctor and make an appointment for DD1 and take her there. The doctor is English, there is no scary French intervention. Ditto vet: Please call the vet, who speaks perfect English, and book the cats in for their jabs. But it doesn't always work, because he "forgets."
hattymattie ·
19/03/2013 13:34
crem - black coffee and a fag is the average frenchwoman's breakfast
Stropperella ·
19/03/2013 14:48
Har, crem. I get that. Even nutty stuff like "I have fixed your shelf" and "I have hung your washing out". I have wondered if this is some bizarre regionalism (dh and I express ourselves very differently due to coming from opposite ends of the isles) and then decided that it wasn't and threw strops about it. It hasn't made any difference.
As regards getting stuff done whilst working from home, I occasionally amuse myself by shouting a running commentary up the stairs to dh in the office when I am cleaning and tidying during a break from paid work. When he takes a break from paid work he plays his bass. Or reads the paper. Or just cyberloafs and hopes that I think he's working. Obviously, I never do that.
bigTillyMint ·
19/03/2013 15:20
MrsS, show them your lovely frying pan and cooker
Yes, I get all the "have we..." apart from where DS's footy is concerned, of course
Stropperella ·
19/03/2013 16:50
Have just disturbed ds's piano lesson with loud snorting at MI's comments on the Gwynnie and the pasta-haterz thread. Ahhh brown rice: that takes me back to the F-Plan again.
Cremolafoam ·
19/03/2013 19:35
Teehee MI you tell em.
How are all the Crepey Teeth today?
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MrsSchadenfreude ·
19/03/2013 20:44
And one colleague, whom I work with peripherally, as she is in another team said to me "We're dreading you leaving as he will have to pick on someone else then and everyone is worried it's going to be them." 
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