La Vie en Crepe

[motherinferior]

And a new door opens...

Goodness what a rash of posting. I can't keep up.

I have parent evening tonight and rather than embarrass DD1 - have actually been to the hairdressers.

My DS is bright and popular but bone idle and addicted to Minecraft. He also gets onto the computer by saying he has essential research to do for school. [

DD1 recently had uni interviews. She just wore smart black jeans, a jumper and boots and did her Maria Callas eyeliner thing. Most were smart/casual like this, although there were some suits and little dresses.

BD, yes we should get them together - they could talk about The Hobbit.
Hatty, Minecraft, eh? Ds is also deeply into that. I have sacrificed my tablet to the god of Minecraft. Ds whiffles on all the time about Minecraft mods and apps. And would spend his life viewing "how to" vids on YouTube, if allowed. Meh.

Stropps - I keep finding apps for weird zombie things on my tablet which obviously have nothing to do with me and about which DS has the audacity to deny all knowledge.

Oh Stropps - and the minecraft thing....... (why)... he has made mods of his cuddles (I kid you not) and when I had to do a patch job on them before Christmas updated the mod to resemble the current state of play!!

All my dcs love Minecraft - it is pretty good, as these things go. However, if allowed to play whenever he liked, DS1 would emerge only to eat occasionally and ds2 would actually starve to death while staring at the screen. I know there is something in the male brain that gets high on this stuff, but it's scary to see it in action.

Our DS's would get on so well - hobbits, Minecraft, what else is there in life?

DS is not remotely interested in Minecraft, hobbits or anything other than sport really Like his father!

The Minecraft addict at Chateau Cointreau is DD2, who is 10. DD1 plays it too - they have little competitions as to who can design and build the most exotic house. Quite amazing, actually.

University interviews? Heaven knows what I wore. Probably a shoulder-pad-heavy polyester number from Dorothy Perkins. And a mullet.

I was a rubbish teenager, too; eccentric and precocious, therefore not popular. I didn't really "fit in" until my last year at school. It never bothered me, though.

I reckon DS will be more of the Minecraft than sporty persuasion, considering he's already downloaded Temple Run on to my phone, taught himself how to do it, and achieved a remarkable level of skill. Though it does turn him a bit mad.

Am about to book him on to a half-term crash course in swimming. Five morning lessons of half an hour, I think. Should mean we can actually go swimming together without him just clinging on to my neck.

Did all of you who felt like you didn't fit in as a teen go to comps? Just wondering if the reason I didn't feel like that was because I went to a grammar school? I would have LOVED to have gone to a modern comp rather than being stuck in the 1950's!

Herbs - intensive swimming courses are def the way to go - it makes a big difference. I am trying to find one for ds2 in half term (hoping our new leisure centre will come up trumps) as he really needs to use some actual swimming strokes instead of his dog paddle/crawl hybrid.

BTM - I went to an academic girls school (aka clique central), also stuck in the 1950s, but my not fitting in was a general life thing, and not confined to school - I was rubbish at diving club and youth group also. Not sure I would have fared any better at a comp, our nearest one was seriously terrible in the 80s, major behaviour issues and bullying (by teachers and kids), and when I got to 6th Form College the amount of friends I had from there with no O-levels at all and having to retake them all was a disgrace . And these were kids from reasonably naice Surrey homes. It wouldn't be allowed to happen now, thankfully. Being at a more modern school would probably have helped my attitude to boys though, I was a big "OMG, it's a boy! Snog it!" in my late teens.

I went to a comp, BTM, and oddly feel I would have fitted in better at the ex-grammar. I wanted to be somewhere where it was OK to be a bit clever, but I could be one of the naughty ones.

Wilbur - I was exactly the same with boys, having been to the same sort of school. I really admire how the DD's are so relaxed around men.

I was a mixed school, but still 'put it about a bit' in my late teens. Though I think that was more to do with my lamentable self-esteem...

So was I wilbur! Snogging would have been the least of my worries

I went to a mixed comp. Some snogging was achieved though I only got into my stride (fnar) in my early 30s. I really wish I'd put it about more at university rather than sticking with one boyfriend whom I didn't even fancy, in sheer terror that nobody else would ever want me.

I appear to have had a long lunch including a glass of wine and am feeling no pain

My not fitting was due, I think, to changing schools at 13. I went to the local comp and was a total fish out of water. I spent two years largely on my own until the lower sixth.
I was lonely but did mean I could be as clever as I liked and not give a did. I was terribly odd (still am).

I went to a small girls-only grammar, then it went comprehensive as I entered fifth year (Y11) and saved me. Better teachers, mixed, much better science and music. I was a lot happier.

Wish I'd had better advice about uni, though I was happy where I ended up.

I also went to an all girls grammar school which was obsessed by turning us into smart young ladies.
I was completely out of my comfort zone for 7 years as the school put a great deal of energy into making us play hockey , prepare for marriage, and be good at maths.
I was into art, rebelling and punk.
Fortunately there were 4 of us who felt similarly and as a mini gang we were of course in permanent trouble.
I think now we were just not appreciated as individuals or indeed encouraged the way dd is now - to have self belief and confidence .
My 3 compatriots all ended up at Oxbridge and are now a banker, a professor and a pa to a fashion designer oft mentioned on here. ( herbs frock)
It took me years not to feel very out of place everywhere . I was supposed to be posh so riled at art school. I was from NI so 'different ' and made fun of for being a Paddy(!) Didn't help being perceived to be a different / unknown quantity in the religious camp either. No one knew how to categorise me.
Yay ! I say now. But it has taken yonks and definitely started in school.

i went to a v academic girls' school that i now realise was completely foul to my best friend who was dyslexic and then a grammar school in dorset that i hated. i used to slope around it gloomily in long floppy skirts, long floppy hair and, um, clogs. never fitted in terribly well to either. didn't help that i'd lived abroad until i was 9 and didn't really understand the social structures that faced me. was saved by having a couple of really good friends in both but was never any good at joining in stuff. thank god i'm not young any more (to coin a phrase)

Ooh addle, I did the same as you, except that I went to the Dorset grammar first and the v. academic girls' school second.

Getting excited about tomorrow and (re)meeting a bunch of once teenage misfits .... I'm the short dumpy one in grey

I went to the local comp and had very few friends there - am only in touch with one school friend. I had some v good friends at the boys' grammar school in town, and used to spend Friday/Saturday/Sunday socialising with them. When this got out at school, I had a meteoric rise in the popularity stakes with all of the girls in the "in crowd" desperate to come to cool bars and parties in town. I didn't invite them. Still in touch with a couple of the boys, and going out for dinner with them next month.

I was very swotty at school till the age of 13, when I was given a maths O level mock exam, with a view to taking it 2 years early. I got 9% and gave up after that. I was bored with it all and just wanted to leave. Stayed for A levels, cocked them up, got a job "to pay back some of the money spent on me over the years" and promptly moved out to share a house in London.

My school was quite, quite bonkers, in that no-one could be seen to fail at anything, so we did no competitive sport, no house points etc etc. If you wanted to come to lessons, that was fine, if you didn't, well that was fine too.

BD - I'm the tall, fat spotty one with roots like Lily Savage.

Have not given any thought as to dress yet.

I went to a mixed comp and after a truly dire time in what we then called the third year, reinvented myself as a smoking, drinking, skiving uber-bitch who nonetheless did her homework in secret. It kinda worked as a survival strategy but it left me with a few issues to unpick . I'm very glad that my boys, who are VERY quirky, seem to be navigating their way through an inner London comp without having to resort to these tactics.