We’ve been out with Mel, Liam and Lily today. Last time we met up with them I had an utterly miserable time as we were penniless and she was flush with tokens for her two in the amusements, getting them a gift in the shop afterwards and paying for a round of mini golf. Oh and we were trapped there as Ady had taken us over and was coming to collect us again later. It was really busy there and I just had a crap time.
This time we met later and we managed to be not just on time but slightly early :). Although we are again penniless we did have nice picnic food as a result of post-Christmas food mountain and I did lots of preparing D and S for precisely what they could have (£1 worth of tokens or £1 worth of 20p pieces each to spend in the amusements and nothing else).
So we had a walk through the Planet Earth bit with the children as always picking out different things to take note of as we went – Davies and Liam were into the bones, Scarlett wanted to know all about mummies and tombs. It was really interesting watching Liam today and realising that all the stuff I’ve been moaning about Davies doing this last week or so (not the tiredness related stroppiness, he’s also been doing a lot of general silliness – talk of poo and bums and other such nonsense which just irritates the hell out of me) is actually pretty normal kid behaviour. Infact if I’m honest I do recall boys (and yes it was normally boys, the girls were busy being snooty and disapproving as I recall) doing very similar way back in my own schooldays. Liam was full of it, utter nonsense, laughing at not remotely funny things and just being generally silly. Felt quite reassuring, if irritating to be around.
Mel and I chatted lots about schools – Lily started reception in September and goes full time from next week, Liam is in year 3 and has been in junior school since September. It sounds dreadful! She was telling me how they have this reward and punishment policy with lots of certificates awarded including the ultimate prize of ’20 minutes with the headmistress’ which aside from soundly faintly kinky Mel said is because she has a PS2 in her office :shock:! But the punishments sound way worse, they have some sort of card system similar to football where a yellow card means a loss of 10 minutes of playtime where you have to stand in the school hall with your face to the wall 😯 😯 and a red card means exclusion (nice to have something to aim for eh?!). Liam apparently got yellow carded which also means Mel got called into the school where a meeting with her, Liam and the teacher takes place. The teacher goes through why the card was issued which in Liam’s case was because he told her to ‘shut up!’, but Liam then said it was because she called him a ‘crybaby’ which as Mel said, probably explains him telling her to shut up really!
Mel is a really good school parent, she helps out loads at the school, is really active and has put loads of thought into which schools to choose for Liam and Lily, got them really involved with the extra curricular stuff the schools offer, helped out at school fetes, gone in to do classroom assisting and so on, but she seemed pretty disillusioned with the whole system today really, which was a surprise as although she has always been very supportive of our HEing she is also very pro-school and very positive about the education system normally. The more I hear about school the more I realise HE and school are increasingly incomparable entities really. We were saying what an amazingly difficult job teaching must be given how tricky it can be to balance the needs and behaviour of two children let alone a whole classroom full of them. And then to teach them stuff too! Who knows how Davies and Scarlett would fare in school but I know I’d be a dreadful school-mother! 😆
We had lunch and a play in the amusements followed by another walk round outside and play in the outside swings and slides. I was feeling really cold by then (I’m still not 100% well and Ady has kept us both awake for the last two nights coughing and coughing. I can cope with going to bed late and waking early but interupted nights’ sleep totally finish me off) and Mel was promising Liam and Lily sweets and a toy from the shop so I thought we’d say goodbye there rather than watch them making their selections. It was a nice visit though, the children got on well and Mel and I managed lots of chatting. We’re seeing them again for Liam’s birthday party next weekend.
We came home via Matalan as I am still on a black skirt for Scarlett hunt but with no luck. Once home I rang the swimming pool and managed to get Scarlett booked in for the same lesson group as Davies 🙂 this is fab for all sorts of reasons, not least it means I don’t have to entertain one child while the other swims twice a week. Also it spells the end of me needing Ady to get home by 5pm so I can leave a child behind with him while taking the other one somewhere now as D’s Beavers is just round the corner, they’ll do swimming and Badgers together and then S’s Rainbows is just round the corner too :). Feel very positive and happy about all those things lined up for them both and they are both looking forward to doing the stuff together too :).
Ady got home, the children had tea and then played with the ELC dancemat that S got about 3 Christmasses ago and has suddenly made a comeback and then they avoided sleep for many hours, with Davies re-appearing for the last time at 10pm and sitting down to watch QI with us :roll:. Ady is in bed coughing so I’m putting off going to bed as much though I adore him, love him and feel terribly sorry for him and his cough related suffering I also have to restrain myself from smothering him with his pillow when he has now been coughing for a bloody sodding fortnight!!!
I hope the cough eases soon!
It was the long explanation of the punishment system at junior school that convinced Pearlie to give home ed a try. She was really put off by the talk of an exclusion room.
Ah yes the punishments and rewards of the school days. I remember them well. There were many many tears over that bloody star of the week trophy. (and then there was the teacher that shouted at them for crying when they weren’t chosen to receive the trophy. They were 4 years old for flip sake!).. and the golden time reward… and the stickers… and the smiley or sad face on the white board… and the sitting in a circle with legs crossed and fingers on lips and if you dared move or fidget or ask a question or bloody well breathe too loudly you lost out on all the above.
I love home ed I do.
Can’t see Andrew ever wanting to go back there!
I just bury my head in the sand about reward/punishment systems – I guess schools have to have some systems in place for the children that need them both as motivators and as ways to keep order – but as long as my kids aren’t affected by them I don’t really care how terrible they sound. My lot don’t seem to be bothered about the rewards but equally they haven’t ever (to my knowledge!) been involved with any of the discipline rules, iyswim.
and I think I’m a fairly awful school-mum too, even now I hate it really – but given that that’s what my children have chosen to do then simply as a mum I feel I have to at least make an effort to support them!