Weather crisp, bright and beautiful. Head to town in search of shin pads, Lord of the Flies and school trousers (Skinny Fit) with a pleasant if entirely unjustified feeling of brisk New School Year efficiency. Arrive early for daughter’s final school Progress meeting, and stand in sunshine chatting rather wistfully to her friend’s mother, who works in Tesco’s and says that she has been watching all the parents buying Value duvets and kettles recently and can’t quite believe that This Will Be Us Next Year.
Daughter has recently started part-time waitress job and I am doing my bit to help by a) telling her all the things that Annoy me when I’m being served and b) reading extracts from recent TripAdvisor reports (she has also read them and assures me that she was not the Local Teenager who poked the bread to confirm it was gluten-free). Am reminded of own youthful part-time jobs and can’t help feeling very relieved that they were never subject to online review.
Have all sorts of September resolutions to be better and brighter in every way. The boys say they are Actually Going To Work Hard This Year.
We shall see.
Mrs Ford's Diary 
May we here also hear all the things that Annoy you when you are being served, now that you have so enticingly alluded to them?
The full list is quite long and I suspect would not show me in a good light! But I think I probably get most annoyed when people don’t Make An Effort. (Poor daughter is probably now spending her shifts rushing around in needless displays of enthusiasm.)
Oh yes, lots of September resolutions here too. It’s like New Year isn’t it. Are people still reading Lord of the Flies at school? It brings back vivid memories. CJ xx
Exactly, September still always feels like a new beginning. I never read “Lord of the Flies” at school, and could only just bear to watch the film; but it’s apparently a GCSE Set Text this year so I will doubtless soon become Very Familiar with it.
Sounds like an interesting start to an interesting year! Hope that no more bread poking is required…….. xx
Yes, I’m sure that Bread-Poking will be addressed in the next Staff Training session …
Good Heavens. I did Lord of the Flies forty years ago. You’d have thought things might have moved on a little from then. I remember the thrill of sitting in the school hall watching a film that had been X rated.
It’s strange how strong some memories of school can be. Yes, some things do move on (Margaret Atwood and Angela Carter are both on my daughter’s A-level English syllabus) but quite a lot of things don’t seem to have moved on at all.
love your take on life. All have vowed to work hard in our house. Even me (mature student). Bit of a gender divide in our house as to how hard you work.
Thank you! And good luck to all of you with all that hard work. My sons are generally unimpressed when I suggest that they should Challenge Gender Stereotypes by being a bit more diligent, but I’m hoping that Enlightened Self-Interest might motivate them instead.
Money can motivate my sons. Kind of sad.
But entirely normal! Entries from teenagers in our Horticultural Association shows have increased significantly since we started offering a £20 cash prize for best Junior Adult entry…
Dear Mrs Ford, I sympathise. You never stop worrying or caring about your little ankle biters, but all roads lead home. It’s always emotional to see your brood go on their little jaunts. As soon as you get rid of one, another one moves in!! Maybe this might cheer you up, it’s good craic xx (50 ways to kill your mammy currently on Sky) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeG2oJMJTUc
I hadn’t heard of that programme but it looks fun! Thanks very much for the link, and for your helpful thoughts -I’m trying my best to get mentally prepared for the Children Leaving Home stage. I think we may have to get a new puppy.
They don’t really leave home! Maybe now and again, but they bounce back, bored, broke, heart-broken, unemployed, recovering from a gap year, whatever it is. And they still won’t walk the puppy as often as you would like……
I’m sure you’re absolutely right but not sure whether that cheers me or not!
Our family home is always open – it should be a sanctuary for T.L.C, with good home cooking, solid advice and a silk shoulder pad to cry on and a pet to cuddle up with. I am blessed with a delightful but naughty little nephew who started school this month (so wobbly chins were out in force) who I love but at a distance. He is into pirates, karate chops, water fights and digging up my rose bushes with makeshift forks. I had suggested boarding school until he is 18 so he can bond with others. Sister looks aghast. I just need a mojito or two after the ordeal. But I wish you a happy autumn. xx
Yes, I like to think that our home will always be a safe and happy place where everyone can come and recover from the stresses and strains of Life. I hope that your nephew is enjoying school and I am sure that he will do plenty of bonding with others even without the joys of boarding school!
I do find him very cute, but I do feel rather delicate after a day of committees and VIP launches. I feel that I should write a thesis on the power of Peppa Pig, as my television is running on episodes 24/7 (I should say from a feminist point of view I have a grudging admiration for ‘Mrs Rabbit’ – she does about 4 jobs without breaking into a sweat including being a teacher and chauffeur…but I digress…)
I haven’t ever watched Peppa Pig, but perhaps I should – it sounds as though I could perhaps learn a thing or two from Mrs Rabbit!