Memories of ... School (Part 2: High School/Secondary)

Could Have Been My School

My Secondary School (or High School) was in fact two different schools, as we moved as a family in my third year (? I think). Not that it matters, UK Secondary and Comprehensive Schools in the 80's were all pretty much the same. If you're a Brit, think Grange Hill with less drugs. If you're not a Brit, 'Grange Hill' was a kids TV show in the 80's about a .... UK Secondary School. If you were a kid in the 80's, you wished your school was like Grange Hill but your parents hoped and prayed it wasn't at all like that. Mine was a bit! I'm whistling the theme tune to Grange Hill now.

Burnt in My Memory: Walking the halls between classes trying to look cool and attractive at all costs and at all times. Because everyone's watching you, right? Not easy to achieve my ideal High School look of a cross between Boy George and 80's Madonna when my Mum was still responsible for most of my wardrobe. AND I had to work around that dumb uniform and stupid school rules about make up and hemlines.

The day I was given detention by my impossibly unforgiving French Teacher (also Head of Year) for ... ASKING A QUESTION. Yes, I was punished for my enquiring mind at school. She ordered me into the Store Cupboard at the back of the classroom, there was a small desk inside and a young chap in school uniform whom I didn't recognise. He looked at me as I walked in and said deadpan "I've been here for years".

Throw Your Hands Up at Me

"All the women, who are independent .. throw your hands up at me!"

(Hands in the air like you just don't care).

"My house, I bought it (I rent). My car, I bought it (I don't drive). My .. er ... la la, THROW YOUR HANDS UP AT ME!!"

No? Partying on my own here?

Ahem.

I've only been blogging for ... (let me just check) ... it'll be a year next month. Woo hoo! I'll let you know where the party's at. So, less than a year and the very cool and pretty awesome Chiara Mazzucco of Chiara Says contacts me and asks me if I would write a post for a new online magazine she's co-founded, The Indie Chicks which went live today. (Yay! Happy Going Live Day Indie Chicks! *CHINK*).

THEY'RE DRUGGING MY CHILD???!! Oh, no .. it's okay. False Alarm.

Four year old Tallen told a WHOPPA last night. Little tyke. On a serious and, very sadly for some, very real subject. It both amazed me, and made me giggle, how far as parents we had to take it to ensure we got to the truth of the matter.

Tallen's been poorly of late, there's a bug going around at school that seems to have hit him twice now. Lots of coughing and snot (always a joy) and he's not been sleeping well for a couple of nights bless him.

So it wasn't too surprising then that yesterday, for the second day in a row, the little chap came home from school looking way tired, like he was ready to drop. But he's still young enough to need a nap in the afternoon, he's poorly. I wasn't unduly concerned until Hubby commented on it.

http://www.flickr.com/

Hubby: "He looks drugged. Have you seen his eyes?"
Me: "I know! He looks exhausted shame, all bloodshot"

Hubby's still looking concerned.

Hubby: "You think they've given him something at school? To calm him down? That's the second day he's come home from school with eyes like that. It happens, you hear about it" (boys always want a conspiracy, so funny)
Me: "You mean like they've given him some medicine to dope him because he was being hectic at school or something and they couldn't handle it? But he's a good boy at school, only we experience the full Tallen Tantrum"

I'm Wicked and I'm Laaazy

No, not me. I can be lazy at times. I can be downright friggin' slothlike given half the chance but that's not what I'm posting about. This post is about tunes dude. And bad ones at that.

Hubby likes to mix. Most days he can be found in front of Virtual DJ on the pc for an hour or two in his 'After Dinner' slot. Mixing up a messed up shuffle suggested storm of several different genres of music for me and the kids to go crazy in the lounge to. Put your hands in the air like you just don't care! Ahem.

Come night time, when the kids have gone to bed he's a Trance boy at heart. But he knows I'm a Deep House girl and he loves me (*sigh*) so I'm lucky enough to get my own personal mixes from time to time. And it was listening to one such House mix the other night that we both noticed something.

House music producers are getting really lazy dude. I should rephrase that. SOME house music producers are getting really lazy.

Happy Birthday Natey!

My youngest son, little Natey Noodle turned two on Thursday. Here's a few pics for Mum (Hi Mum!) and to mark the occasion.

Early morning pressie opening.
Big brother Tallen keen to assist in any way he can.

Heard in My House .. Tallen Changed His Mind

** Can I just say, because it may help some readers, a Bakkie is a South African works vehicle, like a pick up truck without the hook thingy. And a Chappie is a sweet we get here that has interesting facts (Did You Know?) printed on the inside of the wrapper. That'll all make sense in a minute ...

Tallen (4) is enjoying his school holidays at the moment. Reminds me, must email the school and find out when he's due back, must be next week surely ... anyhoo.

Very luckily for Tallen, his Mummy and Daddy run a small (teeny really) playground company and a day at work with Daddy in the holidays amounts to a day of free play in a school playground. And he's the only kid there.

Problem is, Tallen also loves staying at home with me and his little brother and first thing in the morning, it's friggin' hard to get him to make a decision.

Memories of ... School (Part 1: Nursery & Primary School)

Earliest memories first, Nursery/Pre School. I remember little about the building but I do remember a large curtain, behind which sat a plump, smiley old lady who read stories all day.

Burnt in my Memory: Sitting on plump, smiley old ladys lap for story time.

Best Forgotten: Clinging to Dads leg so he couldn't leave me there.

Dramatic Performance: Just the tantrums when it was time for Dad to leave.

Stuff I Learnt: At Aged 3? Just that I miss my Mummy and Daddy I think.

I Got My Mojo Back

It may be a slightly tentative position but for now, at least, I have my mojo back. Don't go all Austin Powers on me, I'm not talking about my sex drive. More my energy.

I'm sleeping well again!! Yay!!

Not long back I was suffering from a severe lack of sleep and moreover, broken sleep. I blogged about it here and at the time I thought it had a lot to do with my kids (LOVE those little tykes) and their sleep patterns. I tried a few different things .. thanks for the tips, it all helped because in the end, a few good nights kip was all I needed to break the old routine.

My kids slept well most nights, I just had to stop myself waking up in the early hours to 'check on them'.

And now (I can hear a drumroll, is it just me?) I've broken the habit. Sleeping like a log most nights. Hoo-f*@king-rah I could kiss Celine Dion right now, I'm so happy.

I Wanna Girl!!

http://www.thesimpsons.com/

I can't help it.

Hubby knows and understands. But I feel the need to talk about it more than I think he feels the need to hear about it (!!) so I'm blogging this out to you because sometimes I just need to shout out.

"I WANT A GIRL!!!"

Ahem.

I was 37 when I had Tallen, now four, and I had Nate, almost two, when I was 39. For one of those inexplicable reasons, I figured somewhere between the two pregnancys odds would be that I'd end up with a son and a daughter.

Why would I think that?

I was so convinced, in fact, that my second pregnancy was a girl that Hubby and I chose a girls name (Macy) and I listened eagerly to all those pregnancy commentators amongst my friends and family who told me "it's a girl this time, I can tell". It wasn't helped by the fact that Hubby and I decided this time to say 'no' whenever we were asked if we wanted to know the sex, and I went through the entire pregnancy quietly convinced that it was different to my first. I felt different, the bump was different. It HAD to be a girl.

Grandmas House

My Grandma passed away last year. Aged 93, she was a true gem of a lady and a lovely, lovely Grandma. She'll be missed so much.

My siblings and I spent a lot of time with her in our school holidays, and just thinking about her a lot recently has brought back a flood of memories of happy times playing at Grandmas House in my childhood so I'd like to post the memories lest I forget them again.

http://www.visitmidsomer.com/

Grandma lived in the same house all her married life and remained there in her later years alone after Grandad died, having raised her three children - my Mum, and two Uncles - in the same house. It's one of those places that just seems to absorb, for me at least, all of the memories it creates. I can picture the house so clearly, every room, every detail, like I was there yesterday. I can almost smell its smells.

The house is in a small town in the UK called Wallingford, which I always remember as a great place for us to spend time in the Summer holidays. Hope it hasn't changed too much. It's a place steeped in history, a town started in the 9th Century that has a Castle, a river and a whole heap of child friendly attractions.