A Rose by any other name....

Quotes and oneliners are a big thing in our house at the moment thanks to PJs English Teacher.



We're almost at the end of Yr 7 and PJs homework is to learn "something from Shakespeare to do at the end of term"


Don't you just love it when they listen and come home with the full story! Lol!


So, the ensuing discussion revolved in an everlasting circle about what she knew about Shakespeare, exactly WHAT her Teacher had said and whether she had to do a monologue ("A What?") or learn a dialogue with a partner.


I wouldn't mind, but she's supposed to be one of the more able in her year, considers herself good at English and is always raved about by the staff whenever I go up to school!



Anyway, it got me thinking about things we say that children may not fully understand, but don't want to admit.

The first is my DD4's understanding of my Father dying. We'd taken her to see him when he was first ill, as they were very close. Then we'd carefully explained that 'Grandad was very ill and his body was so poorly he couldn't use it anymore and so he died' (he had a massive - undiagnosed until it was too late - brain tumour) She seemed to accept this and, having discussed it at school with her teacher (a long standing former colleague of mine) she came home to tell me that "grandad is in Heaven and he can see me when I do things!"

Then, a few weeks later we got in the car to travel to a near by town (Hemel Hempstead, known to us as "Hemel") CJ was all excited. "Will we see Grandad?"
Grandad? I wondered, as my DH's Father lives at the other end of the country!
"Yes, Grandad that died. He's in Hemel, that's why he can't visit us anymore!"
DD12 rolled her eyes and said "You mean Heaven?"
"Yes!" says DD4, quite indignantly! "That's what I said!"

So, watch this space for a growing list, and the fun I have explaining!

Getting Organised?

Well, I was right, I didn't keep the Blog up very well did I?! -And I'm still envious of some of the others I read. I've just the most amazing one - I'm an Organizing Junkie http://orgjunkie.com/ which I'm working my way through.

Being organised is my dream! In my final year teaching I cracked the classroom, but unfortunately I'm still losing the fight at home! -Mind you, one of my excuses (and yes I AM clutching at straws!) is that we live in a TINY Tiny little house!

It was fabulous when I lived here on my own in the 2 months before we got married, then DH moved down from up north, along with his record collection and overwhelming pile of Train spotting books, photos and notebooks. Added to all my Teaching "stuff" and Guiding "stuff" things got a little tight!

The DD12 arrived and Grandad (who sadly passed away last May) went doolally! PJ was the apple of his eye and anything she mentioned in his earshot arrived for Birthday or Christmas (we often felt he had missed his vocation, he was just the right shape and had just the right attitude to take on that famous North Pole job!)... so more pressure on the garage!

With the arrival of DD4 and DD2...... well suffice to say that we basically have just too much "Stuff" for the little 2 up 2 down cottage we love!

So. Getting organised. Hmm where to start?

Several years ago I subscribed to Flylady http://www.flylady.net/ - I read the testimonial's ( I often find them uplifting) and the "Missions" (of which I manage about 1 in 3!) and have tried to build my routines and family organiser (though I must admit I got that from Organized Christmas and then got hooked!)... but I just can't get "into it" enough to keep up the momentum!

So, a slight change of tack for this Blog (hey, no sense starting a new one, it'll just sit there cluttering up cyberspace!) - I'll still use it to organise my thoughts, but I'll also be sharing with you my journey into the realm of Organisation (or should that be Organization?!)