So, 10am I dropped off a jittery, jumpy, couldn’t-sit-still GP2 for his first exam. “I’m not nervous” he said. Hmm. By the time we got to the school he had my stomach turning somersaults. Maths.
It started yesterday, 3pm. “Mum! My calculator’s broken”. “It’ll be the battery” she said sagely and spent the next 20 minutes extricating [...]
Archive for the 'Boys' Category
I’m not nervous!
Published May 6th, 2009 in Boys, Children, SQA, School and Standard Grades. 7 CommentsThree weeks and counting…
Nag, nag, nag, nag, nag, nag
GPM: “That’s 3 weeks. THREE weeks. Well OK 23 days and a few hours until Higher English. You won’t be able to put it off any longer then.”
GP1: “I kno-o-ow.”
Nag. Nag, nag, nag, nag.
“So have you learned that poem? Read that book? Written out those quotes?”
“I’ll do it tomorrow. [...]
Mothers’ Day was spent sitting at the side of a swimming pool, watching one son win a well-earned bronze medal in backstroke, just reward for recent enthusiasm and hard work, whilst his younger brother swam a valiant 400m with his goggles in his mouth. You’ll probably realise that the mouth is not the ideal location for a [...]
Life and times of a teenager
Published March 23rd, 2009 in Boys, Children, Highers, School and teenagers. 7 CommentsNo. 37 Homage to Tracy Emin
Alternatively known as
No. 49. The horizontal filing cabinet
or
No. 51. Revision?
I warned him it would be blog fodder.
:roll:
Subject choice time looms for GP2, my 14 year old son. He has to pick three subjects plus Maths and English to study for Higher. “What do you want to do when you leave school?” everyone asks. “I don’t know!” he wails. “Earn lots of money.” Don’t we all. Did you know what you wanted to do at 14?
Anyhow, Chemistry [...]
Teacher speke
Published February 26th, 2009 in Boys, Highers, School, Standard Grades and Teachers. 3 CommentsParents’ Evening could have been worse, I suppose, but you do have to read between the lines. A little conversation ensued on my Facebook page, to help me in the interpretation. I though you might all like to join in.
Facebook quotes:-
“I used to get comments like, easily distracted, can do it if he makes the effort. [...]
School shoes. 2 pairs and maybe some grown out of rejects that have escaped the bin.
Messing around after school shoes. Scaffy trainers, 2 pairs.
Trying to be cool shoes. White (yuck!) trainers, but they will insist.
Going to work everyday shoes.
Going to work smart shoes.
Wearing with a dress shoes. One pair. Although there might still be some [...]
Boys: a miscellany
Published January 28th, 2009 in Boys, Children, Family, Highers, SQA, School, Scotland, Standard Grades and Swimming club. 4 CommentsOne hitherto unforeseen advantage of trundling round the house with the vacuum cleaner is that it gives you space to compose blog posts in your head. One disadvantage is that the instant you switch the machine off, those wonderfully crafted words disappear, sucked up as far as I can tell into the Dyson.
Anyway, there I [...]
The ages of man and the aging of women
Published December 28th, 2008 in Boys, Children, Chocolate and Family. 5 CommentsI’m sure you all know how it is that, despite all outward evidence to the contrary, you feel exactly the same inside as you did when you were 20. The only difference, as far as I can tell from the inside, is that I’m not asked for identification any longer when I try to buy [...]
Talking to teachers
Published December 18th, 2008 in Boys, Communication, Highers, Internet, School, Standard Grades and Teachers. 4 Comments
The school communication chain
Part 1 Parents talking to teachers
Identify a pressing need to speak to a teacher.
Find out name of relevant teacher from reluctant teenager.
Weekday morning: write note and send it into school with relevant teenager.
Weekend morning: find scrunched up note in pocket of trousers heading for washing machine.
Next week: phone school to speak to teacher.
Teachers being teachers, [...]
Apparently that is my sobriquet amongst GP1’s friends, due in part to my whimsical tendency to insist that he occasionally tears himself away from the X Box to do his homework (well I try) and in part to my - sorry, our - bizarre and totally unreasonable refusal to allow TVs, games machines or computers in [...]
Onwards and upwards
Published October 15th, 2008 in Boys, Highers, School and Standard Grades. 4 CommentsStandard Grades seemed so simple. Were they ever an issue? Did I ever worry that GP1 might not be working hard enough? Surely not. The fact that GP2 is sitting his SGs this year is really just incidental. Because, dear reader, we have Highers looming. I have written very little about GP1 and his meandering [...]
To boldly go
Published September 10th, 2008 in Boys, Marine biology, Miscellaneous stuff and School. 4 CommentsRead in younger son’s physics homework the other day: “The bench moves you fastly to the start and then slowly back through the…”
Nothing to do with hadrons or black holes, fortunately.
Me: “There’s no such word as ‘fastly’.”
Him: “Yes there is. What’s wrong with fastly?”
Me: “The word’s ‘fast’. But that doesn’t really work [...]
Royal connections
Published August 25th, 2008 in Boys, Communication, East Lothian and Edinburgh. 3 CommentsWe went to the Royal Garden Party at Holyrood earlier in the summer and had a very pleasant afternoon in the sun. Yes, the sun shone, a rare event this year. We didn’t chat with the Queen but did pass the time with some friends we bumped into. I didn’t eat the cucumber sandwiches but [...]
Extreme reading
Published August 13th, 2008 in Books, Boys, Holidays and Miscellaneous stuff. 0 CommentsI’m sure you’ve all heard of extreme ironing…
What lengths we have to go to to get boys to read.
Tutors - help!
Published June 27th, 2008 in Boys, East Lothian, Edinburgh, SQA and School. 0 CommentsSchool’s out. It’s the last day of term. Yay!
But there’s a small problem, and I know I’m probably too late to post this. Everyone’s suddenly on holiday but we need to find a tutor for English Higher for next term. Can anyone in the East Lothian/Edinburgh area point me in the direction of anyone? So [...]
When they’re babies…
Published June 26th, 2008 in Boys, Children, Communication and Family. 11 CommentsWhen they’re babies
Yours are perfect and everyone else’s are horrible.
Childminding is a huge expense, and why isn’t it tax deductible?
They’re smaller than you. You can pick them up. Just as well, really; you need some sort of head start.
They generate so much washing. Sick-covered washing. Lots of tiny baby grows.
Nappies. Yuk. Need I say more?
There [...]
Protective? Or overprotective?
Published June 11th, 2008 in Blogging, Boys, Communication, Family, Internet and School. 10 Comments“You’re an overprotective mum. ”
“No I’m not, I’m just interested. Do you know all the people on your contact lists?”
“Of course I do. Do you think I’m stupid?”
“Well, anyone can see those pictures you’ve put on.”
“No they can’t. It’s private. And I haven’t put my surname, or my [...]
The personal touch
Published May 22nd, 2008 in Boys, Communication, Highers, SQA, School, Standard Grades, Teachers and Work experience. 2 CommentsSo there we are. External exams are over for another year. Next year will be the big one - GP1/Highers (I’m trembling and pale at the prospect) with GP2/Standard Grades (an entirely different proposition). This year, though, was a relative breeze.
First up there was SVS. Once I’d got my head round the fact that
When my tall, laid back (read “idle”), 15 year old son comes in from school each day, the conversation generally takes this pattern:-
Me: “How was school today?”
Him: “Boring”.
Me: “Do anything interesting?”
Him: “Nope” as he disappears into his bedroom to change in preparation for adopting the lounging position in [...]
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