Level 2 Chi Kung.
Mr Baulch is getting seriously tired of going over the same stuff over and over and has put the hard word on Dash to practice. I have agreed with Dash that, henceforth, he will practice every evening. When, in the latter part of the lesson, Dash managed a three-finger chord, I pointed out, by way of encouragement, that Dash now knew more chords than John Lennon did when Love Me Do became a hit! Unfortunately Dash has no idea who Lennon was, and Mr Baulch was decidedly unimpressed. Hey ho.
When we got to the Age Exchange for our customary post-guitar pit-stop (ginger snaps, jam sandwiches with the crusts cut off and pineapple juice for Dash, a red berry tea for me) I decided to use it as a learning opportunity. I asked Dash if he wanted me to order as usual, or if he felt he’d up to ordering and paying by himself, while I found us a table. He said he’d like to do it himself, so I talked him through needing to ask what your companion (in this case me) wants, then I gave him a £20 note and went off to find a table. I was glad to find a table near enough that I could eavesdrop on the process and delighted to hear him give his order clearly and politely, saying please and thank you in all the right places. When he later wanted a second pineapple juice, I tipped the contents of my change purse out on the table and got him to count out the correct money. Now that one can’t send one’s children to the corner shop by themselves, teaching them to handle money is more of a conscious effort.
In the afternoon, I took Katie shopping to get stuff for the party bags for her birthday party on Wednesday. I don’t like to fill the party bags with sugar and e-numbers, so I am grateful that, between Tiger and the local pound shop, it is possible to get fun, or even useful, stuff for a small budget. This year, for a total budget of £3 per bag, we got for each child: 12 colour changing felt pens, a 6 colour ball point, and then, for the girls, a pair of scissors that cut paper into a fancy scrolled edge, and for the boys a beetle set in perspex. I hasten to add that the gender split was Katie’s idea, not mine! I would have happily given beetles to everyone!