Level 2 Chi Kung (still mystified by the tightness in left thigh). Microcosmic orbit.
A beautiful day today – somehow now that it is officially autumn, every hour of sun seems extra precious – so, after dropping Dash at school and doing Chi Kung, I was eager to get out into the garden. However a plumber arrived to quote for repairing the upstairs loo and, having made the mistake of offering him coffee, I thought he was never going to leave. By the time he finallydeparted, I had just enough time for Katie and I to tie in the climbing roses (which have been growing like triffids in the warm, wet weather over the last few weeks) before we had to head off to collect Dash again. After we got back with Dash, I fed everyone, then Kate and I went out again and weeded the feijoa bed.
Dashi’s first day of secondary school went well. He said it was interesting and he made lots of friends – his only disappointment was that lunch did not include chips! It did however feature strawberry ice cream, which Dash won’t usually eat. School strawberry ice cream is obviously different though, as he appears to have yummed it down. Let’s hope that school spinach is equally miraculous.
Kate and Jack go back to school tomorrow and I find myself both sad and excited. Sad because our lovely summer together is over but picking up on Dash’s excitement about secondary school and Katie’s about starting key stage 2. It’s funny, I always expected to end up home-schooling my kids – a task for which I am manifestly unsuited on account of utterly lacking the requisite saintly patience. I expected to do this not through choice, but because, having been utterly miserable at school myself, I would never have been able to make them go if they had expressed even mild upset at the prospect. So it is a constant surprise to me how much they love it. Jack’s school and Dash’s primary school are pretty fab, and I could completely understand why Katie loved her Montessori when we lived in Bayswater, but I am more puzzled by her delight in her current school. Although it is one of the top state primaries in the country, having met Katie’s teacher, it is hard to imagine it actually being fun.
On Sunday I was scrubbing down a chopping board when Katie initiated this conversation.
K: “That’s my board. That’s my board. That’s my board”
J: “Well, it’s a board you helped me choose.”
K: (increasingly agitated) “It’s my board. It’s my board.”
J: (mystified and a bit exasperated) “Well, when you grow up and leave home, you can take it with you to your new house.”
K: “Ok. I’ll have that board and you can have all the other boards.”
J: “Thank you”.
K: (scanning the kitchen and looking thoughtful) “Though I’m going to need at least one of those small ones.”
Why do I feel as if my 7 year old daughter is negotiating a pre-nup ahead of our eventual divorce?