It is that time of year again when we get the letter from school inviting us to the a parents’ evening. I spend the weeks leading up to it, reminding my husband of the date and time to make sure he can come along with me. With two days to go, I issue the final reminder. “You have remembered the parents’ evening on Thursday haven’t you?.” He replies, “It isn’t in my diary. You could have given me some warning.”
We have been given early evening slots so the schedule is accelerated to ensure that tea, baths and homework are complete by the time Granny arrives to babysit. Eager to be on time and to avoid a black mark for tardiness, we climb into the car. As we pull out of the drive, I glance down to see a pair of half chewed furry slippers on my feet. We reverse and I make a mad dash back into the house to find a half decent pair of shoes.
Thankfully, we arrive in good time and wait outside the classroom. I feel a bit like I am waiting to go into a job interview, although worse. Someone was about to talk to us about our two precious angels. “We must ask some sensible questions,” I tell my husband. “Like is he able to tie his shoe laces by himself in PE?” he says. We shuffle in cheerily and perch on a couple of tiny chairs in front of the two teachers. I pity them having to handle such sensitive interviewees. They tell us our four-year-old is a bit quiet. For those regular readers of this column, you might understand why this came as a bit of a surprise. We were utterly relieved as he is the classic middle child – llively and on some occasions tests us to our limits.
We move on to our daughter’s classroom and begin to relax. Afterall, an eldest child, particularly one with two small siblings, tends to be fairly sensible and grown-up. In our daughter’s case, even at the age of five, she takes life and education very seriously. She had also cleverly instructed me that on entering the classroom, I was to tell her teacher how much she loves school. A good tactic to use on parents’ evening.
We arrive home exhausted to find the four-year-old tearing around the house shrieking in delight as he pulls the Baby along behind him on a piece of elastic. If only we could have a taste of that quiet little school boy at home!
