Last week was one of achievements for my two kids…they both had parents’ evenings and they both got glowing reports from their teachers. I was really pleased (and relieved) because I was worried that their dad’s passing would greatly affect their school work, but apart from the boy being upset every now and again, they are both doing really really well. Phew.

So anyway, as happens a lot in my life, things aren’t always straightforward. The first port of call for parents’ evenings was my son’s primary school where he has a very nice male teacher who is the darling of all the kids at the school. He has a way about him and a teaching style that makes all the kids love him. He’s a nice guy and told me he was pleased with the boy’s efforts and talked about his achievements (etc).

Of course, he had to mention the note I sent him a couple of weeks ago, the one that still makes me cringe with embarrassment.

Let me explain: about two or three weeks ago the boy had happened to leave his completed spelling homework on the arm of a chair in our living room. The dogs love to jump on and off the suite (apparently it provides good sport for them as they chase each other around the room) and pretend to be cats by lying down on the arms of the chairs and sofa. Anyhoo, one of them had knocked the homework off the arm and it had fallen, open, on to the living room carpet.

Now to give you a bit of background to the rest of the story, as part of their toilet training (a saga for another time!), I put down puppy mats for the dogs to do the toilet on. These mats are large rectangles and white. His homework jotter when open, is smaller, but rectangular and white. Yes, one of the dogs – we think Casper – peed on his homework. The yellow stream saturated the paper and made the jotter unusable and pungent. I gave it a cursory rinse under the tap, but in my heart of hearts I knew we couldn’t save it.

When the boy found out all hell broke loose. He made a big song and dance about it: “I can’t use THAT again! It’s all pee! That’s disgusting. Naughty dog!”

Casper (looking vacantly innocent): “What??? I am cute and little and did nothing wrong.”

Jump forward to the next day and the boy is fretting. “What will my teacher say? He won’t know I’ve done my homework. I’ll get into trouble.”

Me: “I’ll write you a note.”

Him: “But how will he know I did my homework?”

Me: “I’ll write it in the note.”

Him (very worried): “But he still won’t know.”

Me (lightbulb moment): “Don’t worry, I’ll tear the page out and put it in a plastic food bag so he can see you’ve done it.”

Him: Relieved and smiling.

So I did it (ensuring the bag was very tightly sealed) and the boy took it to school and gave it to his teacher. The rest of the jotter went in the bin.

Fast forward to last week’s parents’ evening and it was an amused teacher who brought up the incident again.

“That was class!” he said with a grin. “And to put the evidence in as well, that was brilliant!” I blushed – I had forgotten all about it.

I said: “Well at least you’ll have a good story to tell down the pub!”

Sigh.

The girl also got great reports from the teachers I saw, although unfortunately she seems to have taken after me…a few of them commented on how she loves to talk all the time. Yup, guilty, she gets that from me. All I can say is that we are very sociable people!

So well done to my two beloved offspring for great reports – me and your dad are very proud.

On Friday, we joined my parents and one of my sisters at D’Arcy’s in Princes Square in Glasgow to celebrate my mum’s birthday. We had a lovely lunch and a great time. Unfortunately, my mum has been suffering from a stinker of a cold, but she was well enough to enjoy a glass of wine (medicinal) and to open her pressies. I really enjoy a glass of wine, but if I drink it at lunchtime I feel really tired all afternoon. After lunch, we went home. The kids, who had been off due to an in-service day, were immediately glued to their tablet/mobile despite the fact they were supposed to be cleaning their rooms. I lounged on the sofa for a while, petting the dogs and catching up on telly. The wine had made me feel really tired, so I took advantage of the unheard of peace in the house to doze.

Saturday I had down for doing nothing, but of course that doesn’t actually mean doing nothing. What I meant was I wasn’t planning to go out. Instead I caught up on housework and the ironing. Jeezo I lead such an exciting jet-setting life don’t I? Not! The rest of the weekend was quiet, which was just what we all needed to recharge our batteries.

This weekend, we have the boy’s birthday, he’s turning nine. I can’t believe my baby is that age already. It hardly seems that long ago since he was a babe in arms. His sister turns 12 in February. It really is no time at all from when they are babies until they are nearly teenagers. God it’s making me feel old! Still I will be 25-and-holding til I die!! Anyway, I’ll tell you all about it next week.

Time for ‘currently reading’ and I’m back on to D E Stevenson and her second Miss Buncle book called Miss Buncle Married. I read the first one, loved it and bought the other one. They are so old fashioned and just lovely to read. Nearly finished this one…sigh. Really enjoying it and don’t want to finish it.

Right, I think that’s enough for this week. I am away to do a bit of writing – yes I am actually WRITING again. Wasn’t sure I’d ever go back to it, but I am loving writing the book. Feels almost like it’s writing itself (apart from all the hours I’m spending at the keyboard!!). Til next time!

Dawn xxx