A Lesson in Priorities

I was doing a group activity today at school. It was to teach the children listening skills. I gave them lots of shapes and the idea was that they listened very carefully to my instructions and arranged the shapes to make a picture. At the end we would compare their picture with mine and see how close they came.

The kids actually did very well. Children of their age (4 and 5) often have trouble following instructions as their attention tends to wonder half way through.

Me: "OK children for today's activity you are going to have to listen very, very carefully."

It was at this point that Nutty started interrupting telling me that he knew everything and anyway he'd already done this and his was the best.

Me: "Actually you haven't done this one. What we're doing now is completely different to the game you were playing with during break time. Now you must be very quiet and listen very carefully…"

Nutty: "Anyway I'm the best at listening and I know what to do already."

Me: "I haven't told you what to do yet…"

At this point Nutty turned right around and just talked right over me as I was saying…

"…being very quiet and listening to the instructions I give you is the most important thing with this activity."

I looked at him sternly. He continued to chat away and pay absolutely no attention whatsoever.

"Nutty!"

He looks at me a bit surprised. "Yes?"

"What did I just tell you was the most important thing?"

Without blinking he replied " Urrrrrmmm … Jesus?"


I couldn't talk for at least two minutes I was laughing so hard.

The (Mostly) Minions Meet

Well Sunday was very exciting. I took myself off to London to meet up with some very dear friends from Blogland. We met up at Giraffe on London's Southbank at about midday. It's a very nice part of the world. The river was to our left, the London Eye a hop and skip away, the Tower of London within sight and best of all the sun shone so we could sit outside.
(l-r: Jan, Robin, Gina, Neil, me, Sylvia)

So who was there? Well me (obviously), FairyHedgehog (Gina) and her wonderful husband Neil, Robin and her very lovely sister-in-law Jan, pjd (Peter) and Sylvia. We had such a good time. I was an honorary minion for the day.

Because I didn't have anybody to organise but myself, I was, for once, early. But not the earliest. FHH and Neil were there already and had bagsied a table for us indoors. It's funny, I was worried that I wouldn't recognize anyone but as soon as I spotted Gina I knew her immediately. We said many times over the afternoon how it felt like a reunion rather than a first meeting and so it was from the beginning. The first thing I did (after the intros) was order a bowl of spicy wedges because I was starving. Then I proceeded to choke on one. As I mentioned to Gina, this happens a lot to me. I have no idea why but I imagine it has something to do with talking and eating simultaneously and their basic incompatibility. As we got to know each other (and I downed a glass of water while Gina was probably wondering if the Heimlich Manoeuvre was going to be necessary) we learned that Robin and Jan had arrived and nabbed a table outside. It was such a lovely day that we moved lock stock outside and as we approached the table Robin yelled "Pete!" (and I wasn't even wearing a hat) because Peter had arrived too.

Then the talking started.
(l-r: me, Peter, Sylvia) "What's do you call like - whatsit- a sortof river that runs in an ocean?" Oh yes! - I was THAT eloquent.

Sylvia arrived soon after and then we ordered and the wine started flowing. And the talking continued and the wine continued to flow and flow. Gina and Neil had to leave mid afternoon but the rest of us stayed til 6ish. So much wine. We had a rather dishy waiter who looked after us with great humour and didn't object once to being objectified. Bless him. (That may have been just me though). Peter showed us the correct way to get the attention of waiting staff. You make eye contact and raise your right finger in the air (like ET). We found that this method was most effective when Peter was sitting beside you doing it at the same time.
(Robin: "Just let me put on my sunglasses so people will recognise me.")

Honestly I haven't a clue what we were taking about but we talked a lot. I can't tell you how much fun I had. We remembered all our absent friends. (There were hugs Aerin). There was even talk about possibly doing the same thing Stateside next year. San Francisco was mentioned (and Vegas!). How cool would that be?

My attempts at working out the bill were laughable. The phrase "That can't be right - can it?" was said a lot. In the end I'm 100% certain of only one thing. I owe Gina and Neil lunch and when we all meet again the first bottle of wine is on me. (OK that's two things!)
(The numbers were swimming I tell you - and speaking a foreign language).

I managed to totter back to Hubby and the kids without too much difficulty. I had a cracking headache afterwards but that's what analgesics are for by golly!

Can't wait for next time!

In the fog of all that was said on Sunday I'm pretty sure everyone said they didn't mind having their photo posted. If however you find that you'd rather not feature here then let me know and I'll take it down forthwith.
The top two pics are courtesy of Gina and the one of Robin was taken using Hubby's phone which I had great intellectual difficulty with. Wine and technology - not a good mix!

Thanks for all the Awards!

Here's a quiet five minutes in an otherwise rushed week - time enough to do a long overdue post.

It's awards season on the blogsphere and I have had a few come my way for which I am chuffed to pieces. However I've done absolutely nothing whatsoever in terms of accepting these wonderful thoughts because, to be honest, I am feeling a bit awkward about what to do next.

This whole notion of singling people out because they are special has the downside of leaving others out - which is totally uncool. And yet I'm pleased as punch that I was chosen. So you see the dilemma. I want to pass on the good stuff but I don't want to unwittingly make anyone else feel unspecial.

However those who have gone before have provided me with the answer. So to everyone who has awarded al their awards to everyone who visits their blog I say "thank you" . You have provided me with the means to accept these wonderful awards and not be mean in the process. I steal your idea with gratitude.

First off to all my visitors I award the Light in my Soul award. This was given to me by Absolute Vanilla - so long ago I'm embarrassed to admit it. Thank you AV. Like you, the readers here at Whittersville are warm, loving and giving and I pass this on happily to each and every one.




From Bee of Bee Drunken I have received no less than TWO Awards. Again the first was quite a while ago - before the Oscars actually - which she gave me for being a blog that makes her LAUGH, for VOICE and for giving good feedback (it's very easy to do that because her blog posts are so good).


She gave me another more recently which is brilliant. Brilliant in that I'm thrilled to receive it and also brilliant because well … read for yourselves…

The aim of the Award is to acknowledge writing excellence in the spirit of Jane Austen's genius in amusing and delighting readers with her irony, humor, wit, and talent for keen observation. Recipients will uphold the highest standards in the art of the sparkling banter, witty repartee, and gentle reprove.

Then from Aerin I got this - which, if you read the explanation, is also totally awesome. I'm touched - I really am.

This blog invests and believes in the PROXIMITY - nearness in space, time and relationships. These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement! Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers! Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this clever-written text into the body of their award.

Then to top it all off earlier this week The Whirlmeister himself awarded me the Terrific Tootsies award for my Pooh post. It's the love of socks I think that did it or perhaps the heady combination of dancing toes and A.A. Milne. It's wonderful to twinkle in the eyes of another.



So thank you from the bottom of my bottom to Vanilla, Bee, Aerin and Whirl for your kindnesss, generosity and all round loveliness in giving me these awards. And thank you too to all my visitors who come by even though I'm very stop-starty these days. I pass these on, in gratitude, to you.

Hiatus

I'm going on a hiatus for a while. Probably for a few weeks. Have a Happy Easter.

What's The Worst That Can Happen?

There was this particular ice-cream available in Ireland when I was growing up. I can't for the life of me remember what it was called but it was in a cornet shaped see-through container, the pointy end of which was actually rounded because it held an unexpected "delight" - when you'd got through all the ice-cream and delicious dribbly sauces there was a big red bubblegum ball at the end. This particular ice-cream was quite expensive so it took a long time before I actually got to buy one of my own. Sometimes I pooled resources with a friend or sibling but when I shared one I never got the bubblegum! I remember the first time I got to the bottom of that container and scooped out the bubblegum - and it was mine. I eagerly popped it into my mouth expecting it to be filled with raspberry yumminess like the gumballs you could buy 2 for a penny. But this was twice their size so it was going to be extra YUMMY!

Can you imagine how disappointed I was when I realised it was cherry flavoured. I hate cherries. I particularly hate cherry flavoured things. YUCK! From then on I just spent my pocket money on ordinary tubs of ice-cream and, if I felt so inclined, a penny-worth of bubblegum. Raspberry flavour.

The other day I decided to try an new experience. Our good friends Kiersten, Natalie and Renee (otherwise known as the MoMos) are always banging on about how fantastic this drink is. I was absolutely sure that each bottle contained the nectar of the gods (whoever they were). According to the MoMos a bottle of this (preferably with full caffeine) and a bag of M&Ms were the only things I'd ever need to chase the blues away or rescue me from writer's block or possibly fend off an alien invasion. So when I was picking up a sandwich for lunch at the supermarket, and I saw it there in the chiller cabinet I thought "why not? What's the worst that can happen?"

It was cherry flavoured.

A Farm Visit.

Painting by Toni Grote

The day before yesterday my class and I went to visit a farm. It's spring and there are lots of baby animals around and it's always good to get out of the classroom.

Of course I wasn't looking forward to it. Sixteen kids running around hyper, animal poo everywhere and a thousand opportunities to have a finger removed if the rule about not shoving your fingers through the fence got ignored - let's just say I can think of better ways to spend the day.

But actually it was fantastic. The children lapped it all up. Considering they are not the best group for paying attention and listening they were as good as gold. First of all there wasn't animal poo anywhere. The animals and their associated droppings were very securely fenced in and it was very hygienic. The children were given a talk about the importance of handwashing and there were washing facilities with antibac soap in all the barns. We saw all kinds of birds and small animals like rabbits, guinea pigs and chipmunks. And then of course there were all the piglets and lambs. The kids all got a chance to bottle feed a lamb and the had a practical demonstration on lamb birthing. The woman giving the talk told the children all about how a farmer helps a sheep give birth when the lamb is coming out backwards. Nutty Boy (he's a great kid but let's just say that he's got a lot of energy) stood in as the farmer, suitably kitted up with a three-foot-long plastic glove, and helped the ailing Mamma Sheep (a cardboard box, with a funnel at its back end) by shoving the breech lamb back inside the Mummy, turning it around and dragging it back out head first. The then he removed the placental sac (cling film), cleared the gunk from the lamb's mouth (a beautiful bit of mime) before giving it a vigorous rubbing to get it's circulation going. But Oh No!- the lamb ( all 10" stuffed toy of him) was still not breathing so Nutty took him by the back legs and swung him backwards and forwards to clear his obstructed airway until we heard the first plaintive Baaa! The best bit of the whole thing was when the demonstrator said Baa! because the expression of utter surprise on Nutty's face was priceless!

Expecto, of course was in his element, as he comes from a farming background, and he announced to me when we arrived,

"That smell wot we're smelling is sheep's poo-poo. There might be cow's poo-poo too. I've seen it happen you know. It comes out under the cow's tail and falls SPLAT! onto the ground. Then when it is all dry you can just pick it up!"

Cow pat frisbee anyone?

The Voice of Pooh...ish

It's Mothering Sunday over here in this neck of the planet. In honour of the blessed vocation of motherhood we've decided to read our favourite children's story (or an excerpt of) for Robin's voice thingy. I've elected to read a tidbit from the first chapter of The House at Pooh Corner by A.A. Milne. I'm recording using my daughter's camera so the sound is a bit pants. And although I don't have a cold, my sinuses are playing silly buggers so please forgive the nasal whine.

So here I am sitting up on my bed telling this wonderful children's classic to my …um… feet…