Big School

Yesterday I drove over to Dorking to see Daughter and Grandson. It was a really gorgeous hot day, and there was a special reason for my visit. Grandson had an "Induction Day" at his Primary School, and I was included in the invitation. (Well, Grandparents generally, I think.) Daughter and I were both a bit apprehensive but Grandson was full of excitement, and would have worn his full school uniform if he had been allowed. Daughter has already bought grey shorts and trousers, white polo shirts, white and grey socks and royal blue sweatshirts (2) with logo. He would have been sweltering if he had worn that lot! Anyway, we joined about fifty other parents and grandparents in the school hall, and were welcomed by the Headmistress. Then the new children were taken off by their new teacher for a few activities of the "getting to know each other" variety, while we were treated to cups of tea and biscuits, and a run-through of what's expected of both children and parents come September. This was, of course, displacement activity, and I could see that a lot of the parents were nervous about how their offspring might be coping. They needn't have worried. After an hour (a very long hour) the children skipped back into the Hall and started their School careers as they meant to go on: in reply to "What did you do?" they said "Nothing". Oh how I remember that. "What did you have for Lunch?" reply " Nothing". "How was P.E./The Rehearsal/the Exam?" reply "Oh, O.K." "What did your Teacher say?" - "Nothing" Grrrr... Funny that it's still the same. But Grandson had such a great time. And we were able to buy yet more (second-hand) school uniform at bargain prices. I paid the princely sum of £2 for his P.E. kit, which consisted of two tee-shirts, one pair of shorts and yet another school sweatshirt. He was so thrilled with these, he insisted on stripping off his clothes and putting on the new shorts and the sweatshirt. (And guess who will have the job of sewing on all the name-tapes?) We all wandered out into the playground afterwards, and the children played together, reluctant to go home. They seem a very nice bunch, and I liked the look of the parents too. (There was only one slight area of puzzlement when we learned that there are identical twin boys in Grandson's class, called Leon and Bleon - I kid you not!) In the end we had to bribe Grandson with an ice-cream to get him away, and then he wanted to go straight back afterwards. "You can go back in September", said his Mum. Luckily, he has no idea when that is!

I had another reason for my visit, which was to supply a larger "pond" for the two tadpoles who have taken up residence with Daughter and Grandson. They travelled from my pond a couple of months ago, and have been living in a smallish plastic box in their garden ever since. At the weekend I bought an oblong, dark green plastic plant container, which I intended to sink into the garden to give them a new home. Easier said than done. I had half-filled the new "pond" with pond water, including water weed and a few water snails, and had driven very carefully from here to there so as not to upset it. (Thank heavens I didn't have an emergency stop on the way.) The difficult part was digging the hole in a border that was not only dry as dust, but also matted with thick grass roots and weeds. Of course they didn't have a sharp spade, so it was sweaty work to get the hole big enough. Grandson was typically not interested in the hard work required - only in the result, which was actually OK in the end. I just hope that Tinkerbell, their new kitten, won't discover the tadpoles. One of them has quite big legs already, so will be hopping about soon. I fear they may not survive the attentions of both Tinkerbell and Grandson. Poor little tads...