Our primary school teacher daughter has been on strike today. Her primary school daughter’s teacher belongs to a different teachers’ union and wasn’t on strike today but will be one day next week. So she took ghe small girl to school and dropped the small boy off here as usual quite early this morning. No, she wasn’t going to a picket line. Instead she was catching up with some preparation and marking work.
While there’s a part of me that says she should be there on the picket line but I can understand her wanting to try to catch up with or even to get ahead of herself! Either way, the small boy would have ended up at my house.
Apart from a minor tantrum when I insisted that the television has to go after after possibly three quarters of an hour’s “Gigantosaurus”. There are worse things to watch with a small boy and it does have nice moral tales about being kind to friends, sharing, being helpful, as well as throwing in odd facts about dinosaurs, but after a while it does get a little wearing. And now I have the theme tune in my head as an earworm!!
Besides it was about time we had a late breakfast and so, when the tantrum had run its course, we went off to the kitchen for “Sweetiebix”, aka Weetabix with honey, for him and coffee for me.
Later in the day my daughter turned up with 17- very nearly 18-year-old Grandson Number One and their dog. She was deliberately earlier than usual so that we could take the hound for a walk. For longer than I care to remember we have only seen Grandson Number One on high days and holidays, special occasions. Lately he wants to visit once or twice a week. I could flatter myself that he has rediscovered the delights of my cuisine but in reality I think it’s that he likes walking the dog around our village and enjoys the fact the dog os usually quite calm and well behaved. He’s very proud of the dog, so proud you would be forgiven for think g the dog just belongs to him. I have suggested that instead of constantly haranguing his busy mother for a lift he could hop on a bus with the dog. He still has free sixth-form student travel and it only costs 50 pence for the dog. We’d be happy to accompany him on long dog-walks and we would feed him to boot.
After our dog-walking, my daughter went off to collect Granddaughter Number Four from school and then everyone stayed for tea, before giving Grandad a lift to chess club.
Having been invaded by small children and a dog I had to spend some time putting the place to rights and leaving windows open to reduce the smell of dog. Despite protestation to the contrary from those who love him to pieces, the dog leaves a distinctly canine aroma around the living room.
Getting back to the teachers’ strike, the TUC is spreading the news that the House of Lords has just VOTED DOWN plans to sack nurses, teachers and firefighters who go on strike. Hurrah! The House of lords is being useful! Hard-working professionals need all the support they can get!,
And here are some statistics I came across:
Most trusted professions in the UK:
- Nurses (89%)
- Engineers (87%)
- Doctors (85%)
- Scientists (83%)
- Teachers (81%)
Least trusted professions:
- Politicians (12%)
- Advertising executives (14%)
- Government ministers (16%)
- Estate agents (28%)
- Journalists (29%)
Food for thought!
Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!
No comments:
Post a Comment