Skip to main content

More frustrations!

An old one to remind myself how cute they were!
Sunday evening, back to school after half term and the normal shouting match ensues as we ask where all Abi's kit is and she shrugs and says "it's not my fault..." There are a number of aspects that drive us nuts here - first that her immediate response is denial and abdication of all responsibility, the second that she genuinely doesn't care and the third that it still doesn't help is with where her (mostly new) sports kit is! While this is going on we have Izzy sorting her kit out while weeping quietly because she has decided (18 months after we said goodbye to him) that she misses Scooby! We decided it was just easier to suggest everyone gets an early night and packed them off to their rooms - there really isn't an answer for some of this I think!

This week has been a mix of school testing - the kids went of to St Gabriel's for their tests on Wednesday, Abi riding, Izzy doing her gym practice and me trying to land and then start to communicate my news at work.

The tests we think went well, if the kids are to be believed of course. They both had a number of tests, including verbal reasoning for Izzy, more of which in a minute, as well as interviews. The VR was interesting. We pulled an example test off the internet and then started to work through it with Izzy with increasing difficulty. We couldn't believe it was intended for 10 and 11 years olds! The test required pen, much working out paper and even more discussion as to what the questions intended - who knows whether we got it right or not! In the end Izzy said that the actual paper was similar but that everyone said they struggled so maybe we all missed the point. The interviews were conducted in groups of 4 kids at a time. Izzy said she was with one 'normal' girl and 2 'not so normal'. Apparently when asked what they would do with £5000 if given it. Izzy went first and said "I'd give a bit to my sister because she has a rubbish life plan(!), then I would buy a dog and a house in LA" whereas the two 'not so normal' girls went along the lines of charitable donations and solving world hunger!! Leaving apart the fact that Izzy demonstrated she has very little understanding of the value of money thinking she can have a house and a dog in America for less than £5k, I'm hoping she will at least get marks for honesty!

While we are on the subject of honesty, Abi is definitely heading further and further into the pre-teen emotional rollercoaster. This evening she was desperate for a few minutes cuddling up together on the sofa, while also pulling faces every time we ask her to do anything not in her game plan. Tonight the whole school bag discussion ended up with her stomping up to her room with a flounce. When I went up she was muttering into her pillow and I could see that she is at that age where she just thinks the world is conspiring against her (well, us at the very least). We are not but I guess that's what we have to accept - what do we know, we are just her parents after all! How little she realises - I now know that Mum and Dad knew soooooo much more than I did when I was a teenager (of course). Even today I still call them to discuss what's going on - I value their counsel above anyone else's. At least Kerrie at 28 now realises we talk some sense - she and Ryan popped in this afternoon to say hello - she's so grown up now and dealing with life so well, despite some of the bum hands she has recently had to deal with. I hope she gets what she wants most of all, she deserves it.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Snow!

After a beautiful day of sunshine yesterday, today it snowed... but more of that in a minute. Yesterday actually felt like a day of much progress. Despite Covid we managed to arrange a visit to Taunton School to have a look around with the girls and to meet the Headmaster. This was a massive relief as I had got to the point of thinking we would have to accept a place without ever stepping foot inside the school. In the end we had a very comprehensive, if a little deserted, tour of the school and the kids loved it, as did we. There may even be a small chance they might squeeze us in if we are there by the summer term - that is of course if the kids are back into school by then. The other news was that I managed to speak to Mr &Mrs Tucker - the people buying our house - and we tentatively agreed that we will try and complete during the Easter holidays which could have us moving in the third week of April. This does require everyone to have got all of what they need done, and that of ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Busy, busy, busy

Full English brunch for these two! Life is VERY busy and I don't feel like we have stopped for weeks (or is that months?) It seems like the 'to-do' list is endless and while I know we don't have to do it all at once, I have taken on the unenviable task of trying to get the Muppet to finish all the work he promised / we have paid for and that has been like pushing a mountain of water up a very steep hill. We've got to the point where I think we have got all of what we are likely to get and the rest we'd rather finish ourselves anyway. The electric gates are clearly a work of his imagination based on the gates / the electric cables he spec'd and the cheapo motor mechanism - there is no way they'll work so we have decided to not bother and source proper gates that do the job and look better as well. Knowing that we are almost at a point where we sever the ties feels very liberating. Looking back this last 6 months has been incredibly stressful and just didn...
Post a Comment
Read more

Decluttering

Girls buying baby clothes - this could get addictive! It's Easter weekend already and we still haven't completed!! However we have made some progress, most importantly with the paperwork which has not been Steve the Builder's forte throughout this process. Stags finally got their act together and got in touch with the planning office and got an update from the Planning Officer. Apparently she is broadly happy with the application, and is prepared to pass it with only a few minor modifications which we are completely comfortable with. The Building Control Officer also came and did all of what he needed to, which means the final certificate should be issued which allows the warranty to also be issued. On our side we finally tracked down the paperwork (or more correctly got the BC Officer to come out again and do a second assessment) for the outstanding BCC on our windows (which went in 6 years ago but due to an admin error were never registered) - nothing is straightforward i...
Post a Comment
Read more