Just thinking about things - at 3:30 in the morning!

Our 17 year old cat decided to sleep with us last night. I know lots of people are against pets sleeping on beds but it is allowed in our house as long as they don't disturb us (although they often do and we never kick them out!). Anyway, Jasper was laying next to me fast asleep until 3:30 a.m. when his tummy kicked in and decided it needed food and rumbled louder than an earthquake moving buildings (just a slight exaggeration, of course!). The rumbling, gurgling and other bodily noises continued and continued and Jasper didn't care at all, he certainly wasn't leaving his comfy position to get a early morning feast.

So, laying there awake and wondering - the brain starts to think of things and for some strange reason I started to recall my school life. Unfortunately I couldn't recall much at all, which says alot really.

I remember being told off when I was 6 for filling a whole page with a drawing of my Dad (whom had very recently passed away). I remember feeling very uncomfortable with a male teacher when I reached, what is now known as, year 5. I remember having to stay in at playtimes until I'd finished my mini bottle of milk, which made me feel physically sick. I remember playing outside at "role play" and feeling excluded from the games because I was quite shy. I remember hiding in the girls' loo from the year 5 teacher because I was late for recorder and choir practise, and hearing him come to find me (and a couple of others) - that was scary! So that was infant and junior school.

In the seniors I remember that the class made our French teacher burst into tears because we were so unruly. That my English teacher would constantly pull me up for not reading the words properly aloud to others in class reading time. That, during the most important part of senior education, when we were revising for exams, most of the teachers went on strike every week and we ended up with a PE teacher for maths who truthfully told us that maths wasn't her forte, or our actual maths teacher would listen to the radio in his store cupboard while we were "working" at our desks.

To be fair, while I thought all this through, three fun things did come to me. Being asked to choreograph a small dance for a group of children for the end of term play (in junior school). Doing maypole dancing for the parents (in junior school). Best of all though, having the fun of mixing with boys when I reached the 6th form at senior school (and then not wanting to work as boys were much more interesting).



So, what does that tell you about school life? Perhaps schools have improved since my day (which wasn't that long ago), but I really hope my kids remember more about their home learning than I do about my school learning when they recall their childhood.

To top it all, I really hope I get a better night's sleep tonight (yep, I will kick the cat out!).