End of August musings

So....here, in our little Midlands town, the schools have returned. We break up for Summer early (the factory fortnight tradition lingers, even without the factories) and return before the Summer has properly had a chance to come to an end.

My walk to town takes me past a primary school which has, of course , been sleepily silent for weeks. As of yesterday, it has been once again teeming with small bodies and their care givers. Today , I encountered two such small bodies, sobbing as if their lives were in peril. The first was dressed in the uniform of the school, little stick legs peering out from the end of shorts which were very long, shoes as yet unscuffed, enormous rucksack on his back and with a parent, trying desperately to persuade said child that school is not an option. He was leaking from every visible orifice, face the colour of a ripe tomato, clearly not keen to enter the hallowed gates of learning.

Approximately 20 paces further on, I encountered another small child. This child was not in uniform. She was sitting on the pavement with a carer , trying desperately to persuade her to move, in close attendance. I heard , as I walked past, that THIS child was desperate to enter the very gates that the aforementioned child was loudly rejecting.  It seemed, from the snippet which I heard in passing, that an older sibling was at the school and the younger one clearly felt that she should be too.

Oh, how I felt for both parents. ...and all the others, leaving the school gates, some white and anxious, probably first termers, and others skipping off to the nearest coffee shop, glee in their very footsteps.

I wanted to scoop up the white faced ones and tell them that it gets easier...kind of. Mostly.

I wanted to tell all of them to enjoy their littles, that one day their fridges will be so devoid of stuff that they can tidy it (guess what I did on my day off yesterday)...so to savour the time that they have with their littles as well as the time without. I am clearly turning into an old wife (as in old wives tales) (who knew????). There are a lot of things I wish I had done differently with ours..(.sorry, Offspring, for all the times I was preoccupied or inattentive.)..Thankfully they have turned into rather marvellous grownups , despite that.

Work at the Bookface has been full on, with Christmas stock arriving..yes you read that right, CHRISTMAS STOCK. I had an instruction from on high to get the advent calendars out before Monday...of course, everyone needs to get their advent calendars in September.....so that happened today. The argument from the powers that be is that by starting now, we will be less overwhelmed as the months slide toward Christmas...it just means that we can’t move behind the scenes for about 4 months...I put a notice up saying, ‘Ho!Ho!Ho!’...😁🎅🤶and am awaiting the response from both staff and customers.

So, on that festive note, I shall away as the Boy has returned from the MMDC.

Merry August musings

The End