But I Smile Anyway…

Hi All! Did you sort your drink out? Good. Let me tell you about my birthday week/first week back to school/Pet-filled weekend.

• If we were sipping chai together I’d tell you that the first week was amazing! Seriously. We spent Monday and Tuesday doing home visits, as it is good to see children who are unfamiliar with us in their home environments. It makes them more comfortable to see us at school a couple of days later too. We came back from the visits very positive. There are a few needs that we will have to cater towards, but nothing we can’t handle! In fact our Headteacher said this was the first year she has seen the whole team arrive back from the visits with smiles! It’s all in the mindset, you know. We know there will be hard work ahead, but we are prepared and as ready as we can be! From Wednesday to Friday the children came in for mornings only. I was blessed to have all 30 of my class attend. There are times when, over the summer holidays, for various reasons, minds change, and children end up not coming to us, and then another child will come in their place… Unknown entity… We don’t like unknown entities… they can grow our workload more than we’re prepared for! But, Phew, I don’t have to worry about that now! The children seemed to love the classroom. They explored all areas and I even already have a seating plan in place that they are getting used to! (I’ll take and post pics properly soon!) My class, well, as I have said before, they are a bunch of Beauts! Admittedly I have five or six special Beauts, who may need a little more love and attention due to various needs, and one is an extra special Beaut! And my team. Oh, what would I do without my team? I have one full time assistant and two who do a job share. There may be a third lady who may come in and support our extra special Beaut in the mornings too, one-to-one. The ladies are fantastic, and my teacher partners are the same. I think we gel well as a working group, so I hope this bodes well for a positive year! On Friday, I left with a smile on my face. Not a smile of relief, but one of happiness, that everything, so far seems wonderful.

• If we were sipping chai together I’d whisper that it was also my birthday on Tuesday… (Did you miss the post?) An early September birthday in the teaching career means that unless it’s the weekend, its likely that I will be working on my special day, and this year was no different. I was spoilt by my friends at work, and got the moast awesome teacher tote bag, which I am proudly using every day now. Home visits were carried out, and I popped out with my close colleague for a coffee (chai latte for me) in the lunch time. Once I got home I was treated to a lovely cake and I was given my present a little earlier… a Macbook Air!!! My family are so thoughtful 💞

• If we were sipping chai together I’d remind you that it was Lil Princess’s first week at Secondary school! I think we were more worried than she was, to be honest. She has settled in as if she had always been there, and seems to have made some awesome friends too. It is so scary to see her and Lil Man, in their same uniforms, heading off to Big school… and it means I am now officially a Teacher rather than Parent who is a Teacher at my school. That is strange too, not seeing one of my own little beings around the building. I am getting used to not having a clue as to what they are doing until they get home now. Lil Man started back on the Tuesday and yes, it’s like we were never away from that school routine…
• If we were sipping chai together I’d tell you that I know we are back at school because the teacher exhaustion has kicked in now. By 10 pm, if not earlier, my eyes want to close, and I am drained. It is very tiring, especially at the beginning of the year, as you get used to it all again…
• If we were sipping chai together I’d let you know that it has been a bit of a pet filled week and weekend too. Obviously we have our gorgeous Sonu Singh, the Punjabi cat, at home and Heer & Ranjha, the parottlets, but during the week, I met Drago, the Bearded Dragon, and Pickles the Tarantula! They were both pets of two of my pupils, who I met at the home visits. I even held Drago too! Then on the weekend, Hubby Dearest’s cousin came to stay with his Blue-eyed Staffy, Alfie, who is 14 years old, or 98 in dog years! He is gorgeous, though thinks he is younger than he actually is, so he always bounds in, plays with everyone then collapses with tiredness! These visits mean that Sonu Singh ends up in our room, so we can keep the two separated… It do feel a little sorry for Sonu though, as he doesn’t know why he’s up in our room, rather than free to roam the house!

• If we were sipping chai together I’d tell you that Sunday was spent, largely, on the sofa, snoozing, reading, reviewing… a perfect relaxing end to the week, to prepare me for week two at school!

• If we were sipping that chai together, and possibly reaching for cake or cookies I’d tell you that I am not looking forward to Tuesday, when the kids start their Maths tuition again. They are already trying to get out of it!
• If we were sipping that chai together, and possibly reaching for cake or cookies I’d say that next week we will be having lunch with our classes, as they increase their hours. This is going to be fun…!
• If we were sipping that chai together, and possibly reaching for cake or cookies I’d mention that I hope, other than these things, I have a pretty calm, quiet week… I think I’m going to need it!

Right, that’s me done Peeps! Let me how your week has been.

Hi All! I am back, a little more relaxed than last week but stil in a state of frenzy, nonetheless!

• If we were sipping chai together I’d tell you that yes… it’s been another hectic week in the world of Ritu. (When is it ever not?)
• If we were sipping chai together I’d remind you that it was Bank Holiday on Monday last week. We tried to have a chilled one, popped out for lunch as a family, then relaxed at home. I needed as many of those ‘nothing’ days as possible before the craziness we know as school would start!
• If we were sipping chai together I’d say that I had an epiphany last week. I need to get back to some form of exercise, and the best exercise for me is walking. A mere stone’s throw from us is the Gurdwara sports park, with a walking/running track. So Lil Man and I decided that we would go for a walk on the Monday evening at around 9 pm. It had been very warm in the day, so this was the perfect time: dusk, cool, but pleasant. The first day we took a couple of laps and came home. The next day, we came at 9 again, ready for some more walking, and we did it. The Gurdwara as a backdrop for my walks is a beautiful serene sight. I did five laps and it was just past 9.30 pm. Then we went to leave, and found ourselves locked in! So much for my exercise! Luckily we found a way out, and I was not detered, coming back the next day too, a little earlier though, so we didn’t get locked in! I felt so much better for this walking.

• If we were sipping chai together I have to say though, that my intentions did not last long… On Wednesday, I had to pop into school to chlear up after the cleaners. Makes sense? I know, but the cleaners come in to do a deep clean in the middle of the holidays, pulling all units out, cleaning behind places they wouldn’t normally touch, washing carpets etc. Well, doing that, they somehow managed to totally mix up tables and units, so I had to go and fix it all up. While doing this, I pulled a muscle in my back. It was sore. Oh my, I wasn’t sure if I’d be up to getting to school for my first training day on the Thursday! But I did.
• If we were sipping chai together I’d slap my forehead and say “I can’t believe I forgot to tell you…” that we went to see the new film The Lion King! I have been desperate to see these new live remakes, being such a Disney fan, and though I wasn’t disappointed, the magic of the original wasn’t felt by me. But I still enjoyed it. And we watched it in great comfort on leather recliner chairs! Though I[d recommend everyone to go and see the new ALLADIN, or watch it when you can. That was one FAB remake!

• If we were sipping chai together I’d say that the INSET days went well, with me being able to meet a new member of my team (she is LOVELY!) and making sure the classroom is as good as I can get it, for now. I am a little disappointed as my new cupboard still hasn’t arrived. I have had to use an old one, and can’t put certain bits and bobs up yet, which is really frustrating, but we will cope. We had a half day training too, about the Working Class, and how to help the impoverished pupils of our community in a way that would benefit them positively, not just pile expectations upon them. There were two guys presenting and one was Rhythmical Mike, a performance poet, who discovered his talent for the spoken word despite having no support as school, cast off as a failure because he was dyslexic, and never given the help he should have had. His words were inspirational, and though I think that as a school, we are pretty fantastic at dealing with a really wide democraphic of pupils within our classes, having a little reminder of what we can do, never hurts.

• If we were sipping chai together I’d tell you that Friday was a busy day, what with the training, and coping with my still bad back, on top of getting the kids settled at my in laws as I was off out to my head teacher’s wedding reception! It was a lovely evening spent with genuinely wonderful folk, and a beautiful celebration of a great couple! Congrats Mr & Mrs Jack!

• If we were sipping chai together I’d tell you that after a great night, I had to get up early the next day as we were going to Thorpe Park. This is one of the UK’s big theme parks, famed for its thrill rides. Luckily I didn’t have to drive (thanks to my dear sis-il-law!) but still, we had to leave early to pay an extortionate amount, even with vouchers, to get in, then queue for the pleasure of some crazy rides! I ws quite excited as I’ve never been to Thorpe Park before. One I hadn’t been planning to go on, was the Tidal Wave. And yes, it was WET! Rather like an enlarged log flume, a huge boat that seats 16 climbed up a steep incline, then descended at great speed into the water. The resupting splash was a HUGE tidal wave which erupts into the air, then falls back on top of the boat. There is NO escape! And after looking like I was taking part in a wet T-shirt contest, we waited to be taxiied back to the place we could disembark, and the boat was half in, half out the enclosure. We were on the back half of the boat that was half out. As the next boat descended, it decided to share it’s tidal wave with us, so we got soaked a second time! Then as we walked to the photo booth, we narrowly escaped a third soaking. trying to get away from the waves, we were almost hit a fourth time as we finally left the enclosure! I have to tell you now, I was a responsible mum. I had spare clothes for the drowned rats also known as my children. But did I remember to put extra clothes for me? Nope! We stood in a little drying hut. Actually I used it twice, but it did nothing to dry my jeggings! I walked around for the rest of the day with a wet bottom half, and it was not the best look! Still, the kids enjoyed, so I’m not going to complain! Below, that piece of wood is proof to the state of my jeggings. I sat and left wet imprints of my butt cheeks many hours after coming off that ride! Thorpe Park, you need to sell cheap trousers as well as extortionate T-shirts!

• If we were sipping chai together I’d say that on Sunday we started with nail polish removal for Lil Princess, ready for her first day of school on Monday… can’t have her going to her npw secondary school with luminous yellow nails! And I needed my claws cut and infilled too! Then we popped to Bluewater. A leisurely lunch and some shopping ended a lovely week!

See, I told you my week was another Ritu-esque week!

• If we were sipping that chai together, and possibly reaching for cake or cookies I’d tell you that I am looking forward to my new start, with the kids in my new class. I have a feeling there will be plenty to tell you all every week, just from school days!
• If we were sipping that chai together, and possibly reaching for cake or cookies I’d remind you that Lil Princess starts Secondary School today. I am no longer a Primary school mum! OMG! Look out for feedback on how she got on!
• If we were sipping that chai together, and possibly reaching for cake or cookies I’d just slip in that on Tuesday (tomorrow, it might jst be a special day… I’ll be celebrating 44 revolutions around the Sun! Yup, it’s my birthday! I’ll be busy finishing off home visits….

Right, that’s me done Peeps! Let me how your week has been.