Thoughts Opinions & Memories | But I Smile Anyway...

Random Acts of Kindness Award

20 Mar 2019 24 Comments

Thank you so much to Simon for this kindness!
I apologise for not participating as I would usually, but I am suffering a no time issue at the moment with work and life…
But I would like to express my gratitude to Simon! ❤
There are so many of you who I would mention on here, kindness personified, honestly! ❤

Syborg's Site

Like Cyranny with this award I’m chaeting a little. She kindly nominated me for the Random Acts of Kindness award but pinged Planet Simon, I’m going to post my reply on here instead.

I don’t know much about this award but seems to be something you do to randomly select great blogger sna give them some love as an act of kindness. But I owuld like to say that blogging is something that has affected me more than I could have imagined, there are people who have come and sadly gone. The landscape is always changing but some just stay and they have a special place. Some of those aren’t mentioned here as Cyranny stole them from me… but they all know who they are. So with that I’ll shut up and I’ll just select them.
But these are all bloggers that are great and deserve some kindness. I can…

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More Glimpses #newbook #booklaunch

18 Mar 2019 12 Comments

by Ritu in Thoughts Opinions & Memories

Highly recommended!
Congratulations Hugh!

Sign #writephoto

14 Mar 2019 39 Comments

by Ritu in #WritePhoto, Thoughts Opinions & Memories Tags: #MicroPoetry, #WritePhoto, Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Blogging, poem, Sign, Sue Vincent, tanka

Sue is back with a new #WritePhoto prompt.

Always welcome here
Witches, Wizards, Mystic folk
Fairies, Goblins too!
We all need to quench our thirst
Come in for a tasty brew!

Ritu 2019

Thursday photo prompt: Sign #writephoto

The Day The Moon Began To Disappear – Speculative Fiction – March Edition

06 Mar 2019 72 Comments

by Ritu in Challenges, Fiction, Thoughts Opinions & Memories Tags: Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Blogging, D Wallace Peach, Flash Fiction, Speculative Fiction

Diana has another intriguing photo for her March prompt…

The Day The Moon Began To Disappear

A fine dust was falling from the sky, coating everything with a light, ethereal film. The dust settled on the ground like a warm snow fall, yet as I stepped upon it, my feet sank, as if in sand. The powder swallowed each foot and released it as it took it’s next step, leaving not a blemish upon its surface. A strange smell filled the atmosphere.

And that moon… it drew me closer and closer. The eerie glow from the eclipse was almost hypnotic.

I reached the point at which it looked like I was standing directly below this usually friendly satellite of the earth, then squinted upwards. The advice was to never look directly at the sun, but the moon was in the way so I felt no fear.

Until I realised that this dust appeared to be falling directly from the moon..

And that the moon was actually nowhere near the sun…

And that there was indeed a little man sat on this sphere…

Grating.

It all began to make sense… and yet it didn’t.

Now we know for sure that the moon really is made of cheese. The parmesan, stinky sort. That is what the smell had been.

And the ethereal feel of the earth?

Those shavings had taken away a side of the moonlight and laid it upon our surface instead.

Leaving the moon with a dark, dull face.

https://mythsofthemirror.com/2019/03/01/march-speculative-fiction-prompt/

One Liner Wednesday – #1LinerWeds – Teacher/Mum Problems

06 Mar 2019 52 Comments

by Ritu in #1linerweds, #onelinerwednesday, Thoughts Opinions & Memories Tags: #1linerweds, Blog, Blog Post, Blogger, Blogging, Guilt, Linda G Hill, one liner challenge, Parent, Teacher

“Being a teacher and a mother is a really tough double role; you are paid to spend your days nurturing other peoples’ kids, yet feel guilty within, if you need time to look after your own…”
Ritu

By no means is this a dig at anyone who I work with.

I am lucky with my management team. They totally understand that family is a most important part of our lives, and that work/life balance is key to happy teachers and success at school for all.

No.

I am talking about that internal tug of war we educators will all feel, at one time or another, if we decide to start our own families.

The amount of times I have had to argue with myself about letting my class, the parents, and the school down, if I end up taking a day or two off because own child is unwell…

It’s silly really, isn’t it?

Obviously my child should come first, and they do, believe me, but I am also lucky that under normal circumstances, I have their grandparents to help out if they are under the weather. If they are really bad, there are times only mummy will do.

But times like now, when the in-laws are away, it gets hard.

Take today for instance.

Lil Princess was battling with a severe headache on the weekend. She woke up on Monday with a slight ache still, but wanted to soldier on. Dosed up with Calpol, she went to school but I worried about her a lot, as she wasn’t right, and I also had the added joy of Parent’s Evening that night, until 7pm…

She walked to her grandparent’s house at the end of the day and developed a really bad cold, which was what the headache was a precursor to… Head cold. No fun.

Tuesday, she was full of it. Bunged up. Head ache, cough. Temperature.

It was awful for her.

My bro and sis in law were both home and they had already offered to have her the next day, as they knew I had another Parent’s Evening and they happened to be home.

But I felt so bad.

I know this parents meeting is really important. But so is my kid.

Again, I feel thankful. I am lucky enough to have a solution to childcare. And the offer of her being there today too, if she is still not right, is reassuring. I am not fobbing her off on anyone. But the guilt…

The guilt that I am projecting on myself… I should have stayed at home. I should have not thought a toss about work.

Yet I did.

And I left her… (in good hands, of course)