But I Smile Anyway…

Week two of term two done… Boy, was I shattered!

So, have you got your drink handy?

• If we were having chai I’d tell you that, as usual, school was a bit crazy, what with staffing up in the air, we were all running from pillar to post daily, like headless chickens. We had interviews happening for one to one positions for some of my specials, as well as a lunchtime supervisor down, so me needing to be on the playground for part of my lunchtime, to support. The children had a good week, with a few crazy days thrown in. I have incomplete paperwork coming out of my ears, and the threat of Ofsted, possibly ringing at any time… it’s a nightmare… We also had the nurses in to administer the nasal flu sprays for the children whose parents signed up for it. On top of all that we had parents evening on Monday and Tuesday. I was shattered, by the end of the week, I’ll not lie. So tired that on Friday, I got home and fell asleep at 6.30pm, waking at 8pm disorientated, and worried that I hadn’t fed the kids!
• If we were having chai I’d mention that we have also decided on a Team Christmas meal (at a very unChristmassy Indian restaurant!) I feel that the team have been such troopers through a crazy couple of terms, that we need a team building evening. Oh, and talking of teams, Covid numbers are going up, and we are going to have to be a much stronger school team, as members of staff, or their families are beginning to test positive, again… We were all lucky to get our double vaccinations, however, jab two was in March, and it’s been over six months, and none of us have been offered any booster jabs because we are younger… yet slowly, people are getting ill again…

• If we were having chai I’d say that, on Thursday, it was Remembrance Day. We shared some videos with the children, and taalked aabout why we mark the 11th November as such an important date. It is fascinating to hear what the children think. Some have obviously been talked to at home, by consciencious parents. Some really didn’t have much of a clue, but they were all aware of Poppies, and the heros we will never forget by the end!

• If we were having chai I’d update you on Project House. So, we now have blinds in each room, though one set needs replacing, and the pelmets need to be attached (they forgot to send the relevant attachment!) We have roller blinds in the bathrooms. Lil Man’s shower extractor fan is working, again. The kids all have wardrobes, instead of clothing rails. All that is left is the dining table and sideboard, but we are leaving taht until the Christmas sales! Phew! Hubby Dearest has been a fantastic project manager for all of this. And on the way, we have found a great handyman, who knows how to do so much. He is Mauritian, and is trying to build up his ratings here, in the UK, where he has no recommendations, yet. He has been brilliant with all that he has done, and the experience he brings from working on similar jobs back in Mauritius, is blatant. Honestly, everyone needs a decent handyman, and I think we’ve found ours!

• If we were having chai I’d say that I spent a long time reading and relaxing, this weekend, even though I had work to do. I couldn’t focus, so retired to my reading nook, and finished a book I had been struggling with for a good ten days, due to tiredness, and then finished a whole other one!

• If we were having chai I’d share with you that Sonu Singh spent most of his Sunday hiding in a box under the coffee table. He had a vet appointment on Saturday for his annual check aand jabs. Yes, as we are aware, he is overweight (Please, Hubby Dearest and Lil Man, listen to me when I say that you don’t feed him every time he miaows!) However, we have also been advised to get a heart scan ECG for him, as the Vet thinks he detected a heart murmur. It could have been more anxiety based, as he had been in his carrier, and he hates it, but stoll, we are all a little worried, right now…

This week will be, as always, a busy one at school. I have no doubt. We are a lot of staff down, for various reasons. And I am off on Friday. (The Academy we are a part of, have offered two paid days off, during the year for each member of staff, as a reward for hard work.) It is actually our twentieth Anniversary on Thursday, so we decided that the Friday would be a good day to have off, to celebrate properly. I look forward to letting you know how we get on!

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I’m not quite sure how I will be wording this week’s update but believe me, it’s been a doozy… And not necessarily in a great way…

So, get a drink. I might need a stronger one, this week!

• If we were having chai I’d ask you first, if you read my Spidey post, yesterday? Because I have already typed out a huge amount of my frustrations, there. Life in my class is anything but idyllic, for the adults, but thankfully, the children seem to be blissfully unaware, and are engaged in the activities we have for them, so that is a blessing, at least. Times are getting tougher with the children with special needs, in a way that it feels like we are unable to support anyone else… I can’t keep on about it, but the struggle is real, Peeps. There is so much more, going on, but but I can’t even write about it here. At least I have a suportive management team, above me, and a fantastic team who I manage. And, to brighten your day, further, one of them managed to drop pants and have a number two in the sensory garden! And someone had to clean that up… The life we teachers live, eh! I got this from one of my team, on Friday, and it gave me the pick me up I needed, too,

• If we were having chai I’d say that, on Thursday, it was Diwali. Due to circumstanges beynd my control, (school. Say no more), I hadn’t slept particularly well, and after getting through the school day, I went to my in-laws, where we did a few fireworks, ate lots of yummy food, and then Lil Man went to his cricket. I fell asleep for a while on the sofa, waking in time to pick him up and head home, so it was a very understated day! It was Bonfire night the next day, so fireworks have been going off every evening, and we live close to Brands Hatch, where they have a huge display every year, so we saw a little of that through our windows.

• If we were having chai I’d tell you, (sorry, school, again!) we did have a Diwali DAy on the Friday. The children and adults were asked to wear either traditional or colourful outfits to school, and we learned about rangoli patterns, and made divas, and then, to top it off, we had a Diwali Dance workshop, too! It was really fun, and we enjoyed it. The kids were so happy to do something different!

• If we were having chai I’d say that a handyman came to help out with some jobs had around the house, and we also got the last of the flatpack furniture delivered on the Sunday. This time it is wardrobes, and I am not trying those! So someone should be coming this week, to put them together, and the kids will finally have their cupboards and storage!
• If we were having chai I’d mention that we popped out for dinner on Saturday night for a family meal. It was lovely. A local Indian restaurant with a great ambiance! We spent a good three hours there, enjoying lovely food and each others company, even though it too, the teens some time to warm to the idea that we were going out!
• If we were having chai, I’d excitedly tell you that I got another lovely review of Marriage Unarranged, too!

• If we were having chai I’d whisper that we are thinking of getting another cat/kitten, to keep Sonu Singh company, but it’s still at discussion stages! We would love to get a dog, but the practicality of that… not something we could do. No one will be home in the day, to walk, let out for loo breaks, etc. And we don’t want to get a dog, only to have to pay for someone else to dog sit every day, either. But we can dream, for now…

This week, I know, will be tough, as I am staff members down, on several of the days. (Thank goodness for volunteers!) We also have Parents Evening, for two of the evenings, a beautician appointment, and the dentist, as well as Sonu Singh’s vaccinations. I hope the furniture is all put together, so we can get the kids clothes all put away, and that we find someone to install the blinds we have purchased, too! I think that is enough, don’t you?

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Seriously? Where did that half-term week go? I had so many intentions… but not many were fulfilled!

So, grab your drink, I’ll be hurrying back into school this week!

• If we were having chai I’d touch upon school a little bit. See, I had a couple of work based plans, and none of then required going into school. However they did need some time sitting at my work laptop… but I confess, I barely did that, at all. I touched base with my email, and watched part four of a traing course, that is really good, but I coulnd’t face any more. (Wrote five pages of nots, though!) I also had some paperwork I wanted to get my teeth into. Nope. That didn’t happen, either, however I did get some research done, and ordered a few books I think that my class would enjoy. Okay. Enough about school!
• If we were having chai I’d say that, typically, a couple of days into the break, the sniffles started. It happens every time. Run down from work, we get a break, and your average educator will fall ill. Because we finally sit down and relax. And it didn’t help that Hubby Dearest and both kids were snuffling, too. Still, I rested up, and it wasn’t as bad as it could have been because I insisted, to myself that I needed to rest. I read a couple of books, and then managed to get my flu jab done, too. So, try and hit me now, Winter germs! (No, seriously, don’t try. This term will be tough enough with out!)

• If we were having chai I’d have you know that there was a little bit more flat pack furniture to put together, in the form of Lil Princess’s desk, and chair. She is happy. Thank God! She’s not an easy one to please! The wardrobes that should arrive next weekend are too big for me to attempt so someone will be fixing them together for us… Then it’s just the dining room/ conservatory to furnish, as well as a sofa for the summer house. Getting there, Peeps!
• If we were having chai I’d reassure you that the cricket bruise is almost gone now, thankfully, but I seem to have accumulated plenty more little ones, as I find. myself walking into things all the time! I could be like a dot to dot, but you woulnd’t end up with a particularly pleansnt picture at the end! Lil Man did have his training on Thursday, but it was uneventful.
• If we were having chai I’d say that during the week, we ventured to Bluewater for an afternoon, and had lunch there. On Saturday, for Lil Princess, who was getting antsy at home, we went to Canary Wharf in London, and wandered around the shops there. All so expensive, but it was good to get out of the locality for once! Then we stopped off at the O2, o n the way home, and had dinner there. Then on Sunday, it rained something crazy! So we chilled at home, and I read a whole book, instead of looking at school stuff. It was also Halloween, and we got no trick or treaters, but, to be honest, with the weather, I wouldn’t want a child out there!

• If we were having chai I’d leave you with a photo my furbaby Sonu Singh, stretched out on my bed. He has kept me company a few times the last few days. I think he likes my cosy throw, and it compliments his colouring, too!

This week, I start with an INSET day at school, before the children start on Tuesday. My own two don’t go back until Wednesday. We have a book look evening for parents to check out their children’s books before parents evening, and I have a serious meeting with a parent of an older child, so I can act as translator. It is also Diwali on Thursday, and Bonfire night on Friday, so there will be plenty of fireworks, and food, too!

And while you’re here, did you sign up for my mailing list? I am in the middle of writing an exclusive Chickpea Curry Lit story for my subscribers, and there will be news, tips and even recipes! You know you want to join… go on! Click the pic below to sign up!