Last Lunch

After fourteen years at the post, I made our eldest their last packed lunch this morning. School finishes for A'level students late morning tomorrow and they remove, as one, to the local public house for liquid lunches that will no doubt represent the real thing for years to come!

Unsure whether to jump for joy, or shed a tear for the speed at which the fourteen years of school have sped by, I remembered the umpteen times I've made up sandwiches at break-neck speed whilst fielding, 'have you seen my socks', and 'is there any milk left' type questions. It's not necessarily the sandwiches that cause the problems - although with the eldest they can do - but what the heck else do you put in there that will fill them up and be nourishing rather than an easy 'fix'?

When we first embarked on this, back in September 1999, I began with brown bread. The four year old child soon asked to try school dinners! A few weeks of tired child later and me assuming that all children were this exhausted after a day in front of the blackboard, a kindly teaching assistant told me that my child clearly didn't like the school food and would 'pick and leave', rather than pick and mix. 

Alcohol and Coke

There were three of us on Saturday, half the squad and one we three was cricketing in far flung reaches of the county. Thinking that it might constitute a treat, I suggested to the youngest that we ordered a takeaway to coincide with the return of the cricketer and had a drink in a local pub whilst we waited. There was no enthusaistic, 'great idea, Mum, when can we go?' - although the offspring concerned was happy to record any essential tv programmes that might be missed. Rather the concern was, 'do you always have to drink wine?'

Four teens, Four candles...Fork handles

There has been no earthquake, no tidal wave of woe; we have passed under the barrier long since dreaded and, with the latest birthday, become the parents of four teens. Instead, for the first time since the youngest's birth, it rained on the appointed day and, two days later is set to bring a deluge accompanied by winds and a drop in temperature: does this herald the slow start to years of increased stomping arguments (there is such a thing, believe me), slammed doors - already replaced the back door once - assumptions that the car is their preserve and theirs only; that food will disappear at an even more alarming rate and that, naturally, the centre of the entire universe revolves around them. Them x four. 

Undoubtedly, yes!

Empty Inner Middle

Back in the Iron Age when I was pursuing an undergraduate life with the odd bit of study thrown in, I decided to take as part of my degree, a module in computer science. The Edinburgh University Geography department had a few computers, but most were the preserve of the post-grads and profs. We underlings gave seminars using overhead projectors and typed up dissertations on cranky old machines requiring WD40 to lubricate the keys.