The kids are alright

It's normal to be concerned about kids, I mean they're a worry aren't they? One of the hardest things about being a dad (or a mam) is accepting that your son (or daughter) is actually doing fine at school (or nursery), plays nicely with the other kids and is generally, as far as there can be a definitive standard, behaving "normally". Even leaving aside the fact that you the parent are being progressively relieved of any responsibility for your child's behaviour (it's all down to your child's birth weight, not your being a selfish, lazy, chain-smoking binge drinker, etc etc) there's a feeling of helplessness that stems directly from not being around for best part of your lad's (or lasses) (sorry, I'll stop that now) working day, or even more wishfully, wondering what on earth is going thorough their heads. Ok, now fold that mixture into this whole big disruption thing (cf previous blog posts) and we wouldn't be normal ourselves if we weren't extra concerned, a bit over-watchful and occasionally verging on neurotic about their well-being. Well, after a shaky start and in realising all of the above, I think we can finally rest in the knowledge that both E and O are properly grounded at last, even if we are none the wiser in the child development stakes.

We were just agreeing today that Elly seems happier than we've ever seen her; fabulously five, classically blonde and yet not completely dizzy, full of life and about as self-centered as she'll ever be. I hope. She seems to be charging ahead with schoolwork and friendships and has that brash, me-first, super-critical, cry-at-the-drop-of-a hat first-grader thing off to a fine art. If anything, she's very mature for her age and seems to be well in with the alpha females in her class. She likes swimming (every day in the school pool) scooters, gourmet food (ahem) Pixar movies, trampolines and arguing.

I may have already mentioned that Oscar is two. There isn't really anything more to say.

Oh, alright then.

He can be as infuriating as any kid his age, but he's mostly gorgeous. He spends two days a week at nursery, which has been his biggest challenge by far since we got here. It would have been much easier with even one more day but nurseries are so busy here, regulations (children per tutor) are strict and there's just not been the space for him. This week, at last, he seems to have settled in there and we can actually mention the place by name without him crying... in fact he gets quite chirpy about it. Please may he not learn to speak properly just yet; Oggis-speak is so meltingly cute and totally hilarious. He's moved on, at last, from vocabulary building to sentences, thanks to liberal use of the indefinite article – "a want a go a play a bings a park a pees daddy" (bings = swings) – which has opened up a whole world of communication for him. And occasionally for us.

Oscar likes everything that Elly likes plus soil and raisins.

There's a bunch of other kids that have been the source of some anguish and they're more or less the same as they were when we got here, according to Niki. Her school is still in turmoil, and although the eye of the storm seems to have passed, there's still a lot of negativity among the upper management in the wake of it and the going remains tough. As you'd expect, her class of 10-year-olds have meanwhile learned the hard way that there's Nik's way or the highway, and they're pretty much on-side now. They're clearly going to be a challenge but that's the stuff of teaching as far as she's concerned. You'd have to ask her yourself, but I get the impression that they've got under her skin a bit and she under theirs, which is all they need to start turning themselves around. They're just kids, after all, young enough that every day can be a fresh start if they really want it to be.

I'm hoping you're never too old for that to hold true :) finding work was always going to be slow but I'm forging ahead with plans A B and C as & when the kids permit. All will be revealed shortly. Meanwhile, the last of the November "iPhone moments" are up on picassa, hope you're enjoying them as much as I am.