Wednesday 23 June 2010

The falling out takes no time at all. The making up takes hours.

Family members spend the day pussy footing round each other while I sigh in relief that we have some gun control in this country.

It is the right mood of day then, to send Dig off to a meeting with the Local Authority and postpone a dental appointment with Dr Fang.

Dr Fang will be enormously relieved since last time he lost patience with me and ordered me out the surgery. I can't say I crawled out, weeping with penitence. I mean, how are you supposed to behave when someone shoves a skewer in your face?

On that first matter, the Local Authority just reorganised (there's no money), made a few redundancies (there's no money), and home education now falls under the remit of two part-time EWOs on a job share (there's no money). They're holding their get to know you session.

Dig has a pragmatic manner about these things, so I tell him to go. If I go, I'll become emotional and engage in breast beating and dramatic finger-pointing before passing out on the library floor.

He goes, gratifying in dark glasses and a beard, thanks to an idle morning streak and those photochromatic lenses that make him look like a terrorist.

After an hour he comes back and says, there's no money. Collating information on home educators with the purpose of spending two days wandering round the suburbs inspecting ten-year olds is taking a low priority, along with the truancy sweeps (there's no money), so unless there's trouble, prepare to be ignored.

That's good because I object to the welfare angle yet again, and they're not coming in anyway. I may work alongside them, but I don't walk into their house and they don't walk into mine.

And on that cold inconclusion, the day draws up. I don't walk into Tiger's bedroom, and she doesn't walk into mine. We regard each other with suspicious eyes, from a distance. And I persuade myself of one success: today I avoided any situation where I chewed off anyone's head and spat out the remains.

Ditto for Dr Fang and the job-sharing EWOs.

5 comments:

R. Molder said...

Sounds like a successful day! Bravo!!!

MadameSmokinGun said...

As Ice T (was it?) once rapped: 'Today was a good day. I didn't have to use my M-K'

Cool.

Big mamma frog said...

Am very impressed that you have a partner in your household who knows stuff about home education. And one who knows enough to communicate with the LA about it. Blimey.

I thought home education was a mutant form of single parenting.

Grit said...

thank you rachel!

mme sg, that is right. but we also have the deadly weapon called 'kicking your sister's desk so all her stuff topples off'. that is some days just as effective as an mk.

hi, big mamma. it is part of dig's job, to lecture people in organisations. it is quite a useful background when dealing with local officials. i wish i could do it as well as he. i am not much good at public performance.

Kestrel said...

Me oh my, I am way under the radar. Glad you made it though the day without kids' gristly guts sticking between your teeth.