I
actually wrote this last night, but then realised this morning I hadn't posted
it. So, as you read, please pretend it is 9pm last night...
Is
there a gene that children have, I wonder, that kicks in on the day they break
up from school? It's a subtle gene, but it instigates huge changes. They get a boost
of energy levels akin to giving cocaine to a hyperactive greyhound. They need
less sleep than an elephant that has just awoken from a coma, and they can
somehow survive on less food intake than that ingested by algae. Day 1 of any
holiday seems to bring about a startling metamorphosis akin to Dr Jekyll and Mr
Hyde, especially in children under the age of 10. Looking around in the foyer this
afternoon was like gazing into an ants' nest that was being viewed on fast-forward
- there were countless scallywags charging around, bouncing into each other and
screaming like they were extras in the battle scenes in 'Braveheart'. Parents,
of course, are content to let them just get on with what they're getting on
with, and just stand there vaping and complaining about having to wait five
minutes to be spoken to by someone, despite having turned up three hours earlier
than they said they would. It has been, to be fair, a very trying day, and we
all looked at each other this evening, when the madness had finally calmed down
a bit, with a shared expression that seemed to say, "Jesus, we've got
another six months of this to come!"
But
we all survived it, and it will get easier as the weeks go on (he said,
hopefully) as we get more and more into the swing of it and the Winter rustiness
depletes somewhat.
And now it is time for a well-earned glass of cold fizzy pop, and our first
in-garden barbecue of April.
RC 6-4-25
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