He does an extension class at school and for one of his assessments, he has to take on a famous personality, and make a speech as that person at the last school assembly of term, in front of the whole school (preschool to year 12).
While we were away for a few days last week, all the 'good people' (his words not mine) got taken, and Roly came back to school to find only one person left.......
Mahatma Gandhi.
................................
Ok, so he was a great man who did huge things for his people, but a sensitive 12 year old does not want to be addressing his school in a loin cloth!!!
He tried to find out what he should wear as his costume, and the helpful, and straight faced reply was: 'Oh, why don't you see what you can do with a sheet!'
Heehee!!
I have really tried to get Roly to look at the positives. He has tried out for the school play the last two years, unsuccessfully.
This is his chance, his moment to prove to himself that he can do this.
We can get him looking a bit less like Gandhi and a bit more like he lived in Jesus time. That will deal with the exposed feeling. And if he writes out a great speech and really really knows it inside out so that he can perform it with feeling, he has a fantastic opportunity here!
I think that once he has done it and recieves the applause, he will want to do it all over again.
It is all in the attitude, don't you think? Makes me think back to when I started piano lessons in Year 12.
I had to play in a school recital. My recital piece?
10 little Indians.!!! I was soooo embarrassed. And I certainly wanted no one knowing I was going to be playing at the recital, let alone know that my song was such a baby piece! In fact I even stuffed a bit of it up.
The very next term, a really cool and sweet guy in our class also started piano lessons. That term, he had to play at the recital.
10 Little Indians. And at breakfast on the morning of the recital, (it was a boarding school), he stood up on a table and personally invited the whole school to come hear him play. And he had a ball. And so did his audience. He made it cool.
So go Roly! Wear that loin cloth with pride. Own that loin cloth!!!
This morning when I when to do some online banking, I noticed that I had recieved a deposit of nearly $800. Huh?
When I clicked to find out from whence this joyous gift had come, I saw that it was a deposit from the school. The same amount I recieved per fortnight of my four mornings a week last term. My joy turned to abject disappointment as I realized I would have to call the school to tell them they had mistakenly paid me for a fortnight of part time teaching that I had not actually done.
I got in touch with the payee person, and explained his error. He listened carefully, then said, 'No Michelle, there is no error. We had you down as a full time employee when you did your six weeks for us last term. And that money is your overdue holiday pay.'
Topsy had his first paying haircut today! I figured it would be much easier to let the hairdresser do it, especially with the kids motorbike chair. I showed Topsy pictures from last time (as above), to prepare him for what was to come, and as we drew close to the salon, he kept saying 'Wow, wow wow!!!!
He loved every minute of the haircut. His eyes just about popped out when the hairdresser placed a Wiggles cutting cape over his head. 'Egg' he said in wonder, "Egg!'
I felt slightly embarrased, till we realized he was trying to show us Greg, the yellow Wiggle!
This is before:
And look at my little boy now....
And here is a quick video of him in action. Foolish pride makes me point out that the black rubbish bags under our tree are actually not rubbish but some bags of clothes donated from a parishoner waiting to go into Hubby's car and trundle off to Goodwill. :)
He has never been spiky before. I love it, though it will actually take some getting used to!!! I think I will miss the Boy-Bob for a tiny while, and that's OK!
How do they magically learn that word? And how is it a word that they latch onto so easily and seem to understand so well?
These days every word Topsy utters seems to be preceded by the word "Mine!'
If Diva gets into the car when we pick her up from school, he will smile angelically at her and then will grab her hat, and say 'Mine hat!'
He generally says it to claim items that he know very wel are not his in the least!
Whereupon, we give it back to its rightful owner and say, "no, it is ......'s. You need to say please if you want a turn.'
Do you remember this stage?
I had nearly forgotten! :)
Oh and tomorrow I will be marching into the school with Roly to report another child shooting him twice with a pen dart. As in, a child-made missile using a pen. The boy had earlier demonstrated shooting it right through a mattress. It really hurt Roly.
The boy actually also brought along a pen gun with a screwdriver tip to school! And it happened the day before as well!
So I will certainly be making sure there are swift consequences. Last year the same boy held Spindles down and spat his mouthful of chewed up apple into his face.
Happy birthday, precious Bodie! He is 12 today. I have had to make do with an older picture as the camera played up. Grrrr. Thankfully the video camera captured him opening his presents this morning. It was a nice relaxed day. Roly got some great books, Playstation games, and the Disney version of Trivial Pursuit. He has been hankering for a pet, and our compromise only just got here in the post today!
It is a NASA created ant farm; where the ants tunnel into, and live off this nutrient-rich gel. . We haven't found ants yet; it might be too cold for them! We went to the kids' favorite 'all you can eat' joint for lunch, though no one was particularly hungry in the end. Bodie was grumpier than one would have expected on his birthday, and quite short with his sister especially (though just quietly, she is going through a bit of a 'patch' herself at present! :)) The reason for this was revealed a little later on.
Roly never got his birthday cake, nor did he eat his special birthday dinner. He vomited violently at 5:00 and never ate another thing! Poor kid.
Here is an exclusive first look at our Diva- now 8!!!
She had a great birthday today.
We worked on some of the crafty presents she received, and danced and sang with Bindi Irwin's CD! Diva later climbed into her favorite tree to paint a watercolor of her view!
She is very excited to see what real Sea Monkeys look like in a few weeks time when they have grown big enough to be seen!
Topsy's favorite song is Happy Birthday (or as he gustily sings, 'Happy Beee') He only tried to insert his own name into the song a couple of times today, and implored us to keep on lighting the candles so he and Diva could continue singing and blowing! This is a poor sample of him beginning to sing the Happy Birthday song. My better video is an acutal video using my video camera, that I will have to copy onto my digital to be able to show anyone online!
After lunch and birthday cake we all went to the local indoor playground till closing time.
We get a break tomorrow, and then get to do it all again for Roly!
I showed Topsy pictures from last time (as above), to prepare him for what was to come, and as we drew close to the salon, he kept saying 'Wow, wow wow!!!!
As in, a child-made missile using a pen. The boy had earlier demonstrated shooting it right through a mattress. It really hurt Roly.
