Friday 24 May 2013

Lift


White Queen
Something I’m ashamed of – I’ve given the twins quite a few lifts to school over the years.  It’s not the distance – it’s the huge schoolbags, not to mention the saxophone.

Even last night, Perran called me from school.

“Just why should I come and pick you up, Perran?”

“Because I’m on antibiotics for tonsillitis, and I’ve been revising for hours and I’ve got an exam tomorrow.”

Any excuse.

And now, this morning, the final dilemma.  It is a fact that pupils are more acute after a morning walk.  That’s doubly important just before an early exam, and this morning Carenza has Latin Lit and Perran has Statistics.  They should walk.

But it is also the official “last day” with fancy dress and an assembly of mock awards and nostalgia, all on top of the exams.  So here they are in front of me dressed respectively as the white queen and a playing card soldier from Alice in Wonderland.  It is raining and we are a mile from school.  I have a vision of Perran’s playing card costume slumping into papier mache around him while he glares at his exam paper.

I don’t know what to do for the best.

But the twins know –
"We'd rather walk and be alert for the exams, Mum."
So I grab 2 bin bags and stuff the playing card costume in them.  Perran and Carenza put on their raincoats.  We pray for focus in the exams and off they go.

Leaving me to stuff my warmest duvet into another bin bag, ready for a weekend of glamping.
 
 
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