Parents night tonight.

I do love a good parents night.

Very proud of my two older boys and their efforts at school.

I've become a bit cheesed off lately with some of the conversations I hear at the school gates. I regularly hear little primary 1's being asked the second they leave the building, what they did before break, after break, before lunch etc, what they ate for school lunch, what vegetables they had and so on. Honestly, I think, give them a bit of space.

A parent of a friend of my son was complaining about the amount of time being spent playing heads down thumbs up, 'it's not exactly going to set you up for finding a job later in life is it' she said. Honestly, I thought. I mean, do you really think that is what they did from 9-3? Is it not more likely that that is what happened in the last two minutes and the only thing your dear son wants to share the second he leaves his class?

Another friend was complaining that their son's teacher spends a lot of time at the end of each day reading to them. I happen to know she is an amazing reader and makes the stories come alive. Is that not a special end of the day thing for a teacher to do with an infant class?

Honestly.

My eldest has the longest standing member of staff as his teacher and she is somewhat feared by the parents (probably more than by the kids), some of whom had her when they were at school. She is considered to be 'old school', 'firm but fair', 'no nonsense' and everyone who doesn't have her seems to think that their kids would be better off in her class. They think that in her class they would be pushed on and expected to work hard, give 110%, excel, no time for mucking about. The thing is, I have discovered that she sets the same sort of homework as the other teachers, covers the same curriculum in the same sort of way and runs her class in pretty much the same manner. Still, I've decided I'm not letting on, in that way although I might have to continue to listen to the school gate moans at least I would appear to have a valid reason for not participating in them.

I mean, honestly.