Wednesday 11 March 2009

Parents' Consultation Morning

A record of a morning
spent in dusty corridors

waiting for appointments
outside thick wooden doors

peering through leaded windows
at the sunshine outside,

clutching a battered timetable
with the list of names of teachers

who smile as we enter the room
and say such good things about MissM.

*****

In the middle of the morning
we met the Much Travelled MissC, friend of MissM,
and her Lovely Mother.
And the Lovely Mother of the Much Travelled MissC said

"I read your blog
and so does my mother
and my sister"


And MrsM felt slightly faint
because that means that the Lovely Mother
knows about the gilet
and the argument in the shop
and MrsM's failure as a parent
and countless other confessions
but she smiled weakly
and said "I am so glad that you like it".

Hi to you, Lovely Mother,
and the Much Travelled MissC!

13 comments:

Ali said...

Unfair advantage, no? How strange it can be when blogging encounters real life. When it happens to me, I curse myself for being such a blabbermouth.

You, on the other hand, always read as the model of discretion and control.

dottycookie said...

Oh my goodness, that would make me feel very strange indeed.

I hope you told the teachers that their windows need cleaning ...

trash said...

Oh dear, real and blog world collide! Was there lightning or shaking of earth?

Anonymous said...

Don't worry Alice, this just means that the Lovely Mother of the Much Travelled MissC knows that you are human like the rest of us. She too probably has an item of clothing that is still sitting in a "boutique" that she was advised not to purchase !!!

Anonymous said...

Your human qualities are the reason they enjoy your blog. Embrace them!

Anonymous said...

Oh my, that is my worst nightmare!

Unknown said...

Gulp!

I don't doubt of one moment that MissM got good reviews! :)

driftwood said...

just as well you've described her as a lovely mother then!!
that's so funny, you are a blog celebrity, if I ever read Hello magazine I shall be sure to look for you in it.

oh for a parents meeting like that, we get to sit in a portacabin.........

Anonymous said...

1. What a beautiful place to go to school.
2. Gulp, indeed.
3. But I agree with Ali -- you always do read as the model of discretion and control.
4. Gulp.

Lina said...

Gulp. Strange isn't it that you can tell us so much but I live in fear of anyone I know (apart from my immediate family) reading my blog?!! WHich is rather silly seeing as it's in the public domain, but there you go!

Jackie said...

I mistakenly showed a college tutor some of my pics on flickr and in the next moment the students homework was my blog!

Lynn said...

At least you've never posted a photo of your badly swollen sprained ankle. Or yourself with conjunctivitis. There, now, don't you feel lots better?

P.S. Hi, Lovely Mother of Miss C!

tinta said...

Hi to you Delightful MrsM, it was lovely to bump into you on our travels around the school last weekend. To see how grown up MissM has become. And now to be immortalised in your blog. I feel famous! Don't forget I mentioned how much I envy the trips you relate, and can assure you not to feel weak at the crossroads of blog meets real life. If I blogged you would all learn about the Absent Overseas Mother, the Procrastinator Mother, the Frazzled, Work Sucks Everything Out Of Her Mother.... Not a pretty thought. But I do live in a wonderful place and that would make a better backdrop perhaps. One for your own blog one day?

PS Hi back Lynn, and Viv, I have several such items of clothing, and have been known as a voracious ebayer at times...