THINGS I will never, ever complain about again once this is all over, part three thousand and sixty two.
The frantic school run, bundling bags, French horns, PE kits and children who seem to think time is ELASTIC into the car; the daily Battle for a Parking Space in the hellish school car-park, while sweary-muttering about selfish double parkers who think a mini-roundabout is an acceptable drop off point; and the need to come up with a varied and nutritionally-balanced packed lunch menu for the boys on a weekly basis. (“Never had pitta bread for school lunch in my day,” grumbles their father, to the wind, as no-one is listening.)
I promise not to moan about having to keep under control the packed kitchen noticeboard, awash with timetables and crumpled letters rescued from schoolbags and smoothed, Blu-tacked and organised in date order (okay, so I actually secretly enjoy that) to remind us all that Monday is curling and band, Wednesday is gymnastics, the school trip is Tuesday, and there’s lunchtime boat-building (STEM is king) on Friday – oh and remember money for the new Barista Bar (seriously?) because Thursday is super-smoothie day.....
And I vow never again to cast up the hours spent waiting in cars for activities to end, or the lunchtimes missed to finish work early so as not to miss the latest concert/sports day/parents’ night/parental engagement learning session.
Life without all of the above is an unfamiliar and unsettling place. When I took my sons to school on Friday for what is likely to be their last day for the foreseeable future, they were subdued and sad.
Read more: Ann Fotheringham: Community spirit vital for those who feel isolated
The teachers, too, looked heartbroken. As parents, we take for granted how much teachers do for young people, way above and beyond the day job. This puts all of that marvellous support into sharp focus.
There are much bigger things, of course, than the loss of after-school badminton, and the way teachers are rising to the challenges facing vulnerable young people is impressive.
But I feel sad for the seniors whose schooldays have ended this way; worried for my son and his friends due to sit exams; devastated for the juniors, who miss out on the simple joys of summer term.
Read more: Ann Fotheringham: The decision to close our national watersports centre is a disaster
Young people are resilient, though, and in the space of one weekend, our boys have rallied.
“Look on the bright side, mum,” said the 12-year-old who should have been starting the second half of his modern languages course today. “This way, we can ALL learn Spanish together.” Every cloud...
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here