Saturday 6 February 2010

6 in a row.

This morning at the "Feck me, it's early" hour the family von auntiegwen got up and dropped the Beautiful Baby Daughter off at school for a school skiing trip to Switzerland. This is the 6th year in a row I have entrusted Mr Watson (who we all heart) with one of my beloved offspring, EBD had 2 skiing tips in 2005 and 2006, TBS had 3 snowboarding trips in 2007, 2008 and 2009. This year only BBD remains at that school so this year it's her turn. I don't even want to think of the skiing maths (if I didn't have to fork out for 6 school skiing trips I could have bought) as I know I could have bought a new car with it. But school trips have certainly come on since my day, when we had a day trip to Culzean Castle, bring your own packed lunch to eat by the time the coach has left the playground and a quid for the gift shop, sorry should have put a middle aged woman rant alert in for you there.

So, at the crack of sparrows we are all in the car and the ex mr auntiegwen asks BBD if she has everything, he goes down the "passport, tickets, money" route, BBD answers in a hugely sarcastic fashion that of course being a school trip the passports and health cards have to be handed in at least a week before because people are too stupid to remember them all by their own selves.

He then asks about ipod, DS, phone plus chargers. Then a huge shriek from the back alerts us that "Little Miss Organised and I don't need any help thank you very much, I'm not retarded like the rest of them" has indeed left her mobile at home, so we turn around and go back for the phone.

Now to let you into a little background, I like to be early for stuff like this, if I have a plane to catch I will be one of those people who will turn up 3 hours before we leave, when the school trip letter says be at school at 6.30 am I will be there at 6.15am, the ex mr auntiegwen not so much, he has missed several planes and was actually late for his grannies funeral, truly I was mortified. He is of the opinion that if they say 6.30am then it's perfectly acceptable to be there at 6.30 ish. As we're going in his car, we're going on his time frame also.

So, we arrive at the school just 5 minutes late but there is nowhere to park as all the early parents have got the spaces. He drops me and the children off and goes to park. My friend Susan is there already, I love Susan, muchly, even though she is a Daily Mail reader and owns a selection of Per Una cardies, I know I will grow up to be Susan. Em is waiting on the coach for BBD having secured a good seat (Em belongs to Susan, the girls are good mates and very similar in the way Susan and I are)

I say to Susan how annoyed I was at being the last parent there (she gets the not being late thing) usually Susan and I will be there together tut tutting at the unorganised mummies, we're good at raised eyebrows too. I explain about the forgotten phone and she assures me that she was en route when they realised Em didn't have her ski jacket.

Another shreik from BBD, jacket at home on her bedroom floor.

Phone ex mr ag, get him to bring car back and again back home to collect jacket and back to school.

Coach is waiting for us, last disorganised parents, I have to do the Bad Mummy slink of shame onto coach to hand over jacket and receive the slow applause.

6 years in a row, you'd think I'd be getting the hang of it by now.

10 comments:

Chic Mama said...

Funny my husband always made us late for everything. we have also missed flights..can you imagine trying to then find flights for us all! I hope she has a fab time. I miss skiing holidays. ;0/ xx

Brighton Mum-Teenage Angst said...

Oh my God! I am SO impressed with your organisational skills, it took you till ski trip number 6 for anything to go wrong! I bow down at your feet..he-he x

Laura said...

So what I'm hearing is your one child free for a while. Woo hoo! Sneak into her room and read her diary and move things about.

Madame DeFarge said...

You'd have thought that the EBD could have got the hang of it too, so release yourself from blame and fling it all at her. It's what parents do best.

Style At Every Age said...

Glad my kids have never had the opportunity to go Skiing with their schools, I would be completely grey by the time they got home!

Anonymous said...

I am always early too, when I can be. As for a skiing trip, I envy your daughter. My parents couldn't afford it, so I had to do the school camp in the Peak District instead!

Anonymous said...

I'm with you on the being early thing - can't relax if I think I'm going to be a moment late! Maybe that's because I am a slight control freak?

auntiegwen said...

Chic mama - I always attributed that to business travel, if you missed a plane you just got the next one with no problems. She was there less than 12 hours before I got the "I want to come home text" they like the idea of trips but miss the personal servant element of home life !

BMTA - this one only fell down because BBD wanted to do everything herself, control freak in training that she is, the others went well because I did everything as my other children inherited a "can't be arsed, you do it gene" it missed the baby daughter out !

Lolly - the one thing I can say with certainty is that as a family we would never read diaries, texts etc, anyone I ever knew that did just ended up upset at what they found. I like it so much better in denial land, la la la :)

Madame - I blame their father, for everything from global warming to the state of the economy with all their faults in between

Mrs Fab - ah yes, I never fully relax with one of them missing, you'd think I'd enjoy the rest but no

Matthew - yep, mine have been incredibly lucky that we could fork out very prob nigh on £12 grand in school trips, equipment, new clothes, spending money etc for all 3 of them over the years. And you know that camping in the peak district made you the man you are today :)

Mud - yep, BBD also loves to be early and she is the biggest control freak in the house, she has learned and surpassed me.

Working Mum said...

Sounds like normal teenage behaviour to me. I'm dreading having one of my own!

btw Some are too stupid to remember passports for school trips, or a week before said trip they tell you that it's expired or they fail to tell you that they have an Australian passport and didn't know they needed a Visa as well. (I have given up organising school trips - the stress was enormous!)

auntiegwen said...

WM - I was asked on quite a few occasions to take a party of teenagers away on a trip but I never could. The responsibilty of other peoples teens was just way too stressful for me, bad enough 3 of my own!