Jabs
Just had a jab today. Another one is due on Monday. Pincushion, anyone?
On the way, we passed a new apartment block. How on earth it acquired planning permission I’ll never know. It’s hideous. Apparently, it’s for assisted living . . . I must remember to take a photograph on Monday.
Talking to
myself
by Mabel Lucie Atwell
Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons
I've spent a good deal of my life talking to
myself. Occasionally I've disguised it as teaching. It can look as though the
little children sitting at your feet are drinking in every word when what
they're really doing is wondering why they can’t go home, or why you’re so
extremely old, just like their mums or even their grandmothers.
Sometimes, a small child will boldly reach out and
touch the polished surface of your shoe to see if it really is shiny or just
wet. Once in a while an infant will whisper shyly, 'I like your blouse' or
even, touchingly, 'I like you.' Sometimes, they will mistakenly call you,
‘Mummy.’ Worse, they will call you, ‘Grandma.’
Children
can be devastatingly honest when young, and unhampered by conformity. One day,
a little girl put up her hand to say, 'Excuse me, I don't like you.' There’s no
textbook answer to that.
Often
actions speak more piercingly than words. Couching instructions in the form of
requests – 'Would you like to . . . ?' can be answered by the child shaking his
head vigorously or turning his back and walking away. If the
instruction/request involves items to be sorted, or put away, the answer may be
an eloquent gesture sweeping the items to the floor, or, if already on the
floor, far and wide across the room. Nothing could be plainer – the child does
not want to cooperate. If the instruction/request is repeated a little more
firmly there are several possible outcomes:-
1: the
child acquiesces and does as she is told. Result!
2: the
child bursts into noisy sobs and demands his mummy.
3: the
child repeats 'NO' with increasing vehemence until your ear drums are ringing, she
has turned purple with rage and ends up having a full-blown tantrum, maybe even
succeeding in making herself sick.
4: the
child throws the items at the nearest adult (you) and possibly aims a
kick at your shin.
5: the
child wets himself, indicating at the same time, by the volume of the flow,
that he has not emptied his bladder since the night before.
6: the
child soils herself, indicating at the same time that she consumed far too much
fruit the previous day.
None of
these results were quite what was in mind at the beginning of the 'lesson'. I
believe that the hardworking teachers of very young children deserve more
generous pay than their scholarly colleagues at the other end of the age range,
when students attend lessons (now known as lectures) voluntarily, are
usually articulate and toilet-trained, can dress themselves, use a handkerchief,
and know that writing on walls is unacceptable. Pause here, while I think about
this last statement – okay, they know it's unacceptable but do it anyway,
arguing the right to free expression.
Those
outcomes were to be expected occasionally, but most children were shocked if
their class-mates behaved so badly.
In the
twenty-first century, teachers of small children have a much more challenging
task than used to be the case. A lot of the problems seen today have been
blamed on Covid lockdowns and the subsequent isolation of families. Personally,
that’s a cop-out.
In the UK,
children enter school in the September following their fourth birthday.
Increasingly, many are still wearing nappies, (diapers) and sucking
dummies, (pacifiers) and have no idea about sitting at a table to eat.
Knives and forks are as unfamiliar to them as books, crayons, paint,
conversations. They have either been completely indulged, or are accustomed to
being overseen by the television or the tablet. Many are barely able to speak,
the to and fro of conversation being quite alien to them.
Some parents
wish to be their child’s ‘best friend’ and fear that correcting, or even
guiding, their child will damage its developing personality. Is it stunting a
child’s development to stop him or her punching you as you try to contain the
blows? Uttering soft words, like, ‘That’s not kind,’ and ‘Remember what we said
about hitting people?’ without reinforcing them, does not work. The child is
desperately seeking boundaries and, not receiving them, is driven to further
outrageous behaviour. I have seen such children at three years old, and a few
years later in life, and they are not pleasant companions. Now thirteen, they
have found that life in school has been much harder than it need have been.
It used to
be the case that parents were sent letters of instruction before their child
started school. They would be advised to make sure their child was able to
dress him or herself, a necessary skill for PE lessons and playtime in a
draughty playground, use a handkerchief, be able to look after their basic
hygiene, use scissors safely, be able to listen and follow instructions. Even
before a child was allowed to enter pre-school, it would be expected to be out
of nappies, and able to say its name and sex.
It is
unreasonable to expect teachers, and their hard-pressed classroom assistants,
to undertake changing nappies and the teaching of the basic etiquette of life.
It has frequently been the case, in less affluent areas, that some young
children have been disadvantaged through not being exposed to books or toys, or
conversation, or the companionship of their peers. Now it seems that more and
more children, from all backgrounds, are not receiving the basic help they need
from their families to confront life.
Some
teachers report being kicked, bitten, and spat at by children as young as five.
Others have taken the precaution of wearing ‘bite guards’ under their clothes.
It is not surprising, then, that so many teachers leave the profession for
something less taxing.
Signed off!
Otherwise, everything is tickety-boo and he has been discharged.
In other, amaryllis-related news, Herschel once again leapt up at the flower, and then ignored it. At the same time, Jellicoe was still sporting his soft protective collar, which hampered his spatial awareness. Walking around the coffee table, looking for a sunny spot in which to relax, he knocked one of the amaryllis over. There was wet earth all over the floor, but the stem didn’t break. However, the shock it received prevented the rest of the buds opening. The second plant was still promising glory, so we were content, until it was struck by the patio door. Subsequently, it has refused to open its buds, too, which is a shame.
It has been a glorious day. Birds were singing and flitting back and forth, bees were buzzing, and a myriad insects were out and about, visiting the flowers for the pollen. The pollen count has been extremely high, so the humans have been sneezing and spluttering.
Our once sad pyracantha by the garage has sprung back to full, vigorous health, which is cause for celebration. The wood pigeons, along with the thrushes and blackbirds, will enjoy feasting on the berries later in the year.
That takes the biscuit!
This British idiom from the late nineteenth century is used to express surprise or outrage at the annoying or selfish actions of another person. It is also used in Canada and other Commonwealth countries, apparently.
I was surprised to find that it probably derives from an older American phrase from around 1840, ‘takes the cake.’ It referred to the cakewalk, a promenade dance from Southern USA. Couples would compete and the couple judged the winners would receive a cake.
I would have thought the winners would have preferred a monetary prize, but what do I know?
The derivation reminded me of the 1969 film, ‘They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?’ It made a lasting impression on me, that people could be so poor and desperate that they would enter dance marathons for the chance of winning a cash prize.
Lucius Tarquinius Superbus
The history of Tarquin the Proud is a mixture of fact and fiction, as in all the best stories.
Tarquin was the seventh and final King of Rome, presiding over a despotic reign from 534-509 BC that led to the elimination of the monarchy. He acquired power through a succession of monstrous acts, culminating in the assassination of the reigning king, Servius Tullius. Tarquin’s wife, Tullia Minor, the dead king’s daughter, drove her chariot over his body as it lay in the street.
After seizing the throne, Tarquin proceeded to rule without Senate approval, ignoring Roman law and passing judgements decided only on his own authority. He protected himself with an armed guard and any political opponents he distrusted were murdered or outlawed. Some were falsely implicated in plots and executed.
The end of his corrupt, tyrannical reign came about through the actions of his son Sextus, who raped a noblewoman he had trapped into submitting to him. Lucretia committed suicide. It was the inspiration for Shakespeare’s narrative poem of 1594, The Rape of Lucrece.
Lucretia’s husband and father swore to overthrow Tarquin and his family, who were banished from Rome. Tarquin tried many times to regain power, but died in exile in 495 BC.
Thereafter the Roman Empire was established.
Castle Day
April 6th is Castle Day in Japan. It is an opportunity to celebrate the history and importance of castles. In the fifteenth century, Japan was a collection of numerous small independent states, which squabbled with each other. Castles were built on mountain tops for defence.
When Japan was unified in the late sixteenth century, larger castles were built as administrative and military centres. These were constructed on the plains or on small hills, rather than mountains.
Towards the end of the nineteenth century, castles were seen as undesirable reminders of the feudal past and many were deliberately demolished. Others were destroyed in the Second World War.
Japanese castles were wooden structures built on stone foundations. Today twelve castles survive with their original keeps.
For comparison, France has the most castles in the world, with 45,000. Italy has 20,000, and Germany has over 4,300. The British Isles has 3,000 to 4,000 castles.
The USA has 152 structures that are considered castles, but most are architectural reconstructions.
Servicing the garage door
When we had our garage door replaced in 2023, we signed a contract that would cover an annual service.
In January this year, someone ‘phoned and asked if it would be acceptable to conduct the service earlier than usual. We agreed, paid, and thought no more about it. Imagine our surprise when, two weeks ago, we were contacted to arrange a date for the annual service!
After much discussion with two garage door installers, both in the same town, we concluded that our details, including email address, telephone number, and house address, had somehow been relayed to a company that had not installed our door. Alarm bells rang!
Barry had contacted several companies, prior to deciding on a door, and his details had been recorded. The company, not the one that installed the door, had merged data files, and in the process his details had become mixed with someone else’s. Data migration, when data is moved from one system to another, can cause a number of problems.
It took some time to convince the manager that his company had not supplied our door. The customer he thought he was dealing with did indeed have exactly the same name as Barry, but lived in a different part of the country. The service that customer was expecting was performed on our door.
Eventually, we found that nothing nefarious had occurred. No-one had bought our data. We breathed a sigh of relief.
