parenting 101

sunday was about de-cluttering. there wasn't much to do. no groceries to buy, no errands to run, so i decided to start clearing up the children's school books. another year, another end to the school term. time to sort out the old ones, recycle the disused books, tear out the unused papers for scrap and clean out the cupboards.

so many hours later, after much back-breaking labour, i have finally cleared little princess' shelves and was halfway through little batman's. their cupboards were once again empty to receive the new books for the next school year.

little princess has been helping me throughout the morning. only towards the end, just when we were going to break for lunch, she asked, 'mum, did you throw away all my books?'. i wonder what we were doing for the last 3 hours. did an alien possessed my daughter and just now released her body and brain? 'i still have one more week of class?'. gasp! errrr..... in my enthusiasm to get rid of the clutter, i have forgotten that they may still need the books. after all, exams are already finished and they have started teaching next year's scope. why do they need the old books? still, daughter wasn't easily appeased. 'i still need some of those books'. she couldn't tell me that when we were just starting.

if teacher asks you why you didn't bring your book, just go, 'oh, oh, i have a stomach ache. i need to go to the nurse'. and then come back to class only when it is over. and if the next teacher also asks you the same thing, go 'oh, oh, i have a stomach ache' again.

sigh. some parents. the nonsense that they are teaching their kids.