Dear friends. It's time for another Tell Us About challenge, where 10 bloggers from around the world respond to a prompt each month.
I'm thrilled that we're back to full strength with the addition of US blogger Anne M Bray.
This month we're ruminating over Schooldays, a prompt set by Penny from Frugal Fashion Shopper.
We can approach the topic from any angle we choose. I imagined there would be several reminiscences about schooldays so I decided instead to pick just a few comedic moments from school - and Sunday school (which counts as a school), including one from my mum.
One of Our Gerbils is Missing
I was never keen on school dinners so from the age of 10 would literally run home from school, where a lunch would be waiting for me. My teacher occasionally asked if I would pick up food for the school's gerbils and guinea pigs, which I did from a local shop in our village.
We took it in turns to look after the gerbils, which meant giving them food and cleaning out the cage. I extracted a lot of my information from Encyclopaedia Britannica and I decided to look up gerbils to see where they came from. I read they were burrowing rodents from deserts in Africa and Asia.
I felt very sad that our gerbils were trapped in a cage and not able to burrow or run around outside. I liberated one of them by releasing it into the adjacent secondary school's sand pit (used for the long jump). I thought it would still be there the next day when I went back for it. Unfortunately I had overlooked the fact that their desert habitat was in warm countries, and a long jump pit in the UK in winter was not quite the same.
It was assumed the gerbil had somehow got out of the cage on its own. Oops.
A Ride in a Hearse
My mum was afflicted with agonising period pains every month. One time her school teacher sent for her mother to collect her. Grandma wasn't able to attend for some reason but instead persuaded a friend to drive round.
Her friend was a funeral director and the car that arrived for Mum was a hearse.
She rode home in style, conscious perhaps that her condition wasn't quite as bad as the vehicle indicated.
Wellington Boots in Summer
I had a habit of jumping in puddles when I was a kid. It had been raining on this summer's day in July. Mum sent me to Sunday school in my wellies.
She didn't know that a photographer was booked to take our picture for the church's centenary. So there I am, easy to spot in the front row, aged 5. My elder brother is in the back row, holding the letter R.
Another Sartorial Sunday School Incident
I thought I was the bee's knees in my red kilt, frilly jabot blouse and patent black boots. I was 11, and already keen on fashion. Mum told me sternly not to wear the skirt anymore because it was too short. I'd outgrown it. Inevitably, I nipped off to Sunday school wearing the skirt without her seeing.
It was the Harvest Festival service so both she and dad were in the congregation. You can imagine Mum's face when she spotted me passing the collection purse along the aisles, in the forbidden skirt.
Bungalow
Another one from Sunday school. One of our neighbours, a boy four years younger than me, had started attending Sunday school. During the harvest festival (a different one!) he amused himself by occasionally shouting out what he thought was a bad word. And that word? Bungalow.
I hope you enjoyed my anecdotes. Hop over to the other 9 blogs to see how my friends tackled Schooldays.
UK blogger Penny from Frugal Fashion Shopper, whose choice this was, has a quick look at her schooldays. She also examines the British class based system of schooling, as in private v state schooling. This is because it not only impacted her life but also it has huge consequences for British society as a whole.
Yorkshire Lass Suzy, based in Portugal, reflects on her varied and memorable schooldays, from culture shocks and cherished friendships to inspiring teachers and unexpected changes. Find her at www.suzyturner.com
UK blogger Rosie Amber recalls her village primary school and a very special 'School Girl' rose!
New participant Anne (welcome!) in the US writes about her current job: teaching Photoshop and Illustrator to fashion design BFA students. Find her post at Spygirl.
US blogger Leslie at Once Upon a Time & Happily Ever After reflects on a long but beloved career as a school librarian. Find her at https://onceuponatimehappilyeverafter.com/.
Australian blogger Debbie from Deb's World shares memories of her schooldays in Australia, and sending her daughters to school in Cheddar (UK) where (by coincidence) she’s currently staying!
Fellow Australian Jill from Grownup Glamour's take is a smattering of memories from her schooldays.
Marsha from Marsha in the Middle (US) spent the majority of her life in school, either as a student or as a teacher, and sometimes both. She writes about her earliest teaching memories.
Mary Katherine from MK's Adventures (US) ponders her Schooldays, and what she learned that she actually used in later life, at https://mksadventure.com/
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