Sweet Teens

Ange Of The North, that was a GREAT idea to procure a set of those banners! Well done. And I guess you’ve hit on a lucrative fundraising puller too (for future fundraising ventures!)….BTW I still couldn’t open those music links, though I did find them via other channels. They were great. Poignant words.

We are winding down to the last week of school before the 2^nd term holidays. E has just taken part in a Business venture for school. The various business groups quickly realized that FOOD was just about the only realistic income-producing item of sale at a Secondary School Business Market Day, with candy being very high up the list of saleable items !! So true.

Sherbet for sale at the Business Market, packaging designed by E

Speaking of candy, we were amazed the other day to discover a HUGE package of chocolate had been posted to us from a very generous and kind friend. All nut free for my nut –allergic lads! We have trouble getting nut free choc Down Under, so my boys don’t usually get to eat a lot of this essential food group! Do you remember that box of about 40 Mars bars we purchased the last time we were in Canada? Well, we only just finished the last bar a few months ago. It had lasted us nearly 3 years with careful management. So the boys’ eyes boggled as they surveyed the ‘almost lifetime supply’ of chocolate, that they could imagine sitting very nicely down in their welcoming tummies.

However, not a single bar has been eaten yet, because the males of this household have been more intrigued by working out such things as how much surface area the chocolate would cover, and how much it all weighed, and what towering configurations they could build with so many chocolate bars! What a thoughtful and generous friend to remember the boys. And my wonderful mother-in-law (who just happened to have been attending a scrapbooking and craft conference here that day) whipped up a plate with the appropriate stenciling! I had to take a photo for you….

And I should alert you to the fact that I am now a mother of a teenager. Yep. Growing those white hairs so that I can look the part. My teen, E, is presently at camp, but will return in time to attend a concert of his violin hero – Joshua Bell! The concert tickets were a present for turning the big 13! E also has a jazz soiree to perform at on Monday so I’m hoping that the former event will inspire and rub off on the latter….though Joshua Bell is more classical than jazz. Beautiful violinist though if you’re into that sort of thing.

I have been musing about kids growing up. The transition to ‘mom of teen’ has likely triggered some sort of chemical catalyst in my brain. Anyway, one thing led to another, and the conversation in the car yesterday morning, turned to ‘laziness’ and what one should do about it. In a moment of profound insight, lil L (who is 4 years away from the teen thing) proclaimed, “You can chuck it in the bin or you can put it on the mantelpiece!” E and I observed a moment’s preponderance before making our highly intelligent response…”Eh what???!”. “Well…,” said lil L, “laziness is like a candle. You can either put it out….or you can keep it going!” and then a moment later, “Mum, can you please teach me about time management? I want to learn all about how to do it well early on, so that I don’t have to get stressed about it when I need to know about it!” Blow me away. Now all I need is for my little Philosopher to put all his deep insights into practice…..and those teen years should be fun!.....right?