Saturday 5 November 2011

Truancy and Bad Luck go Hand in Hand.

Over the past few weeks, Mr Four and a Half has been enjoying Kindergarten Orientation at our local school.  Over three Thursday mornings, he has gamely set forth into the Kinder classroom and emerged a couple of hours later with exciting stories to tell and new friends made.  Mr Six has been far too important to even be seen with his little brother as he has been spending the same mornings doing Year One Orientation.

Whilst the kids have been off learning about what the next year has install for them, the parents have enjoyed education seminars on Literacy and Numeracy, before enjoying a delicious morning tea with other parents.  Happy days indeed. But it is funny how things happen in our family.

Week three and final, and we had decided that on completion of Orientation, we would pull both the kids out of school and race away for a longer than normal weekend down at the coast.  We had a meeting on Friday afternoon, but decided we would make an extra night of it and give ourselves the opportunity to relax as well.  So it was fitting that on the morning of our planned escape, the school had invited someone from the Department who chose to give a talk on truancy.

The Department spokesperson proceeded to lecture all the Mums and Dads on truancy and how missing a few days of school would result in your child protegee failing to reach their full potential, indeed any potential and how they would be doomed for life.  She did proceed to explain what did constitute a valid reason for removing your child from school for a day.  Apparently fishing or camping is not a valid excuse, but attending a family event does pass the grade.

So it was with a wee tinge of guilt that Jo signed the vacancy log for Mr Six as attending a “Family Event”, and we loaded the kids into Terry, with fishing rods on the roof and the camper in tow.  We took off, first stop Oallen Ford for a fish.  After all, what could possibly go wrong!


Mr Four and a Half tries to fill the river up with rocks whilst Mum wets a line.