Saturday 9th November - Catching up

Catching up on what?

Teaching - 8 piano pupils this morning - because of car malfunction and then half term I haven't seen most of them for a whole 28 days - I counted up the days because one lad had practised the piano every day, scout's honour, which means 7 stickers on my tally chart to add to the previous 5. Since the incentive scheme I run means they get a prize for 10 stickers, he will get first pick of the IKEA finger puppets, the current reward;

It is quite a challenge to find prizes that are cheap enough that I don't mind buying them while exciting enough to be considered acceptable by discerning children.

I feel a bit guilty that one family of three siblings have no idea that I am running this scheme; their mother insists on them all practising every day (which is why the 5-year-old is taking Grade 1 next week, the 8-year-old passed Grade 2 last term and the 10-year-old is already working towards her Grade 4 next term) so they would be hoovering up prizes every couple of weeks. Luckily they will work for stickers - not fussy what sort so long as there are stickers.

I came home from teaching through the kind of autumnal rain which is direct, cold, and uncompromising. The autumn colours are still glorious - beech trees are the stars at the moment. The sycamores lost nearly all their leaves when there were a couple of stormy days last week. Once back, we stayed in for the rest of the day.

I've now got to catch up on paperwork, and also send the next set of emails-to-parents cancelling a day's teaching, as, on balance, we need to visit my godmother again in the next few days. Just to keep things going. The next few months are looking to be the most disorganised ever. Which is saying something.

Oh, and the other thing that is catching up with me as opposed to me catching up with it is the definite beginnings of a sore throat and cold. Which I intend to treat by staying in bed tomorrow; I was supposed to be 'sidesperson' at church (handing out hymnbooks and directing the traffic when it is time to receive Communion) but have managed to get someone else to do it for me. And that will be a time for me to catch up on my sleep too.