Helpful Tips for New Parents please!!!

[kerrensimmonds]

And, Frances, house slippers and Songs of Praise...

[Ajarn Philip]

I had to take a suspender belt from the beginning because I was tall and I think we wore them until 16 as we had ribbed stockings long after the rest of the world had graduated to tights. In sixth form we wore 30 denier American Tan tights.

Mary, I'm convinced you do this sort of thing on purpose.

[Fjgrogan]

Yes, Kerren, house shoes, which the list said had to be leather-soled (because rubber would mark the dayroom floor). My mother was the only parent in the world who had to comply with every letter of the law and got paranoid about the fact that the only suitable shoes we could find had 'composition' soles. She also insisted that my jar of jam had to be home made, as stated on the list, whilst everyone around me was indulging in Marmite and chocolate spread.

[englishangel]

WYSIWYG woman

[thriftymatron]

When I took my daughter back on Sunday I noticed her bedsheet had her house initials written on it in the corner in very large black letters. I knew I hadn't done it, so I thought she had the wrong sheet, but she said that their sheets are marked like that now because it makes it easier for the laundry ladies to identify them, rather than search endless seams for the nametapes we sew in. So, unless any staff members (ie matrons ) tell me otherwise, I won't be sewing (or rather my mother-in-law won't be!) nametapes in the sheets, duvet covers and pillowcases for my younger daughter who starts in September, I'll be writing her name and house number on in black laundry pen.

If you check the photo gallery on the school website (parents/uniform/photo gallery) there are new photos showing where to put nametapes on bedding (and everything else). Permanent marker does tend to fade and depending on the colour / pattern of the duvet cover, may not stand out as clearly as a nametape.

As I have said before, so many good quality items end up unclaimed in Lost Property every term that unless you want to be boosting the profits of the Thrift Shop, I'd sew a nametape onto everything! I even on occasions hid an extra nametape either into a pocket or sleeve of some items such as tracksuit tops, after my eldest son's brand new blazer (at least they don't have them anymore!) went missing from his wardrobe. Then, if the visible tape was removed, the item could still be identified!

[huggermugger]

This term we've ended up with six odd socks.. all labelled. Herumph.

[lonelymom]

This term we've ended up with six odd socks.. all labelled. Herumph.

That wouldn't bother my daughter at all. She and her friends all wear odd socks on purpose (must be a girly thing). In fact, when I wash them and put them in pairs she just undoes them all and mixes them up again. Maybe your DS could set a trend amongst the boys?

[englishangel]

My daughter does that too. I was following some girls (3 x 15 year olds or so) down the road the other day and they had not only shared socks but also their ballet pumps.

[Mrs C.]

This term we've ended up with six odd socks.. all labelled. Herumph.

That wouldn't bother my daughter at all. She and her friends all wear odd socks on purpose (must be a girly thing). In fact, when I wash them and put them in pairs she just undoes them all and mixes them up again. Maybe your DS could set a trend amongst the boys?

Same with my 2 - I used to spend ages carefully pairing them up , but not any more!
I frequently find strange (as in not ours!) clothes in the wash " oh that`s so-and-so`s", and then I `m accused of losing their own items of clothing! How they keep track of things, I don`t know - well I suppose they don`t! And it doesn`t seem to bother them at all.

[englishangel]

It's my sons who swop clothes.

Actually what I think happens is they all crash and then put on the nearest t-shirt in the morning.

[lonelymom]

I frequently find strange (as in not ours!) clothes in the wash " oh that`s so-and-so`s", and then I `m accused of losing their own items of clothing! How they keep track of things, I don`t know - well I suppose they don`t! And it doesn`t seem to bother them at all.

Oh yes, I get all that too! I spend leave weekends doing about 3 washloads, and I would guess that about half a load are clothes that aren't even my daughters!

[huggermugger]

Nope - the clothes sharing doesn't happen with 12 year old boys as far as I know...(tho he did share a Buzz Lightyear suit but I suspect that doesn't count) and shame on you for thinking that he could wear odd socks. There is a definite formality beginning to creep in, albeit with a certain amount of casualness - think smart shirts worn outside jeans which appear to be falling down. Underwear can be on show but odd socks are just shameful. And I have noticed a tendency to brush the hair forward, making a sort of parting on the back of the head somewhere (where else would you keep it?); I think it looks utterly ridiculous but my opinion is not required. Helpful tip? Say absolutely nothing...

[lonelymom]

Huggermugger, at parents evening on Sunday I noticed lots of the boys looked just like that! I did ask my daughter to point out your son so I could say hello to you, but apparently it wasn't cool to do so!

[Angela Woodford]

I had to take a suspender belt from the beginning because I was tall and I think we wore them until 16 as we had ribbed stockings long after the rest of the world had graduated to tights. In sixth form we wore 30 denier American Tan tights.

Mine were Pretty Polly "Romany" tights in a terrible dark brown which "made my legs look slimmer". Or so I was convinced. I chose these tights regularly at Graysons because I aspired to the style of the picture of the model on the packaging - a leggy beauty with a Venetian Pageboy haircut... But if we didn't have/couldn't afford tights, we wore the beige ankle socks in summer - the perils of the "sock mark"!

I don't understand why Mary wore the repulsive putty coloured ribbed stockings in the 111 form. Surely it didn't matter if you were tall when it was a matter of socks and brown itchy long socks? Scratch! Scratch! (The socks exacerbated the eczema on the knees of poor Janet Bell..)

Sorry, all new parents; will get back to my Sunday morning cup of strong tea.

[Ajarn Philip]

I don't understand why Mary wore the repulsive putty coloured ribbed stockings in the 111 form. Surely it didn't matter if you were tall when it was a matter of socks and brown itchy long socks? Scratch! Scratch! (The socks exacerbated the eczema on the knees of poor Janet Bell..)

Off topic be damned! There was something about that last sentence I simply couldn't resist.

"The socks were new, they did not smell,
But somehow we knew that all wasn’t well.
They were not yellow, but you’d have fibbed
If you had claimed they were not ribbed.
They itched and itched like demons from Hell
And exacerbated the eczema of poor Janet Bell…"