No more school ... boe hoe

We've had a few hair raising weeks with Werner being ill with flu, which suddenly turned into pneumonia, which caused him to be hospitalised and me spending days between home, school and hospital and nights sleepless with worry.

Thankfully he is much better now.

School closed for the loooonngg six week long summer holidays on Wednesday and even though I was complaining about how busy I was with school stuff like the year book and the PTA and organising gifts for the teachers now that its all over... I'm bored.

No urgent e-mails to read, no school runs, no yearbook to check, no minutes to write, no phone calls or meetings to attend. How sad... my whole life revolved around Mieke's school and now there is nothing. I really miss it. I miss her school, I miss her teacher who retired, I miss seeing the mums at pick up time. I think I might need a job.

Speaking of her teacher who retired - when I first heard Mieke was going to be in Miss Topping's class I wasn't really very happy as I was quite scared of her myself. She seemed strict and I've seen her yelling at the kids. After Mieke's first day I asked her how her day was and surprise surprise - she loved it and she found her new teacher extremely funny. And so she was. She kissed the kids on their hands when they did well and told them their bottoms were going to be in trouble if they are silly. She had a wonderful sense of humour and knew how to handle difficult boys with ease. Her class adored her and they flourished. On the last day of term when she came out for the last time with the children at home time all the parents clapped hands and cheered for her and I got tears in my eyes.

The greatest treasures in the world are found in the most unexpected places.