Miss Hap was a little late home from school yesterday as her friend was rehearsing for her role in the school’s production of ‘Jungle Book’ (My daughter did audition for Mowgli but didn’t get it, and didn’t fancy any of the other roles). She didn’t want to get the bus home on her own, so decided to wait for her friend, which meant that she arrived home cold, tired,hungry, crabby AND with a sore throat.

Luckily, I had already prepared dinner (contrary to my moan about housework, I did end up doing it, of course) and it was ready and waiting for her on the table. Mr Grump was unusually late home so his would have to be re-heated later on. Miss Hap and I are much the same when it comes to our food, and we didn’t see the point in waiting any longer for ours, so we tucked in.

Although my daughter felt grotty, she apparently had some maths homework given to her that had to be in the next day. This is unusual as normally, although they do get loads of homework, they get a week to do it in. Anyway, she is always a bit vague on what homework she has, so I told her to get on with it, whilst I did the washing up.

As soon as I came back in the room, she was moaning, I asked what was the matter and she complained that she didn’t have the ‘right calculator’. Ii was mad as we had brought her one in September,

“Oh that one is no good, I need to have a Casio scientific one”.  Well I was not happy. I asked her what she was trying to work out, then got completely lost as she tried to explain it to me! I am not totally stupid, but neither am I great at maths! I advised her to see if there was an online scientific calculator she could use, but she was one step ahead and had already tried it.

Before I could stop her, she was e mailing her maths teacher (can you believe it)? telling him of her plight. At that point Mr Grump stomped in muttering and moaning; also cold, tired, crabby and hungry. Miss Hap regaled him with her tale of woe, and Bless him, he put his boots back on, and set off to get her this bloody calculator!

My God, how school has changed since I went there, as you can read here. I don’t remember being allowed to use calculators (they were quite a novelty and pretty basic when I was her age). It amazes me now all the different functions that they are now capable of doing. My maths teacher was terrifying. I would have loved to have seen her face if e-mail had been around then and I had dared to send her one regarding not doing my homework!

Apart from the eardrum-bursting bellowing that would have ensued, berating my audacity and stupidity,I would probably still be in detention to this day!  Thank God teachers are a little more ‘approachable’ today. (Mind you, some teachers are a little too drippy for my liking at her school, but I digress).

Anyway, the homework was completed, and  my daughter was duly sent to bed with paracetamol to reduce her fever. I gave Mr Grump his re-heated dinner, but he told me that he had gone past it now, and he left quite a bit of the chop. Never mind, I swooped it up and it was gone before he could change his mind. Very nice it was too! Well, I had to feed my poor brain as it had been overstretched trying to understand that maths homework!!