Wednesday 17 November 2010

I WANT TO BE A TEACHER

Says X. I want to do the register, I want to take the dinner tickets, I want to make the children get their right mums and dads when they go home.

I wonder how she will view this first ambition when she's older. Will I, or someone else, drag it out when she's a bin man? Or will she be laughing about it when she's Prime Minister or a painter or a brain surgeon or a mum with loads of little ones at school.

When I was fifteen my headmistress dragged me in to see her and warned me that if I dropped maths I'd never be a teacher. "That's no problem, whatsoever," I said, no doubt with what is now called 'attitude. ' I regretted that decision such that I taught myself maths with the help of Carol Vorderman and took the GCSE when I was in my thirties. Teaching still wouldn't have me, though.

I think the main thing is that it says a lot about how happy X is at nursery.