Going Back to School

This week many children will return to the classroom after a lengthy summer break. Most schools in The Commonwealth of The Bahamas opened last week. In Montserrat we would say ‘their free paper burn,” which means their leisure time was now limited to the rigor of school. In  Montserrat as it with most of the Eastern Caribbean school starts today  the 6^th of September. When I was younger and a child was slow in learning (slow) we would say they went to August school. So, needless to say we did not want to go back to school in August.

Recently, after much debate and an apprehension to enroll my daughter in a certain school, I conceded and registered her at the school. At this point Uncle Gerald would have had a good laugh as he ragged me before now that my daughter would not go to school because I would have to go with her and that was not possible. Monday morning all the children were well clad, every pleat in line, everything was new; uniforms, ,bags, lunch boxes, shoes. The returning students seemed to beam with joy. I must admit I had a different level of respect for the school just walking through. Parents of first time attendees showed up with a  joyful expectancy. Of course for the younger ones (pre-school age) there were in tears they wanted to go back home – they wanted their mothers.

As I entered my child’s class room the teacher was enthusiastic  and had a certain degree of dignity  in her attitude and by the way she carried herself. Later in the evening my three year old daughter came home with a schedule of subjects for each day, something I did not see until I was in High School. Also there were two letters one from her class teacher and the other from her assistant introducing themselves. As I said before I was not sure I would let my daughter attend so I did not attend Parents teacher’s conferences held in June. To my surprise, I learned that her teacher, whose deportment was that of a first time teacher keen to exercise the knowledge she had garnered, was a seasoned teacher of sixteen years. I was taken aback, I breathed a sigh of relief and was reassured then that my child was in capable hands because she took pride in her appearance and strove to develop her field. So far my daughter likes it and now I see why this school has one of the best reputations on the island.

As our children, grandchildren, friend’s children, niece’s, nephew’s, sisters,  brothers, cousins God children return to the classrooms let us support the teachers whom we have entrusted with our children. They too have taken the time to be experts in their fields so that they can groom our children when they are away from us. Let us encourage and support them by putting in those additional hours outside school so that their loads may be a little lighter.

Forgiveness

Illustration taken from Stumble Upon

Recently, after reviewing a book I found the readers who gave the author one or two stars were her most trenchant critics because of the way she expressed her actions during her precocious youth.

In life we tend to get caught up in personalities and not the lessons we have learned.  Our parents are usually our first role models no matter how bad we thought they were, they have taught us survival and forgiveness. I recall one of my friends when her adult son got mad and stormed out, she would laugh and say ‘boy I am your mother you will be back.’

For most of us we do not have a biological bond with celebrity role models so we cast them in the ‘ocean of forgetfulness’ and treat them like pariahs and scoff at the mere mentioned of their name when they act contrary to what we perceive should be right. I find that people get so upset when people they hold to a certain standard (Oprah, Obama, May Angelou, Tiger Woods, Jill Scott, Erykah Badu or anyone else they put on a pedestal) show themselves as flawed and fallible.

The question is who are the fickle ones?  I once read some where: people come into our lives to bring us a gift or a lesson we need to learn. So my advice today is cherish the lessons you are given and forget the bitterness and criticisms.  As Napoleon Hill puts it “Criticism will plant fear or resentment in the human heart but will not build love or affection.”

The Transition

When last have you sat down and recounted the days when you thought that your parents were highly unreasonable, judicious, controlling, and rigid? Have you ever as a child remembered those one or two times (maybe more) when you contemplated the possibility you may have been adopted. It could be that you even took it a step further and expressed your hostility in words like “I hate them/you/her/him.” Don’t say that it is only me that thought these things. Now that you are a parent guardian or simply an adult you have come to realize that they were not mercenaries. Their tactics, however misconstrued, were meant to protect, love and care. As a parent looking back I see things in a different way. I now realize that all the parenting I received, with the benefit of hindsight, now all makes sense!

Spasm

Reprimands hit like a ball

Mass defense

Aversion – misapprehension

Field of translation adrift

Images of hidden strangers

Them and us

The struggle

Capricious rituals

Fresh with sour outpour

Their inexplicable beliefs

Beyond reach or comprehension

The common experiences pointless

Now!

The fanaticism of rite and right and wrong

Fluid …

Trimmed with grace plus erudition

The magnificent just war

The sacrificial symbols

Transitioned

Into components of our lives

-

Poem Written by Brenda L. McCartney

School Bruk Up

Photographed by Anthony Asael

The term ‘school bruk up’ was a term that we used every summer to mean ‘school is on break.’ At one time I literally thought they had to break down the structure and rebuild it then later I learned the actual meaning. It was the hurricane season but hurricanes never came until September or after.

Looking back at the end of the term in Primary (Elementary) School all students/pupils were happy and looked forward after exams to the two months holiday. Officially this time of the year all schools in the Caribbean are on holiday; the commencement exercises, the speech days, the prize giving ceremonies have all climaxed. Children looked forward to going away to spend holidays with their relatives on the islands or the United States or explore their own island. The ones who remained home looked forward to Vacation Bible School, the mango season or simply to have adventures up and down the river; to catch Cray fish or play games like we were Huckle Berry Finn and Tom Sawyer.
A treat for me was to visit my Aunt in another village and spend most of my summer with her and meet other cousins from her village.

Sometimes my excitement of sharing summer with my cousins was short lived as I had an Aunt who loved telling her children the night before they were due to travel take down their suitcases because they were going away the next day. I vividly remember my cousins protesting. I lived in the country looked forward to going to town often with my aunt, godmother or grandmother. I also look forward to play lawn tennis as my aunt had a tennis court among many other treats. ( I still have what is left of my Arthur Ashe Tennis Racket from back then.)

Another memory was visiting my paternal side of the family and getting to know them. I recall my grandfather milking the cows, whisking the cake batter by hand and my grandmother baking or preparing a meal for someone who did not have it. My brother always had to visit some relative or friend of my paternal grandmother to carry some of the delicious treats she prepared. Sometimes he had to walk or take a bus. I am so blessed to have her as my only living grandparent. (She just celebrated her 94th birthday.)

Another highlight of the summer as well was to go to the Village Post Office. The interesting thing about attending the Post Office was that all the people in the village gathered around a particular time when the postman was expected. When the postman came we all assembled outside a house they would call the mail out one by one. If any mail came for your family or even you, you had to say loudly “please pass it.” Of course the children would always go to Post Office about an hour before roll call to meet up with one another and play roundus, cricket or doge ball in the road; and of course we were always interrupted by traffic. (Traffic on the island is not like how it is now in the busy streets.) We were so thankful when the postman was late so we could have extra time to play. Occasionally we would go to beach as a treat but under the supervision of a trusted adult – maybe an out of town relative who was visiting.

We may have not had much but we did not know that then because we enjoyed every moment of life and the experience of summer was such a joy.

Looking back at it we should live free as children and enjoy the simple things in life.