![]() ![]() There was a point this month when I thought I might be trying to smuggle this communication out from behind the front line. I say war, but it was more of an occupation, so lame were my excursions into defence. If only that were it…However, more than anything, I disapprove of Share a Mill because, and I say this without even a hint of hyperbole, it took us to the brink of war. Sufficient already, I would contend, to say: “No, Share a Mill, you are trouble through and through and I would not let World Book Day out to play with you, even if it were allowed”. And so, I blame you, Share a Mill, for that terrifying lapse in self-deception. No one, upon no one, needs that kind of brutal self-knowledge. That kind of epiphany is of no use to me at all. As entertaining as these traits can sometimes be (annoyed by what she saw as the misuse of the terms “epidemic” and “pandemic” in the earlier weeks of the crisis, Flexi-cat decided to adopt the slightly unusual, slightly argumentative position of championing the underdog and placing herself firmly on team SARS until correct usage had been established…), when it translates into a daily diatribe about just how many universal rights school denies her, I know that it has bitten me on the bum and I only have myself to blame. It becomes all too clear, therefore, that her sometimes bewildering and always exhausting determination to carve her own path to flamenco to her own lobster-hand castanets to simply never do what she is told to do, is actually all my fault. For it is at times such as these that it comes into all too sharp a focus that Flexi-cat is just as stubborn and awkward as I am. This indignation is fed and watered by the further ways in which Share a Mill proves to be one thoroughly bad egg. But I can’t, because senseless indignation will not let me. I could even let go of the entire vendetta in the light of the biggest perspective-shifter in living memory that we are all currently facing. Now of course I could just get a little perspective, see Share a Mill for what it is and appreciate its attempt to bring a love of reading into households where it was absent see perhaps that it is another case of square-pegdom, where the Flexi-cat Towers’ pre-existing bookishness renders the message of Share a Mill redundant and one which I am free to overlook or ignore. Along comes old Share a Million and suddenly our lifestyle choice has been reduced to a fill-in-a-sheet-and-see-if-the-teacher-approves kind of irritant and all I want to do is rebel. But it is private and it is our own choice. We read, we share reading, we geek it up like nobody’s business. The living room succumbed to them years ago and we now just have a library. Please don’t get me wrong: Flexi-cat Towers is all about the book. Share a Mill: thank you very much but you aren’t the boss of me. But Share a Million Stories? Challenging everyone to spend the month of March sharing as much reading as possible, with rewards, and rules, and community effort? You might think that I would be glad of such a challenge during these long days inside with Flexi-cat and her unbounded energy, but I am not glad not glad at all. The World Book Day world is your lobster and if I can’t find enough freedom amongst the variety of every book ever written, then I appreciate it is I with whom the problem resides. It allows enough free reign for me not to feel the need to bite back. Now, I have affection for World Book Day. Company of which, I’m afraid, I will simply never approve.įor one, I just don’t like being told what to do. Now, please do let me be clear: my beef is not with WBD itself, but with the crowd it has fallen in with, namely “ Share a Million Stories”. I don’t approve of World Book Day’s new friends. Whilst most have moved on from such triviality in the light of the global situation, I find myself still with a bee in my bonnet and I fear anaphylaxis if I don’t let it out. But, the thing is, I must confess to having tendencies towards pettiness that, it seems, cannot be stamped out even when the world is at war with a virus. I know that I should move on see the bigger picture embrace the global coming together against Covid-19. I know that in these strange and uncertain times the last thing I should be doing is holding a grudge. March 2020 – Lesson #3: Keep Calm and Carry on Holding a Grudge… (Aka When World Book Day got led Astray) School Advice Sheets Alphabetical IndexĬharting the fabulous (and fatiguing!) flexi-Fridays (and currently the rest of the week!) with my OE-rich* 8 year old (currently identifying as a cat and a Georgian).Free Advice Sheets – General Information.Parent Advice Sheets Alphabetical Index.Exceptionally and Profoundly Gifted Children.Profiles of Children with High Learning Potential. ![]() Characteristics of Children with High Learning Potential. ![]()
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