Coffee Morning

The teacher read the news letter and the children listened. Well most of them did. They oohed and awwwed at the news that next week was their turn to look after the guinea pigs and the girls groaned at the mention of the score in their previous football match and then my ears doubly pricked up....coffee morning to be held on Friday.

A coffee morning. Oh how I would like to go to a coffee morning. Sit and chatter with my friends,drink cups of tea,support the school and ahem,eat cakes. It sounded lovely and I so wanted to go.

But I couldn't because I was at work in the morning. So no chance whatsoever to go to the school coffee morning.

And it hurt.

I really wanted to be one of the mums who could attend coffee mornings. I sat there and felt quite wistful about the upcoming coffee morning.

Until it hit me like a ton of bricks.....I might not be the mum who can attend coffee mornings but I was the mum who could volunteer in the afternoons and I was the mum who could watch the children trampoline!

And as I looked around the classroom I knew in my heart that I would rather watch and help the children with their trampolining lessons than sit with grown ups at a coffee morning.

Yep the trampolining sessions were noisy and sometimes slightly fraught,as being with a group of 35 nine and ten year olds is always going to be but that's where my heart lay anyway....with the kids,always with the kids.

I love being in the classroom with them,watching them interact with each. Comparing them with the little ones I look after in a morning and smiling at how children change and grow. Noticing how grown up they seem and talking with ones that I had in my group when they were at nursery,wow they are big now! 

Watching classroom dynamics,now I can't even begin to describe how interesting that is! Well,it's interesting to me,anyway. It feels quite a warm classroom,there's a certain ease in the room and I like that. I'm only in the actual class 15-20 minutes so I could be wrong but I do feel that it's quite relaxed in there.Don't get me wrong,it's a busy place,children are getting themselves ready for PE,there are PE bags everywhere,shoes on the floor,folded up clothes on every spare surface available,children walking around on their way to the toilets or putting their stuff away or chattering to friends,but underlying the hustle and bustle I do feel a sense of ease and a relaxed atmosphere,it feels a friendly place to be and to me that is good.

The trampolining session this week was all about how to do front drops. Iam amazed at how quickly,when taught properly,children pick things up. Children always do amaze me though! From the tiniest baby to big teenagers,I'm always amazed by them,even after all these years of working with children,I 'never' stop being amazed by them,quite a nice feeling really.

Anyway,they had a mat on the trampoline and they started on their hands and knees bouncing up and down and then falling forwards. It was safe and easily accessible to all children,whatever their ability was. What more could you want in a PE session!

All the children progressed that afternoon,every single one. The group that Chips was in was fabulous. Such teamwork and support for each other and that came natural to them,so doubly nice to see.

That night as Chips lay in his bed he grinned and said that his legs still had the trampolining feeling. I think he's using muscles that he hasn't used before and it's making his legs ache. One more trampolining session to go. It's been good. 

Oh and although I did miss out on the coffee morning I came to quickly realise that we sometimes can't do everything we want in life and being a mum who can watch class five trampoline is worth it's weight in gold and I'm lucky to be a part of that.

And further more I don't even drink coffee and the cakes probably had a miliionity calories in them. The trampolining was the best choice for me!