Home Tuition

You have to feel sorry for Julie's younger brother.  He comes home every night from school to find the living room invaded by a teacher, giving a lesson to his sister.  They are all teachers from his school, and they all seem to know him - he's the sort of kid that everyone knows.  Some of them even offer him lifts on their way to our house.  His street cred is seriously compromised.

Things I have discovered about teachers since they became a part of our homelife:

1. Most of them are extraordinarily punctual.  Presumably because they are used to living by the school bell.
2. They don't eat biscuits.  The tin that I carefully stocked and labelled "Biscuits for Teachers" is being emptied by mice.  At least, that's what Joe says.
3. They do all drink tea.  They drink more tea than you can make in the space of an hour.  The kettle is beginning to wheeze with exhertion.
4. They all seem to love teaching Julie.  I mean, really love it.  They bring out the best in her, and she seems to bring out the best in them.  Far from resenting the chore of driving to our house at the end of a school day, they manage to give the appearance of looking forward to it.

It is quite tiring, adding home tuition to a diary which is already crowded with visits to school, clinic appointments, and (occasionally) work commitments, but after a week it looks like an effort well worth making.  It gives a direction to Julie's life, hope for the future, and a real reduction in school anxiety.  Fingers crossed we can all stagger through the next few weeks and collapse in half-term week.