i'm smarter than a 5th grader

my son is now in 7th grade ... i can honestly say that i THINK i'm smarter than a 5th grader... i have to sit with him when he's preparing for exams so i think i know everything he does... but on sunday i watched the south african version of the show and the first question was ... how many wings does a butterfly have... it helps if you actually think before you answer such a stupid question... needless to say i had the answer wrong to the great amusement of my son and his cousin who is 7 years old and who both knew the answer... grrr... i know!!!! i am really just a wee bit stupid...LOL... i can say it... you can't ~ so resist the urge... i beg you... so i guess i'm really not smarter than a 5th grader after all...

i still wonder why on earth the soufff effrican school system had to change from standards to grades... i know you just add 2... but it just doesn't sound right... and it took me the longest time to get used to it... there is a certain feel to your standard five year and to your standard six year and to your matric year that is now... grade 7... grade 8 and grade12... just doesn't have the same ring to it...! back in the day if you said you were now in standard 5 it meant something... now you say grade 7 and the old fogies say... what is that?... is that standard four or five deary???...

so anyway...back to grade 7...i was going through my son's afrikaans work he has to write one of these days...and there is literally 20 million types of different types of words in the afrikaans language...and would someone just tell me ... WHY THE HELL IS THIS IMPORTANT??...really... i've gone to school, all of you have, but have you ever, ok granted if you are a language fundi or a proper writer or such you probably use it... but have you as a normal person ever had to write a sentence ... and wondered to yourself... hmmmm i wonder if i should use a pronoun right about here? i don't think so...

so then i started philosiphising about the shit all kids world wide have to learn off by heart during their 12 year journey through school ...just to never actually use in the real world... crazy... what i would love my kids to grasp is that being at school is the most carefree time of your life, where you get to see your best buddies every day, have a sleep over every weekend, and have a new crush every other week... and that i think is priceless... to not have to worry about money and have absolutely no responsibilities is in my mind absolutele bliss... unfortunately you don't realize this until it's too late...such a pity i think...

i would give my whole front row of pearly whites to have my years at school back...i probably won't be very popular without any front teeth... but still so much fun to be had...!!!

so all the millions of useless facts i was taught at school i will classify as “general knowledge” ... which is handy i know... extremely general but probably usefull to classify yourself as a normal human being... if no one ever taught me that soil had layers, i would definitely be a lesser person right now... so here's a list of things that i learnt at school that was of infinate more use to me in real life, i'll call these life/social skills/good memories :)

• school taught me to have a thick skin, kids are the cruelest creatures that have ever existed, this is quite a handy tool to carry with you throughout your life... i still remember bursting out in tears when one boy asked why i wore lipstick to school in grade 1, i was highly offended, i had natural red little lips, for some reason i took this as a huge insult...


• we had these clubs going where you could exchange things like writing paper... oh boy that was the highlight of our year... i learnt how to negotiate to trade five sheets of really pretty paper for my one sheet of absolutely beautiful writing paper.... LOL .... good grief ....


• in high school, the higher you pulled up your dress~ the more attention you got...


• to scream like a woman posessed when your school team is winning a rugby game


• to laugh with your mouth open and legs spread next to your ears because that joke told was just the funniest thing you've ever heard, and you're friends don't laugh at you cause their legs are in exaclty the same position as yours...


• to eat as much as possible sweets during break if it's someone's birthday and to not worry about the weight you might put on


• to make friends that you will call your best friends for the rest of your life


• that share your memories of your first kiss, your first period and your first party is quite something to reminiscent about when you're 36 ... because your best friend when you were 8 is still one of your best friends when you are 36

basically the only useful skill i was taught in highschool...in a classroom, along with maths... was typing...now that i'm thankful for every day of my life... and of course to read and write, that always comes in handy...