School Life in England

I know I didn’t handle it the right way and probably should have let him learn his lesson.

What detention am I talking about? The school my son attends here in England has a set of rules that, of course, students are expected to follow. These include being on time, behaving appropriately, and wearing the correct uniform.

If a student is more than two minutes late, they get detention. The same goes if they’re not wearing the proper uniform. Detention usually means missing a break, part of a break, or staying after school, depending on how serious the incident is.

School life in England is made up of much more than rules and detentions. It also includes practical subjects that teach independence and life skills. I’ve written more about this in What Do Children Cook at School in England?.

So, what did my son do? He forgot his football kit—the backpack we had carefully packed the night before, sitting neatly in the living room. Did he have the right sports uniform? No. Would he have gotten detention? Absolutely.

And that’s how my morning suddenly sped up. I grabbed my keys and phone, stuffed them into my pockets, pulled on my shoes, and shut the door behind me. Realising I can’t really run with both keys and phone in my pockets, I pull out the phone to run with it in my hand… and next thing I know, it spins through the air and lands screen-down on the driveway stones. Screen: cracked. With the screen cracked and pain in my soul (I had never dropped a phone until my mid-30s), I still ran after my son to give him his football kit.

What did I learn, Alexandra? Let your child make mistakes and learn from them. I should mention I had already brought his football kit to school once before—but apparently, it took a broken phone for the lesson to really sink in.

How did your day start? Let me know in the comments.

A cracked phone screen and a lesson learned — sometimes the hard way is the only way. If you’re still here, I would love for you to subscribe. Join me below.