One down and one to go - although it will be some eight years before Spencer holds his own diploma. He is goo-gooing around here with his sister's mortarboard.
And here she is before the ceremony. If we hadn't booked and paid for the gown several months ago, I'm sure she wouldn't have bothered attending the ceremony. Something I knew, having done this too long ago to remember, is that all American graduation ceremonies are accompanied by Elgar: Pomp and Circumstance/Land of Hope and Glory. Sally was astonished when she heard it at the rehearsal. "That's English! What are they playing that for?" Yet it has been used for American graduations since 1905 - just three years after it was written. Another thing the two countries have in common and most probably don't know about.
Parents were given a bossy little list of things they were and weren't allowed to do. One wasn't allowed to take photos in the stadium - that was the preserve of a professional, who would then charge big bucks for prints. One also wasn't supposed to use air horns (a more modern form of the vuvuzela), sparklers or other fireworks. One parent decided that party poppers would be just the ticket, and pulled a few of them when their darling collected his or her diploma. This foolhardy act set off the fire alarm and the ceremony was duly interrupted so that we could all evacuate until the serious breach was investigated. What a world we live in. It'll make for a mildly amusing anecdote in years to come I suppose.
So the children are out of school, the neighbourhood pool is open, and we have three months of summer holidays to look forward to. More of which later.
