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Tuesday, July 05, 2011

An Eleven Plus Plea

This is a plea to all mothers of eleven plus children. Do you remember the day your husband to be whispered sweet words in your ear? Do you remember him reading Lord Byron to you? Do you remember your reaction? Do you remember the words he spoke?

High sat white Helen, lonely and serene.
He had not remembered that she was so fair.
And that her neck curved down in such a way;
And he felt tired. He flung the sword away,
And kissed her feet, and knelt before her there,
The perfect Knight before the perfect Queen.


Do you remember the pride you felt the first time your child answered an eleven plus question? Do remember sharing the excitement with all your family and friends? Do you remember looking for more and more and more papers to feed the voracious mind? Do you remember how happy you felt when your child first achieved over 90% on a paper?

You are obviously waiting for your child to pay homage to your unquenched spirit. You are waiting for that look in the eye that says `Thank you Mother for all you have done.’

My child kissed my hand, and completed yet more work.
The perfect candidate before the perfect Mother.

The next verse does, however, contain the lines: “And her golden voice
Got shrill as he grew deafer. And both were old."


At least your eleven plus will be over before you grow shrill!

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