The first letter from school...

Well, clearly my advice on being gracious has not sunk in.

Eleanor's  first letter arrived with exclamations of "Oh know!" Clearly, she doesn't know, but with the amount we're paying for her education, I'm so hoping she'll know how to spell soon.

I am refraining from what my mother did when I was at boarding school (and she wasn't alone), which was to correct my spelling for discussion on my return home at the end of term. Some mothers even had the audacity to post the corrected letters back to school which invariably led to a very long wait before a return letter was even contemplated. So I know from experience that doesn't work. I'm going to be a big girl and ignore her appalling spelling, just like you all generously do for me! (And yes, yes... you all know that unlike Geoff, I was NOT the Grade 6 Spelling Bee Champion. I was just hopeful that Elle would succeed where I have failed.)

Eleanor's letter also contained a telling off that she had not received a letter on her arrival - "It was a little awkward." I can only assume it arrived the next day.

There was a list of things she should have packed and didn't, so a request for me to sort that out. And a second letter even, instructing me to drop it to school for delivery rather than post.

And to round it all off, she signed it 'DC' - Disappointment Child. Her term, not ours. Oh, and a PSS (yes, she hasn't got a grip of how that works either) 'Sass don't touch my stuff!!!!'

So although she's now safely ensconced in boarding school a good couple of hours away, it's pretty much business as usual - or should that be attitude as usual?