Tale 7 - Father and Son Bonding

Every afternoon, I pick the Sassy Princess and the Prince of Tales up from school. 

Usually, the Prince of Tales comes out first. I send him to school with his equipment in his bag. He walks out with an empty bag and his equipment stuffed in pockets, under arms, in his mouth etc. One thing always missing is his sandwich box. I have a collection of 300 sandwich boxes now as I have to keep buying them. When he does bring a box home, it’s usually one he has found that he left weeks ago. It’s hard to describe the feeling of opening a box full of rotting sandwiches and fruit with yoghurt welded to the side of the box. 

Anyway, back to the tale. Usually when the Prince of Tales throws his bag and its contents to me, he then immediately plays with friends until the Sassy Princess comes out. For some reason, today was different.

“Dad, I am going to go for School Council.” 

“Wow, that’s great. What do you have to do?” I asked.

“Well, I have to design a poster. Then I have to write a speech and talk in front of the whole class. All the children who want to be on school council do this, and then we have a vote.”

I could tell with the look in his eyes he wanted to win this.

“Dad, will you help me write the speech.”

I felt a little bit emotional. Father and son working together for a common goal. My son showing respect for my talent as a writer. What a moment!

“Of course Prince, we will nail it!”

When we got home we sat down together. His mum made the poster whilst the Prince and I nailed the speech. We spoke about clubs, the environment, charity fund raising and fun events for the students. Eventually, the speech was complete!

Thank you for allowing me to speak to you all today.

If you vote for me in the election I will always be available to listen to any ideas or concerns you have. 

If I am elected, I will;

1 Look into getting new clubs started, for example Dance.

2 Work with the teachers to make sure the school is doing all it can to help the environment.

3 Try and introduce more non uniform days with a £1 charge, the money going to charities who help people less fortunate than ourselves.

4 Work  with the PTA to organise a Christmas disco.

I was so proud of the speech and the time we had together to create it. The speech and poster were carefully placed in his folder ready for the big day tomorrow!

The following day I took the Sassy Princess and the Prince of Tales to school. The Prince of Tales looked around at the other students a bit concerned.

“Dad, some of the other candidates have brought buns, cakes and sweets to give out whilst doing their speech.”

I looked around and it was like the moment when the Golden Ticket holders first walked into Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory.

I turned to the Prince.

“Elections are not about bribes. They are about ideas and candidates with policies that give long term improvement for all .”

Probably the biggest lie of my life, and I could feel my nose grow even longer.

When the bell went, I gave them both a hug, but also a special thumbs up to the Prince. He nodded in my direction. All day I worried about the Prince. Would he win? How would he take defeat? How would he handle bribe gate?  I had to be ready for a disappointed boy.

At 3.15pm, I waited outside the school nervously. Harry ran out of school, dropped his bags, pencil case, books, (not sandwich box, forgotten again) and gave me the thumbs up!! I was so relieved and proud of us both!

“How did the speech go! Did we nail it!” I asked.

“They loved the poster” the Prince said.

“ That’s great, but what about the speech that we wrote. Did they like it.”

“Aaaah the speech. Didn’t do it Dad. Could not find it so just made it up on the spot.”

His face told me the truth. He could find it, but with sweets, cakes and buns on offer from other candidates, he needed a new strategy which did not include waffle and weak promises from his dad.

“ So what did you say in your made up speech.” I asked 

“Well they loved it!” He responded.

 He explained he promised the students;

1 Any clubs they wanted. You name it, the Prince will sort it.

2 To change anything  about school they did not like (Homework could be at risk!)

3 Parties at the end of every half term. (Full on Boris Johnson mode here)

“Anything else?” I asked.

“Oh yes, they loved the last bit.” smirked the Prince.

He then told me the end of his speech.

“ If you elect me today, I will bring;

Success to the school

Honesty in my role 

Independence as we grow into young adults 

Neighbourly attitudes across the school 

Enjoyment . Fun is the key to a happy school.

I will SHINE”

The children clapped and cheered, we voted, I won.

I looked at my son open mouthed. Off the top of his head, he had done a five point end to his speech which also spelt out the word SHINE. The Prince is a genius.

“How do you come up with they end to the speech. That’s amazing!”

“Not really dad. They are part of the school’s aims, and they were written on the wall I was looking at when I did my speech. Everyone was looking at me and I was reading from the wall behind them.”

I looked at the Prince of Tales. I did not know if I should be proud of his victory or not. One thing is for sure, he is a quick thinker, and his dad is not the big cheese he thinks he is!!

A few years ago we bought the Prince  a poster for his bedroom. I will be adding I am a Smart Arse to it this year!

Have you ever had an idea rejected by your children? Put your heart into something then discarded like a crisp packet lol? Let me know and follow us https://follow.it/tales-of-a-house-husband?pub