Term Three means . . .

Term Three means dull grey cloudy cold days, rain, clingy mud, smelly soggy kids, fog, rugby practices, yes, I know, soccer, netball, hockey, basketball and volleyball too, tedious platitudinous cliché-filled reports, sickeningly cheerful articles for the school newsletter, snarly memos from the bosses, aggressive teacher-hating PTA meetings, staff meetings to discuss plans for silly ideas, mid-year exams – no, I mean assessments, marking, marking, marking, lesson plans (yeah, right), short days and long nights and tired grumpy kids and grumpier teachers and grumpiest bosses, damp paper that clogs photocopiers and toilets, the librarian whining about kids being in her library during lunchtimes, a counsellor droning about seasonal affective disorder, leaky roofs, drafty windows, hot water bottles, umbrellas for colleagues to borrow and not return, rain coats, scarves, woolly hats, gloves to lose, flat car-batteries, frozen windscreens, frozen radiators, silly petrol prices, clogged and filthy and slow public transport, snotty noses, sneezes, headaches, pills, sore throats, cough syrup, wet socks, lessons to cover for sick colleagues, a school play (never again), power cuts and the wasted energy associated with getting angry with incompetent people who run the electricity outfit, outrageously exorbitant electricity bills that don’t decrease when the power’s cut… ugh, Term Three.

But Term Three also means rice pudding with stewed black doris plums, roast beef with roast potatoes, kumara, onions and garlics, gravy of course, scones at morning tea (with whipped cream and strawberry jam), ooh chocolate self-saucing puddings (no, not the packet ones, make it yourself – easy), rolled oats for breakfast, made with milk and golden syrup on top, or try some maple syrup, fish pie with mussels and shrimps and toheroa (yeah, right) and onions and lumps of lemon in a white sauce, and fish & chips down at the beach when there’s a storm, and ski weekends, and red wine by the fire with a good book (I think Roberts Harris and Fisk this winter), beef stew with hefty chunks of beef, carrots, potatoes and more beef – and a cab sav., ooh saveloys with tomato sauce and fresh bread, Sunday morning breakfasts of grilled sausages, tomatoes, and mushrooms in butter, and fried leftover potatoes, and scrambled eggs – and black pudding too, hot chocolate with marshmallows, hot blackcurrant juice, sneaky sick days, pleasant day dreams of summer holidays at the beach, ooh and what about steamed ginger pudding with eggy custard?, rhubarb crumble with boysenberry ice cream, stewed tamarilloes, samosas and chicken curry, and planning summer holidays at the beach – Abel Tasman National Park, Waihi Beach, Coromandel, Riverton…

Now that feels a lot better.

— Peter Giddens