Schools out for summer!

Today is the last day of school.  To say it’s a bit of a shock is an understatement, to say time has flown is a cliché, but come on….have the kids really completed a whole year of school in the Czech Republic?

It feels like only yesterday when their backpacks were laden with pens and pencils, gym kits and loo roll!  We were all suffering first day nerves, it was something completely new for us, and we didn’t understand what on earth was going on  (ok that was just me).

Now I sit here typing this while my son is out the front somewhere playing with his friends, my daughter has a friend around and they are jumping on the trampoline in the sunshine.

They have settled really well and I am so proud of them.

It's also an important day for Czech kids all over the country - not only is today the last day of term and start of summer holidays, but it's also the day they receive their grades. You see children everywhere walking home from school, on the bus, in the parks clutching their precious certificates - knowing that they'll either get a treat from happy parents, or a bollocking for bad marks.   It’s a pretty big thing here.

It’s also been a big thing for us too – the kids have done really well,

 ...and now we have to make some tough choices.

Do we stay in Prague, come back to London, move somewhere else?   Secondary school pulls us back to the UK, and of course family and friends.... but at the moment we’re not ready to pack up things and go back to Blighty.

We're just starting to enjoy ourselves, life is pretty good, I have a great little job, hubby is happy.

Oh, decisions decisions....

Lovin' the Lab

Oh dear... I think I'm turning into a dog person.

Don't worry,  I promise I'll never, ever get to the mad-dog-lady-stage -  you know the kind who are always smooching their pooches.  But these four-legged creatures, blimey they don't sure get under your skin, twist your heart and make you go gooey.

The problem is, they are unbelievable affectionate and utterly devoted to their 'pack'.  Who wouldn't melt when you are greeted by an 'all over body wag' that starts at the tail and travels up to the head until the whole thing is just swaying in some excitable movement, just because you walked in the door.

My husband throws his arms up in despair, 'he's just pathologically sociable' he complains when the dog just won't give up the wag.

But it doesn't end there, Max is desperate to do whatever we do - swimming, cycling...

I've caught him up at the computer, sitting trying to play cards with the kids, watching telly, and given the chance he would quite happily stretch out on our bed, head on the pillow snoring away.

But having a dog is equally challenging and hard work – it's a right royal pain to constantly have to plan around him or take him with us, he chews everything (including the neighbours shoes), and then there is the dreaded dog training...

I was originally having private dog lessons with a Czech lady who was blind, she didn’t speak English so I had to fumble around in my best Czech and I yes I did feel as though it was blind leading the blind.  But I was always terrified of going to class as she was very strict and it took me a few painful weeks to realise that Max didn’t have to behave like a perfectly trained guide dog (Ok I confess I just was slack and I just couldn’t stick to the her rules).

We did learn a lot though, and when it’s just Max and I on the streets he can be the perfect dog -  aided by a few snacky bribes.  But as soon as he sees a cat or another dog, it's another story.

So I decided it was time to step up the training again, and perhaps get him used a ‘dog class’ where he can be around dogs of all shapes and sizes.  The class is in Czech, and being bilingual Max can understand both Czech and English…..and obey none.

I cringe when I think of the first class.  The dog was pulling me everywhere in an excited frenzy, while I was desperately trying to understand what the hell the instructor was telling us.  It culminated in us having to do an exercise where we leave a treat under a tree, let the dog off the lead, they run to get the treat and return to you.  In theory.

Max didn’t give two hoots about the treat, bolted like a flash of black lightening across the field to play with the other dogs in another class - I could just about make out a black speck causing chaos far away in the distance.  If you’ve seen the Fenton the YouTube sensation you’ll get the idea.

I haven’t plucked up the courage to go to the class again.

Check out Fenton here.... http://youtu.be/CtB1HQt6ak8