Growing up

Well it's Tuesday already and this week before the October holiday is just flying by. Today after school I went to the town centre and spent two hours choosing some new clothes for the cruise, including a couple of cocktail dresses. I think I have blogged before that I'm not a great shopper, and when I go shopping for clothes I just have to hope that I'm in the right frame of mind to be decisive, and that the current range of whatever clothes I'm trying to buy suit my budget / figure / colour preferences. By these standards, today was fairly successful; I shopped hard and fast and I quite like what I have chosen. My main doubt is that the dresses are all rather on the short side for me; that must be the style this winter. I will wear them with opaque black tights to make my chubby legs less noticeable. Anyway I'm glad that's done and now I can concentrate on getting David ready for his Duke of Edinburgh Gold expedition next week.
I had an interesting conversation with David this morning. I was asking him why he is getting on so much better at his new school, and he told me that is was due to several things. Firstly, in February, when James and I were in Paris, Davie went to spend the weekend with Jamie and his friends in Dundee. He said that he was really impressed not only with the good time that they were having, but also because they all seemed to enjoy what they are studying so much. One of Jamie's friends told David "If you work hard now, you can do whatever you want!" The next thing that changed David's views on life was the two months that he spent working at Riding for the Disabled. He said that this made him feel older and more responsible, and showed him a life beyond school. Then in July he went to do his Gold D of E Practice expedition. He found it very hard, but he also felt that he had proved to himself that he can endure something tough and be successful at it. Finally he loves being at Duncanrig, particularly the science department. I was surprised and pleased by what David told me and how much he has thought about it. And I was a little bemused that he had paid so much attention to one of Jamie's party friends when I have been telling him exactly the same thing for years! I had assumed that it was mainly his new school that has given him a boost, but it seems that it has been a series of factors. My youngest boy is certainly growing up.