If you fail to plan...

About two years ago, well before either of my boys started school, I told Bundle and Cherub the story of a camp I went to when I was about 16. We were sleeping in army style tents, which meant I was sharing a tent with about 7 other moderately smelly guys.



One night, after lights out, one of my mates decided to sing "10 Green bottles", except that he thought it would be funnier if he started somewhere around 50.



By the time he got down to the mid-20s, one of the other guys in the tent had had enough and told him "That's it! Enough. There is one bottle left, and then the song is OVER".



Our singer responded with:



"One green bottle, hanging on the wall

One green bottle, hanging on the wall

And if one green bottle should be accidentally ADDED

There'd be two green bottles, hanging on the wall

Two green bottles, hanging on the wall...."

Etc

What I didn't consider was that two years after I told that story, Bundle's Grade 1 teacher might decide that the class should sing the same song, and that Bundle would suggest that the class should add bottles instead of removing them and, just for good measure, he would tell the teacher that it was all my idea.

I suddenly feel less distressed about missing parent teacher night.