Makes a good effort

So I carved the next notch on the bedboard of my stepfatherhood yesterday by accompanying Best Beloved to the Boy's parent-teacher evening (not parent-STUDENT-teacher evening, the Boy said pointedly, before managing to come down with a debilitating illness that actually seemed to be genuine - anyway, he stayed at home). It was the first of these events I can remember going to since I was 13, when my parents were abroad and I had to escort my grandmother instead, who was proudly wearing her name badge upside down. That's all I remember.

WhenI was the Boy's age it was probably the unhappiest time of my adolescence. And here he is, secure and happy and discussing GCSE options. Wow, how things change.

A surprisingly interesting time. All the meetings were carefully scheduled and we were handed out a grid map of the school hall showing where each teacher was sitting. Unfortunately the teachers didn't appear to have the same map ... And as the evening drew on, the schedule slipped more and more, and by the end there were some teachers sitting in lonely isolation while others had parents stacked up in holding patterns like Heathrow on a particularly bad day. I could pass my time-

• trying to decipher the cunning algorithm by which the teachers had repositioned themselves.
  
• trying to work out if the odd threesome who seemed to trail us were (a) daughter, mother and mother's lesbian partner or (b) daughter, mother and daughter's quite a bit older butch-looking sister.
  
• counting the visible piercings sported by Mrs A, who doesn't teach the Boy but whom the Boy thinks is "cool". I got up to 8. The sad thing is, the lady is ... ahem ... probably nearer retirement than I am.
  

But let's not quibble. The teachers all seem to genuinely care about the Boy, they give praise where praise is due (and there's quite a bit of it), they are dedicated to their jobs, and they provide a secure environment that nurtures him through his adolesence. It's something that will stay with him long after he's forgotten their faces. I am pleased and I praise them.