It’s been frantic at school this week: the annual Book Fair in our school library and today is the culmination, Grandparents’ Day!

I just had to share a wonderful moment from yesterday afternoon. One of the Year 1 students came racing into the library, wild-eyed – just as I was trying to slip away from the Book Fair for a quick lunchtime coffee.

“Mr McLean! Mr McLean!” he exclaimed, “There are some Bad Words out here, under the stairs.”

I’d noticed some chalked arrows on the steps earlier in the day, but I hadn’t thought to investigate further. Crouching down, I could see some choice four-letter words on a support beam of the stairs attached to our portable building.

“Well,” I reflected. “You’ll just have to make sure that you don’t read them until I can get them removed.”

“It’s okay, Mr McLean,” he said, beaming at me. “I can’t read!”

(The funny thing is, he’s quite a talented little reader.) It was just the release I needed towards the end of a tense day, topped off only by numerous parent visitors, getting a sneak preview of the Book Fair stock.

“My kid talks about the library all the time,” several of them said. “He/she just loves coming to this library!”

Yes, enough ego-boo to get me through Grandparents’ Day, I reckon.