THE THINGS THAT WERE

There was supposed to be a BESA Holiday Survival Guide Part 3. There wasn’t. There was supposed to only be 21 days of lockdown. There wasn’t. There was supposed to be only a few weeks of online learning. There wasn’t that either. We were supposed TO write the June exams. We didn’t. There was supposed to be a soccer and netball season. There wasn’t.

Okay, so what was then?

1. There was e-learning.

Yip. And it was mighty successful (even if we do say so ourselves).  But looking back, we have to ask ourselves, ’Why was it so successful?’ Because at BESA, we have the best learners, we have the best staff members, and we have the best parents. And by best, we really mean, the BEST. Think of it in terms of preparing an egg dish; there’s something ridiculous like 100 different ways in which one could do this, from poached to fried, to benedict, to boiled, to scrambled to…um, what are the other 95? It doesn’t matter, because that’s not the point. The point is – one may like one’s eggs fried best but will basically take them any which way they come if one enjoys eggs right? So, if you like eggs, you’ll take anything. Buuuuuuuuuuut, if you like your child’s education and preparation for life to be the best, you won’t mess around with trying 100 different ways of ‘prepping’ education. Nope, you’ll choose only the best way to do it, every single time - fried BESA. Because there is literally no other way to better prepare your child for the future.

Okay, egg rambling aside, we’ll admit e-learning wasn’t necessarily the proverbial walk in the park, nor was it a piece of cake, nor was it plain sailing, nor was it shooting fish in a barrel, nor did we necessarily slam dunk it, but for the most part, we think we managed to at least get the ball in the net a few times. And that’s all that matters. We hope.

But, without the best people being ‘in the game’ with us or without those cheering us on from the side-lines, e-learning would not have even been remotely possible. As someone once said, “It’s easy to be a good coach when you have the best players.”

2. There was family time

If you’re anything like us, you dusted off the old board games retrieved from the cupboard in the garage and sat down for a nice evening of getting angry and frustrated with each other.

Monopoly always starts out friendly, (‘…this is nice’, says Dad) and (‘We really should do this more often…’, says mom). But it’s all fun and games until you’re down to your last 100 M’s – then ‘nice and cheerful’ suddenly goes straight out the window, and you literally make deals with just about anybody you can just to try and stay in the game. Because losing at Monopoly is like losing at life.

Then there’s UNO. One strategically placed +4 card can quite easily destroy a relationship. Friendships have been ruined over less.

30 Seconds then? The game is always a grand-old time and full of fun and laughter until the last few throws of the dice…then suddenly everybody becomes the ‘board-game-dice-throwing’ police, because “You can’t win if you didn’t land directly on the last block”, says Uncle Jeremy. No “bounce-backs” says Aunt Tulula. “We’re supposed to be social distancing, why are you guys even here?”, says young Todd.

Okay, scrap the board games then – let’s watch a nice movie, shall we? DSTV Catch Up or Box Office? Showmax or Netflix? Comedy or Animation? Thriller or horror? Ummmmm, what about the new rom-com with that dish of a man, Ryan Reynolds? Or, there’s a really great wildlife documentary on Discovery Channel? Yes, but Jeff said there’s an excellent mini-series that we absolutely must watch. Aunt Mabel suggested that latest murder mystery on channel whatever. But what about that classic sports match?

But my popcorn is already finished.

Speaking of popcorn…

3. There was cooking and baking

Cheesecake recipes were tried and tested. Cakes were baked and tarts were discovered. Oreos were put into everything. Smoothies were made with green tea and avos. Cinnamon was put into everything.

Stews were concocted. Vegetable soups created. Steaks were made-to-order. Marinades tested. Deep-fried chips were put with everything – e-ve-ry-thing. All. The. Chips. Were. Deep-Fried.  And. Put. With. Everything.

Work pants and school clothes were tried on. They didn’t fit.

4. There was BESA’S GOT TALENT!

So much talent! It was like watching Denzel Washington play every single movie role he’s ever played throughout his acting career. Please let this never end…

To name a few:

Ben licked his elbow. Amy remembered the first 50 numbers of pi. Kyron did some ‘keepy-uppy’ that Lionel Messi would be proud of. Hannah shot some Pepsi cans with a gun – yes, that says Hannah. Ben licked his elbow. Kea, Oratile, Megan and Thuthukile sang us some songs. Josh Hadley ‘danced in the moonlight’ on the drums. Elena played Bohemian Rhapsody on the piano. Ben licked his elbow. Busi threw some flames both literally and figuratively.  The Vokes brothers and Bruce brought us some mad guitar skills. Skye Van Biljon made delicious pretzel bites. Ben licked his elbow. (How did he not get voted through?!)

If you haven’t already checked out all the entries - have a look at our Instagram account here https://www.instagram.com/besa.leadership.academy/. We’re into the Round of 16 already!

5. There was (and now is) new ways of doing things

No garden service no problem - scissors will do!

No hairdresser or barber, that’s okay, we’ll do it ourselves! (Unless of course, you try out your lack-of-real-barber-skills on your four-year-old son and he ends up looking far more like a beautifully thatched-roof as opposed to a kid with a fresh cut).

Not able to go shopping - let’s just order online! (Except for clothes though, because that, in itself, is a mission – the chances of getting the right fit the first time is less likely than one fitting into one’s current wardrobe after eating all the deep-fried chips. All of them. But we’ve already had this conversation).

No takeaways – it’s all good! We’ll try our hand at the Colonel’s secret recipe. We’ll fail. We’ll flame-grill some Steers burger patties on the braai, gooi on some salt and barbeque sauce, and hope for the best. We’ll also fail. We’ll try to make some home-made pizzas that Gino himself would be proud of (after watching the dough rise at epic proportions in the fridge for a couple of days, because let’s face it, there wasn’t much else to keep us entertained). We’ll still fail.

Gino would be disappointed.

And lastly…

6. There was growth (only the figurative type)

At some point throughout the past few months, we have all undoubtedly grown in some manner or by some means – whether it be in spirit, or character, or skills, or knowledge, or all of the above - there’s definitely been growth. And over and above that, with a bit of luck, we’ve managed to see things a little differently, gain a greater appreciation for the finer things in life, and learnt to love and cherish each other a little more.

UNO anyone?