On Friday afternoon, Miss Trees Are Green asked my class to “Bring a Thing” on Monday. She explained that it could be a photo, drawing or an object. It needed to be something that we could show the class and talk about. This was the first time for the class to do this so, she said if we found something interesting, the rest of the class would find it interesting too.

When Mummy came to pick me up from school, I explained what my homework was. Mummy was in a bit of a hurry and told me we will sort it out when we get home. I still thought about it and wondered what I found interesting and what the class would too. It was difficult. I thought about how I like dinosaurs, but I know Imi does not like dinosaurs, so that topic was not good. I know Imi likes the drums, but I have no drums and I do not know anything about them. I am not sure if she would do that topic herself. It was a bit of a dilemma.

On Saturday, Mummy was busy with cleaning and Daddy was busy gardening. After lunch, we went to visit Grandma and Grandpa. Grandma and Grandpa live on a farm and I thought I could find something from there to talk about.

When we arrived, I managed to talk to Grandpa about my task. He laughed and said, “If you were old enough you could drive my tractor!” So that did not help me. I asked Grandma. She said, “You could take some of my jam!” This was a clever idea, but I told her that Toby always talks about his grandma’s jam so that topic was no good. At the end of the day, I gave a big sigh and was nowhere closer to getting my “thing.”

Sunday came and I still had not decided what I would take to school. I sat at the kitchen table and felt sad. I could not eat my breakfast. Daddy was busy making pancakes, so he did not notice. Verity was playing with her doll and she did not notice. Mummy was still in the shower. I just sat. It was quiet, the only thing you could hear was the pancake being tossed.

Mummy came through to the kitchen and Daddy put the pancakes, milk, and coffee on the table. It was still silent. Mummy then said, “Olly after breakfast, let’s organize your thing for school!” She had remembered, I was so pleased. “Yes!” I replied. We then all ate the pancakes, and Mummy chatted to Daddy about the “Bring a Thing.” Daddy and Verity cleaned up and Mummy and I went into the lounge.

Daddy and Verity came through to the lounge. Mummy announced we had found the “Bring a Thing.” Daddy was surprised it was a photo of him and the helicopter. Verity thought it was a clever idea as I would be the only one with such a photo. Daddy and Mummy said to have a practice and talk about the photo.

I stood in front of Mummy, Daddy and Verity and tried my speech again. The second time was better. The third time was even better still. By the fourth time, Verity wanted to give the speech as well. I felt much happier and knew that by using Mummy’s trick that I would be able to give a speech. I realized that in the future I do not need to worry too much as Mummy, Daddy and Verity will always help me. I just need to be patient and allow for time.

It came to Monday and everyone in class was excited about “Bring a Thing.” Miss Trees Are Green placed the chairs in a circle. She marked the roll and noted that some people were away. I wondered if they struggled to find a “Bring a Thing” and that was why they were away. I was only glad that I had something and I had Mummy’s trick.

Miss Trees Are Green asked for a volunteer to go first. I thought I would be brave and so I put up my hand. Miss Trees Are Green looked surprised and said, “Thank you for going first!” I began my speech answering the who question and explained it was Daddy in the picture. I answered what and why questions by explaining that the picture was of Daddy’s work helicopter. I mentioned how Daddy goes to collect sick and injured people and then flies them from where they are and takes them to the hospital.

I took a deep breath and continued.

I said that the hospital has a helipad on the roof of one of the buildings. Once the helicopter lands, nurses and doctors come to the helicopter to get the patient to then give them treatment inside the hospital. I proudly said that Daddy helps save the lives of many people and that his job is especially important for the community. Everyone sat very still and quiet. I passed the photo around for everyone to see. The class seemed extremely interested. Miss Trees Are Green clapped and said, “Thank you Olly!”

Miss Trees Are Green decided to then go around the circle. Tom was next. Tom brought grandma’s jam. He took the lid off the jam jar and allowed us to smell the jam. It smelt sweet and the jar was sticky. He spoke for a little bit but did not tell us too much.

Chloe brought a stuffed zebra. She told us how she had been to the zoo and her favourite animal was a Zebra. She did not tell us where zebras come from but that they do live in the zoo. It was nice of Chloe to let us hug her zebra.

Sam brought a yoyo. Everyone found this interesting. Sam could do tricks. We watched him do tricks more than he spoke. At the end we all wanted to know how to do the tricks. I had not used a yoyo before, and Sam made it look easy, but it was difficult.

Imi brought an Xray. It was when her grandpa broke his leg. We were all fascinated at looking at the bone in a leg. Imi held the Xray to the light and we all gasped. Imi always knows how to make things interesting, and that is why she has so many friends.