Rebel rebel!

Is it just me or does everyone love a little childhood rebellion?

My friend Mark told me this morning that when he was a kid he was booted out of the Sea Scouts for insubordination….

Of course it wasn’t his fault

I mean I’m pretty sure being the parent of the rebellious child is no fun at all – but geez they make for great stories at your 21st.

I’ve told you about my big brother 'Herb' before – at our tiny little primary school – he had three or four mates – and they were a pretty likely group of lads.

Mum and Dad got called to the school when he was at the end of grade seven – and the principal suggested boarding school. Very strongly. He wasn’t expelled – as my Mum is at pains to point out – but the local high school wasn’t waiting with open arms either…

I’ve been kicked out of a few things – but probably my finest hour was when I was kicked out of training for confirmation.

It’s a Catholic thing – when at about the age of 12 you confirm that you’re interested in staying with the church – symbolically, you choose a new name, more particularly, a saints name.

Traditionally, girls go for Mary or Theresa or maybe Catherine.

But I was adamant - I wanted to be Valentine. C'mon, I was 13! I thought Valentine was the coolest saint around. Unfortunately, but perhaps not surprisingly, Sister Paula didn’t agree and sent me home to have a good hard look at myself. Obviously, since I was a fairly militant 13 year old, I went home, chatted to my friends and got all fired up. It was my confirmation! I could have any name I wanted! Surely it was just between me, God and St Valentine and nothing to do with Sister Paula!

Instead of going back with an alternative – I went back with an argument. And got booted out of the confirmation group. Sr Paula wasn’t a fan of reasoned argument from 13 year olds…

Subsequently, I was the old confirmant in the history of the world – I was fourteen by the time I got the job done – and I chose the name Joan – for Joan of Arc…because she was a rebel too.