(Photo taken at the wonderful Smiths boutique hotel in Gretna Green)Today is the last opportunity that I have for blogging while the kids lie-in because tomorrow, it's BACK TO SCHOOL!
So today is a case of finding the school uniform, ironing it, remembering to replace any name tags that have fallen off, looking for the newsletter from the end of last term (to remind myself of the cost of school dinners so I can write out the cheque) and convincing the 21st C schoolboy to try his plimsolls on so I've got one last chance to buy a new pair if we need to (this, I have tried to do all summer)!
What a different picture to last summer, when in the height of anticipation over his first day at school, everything was bought, ironed and labeled well in time for day one!
What a difference a year makes!
And it is a big difference. Today, behind this chaotic front, I am at least calm on the inside, looking forward to tomorrow knowing that it will all be okay.
Now last year...was a different story. Behind my unusual display of organisation, I was possessed by the demon of worry, chaos and panic, travelling up upstream without a paddle in the vessel called the Nervous Wreck.
This year I know that as soon as he gets back to school, he will love catching up with his friends, as they all talk about their holidays. There'll be laughing, running and verbal sizing ups. Last year there was the whole worry over whether he would make any friends in the first place.
This year I know he has the capacity to enjoy learning and will throw himself into the educational play scene. Last year, I worried how he would fit into this class of 30 and whether he would keep up.
Yes there was rather a lot to think about and worry over.
And it was not just about him...this year I am looking forward to the regular friendly faces at the school gate, catching up with people who I am now glad to call friends. Last year, I was mentally bouncing off the walls with paranoia over-anxious about whether I would fit in and it was just like starting school myself.
All this was exacerbated by stories from friends with older children at other schools all across the country...with tales of the playground mafia and the alpha mums in all shapes and sizes, etc. It brought back the feelings of fear that I felt when going to big school, when I heard tales of kids dunking your head down the toilet in Grange Hill style. Then I was 11, last year I was 38. You would have thought I'd have shaken off the anxiety somehow!
Anyway, it has been a great first year at school, which finished with a wonderful summer holiday. We've survived to tell a lot of tales. I'd now better make the most of the last lie-in before the routine kicks in again. Now...where was that cup of tea.....?
6 Comments:
For the last week I've been thinking "must start getting up early in practice for when they go back to school", but every day I thought "Nah!! Let's not". Picklessister is starting Middle School tomorrow!!
Good luck with the new term, 21st CM. I can so identify with the fears you had this time last year about making friends. I'm terrified of other mother's at my daughter's nursery! Especially the scary Survival Sloanes, with velvet hairbands, 4x4s and pie-collar blouses. Don't they know the Thatcher years finished ages ago? Thankfully, there are lots of nice, normal mums as well. Keep us posted on how it all goes.
Ooo I really get how you felt last year sweetie.
Miss E went back to school today.
I was a bit nervous as they've reorganized the classes and Miss E has been split from two of her closest friends.
She had a little cry about this in the holidays but faced today with a smile, and lots of new school things, which always helps.
She's not herself tonight though and is up in our bed as she is feeling scared. I think it's just a bit of anxiety at all the changes so I'm hoping in a week or two she'll be fine.
Hope tomorrow goes well.
It sounds great.
Hi Picklesmum ~ I've been thinking about practising to get up early as well. Hasn't worked for me. It's like when my friends with babies used to ask whether I would like to practice changing nappies when I was pregnant. Why would I want to inflict myself with stuff like that until I really needed to.
Good luck to Picklesister...all grown up now ;-)
Hi MaL - We're lucky not to have the sloany types around here. I don't like scary mums, so I'm glad we don't have many...nice mums stick together I say.
Hi Jo - Hope Miss E has a good first day back at school. It's not nice when little ones have to face changes. Hopefully she'll settle into a new routine soon. She'll still be able to meet her friends at playtime and get to know the others better during classtime. Eh that's more friends for her to play with! Despite my eldest's bravado over the holidays about not wanting to go back to school, we went in for a sneaky peak at his new classroom yesterday and he really got stuck in. He was absolutely fine today and it's been glorious.
Of course, I didn't get around to ironing the uniform until this morning. I found myself very distracted by officially moving my youngest boy into my eldest's bedroon and then turning his into a playroom...why oh why on the last day before school? I thought I was mad...here's the evidence! So far, it's all worked out and I'll put a post up sometime soon.
Your room looks lovely. Like the colourful drawers.
Picklessister survived big school but only just. She's longing for primary school again at the moment. Doesn't want to be grown up anymore!
Hi Picklesmum - they were a great find at Homebase. Hopefully Picklessister will settle in soon, especially when she gets to do the kind of stuff that you can't do in Primary school.
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