Tired out

Matthew has now completed about two weeks in reception. He seems immensely proud of his hat, blazer and book-bag and definitely feels like a big boy now he is at school all day. He is bursting to tell me who he has played with, what he has eaten and what he has been doing at school when I pick him up, this has had the great effect of eliciting more information from Heather about her day as well.

He is just beginning the journey to reading and writing and this week when we were doing his homework he took great delight in showing me that he could write all the numbers up to ten himself. He enjoys reading us his reading books and today he bought one home that was made up of his sight words. As soon as he sat in the car, knowing we had to wait for Heather he announced that he could read his book and did I want him to show me. Of course I agreed and so he duly read all 12 words or so to me, pointing to all the words as he went and looking very proud of himself. As soon as we were all home he was eager to show Heather that he could read his book as well. He loves impressing her and despite their love/hate relationship looks up to her so that when he wins her approval it means something to him. She was great with him and gave him lots of encouragement and he puffed up with pride.

At bedtime he recapped some of the things he had enjoyed doing and I asked if he was enjoying reception;
'Yes I like my friends and seeing Heather and Miss ***'
'That's great and do you like doing all your work.'
'Yes but it is a bit hard, if we finish we can play but then I am tired out. Playtime is hard too as I run about all the time and I'm all tired now.'

I am really pleased he is enjoying school and hope it continues for a long time.

My first week of freedom

Last Thursday, the kids went back to school. For two days between the hours of 9 and 3 I had complete freedom as Lucy was at nursery and the other two were at school. Monday to Wednesday I had Lucy, but in general, she is amenable to going out and about, so what did I do with all this time? The answer is not a lot.

There was the usual housework that took up some time each day, Thursday just felt wrong, the house was tidy, quiet and empty. It seemed as if all the life that had filled it over the previous two months had been stolen away. I have to admit the TV went on for a bit of background noise and Facebook was a good way to while away the hours. It was very odd, I had been looking forward to this day for a few weeks, especially since the weather had turned and the kids had been fighting.

I did eventually settle to some writing, but in some ways it was a relief when the clock rolled around to picking up time. Friday was better, I did more writing and spent less time watching the clock worrying about what they would be having for dinner and if they would be have a friend to play with and even if they liked their new teachers.

Monday came and after a school gate chat we had the excitement of the grocery delivery, imagine the excitement as you open the bags to discover exactly what you ordered, as this proved to be the highlight of the day, other then Heather's first piano lesson I decided I had to get out more. So I did, on Tuesday Lucy and I went shopping. Lucy enjoyed choosing things with various characters on and I failed to choose a new handbag, and then after school was the mad dash over to horse riding!

Today Lucy and I enjoyed a coffee with some friends after running some errands and then spent some time filling in a magazine she insisted on having with stickers and colouring.

Tomorrow then is my next proper day of freedom and what will I be doing? Well there is the road safety walk which Heather is going on first thing and then a trip to a riding school to see if they have any weekend availability as fitting everything in the evenings is proving tricky and Matthew is desperate to do tennis which clashes at the moment. Indeed I dread Lucy going to school and deciding which after school activities she would like as every night other then Friday is booked up at the moment and I think top of my Christmas list at the moment is a set of juggling plates and spinning plates! Don't even get me started on the homework...

Friends

It's back to school time and that means in equal measure tears, tantrums and triumphs. Most parents find it difficult to consign their children to full time school, it is when you begin to lose a little bit of control, now they must fend for themselves. Their teacher becomes the fountain of all knowledge and you get used to hearing Mr or Mrs so and so says...

Then there is the difficult issue of friends, for many children they make these as they progress through the infant and junior school and add to this as they continue. How do we make friends though and how do we make them in the first place, this is the conundrum I have been presented with by Heather. She is an adult relater and given the choice would much rather spend her time talking to adults than children of her own age, she is perfectly capable of getting on with children her own age but hasn't to date had what you would call a best friend - she is more of a butterfly flitting from group to group or playing by herself.

It got me thinking about my own friends and I guess you could group them, there are the people that you know well enough to say hello to, usually mums at the school gate, then there are those that are a little closer that your children spend time with so you get to know them a bit better, then there are your best friends. These are the people that you are comfortable with, share your secrets with and spend more time with. I am lucky enough to have friends like this who I have met both a long time ago from college and university and more recent ones who I have met at the school. These are the people that even when you haven't seen them for awhile you can pick up the phone and you know each other well enough to carry on as before. When Heather asked me how you make best friends I was at a loss to explain it though.

In the end I told her that the best thing you can do is be nice, listen to what they have to say and help them out wherever possible and make sure that you have some similar interests. I still don't know how she'll get on Matthew and Lucy seem to make friends naturally and easily but I did remind her that friendship is a two way street, you have to show them respect and talk to one another, share and work at it. I also told her that sometimes you'll fall out and disagree but the best friends are the ones that stay with you through the ups and downs, that forgive you when you make a mistake and give you a shoulder when you need to cry.

The Final Countdown

I have just now finished the labelling of the school uniforms, putting PE kits into bags and making sure that the new book bags have names on. The only slight bugbear is that the new name labels haven't arrived yet as they are great for sticking onto cups and bags and inside shoes. The last few days of holiday have begun and they are jam packed as usual, the only thing that has let us down is the weather.

This week we had to cancel a picnic we were looking forward to, thanks to two solid days of rain and showers we decided that soggy sandwiches were not the order of the day. We had what has become our habitual bug throw a spanner in the works as well, at least it was a mild one and didn't last more than 24 hours but even so it meant Heather missing her riding lesson and a pony day that she had been looking forward to.

We have managed to watch Marmaduke, Owen Wilson voices the Great Dane through his adventures to be part of the cool gang after a move to California and yesterday I took Heather to see Tinkerbell and the Great Fairy Rescue, a nice message about helping friends and spending time with one another. We completed the library reading quest and the children were delighted to receive their shiny golden medals and are looking forward to receiving their certificates in assembly.

We collected the pottery as well and I was amazed at how well they had come out, Heather is very proud of her Ariel and Matthew couldn't believe how shiny his Mickey Mouse was now and they have pride of place on the mantlepiece, and we are hoping to go back soon and do some more.

Still with summer nearly over, that is if it ever got here I can't help thinking of the school year ahead, Heather's last in the infant and Matthews first full time and how life will be different, as it once more become a dash from home to school, to after school activity to home again with a little bit of homework and dinner along the way. I am hoping in the two whole days that I will have free when Lucy is at nursery to pick up the time spent writing again, expand my repertoire on the piano before Heather takes me over and with luck move house before the end of the year, but with chaperoning violin and swimming and helping out at the library the first few 'free' days already seem to be filling up. Oh well, maybe when Lucy goes next year...

Sweet Niblets!

Those of you who have children of a certain age will almost certainly identify with he above title. For those of you who have outgrown the phase or not yet entered it this is the catchphrase of the character Miley Stewart in the Hannah Montana series. It seems appropriate as I seem to have spent much of my recent days watching this or equivalent shows on the Disney channel. We have been out and about as much as possible but the lack of summer is making that difficult! There are only so many times you can visit the indoor playgrounds or go and paint clay, I am running out of shelf space!

The Hannah Montana take over has now reached new heights! Heather was lucky enough to receive money for her birthday and after discussion she decided she would like something to go in her bedroom which she could dock her ipod with and play cd's. Coupled with that we made the mistake of buying her the Disney Summer Rocks CD which since the arrival of the CD player has been going at a high volume fairly non-stop! I suppose I should be pleased that she now knows all the words to her favourite theme tunes but I have to admit that on the twentieth rendition of 'you get the limo out front...' I was horrified to hear myself mutter 'sweet niblets.' Takeover complete. Roll on school before I start saying dang this and that and calling the children Lily, Oliver and Hannah!