Makes a change from the deluge of Ice Bucket Challenges I
suppose.
It was a First Day in this house too. Lovely Liam is shucking off Montessori ties
and joining thousands of his contemporaries.
The ones he will be in competition with for college points and gainful
employment in the future.
No, I didn’t say that to him. I will let him settle in first.
Another first, well, first in two months anyway, was waking
them this morning. True to form, 7.30am
was approaching, school bags were packed, pancakes made, uniforms in neat piles
but no sign of the gentlemen folk.
Lovely Liam opened his eyes at the sound of the curtains
being opened and said “yay!”
So far so good.
The others joined the queue for the bathroom and pancakes
before getting dressed, lining up against the wall for the obligatory Back to
School Photo TM and then we were off.
The one who always has something to say kept that up for the
5 kilometre trip. The one I knew would
stare out the window and say nothing did just that.
Lovely Liam remarked, “I hope I learn something new in this
place today.”
At the school gate he announced,” I have waited so long for
this day. It’s finally here.”
Yes, it’s finally here.
For me too. It brings forth many
emotions, all of them intent on being the first one to break through.
Will I be able to contain myself and not let out great, big
random roars of delight that another child has entered the jungle that is
education?
Will I be able to contain myself and not let out great, big
random roars of “are you sure you’re
okay?” to the child who is stressed at having re-entered the jungle that is
education.
Going back to and starting school. It’s both great and shit
for the same reasons.
The uniform makes them all uniform. Last year people were asking me why my tall
four year old wasn’t in school. This
year the uniform makes him blend in nicely with everyone else. Only one person thought he was the big
brother coming in to check on his little one!
There will be something missing on The Big Morning. A pen, a lunch box, a coat, a shoe, a
child. Don’t wait an hour before school
to try on the uniform. Shirt, tie, jumper, underwear, trousers, shoes
and socks. Put the whole lot on the
child at least a week beforehand. That
way no-one will be going to school wearing last year’s trousers because the new
one is too long/big/too scratchy.
There may very well be more mammies with wobbly lower lips
than kids with wobbly lower lips.
The first words out of your mouth when you get them all home
from the 17 different school runs will be, “stop fighting!”
Your child may have a major meltdown two weeks before the
Big Day. Two days before it or even on
the Big Day itself. This is normal. This is very normal. Don’t be surprised if it all starts over the
way their bag is packed, the way their trousers sits on their hips or the fact
that it is a particular colour. The
trousers, bag or hips are not the problem.
It is an indication that they are struggling internally with the new transition.
When they get home and you ask how their day went, “fine”
could mean anything. On a scale of one
to ten it could mean “I hate it and am never
going back” to “fine.” You will just
have to do a bit of sly interrogation.
If they turned their nose up at a roast chicken dinner
during the holidays, they will lick the plate clean and ask for more on the
first day back. Nothing like a bit of
learning to make them hungry.
In other stuff, making school lunches just might be your
undoing. Who doesn’t like butter on
their bread? Which one likes the crusts
cut off? Which one doesn’t like bread? What about grapes and apples? Someone can’t eat apples because their teeth
are loose and one of them has a thing against yogurts.
School. It’s a great
invention but you pay for those few hours of peace and quiet when they come
home so you do.
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