Back to School

In the first 4 years of our First Born’s school career we’ve endured slings, drawstrings and padded back packs - in shades of purple, blue and even two toned; heeled shoes with buckles and gel soles with lace ups; jerseys and fleeces; skirts and bermudas …and copious amounts of hair ties and head bands that only survive week one. And then this year, she calmed down considerably - to the point where it pained me every time she turned down a new piece of stationery or other equipment. I only realised later that this was her valiant attempt at a distraction, to use the credit for daily sushi requests after!

Honestly, if I were her, I’d be quite excited to head back to school too… Six weeks with two younger siblings cannot be at the top of your list of holiday fun. But did she have enough fun? No.question.about.it. Kicking off with her delayed birthday celebration at the Urban Park in early December, she waltzed from pool play date to pamper day, a theme park visit, movies at the cinema, a 24 hour road trip, sleep overs at her Papu and Yaya, late night karaoke, picnics and loads more! She must’ve used litres of nail varnish (and equal parts of my polish remover!!) since 2 December. So this is good. Back to school with her teacher from last year, a little bit taller and a little bit older, I know she’s expecting big things.

My Boy has been waiting to go to school with his older sister for a long, long time- he’d say! I’m not sure what the main attraction was - the uniform, the drive by - come - tuck ’n roll exit at the gate, the early finish or the school holidays! And at last, he got his chance. I found him still asleep on the morning of Day 1 and just gently whispered, “Hey E, It’s your first day at insert school name today,” and he bolted out of bed and started getting dressed (not giving his legs nearly enough time to wake up!). Nerves were settling in at breakfast time because he considered skipping the meal. Definitely nerves. But then he managed to put away his two Weetbix biscuits in an effort to encourage Baby to eat well. Traffic sailed smoothly and we arrived at school about 30 minutes before the bell was due to ring. He found his name on the class list, located the room, met the teacher, put his bag away and stuck a name tag on - all in record time - so that he could get as much outside crazy running game time as possible. And then he waved us goodbye. I won’t lie - it came as no surprise since First Born had been quite the same some 4 years ago and the shoo-ing meant that I could get back into the coolness of the car and escape the Baby weight lifting exercise in the direct morning sun! Turning on to the main road leaving, traffic was at a standstill. I took it as a sign - go back and watch your son start his first day in Grade R. Convinced in only half a second, I made a u-turn and parked at the first place I could find. Now my Baby carrying exercises included a light jog! We made it back into the gate to see all the children line up for the first assembly in the hall. This boy was dik serious and when I tried to wave, hiss and shamelessly call out to get his attention, he glanced over with big eyes that said, “Ag please Mom, I’m trying to start school here.” 

Sending Baby to a formal daycare has been hard! One day I’m cradling her in my arms and the next, I’m packing a school bag. I even had to Google: what snacks to pack for creche! And even though I now know this school, trust the carers and honestly need a good few hours a day to do some office work, I am still sometimes battling with the drop off and worry that I’ve grown my Baby too soon. I mean, have you ever seen this girl’s sad face? I have never seen a sadder one - the bottom lip curls almost all the way over, the eyes are squeezed tightly shut and the tears roll freely. She seems devastated.

And then of course, I have this quiet moment to myself and wonder - but didn’t I want this home office job so that I could have more time with my kids? Ha ha -  now I’m having flashbacks to this incredibly long Summer holiday - and that’s a different topic for another day.