September is fast approaching and I’m getting the impression many parents are looking forward to their children starting school. But I’m not.
I know some of my issue is the unknown, but the key thing for me is I don’t like the idea of changing our current routine. Both children are currently in a nursery five minutes from my work three days a week from 8am to 6pm (the fourth day they spend with Granny). But come September, M will continue in the nursery but B will be at school half an hour away 9am through to 3pm. I am keen to retain my day off a week to spend with M, so I don’t want to reduce my working hours to fit the school hours.
Then there are B’s extra curriculum activities. She currently does swimming, ballet and gymnastics and wants to continue with all of them. Some people have advised me to stop all the activities as she will be too tired and other people have said to continue for a term and discover how tired she is. What to do? What to do?
As a family we think we’ve found a solution. With the help of a breakfast club, after school club, Granny and my company allowing me to switch my non working day we think we’ve got B’s care covered. Although I recognise that my interaction with her school friends will be significantly lower than her nursery friends as I will only pick her up after school one day a week (plus one maybe two days from after school club). This is sad because I think I’ve got a good relationship with her nursery friends and their parents and would like the same with her school friends.
And then there is the new level of organisation. I almost missed her taster session at school so I know to I need to make my organisation system more school friendly, but I don’t know how. Thanks to a visit to the school fair at the weekend I’ve made a start on buying the uniform, but haven’t worked out where to put, how to label it or what else I need to buy.
Choosing a primary school was not straight forward, and now I’m starting to worry that I feel so bewildered about the start of school. I know I should start doing something, but I don’t know where to start. What advice do you have to help me out? What tips made the biggest difference for you? How do you organise all the school stuff?
P.S. Several people have mentioned the book The Hive, is it a really representation of school mums and is it worth reading?
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I empathise- it is tricky to know what to do for the best when new life chages happen… like school!
My advice is to try to go with the flow a bit, you will relax into all the new routines! But for practical advice I’d go with a concertina file- having a file where you can put all the admin needed surrounding school like weekly dinner monies, permission slips etc makes life easier… just remember to check the file daily to see what you need to do that day!
That, and buy all the uniform early because there will be nothing left in the youngest sizes once the school holidays start!
Nadine, thank you for your advice.
Is your concertina file one gap for each day, like a tickler file? I’ve always been interested in having one, but haven’t had enough paper to justify it; maybe that is about to change. I recently pinned this which is very appealing, if I can find the wall space.
I hadn’t thought about shops running out of school uniform, I thought it was so standard there would be lots available. Something I need to do fairly soon then. Is this the same for school shoes? I was planning on leaving these as late as possible in case her feet grow.
Yes- it’s a tickler file! You may find you need one once the school admin starts flowing!!
And yes, do get the uniform sooner rather than later- the youngest kids sizes fly out of the stores and it becomes impossible to get come late August. Trust me, I made this error with my first child!
For shoes, best get the child measured mid holidays I think, then get the shoes then. But the clothes – get now! Hope this helps!
My son starts in September too and I’m not looking forward to it at all! Like you we have a routine that works well at the moment, and spending 2 hours every day in total walking to and from school is really going to mess it up (although great for my fitness levels!) I have started buying a few bits of uniform now, as like Nadine I was told to get it early while there is plenty in stock and my son is very small, but I think I’m still in denial!
Jennifer, I’m glad it is not just me.
Two hours walk, that will certainly help your fitness, I hope the weather stays dry at drop off and pick up times 😉 I think I need to get a move on about the uniform. We’ve got three summer dresses, but only one for winter. The first thing I need to do is read the uniform requirements!