The new school year is about to start and it can bring conflicting emotions for parents. On the one hand you are often exhausted, over-stimulated and behind on every imaginable chore and work-related project. You are desperate for a regular routine again before the chaos of Christmas hits. But on the other side of things, it is a visual reminder that your kids are another year older, that they are growing up so quickly and each year is a step closer to being on their way into the big wide world. Here is our story…
This story is part of our school series
Back to School: Getting Back to Normal
Mummy (10 years parenting)
It’s time to get up for another year. Just another day you tell yourself, just another normal day.
But it’s not a normal day. It’s a Monday. A back to school, new year about to start Monday.
And that means the house will finally be blissfully quiet and calm. Just think of all the things I can catch up on – the cleaning, the washing, my work. Nobody nagging me for snacks or to retrieve the ball that has been kicked over the fence for the millionth time. I might even sneak in a bit of daytime TV.
But first I have to actually get them to school and after six weeks the school morning routine is rusty. The boys are resistant to eating, dressing, packing bags – all the things that were habit only a mere month before.
“They don’t fit.” New school shoes on with the annual groaning and complaining. We only bought them a few weeks ago, so unless they have suddenly sprouted giant feet, they definitely do fit.
“You just have to get used to them,” My annual reminder that within a few days these shoes will feel like old friends, and already battered from football in the playground. And life will feel totally back to normal again.
The only detour in the routine is the obligatory start of school pictures – a undeniable visual reminder that another year has disappeared into the photo albums. A moment to wobble and wonder where the years are going? How the parenting years now total a decade?
“Why do we have to do this again?” Tomos grumbles as they line up together for another picture. A few more teeth gone, a few more inches grown, bigger, older, more grown up. A lot more moody as the teenage years loom ever closer.
And finally we’re on the yard, waiting for the doors to open.
“Mummy,” Luc whispers “I won’t kiss you, but you can have a cuddle.”
“Thank you.” I respond matching his seriousness. Another year gone and my littlest is now no longer little.
And the bell rings – the final signal that summer is over and I’m free again. And they run off (I didn’t get my cuddle) and back to school is now done for another year. Over. Complete. We are now back to normal.
But as I wander alone back home, personal space in tact, thoughts uninterrupted, with all my plans of what I need to do today, I can’t help but glance back, wishing just for a moment that I could be a fly on the wall. Just for a moment. To be sure that all is well.
I’ve waited for this day for six weeks, thinking of all the things I could get done without the boys around. But now it’s here, I realise the next six hours will be my most unproductive while I wait for them to be home again.
Tomorrow I will be back to normal… but not today.
Tips for the New School Year
It can be normal for parents to have mixed feelings when their children return to school. Click here to read more about the new school year blues.
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