We’ve Got Through The First Week of School

So the first school week is over and all I can say is…phew!

There’s been such a build up to this week for months; – preparing Chunk for leaving nursery and moving to a big school, and of course buying the dreaded uniform and accessories.

He loved the first day, because only 8 pupils were there as they were new to the school, but the next couple of days were harder as the entire 28 pupils were there and he knew none of them. 

I noticed by the middle of the week he went from being excited about going to school in the morning to saying “can’t I stay with you instead mummy?”. Three days in and he already hates school like he’s been there years!

He finds the playground the most frightening because all of the year groups are there, but I know this will change and he will go from clinging to my hand to trying to avoid being seen with me before I know it.

By Friday he was very tired and at times he has been challenging in his behaviour but I have known it’s from exhaustion so have managed to just work through it.

This is a huge change for both of us and I’m sure it will continue to throw new things at us for some time to come.

“I bet you don’t know what to do with yourself!”

This seems to be the line lots of people are saying to me now, but it couldn’t be more wrong! They seem to think I now have all of this time to sit down and relax, which to be honest I thought I may have too. So I’m quite dissappointed that so far this hasn’t been the case. If it’s not going to take care of my nan for a couple of hours each day, it’s getting the shopping, doing the housework, attending fundraising meetings for my local park and trying to find more freelance work. 

Rather than being energised for his return I find myself shattered and hoping he will just want to veg out for the rest of the afternoon. I need to sort this out quick because as soon as his body gets used to the school day routine he will be bursting with energy at home time so I will need to help him burn it…

I’m hoping as I adjust to this new routine I will be able to find time to gather my thoughts as we all benefit from recharging our batteries for a few minutes a day.

I have tried to grab little bits of time to do fun things like search for new cushions and rugs for our front room, as it’s been the same way for six years and I’m bored of it.

There’s some pretty cool cushions on Esprit’s website which I managed to browse with a quick cuppa today. They have a great bohemian-style range at the moment which is something I’ve always wanted to try but haven’t quite had the confidence to do it. So perhaps cushions will be a good first step!

I want these cushions in my life!

I’ve also signed up to a course to learn about community work, which will be one day a week for a year, and it covers a lot of topics that will help me with fundraising for the park and hopefully lead to paid work in the community!

My next plan is to become more organised with our evening meals now that I may have some time in the afternoons to prepare them without interruption.

How has your first week back been?