1 BACK TO SCHOOL, 1 TO GO.

Corporate to Kids - 2 Sep 20

It’s almost here, the day I have been waiting for, both children back to school. It’s better than Christmas Eve and with all the excitement who knows if I’ll sleep tonight. Of course, it will be a shock to the system to have to drag both boys out of bed, into their oversized and rather crisp school uniforms to be at the school by the new time of half eight, but good god I am certainly a member of Team ‘Get the kids back to school’ and I really don’t mind admitting it.

With a return to school comes the daunting prospect of once again being on time with two children, two school bags and those things called school shoes. No longer can my children run around in pants and sandals at eleven o’clock on a weekday. Yet, this back to school routine comes with the added, and rather confusing, baggage of COVID-19 rules and regulations.

BACK TO SCHOOL COVID STYLE

My boys’ school have been amazing ever since they shut their doors in March this year. Remember that? Those days before lockdown and homeschooling where we all took school for granted and believed the school days were too short before we realised how easy we had it? The days before masks, colour coordinated entrances and exits and the fear of quarantine. I know if I so much as hear a whimper of a cough near the school I am going to enter into a mad frenzy about the prospect of another closure.

MIXED FEELINGS

I’d be a total meanie if I said I wasn’t anxious about my children returning to school. I am worried. But our needs outweigh fear. I don’t know about anyone else’s children but mine desperately need structure and stimulation. They need to learn again and spend time with children their own ages. Mine need some discipline because they rarely seem to listen to me and they probably need a change of scenery. All parents will have their own thoughts about their children going back to school and it would be strange if it didn’t come hand in hand with worry.

I’M BORED OF HEARING ‘I’M BORED’

If I hear the words ‘I’m bored’ again anytime soon I’m going to unleash hell. But to be fair to them, I get it. I’m bored too. I’m bored of feeling stuck in a groundhog world and I’m completely over all the walks we have done to death and the fact that with COVID comes the lack of spontaneity. It’s tough now to wake up and decide we’re going to do this or visit that place because so many options require pre-booked tickets. I’m a planner, but lately, my organised nature has been challenged to the max.

I WANT ‘ME-TIME’

I feel like such a precious parent for admitting that I am desperate for some alone time. Then again, when I consider what parents have been dealing with since March it’s no real surprise that we are weary, burnt out and desperate for some of our old routine. I have been trying to run a business during lockdown and homeschooling and it’s been incredibly tough. I miss seeing my friends properly or having a coffee on my own. I miss my daily routine and the sense of achievement gained through work. During the past six months, I’ve completed work and then rushed onto the next activity with a child. I need to grow my business in peace and quiet.

THE OLD SCHOOL IS GONE

Today was incredibly weird and yet beautifully normal again. Yes, school drop off was different. We all rocked up in our masks and had to only go to our allocated drop off zone and follow the colour coordinated markers. There was a lack of hanging around to chat with friends and lingering in the playground. It was methodical, but it gave a sense of comfort that the school are hugely organised and mindful of the situation. It’s a shame for those starting with Reception children because it’s going to be hard to meet new parents in the new culture trying to bond behind a wacky facemask.

I know I will once again well up tomorrow when they are both dropped at school for the first time in ages. I will worry that the carefree school environment they once experienced is now a lot more stringent. But for the sake of our children and their development and mental health and for parents’ (development, mental health, work-life and let’s face it sanity) it has to be that way.

It’s no easy feat to get millions of children back to school, but I know for sure that I will be whooping with joy after drop off tomorrow. A quiet desk and a cup of coffee have never felt so appealing.

Corporate to Kids

Who: Sarah - Queen of self-deprecation Job: from corporate HR career to Mum, Writer and Blogger Children: two boys with a 13 month age gap!! Obsessions: writing, Haribos, rainbows, coffee, fizz

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