10 Things You’ll Definitely Do when your Child Starts School
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Got a child starting school this September? Life is about to change COMPLETELY. Don’t be dramatic you say, how can it be any different from going to nursery? Well my friend, here are a few things you are going to end up doing very soon. Mark my words.
1.Losing clothing
Full of new school enthusiasm, you order fancy iron on labels and spend hours labelling everything beautifully for your child. But a few weeks in, you discover that those labels have fallen out and those expensive embroidered jumpers have vanished! You may even resort to
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going through the cloakroom sniffing the lost property in order to identify which one out of 30 green jumpers is yours! (or is that just me?)
2. Sending in fruit and veg (that you know your child will never eat in 100 years) just to impress the teacher
We’ve heard that the lunchbox police are not to be messed with, but we also secretly know that our children never eat what they should eat. None the less, we set out to impress whoever might be checking, by sending them with Pinterest-worthy snacks which we know full well we will be throwing in the
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bin later in the day! Fruit kebab anyone?
3.Getting far too involved in the playground politics of Red Class
As much as we all know that we should leave children to fight their own battles, playground politics have a habit of spilling into the parenting arena. Before long you find yourself wondering if little Bethany really did hit Charlie at play time and does she make a habit of this behaviour? Best to keep an open mind on this one.. just in case it’s your child next time!
4.Becoming a competitive parent on dressing up day
You don’t want
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to be a ‘showy’ parent but all of a sudden there are all these dressing up days. ‘Please come dressed as an Alien on Thursday’ type letters come home and the panic sets in. So now you are left in a tricky position. Make too much effort and you will indeed look like you’ve made ’too much’ effort. But if you don’t make an effort, your child runs the risk of being the one who looks…. well, a bit crap really. So do you a) hit Pinterest and whip out your sewing basket or b) hit amazon prime and spend a small fortune? It shouldn’t matter
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but somehow it does.
5. Forgetting important things
Before your child starts school life is actually quite simple. There is not that much to think about for nursery. But that is all about to change. In fact, you might need to open up an entirely new brain hemisphere titled ‘primary school related events’. There really are so many things for even the most organised of parents to forget. Permission slips, charity donations, bring a hard boiled egg to a school day, the water bottle… don’t even get me started on the non-school uniform days! I
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know you think you won’t forget but, your day will come, so just be kind to yourself you are only human.
6. Being late
How could anybody be late for school you say to yourself smugly as you read the school prospectus. But somewhere around term two, life gets more complicated. The enthusiasm is wearing thin and trying to get your child to get dressed feels like task fit for the crystal maze.“Come on.. just one more sock… you’ve got 10 second left!” How long it takes to actually leave the house is a mystery, like a hidden vortex of time.
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Start early, you have been warned!
7. Moving heaven and earth to be there for every assembly, church service and parents’ meeting
Even though you swore you would just do what you could do, that work is important too and that you don’t care what people think. Every time another event comes up, the thought of being the only parent who isn’t there is just too much and you end up changing things around to fit. It might be time to start being nice to your boss… just saying.
8. Cry big fat tears of joy and sadness on the first day
It’s not
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like you’ve never been apart before so why would this be any different? This one I can’t even explain, but my friend, it really is. The feeling of leaving your baby in this big grown up place is undeniably odd and quite frankly horrendous. Time flies by so fast. One moment you are in antenatal class and the next you are leaving them at school. So when that first day comes, keep some tissues handy!!
9. Spending every weekend attending kids parties
Within weeks there is this sudden change in your social life. Party invitations are popping out of
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the book bag left, right and centre. There’s no escaping it- the weekend as you know it has changed forever. You now have no choice but to spend all of your weekends in village halls and soft play centres with the other school mums and dads. Plus, there’s the realisation that these are the people that you will be spending all your time with for the next 7 years. Or longer if you have younger children!
10. Feeling anxious in the playground yourself
As a parent in the playground, it’s like starting school all over again, you secretly hope
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you’ll make friends and that you’ll fit in. There will be people there who are not your normal crowd, but this is NOT the time to be judgmental, selective or shy. Now is the time to reach out and make an effort, because, you will be spending a whole lot more time with these people than you think. You never know you might meet an unexpected friend for life!
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Josie Louise Brocksom - 28 Aug 16
Got a child starting school this September? Life is about to change COMPLETELY. Don’t be dramatic you say, how can it be any different from going to nursery? Well my friend, here are a few things you are going to end up doing very soon. Mark my words.
1.Losing clothing
Full of new school enthusiasm, you order fancy iron on labels and spend hours labelling everything beautifully for your child. But a few weeks in, you discover that those labels have fallen out and those expensive embroidered jumpers have vanished! You may even resort to going through the cloakroom sniffing the lost property in order to identify which one out of 30 green jumpers is yours! (or is that just me?)
2. Sending in fruit and veg (that you know your child will never eat in 100 years) just to impress the teacher
We’ve heard that the lunchbox police are not to be messed with, but we also secretly know that our children never eat what they should eat. None the less, we set out to impress whoever might be checking, by sending them with Pinterest-worthy snacks which we know full well we will be throwing in the bin later in the day! Fruit kebab anyone?
3.Getting far too involved in the playground politics of Red Class
As much as we all know that we should leave children to fight their own battles, playground politics have a habit of spilling into the parenting arena. Before long you find yourself wondering if little Bethany really did hit Charlie at play time and does she make a habit of this behaviour? Best to keep an open mind on this one.. just in case it’s your child next time!
4.Becoming a competitive parent on dressing up day
You don’t want to be a ‘showy’ parent but all of a sudden there are all these dressing up days. ‘Please come dressed as an Alien on Thursday’ type letters come home and the panic sets in. So now you are left in a tricky position. Make too much effort and you will indeed look like you’ve made ‘too much’ effort. But if you don’t make an effort, your child runs the risk of being the one who looks…. well, a bit crap really. So do you a) hit Pinterest and whip out your sewing basket or b) hit amazon prime and spend a small fortune? It shouldn’t matter but somehow it does.
5. Forgetting important things
Before your child starts school life is actually quite simple. There is not that much to think about for nursery. But that is all about to change. In fact, you might need to open up an entirely new brain hemisphere titled ‘primary school related events’. There really are so many things for even the most organised of parents to forget. Permission slips, charity donations, bring a hard boiled egg to a school day, the water bottle… don’t even get me started on the non-school uniform days! I know you think you won’t forget but, your day will come, so just be kind to yourself you are only human.
6. Being late
How could anybody be late for school you say to yourself smugly as you read the school prospectus. But somewhere around term two, life gets more complicated. The enthusiasm is wearing thin and trying to get your child to get dressed feels like task fit for the crystal maze.“Come on.. just one more sock… you’ve got 10 second left!” How long it takes to actually leave the house is a mystery, like a hidden vortex of time. Start early, you have been warned!
7. Moving heaven and earth to be there for every assembly, church service and parents’ meeting
Even though you swore you would just do what you could do, that work is important too and that you don’t care what people think. Every time another event comes up, the thought of being the only parent who isn’t there is just too much and you end up changing things around to fit. It might be time to start being nice to your boss… just saying.
8. Cry big fat tears of joy and sadness on the first day
It’s not like you’ve never been apart before so why would this be any different? This one I can’t even explain, but my friend, it really is. The feeling of leaving your baby in this big grown up place is undeniably odd and quite frankly horrendous. Time flies by so fast. One moment you are in antenatal class and the next you are leaving them at school. So when that first day comes, keep some tissues handy!!
9. Spending every weekend attending kids parties
Within weeks there is this sudden change in your social life. Party invitations are popping out of the book bag left, right and centre. There’s no escaping it- the weekend as you know it has changed forever. You now have no choice but to spend all of your weekends in village halls and soft play centres with the other school mums and dads. Plus, there’s the realisation that these are the people that you will be spending all your time with for the next 7 years. Or longer if you have younger children!
10. Feeling anxious in the playground yourself
As a parent in the playground, it’s like starting school all over again, you secretly hope you’ll make friends and that you’ll fit in. There will be people there who are not your normal crowd, but this is NOT the time to be judgmental, selective or shy. Now is the time to reach out and make an effort, because, you will be spending a whole lot more time with these people than you think. You never know you might meet an unexpected friend for life!
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Josie Louise Brocksom. I live in Salisbury Wiltshire, I'm a mummy to two awesome boys aged 4 and 6 and step mummy to two gorgeous girls aged 10 and 13. I'm a Hypnotherapist and Coach specialising in women's emotional health and well-being. I love people watching, talking about the joys of parenting and trying to find the funny side of any situation.
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