September is well underway and there are some big changes for our family as the children start this new school year. The routine that we've been following for a good few years has been completely shaken up, mainly because Harry has started at a new sixth form which is a fair distance from our home. He's having to deal with a long commute by train, and I need to add regular trips to the station in addition to the school run that I'm already doing.
He's already been given plenty of work to do, and Mia starts her GCSE options this year, so she's also feeling the pressure. They have both been exhausted at the end of the day. It's going to take us all a couple of weeks to get used to the new timings and to get settled!
It's difficult having to take a step back from them as they become more independent, even though I am also glad that I don't need to be so involved with their day to day anymore. One thing that I'm really grateful for is being able to drop them off and pick them up without needing to leave the car - especially on a rainy day like today. We can just keep in touch by phone and they can come and find me where I'm parked!
I'm trying to get the balance right between them knowing that I'm there for them to try and sort out any issues, but also giving them the opportunity to work out problems by themselves. They relish their independence, but I am also very much needed!
It's the last week of term, and I'm really looking forward to the summer holidays. But I always find the countdown stressful, even though now that the children are older there are fewer things to worry about (no more sports day! not quite so much new uniform to buy!) But the children are on edge, with worries about new classes for next year and keeping in touch with friends over the summer, and my husband is away for a little longer than usual this week which sometimes leaves me unsettled. I'm finding myself constantly repeating 'we just need to get these last few days over with'!
I'm clinging on to the last few days of my routine before everything changes for a couple of months. I always find it harder to get out for an early run when I'm not forced out of bed to get everyone ready for school. I know that the housework will fall by the wayside, and it will feel as though I'm spending most of my time preparing food and clearing up afterwards. I'm hoping to sneak out for a couple of hours every week to continue my volunteering work - I'm really enjoying being part of a team of local people that get out and about making the flowerbeds around the village look lovely. I'm learning a lot, and it's given me some confidence to make more of my own garden.
I'm really hoping that the weather improves a little over the holidays. I've been working on making my secluded vegetable patch into a little sanctuary, and yesterday I installed one of our garden chairs so that I can sit and hide around the corner and listen to the bees buzzing. But it just hasn't been warm enough to sit outside!
We don't have very much planned over the summer holidays but we always seem to keep busy. There are people to keep in touch with, and the children enjoy peaceful time at home to work on their own projects without the pressure of homework and early starts. I'm intending to have a clear out in the kids rooms - we have lots of books that have been outgrown and toys that are no longer played with. I love a break from the school run and the packed lunches, and the long evenings are perfect for a walk around the village or sitting out in the garden.
If you have little ones in school I hope that the countdown to the summer holidays goes well!
I did very well in my Maths GCSE back in the nineties if I say so myself - I got an A*, which was one of only a few in my year. Maths didn't come easily to me, but I'm good at memorising things so I was able to remember equations and processes without necessarily understanding exactly how the maths behind them was working. I definitely peaked at GCSE level, I couldn't have coped with taking it any further!
Harry has an instinctive understanding of maths, and he also loves reading around the subject. I've never had to give him any help with his maths homework, and when I caught a glimpse of it the other day I had no idea what it was about. Mia on the other hand is just like me. She is capable of doing the maths and she's in the top set, but it doesn't come naturally and she needs to put in the work.
Recently I was called upon to help her with her homework on quadratic sequences. Some elements were vaguely familiar but most of it was long lost to time. But the big difference between now and then is the fantastic access to resources that the online world has brought us. The homework is completed online, and there were links to videos explaining how to do each step of the process. A quick Google brought back loads more information, with different websites explaining the concept in different ways so that you could find the one that made the most sense to you.
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I must admit that the last and most difficult questions did defeat us, so I'm hoping that her teacher can work on them with her. I find that my brain just doesn't seem to work the way that it used to, I'm so out of practice and I just can't muster up enough interest in it to make myself focus!
A week into the school term, and despite the summer weather it feels as though the holidays never happened! The first week back is always a little unsettled - early starts and the school run along with new timetables, subjects and seating plans, there's always a bit of anxiety all round.
Then I find that I don't know what to do with myself when the children are out of the house! I don't see as much of them at home as I used to, but they are always there somewhere needing snacks and attention. When they first go back to school after a long break at home I find myself wandering aimlessly around the house until I remember all the things that I need to get on with now that they are out of the house!
Mia has started in Year 8, which comes with more homework and higher expectations. Harry is in Year 10 and so is making a start on his GCSE subjects. He's chosen a maths and science route, and I look at his timetable filled with double physics and double further maths and it fills me with horror! But he loves those subjects, and he's really looking forward to delving deeper into some of the more complicated aspects.
Mia is taking part in the school musical production of Bugsy Malone this term. She doesn't have a major part but children keep dropping out so she has been gradually building up a number of smaller roles! There's a demanding after school rehearsal schedule so Harry works in the library and I can do the school pick up a little later - it makes my day seem so much longer!
September always feels like a good time for a fresh start, and I have a few projects to work on this month. Getting back on track with the housework, sorting out the garden ready for winter, organising our holiday photos, going through my travel journals, sorting my craft supplies and having a bit of a declutter. All things which came to mind over the summer, and I now have the chance to get round to!
And just like that, September has come around again and the children are back at school!
Weather wise it doesn't feel like September at all, in fact it feels more like the end of the summer term! The weather this summer was a little disappointing wasn't it, just last week I was out in Brighton wearing a cardigan underneath my thick winter coat. I'm really glad that we are currently enjoying a few warmer days before winter kicks in!
We were lucky enough to get away this summer and enjoyed a fantastic Northern Europe cruise aboard the Disney Dream. The cruise started in Copenhagen and we spent a few days there before sailing back to Southampton via stops in Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, The Netherlands and Belgium. We visited Copenhagen for the day on a cruise a few years ago and loved it, so we decided to spend a few (unfortunately rather wet!) days there before the cruise began.
It was a great itinerary with a really good mixture of smaller towns and larger cities, and we really enjoyed exploring places which were new to us and re-visiting places that we've not been to for years. The Anne Frank House in Amsterdam was a highlight, as was the evening spent sailing back through the North Sea Canal and waving at all the people who had come out to watch us go past. In Fredericia in Denmark we were greeted by the townspeople firing cannons, and several places put on a marching band as we departed. Stockholm in particular was a lovely city and definitely somewhere that I'd like to return for a little longer. And of course a Disney cruise was as magical as always!
At the beginning of the holidays I went to see Blur at Wembley and Pulp in Sheffield on two consecutive weekends which was amazing. They were my two favourite bands as a teenager and I never thought I'd see either one live again. Blur at Wembley was a huge concert, such a brilliant atmosphere. The Pulp venue was much smaller meaning that we had an excellent view of the stage which was great because the staging of the show was perfect, each song had different lighting and projections. I even rocked the vintage Blur and Pulp t-shirts that I still own!
A summer highlight was Harry receiving his GCSE result - he achieved a fantastic grade 9 in Computer Science which he took two years early as he has a natural aptitude for and interest in programming. He was mainly self-taught, although he did have some extra help from his computing tutor. We are so proud, I can't believe he's already got a top grade GCSE under his belt at age 14!
Now we are slowly getting back into the school routine. At the time the holiday seemed long but looking back it flew by. It seems like a long slog ahead now until the Christmas break!
When my son was choosing his GCSE options at the beginning of the year I was really surprised to find out that studying a language wasn't mandatory. He has chosen to study Spanish, which as a language graduate I'm pleased about, but it did make me think about the future importance of language learning.
I studied German at university and I've also learned some French and Dutch. I enjoyed learning about how languages have evolved over time, and although my almost fluent German is rusty I can still read it well. But although my languages have sometimes come in useful while travelling, I've never ended up needing them for a job.
At one time I thought I might go into translation, but you need post-graduate qualifications and in the end my degree was enough to get me a decent job. However I'm quite glad that I didn't opt for a translation career path, because I think that these jobs will be swiftly taken over by technology, if they haven't already.
Last year we went to Athens and I was a little daunted because not only do I have no experience of Greek as a language it is uses a different alphabet. However this was not a problem in the slightest because we all downloaded Google Lens. All you need to do is point your phone camera at the text and it will translate it there for you, on your screen and in real time! It felt like witchcraft to me, although my son pointed out that it's quite simple technology really, just text recognition and Google translate which has been around for a long time.
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I've noticed that the children use Google translate to help with their homework and it seems to work really well, it seems to be accurate and reasonably natural speech. It will read out the text, useful if you are talking with someone and you don't need to worry about pronunciation. I think that it definitely works well enough to do most types of translation, perhaps with a small amount of proof reading required from someone who doesn't even need to know the original language. Of course literary translation is a slightly different matter, and languages which use symbols can be more tricky when it comes to different meanings according to the context, but it seems as though the AI can handle it and if it can't yet it will soon.
I never would have thought I'd feel this way, but it does seem to me that as time goes on it makes more sense to teach children in schools how to use AI tools effectively rather than teaching them a language from scratch. Some people can pick up languages easily and enjoy the challenge of learning them, a bit like fitting together a puzzle. But many people just want to translate signs that they see in a different country or communicate the basics in a different language, and the technology can easily deal with that.
I'd love to know what others think, should we encourage children to study a language even if they have no interest?
I write this post every year, but I can't believe that it's only a few short days until the summer holiday! We are lucky because we break up a couple of weeks earlier than many schools, and usually we plan a holiday for this time. However this year I'm very excited to be seeing Pulp and Blur in early July on consecutive weekends - two of my very favourite bands - so we will have a couple of quiet weeks at home in between instead.
The first term goes so slowly and it's a real slog until Christmas, then when they go back in January it's dark and cold and seems to go on forever. But the summer term always seems so short, flying past in the blink of an eye, and although they've been having assessments over the last few weeks they are definitely winding down now.
I love the summer holidays because we are at home a lot of the time, the weather is generally pleasant, and it's so much more relaxing. I love that feeling at the start when they seem to stretch on forever, and I really appreciate being free from the school run, making packed lunches and sorting out uniform.
Later in the summer we have a Disney cruise booked which we are very much looking forward to. It's a city cruise and we will be exploring some new places, re-visiting some old favourites, and enjoying all the Disney magic on board. Apart from that we don't have many plans, as I'm always reluctant to spend too much money on going out and about when we've spent towards the holiday. But we have exchanged some Tesco vouchers for trips to Chessington and Thorpe Park and we'll probably get to the cinema as well as meeting up with friends and family.
Photo credit Phil Mono via Unsplash
Harry will enter Year 10 in September and make a proper start on his GCSEs (he took his Computer Science GCSE a couple of years early this summer so it doesn't feel such a shock for him to be starting the GCSE process as for us it has already begun!) Mia will be into Year 8 and no longer one of the tiny ones, things will be getting serious as they will be set academically in more subjects. She's involved with the school production of Bugsy Malone which will be performed at the beginning of December, so she's going to be busy with that for a few months.
I am really appreciating this time of life with my older children as I struggled a lot with the baby and toddler years. I didn't like the unpredictability and the hassle that came with even the simplest tasks. I found it difficult coping with the way that my life changed overnight, and although I was happy with my new role as primary caregiver it took me a while to adapt to it.
The children still rely on me a lot of course - I wrote recently about the things that my older children still need me for - but generally what I'm needed for these days are things that I find easier and that I can have more control over.
I've always found the school run quite stressful, but it's much easier now that they are both at senior school. At drop off I pull up outside the school and they jump out. For pick up my main worry has always been that I'll be late or can't find a parking space, but now they come out by themselves and have their phones I know that I can just give them a quick ring and they can either wait for me at school or walk to wherever I am.
It's really nice to be able to leave them at home for periods of time. When my husband is away I can go out for a run or pop to the shops by myself. My husband and I often go out for walks together, and we have even been out for an early dinner just the two of us!
When it comes to food I'm much less stressed now about what they eat, in particular my son who has always been a fussy eater. I cook him what he likes and he can cope by himself if he's in a situation like a school trip where he has to eat what he's given. He makes his own lunch and breakfast now and my daughter is perfectly capable too, although she's a bit more reluctant. I do still make their packed lunches though, it's just so much easier for me to just get on with it, production line style!
I really appreciate the fact that our house is no longer filled with a mess of colourful plastic. We recently had a big sort out of the Lego and Playmobil and although we have more toys than we need for their age at least it is all confined to their rooms now. At one point we had toys all over the place!
We recently organised opening bank accounts for them so they now have a proper debit card and regular pocket money. They have both been really pleased with this and it has given them more independence - on Mother's Day they took themselves down to the local shop to buy my boxes of Maltesers and they can buy themselves chips at lunch.
I enjoy having proper conversations with them. We talk in the car and over dinner about things that are in the news or what is going on with their lives. I spend quite a bit of time with them both at bedtime which is their opportunity to discuss things privately with me.
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It's not always easy of course and they both need a lot of emotional support which I do find draining at times. But I am definitely preferring this stage of life!
We have now broken up for half term and we are all definitely ready for a break! We are lucky enough to have two weeks off, and as well as going away for a few days it will be an opportunity for us to recharge our batteries.
The term doesn't seem to have been particularly long, in fact it has flown by. But it has been an adjustment, especially for Mia. She started at the senior school and it has been a difficult transition. When Harry started we were in the midst of covid and so he didn't find it so difficult. He didn't even see most of the older children as they were all kept in separate bubbles with different start and finish times. I've been meeting Mia outside the school at her request and I can see why she finds the older teens intimidating - they are well behaved but most of them are bigger than me!
She's also been finding it stressful to remember to bring what she needs each day and to get all her homework done in time. I remember often feeling anxious that I had all the books and equipment that I needed for the school day so I can relate to that. I also fell into the trap of overscheduling myself too much with extra clubs and activities at school so I've tried to keep that to a minimum at least for the time being. I'm hoping that she will be more settled when she goes back, as it will just be more of the same rather than a complete change.
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The last day of term was an inset day, which has been rebranded since covid as a "school development day". They are still at home but they are given a full day of work to do which took both of them longer than the school day. I've encouraged them to get all their work done in their first few days off so that they can enjoy the rest of the holiday!
September is here, and the beginning of the summer seems like an awfully long time ago. We were lucky enough to enjoy two amazing holidays this summer - a last-minute cruise at the beginning of July and then a long delayed trip to Florida and Disney World in late August. In the middle unfortunately I was mostly recovering from Covid so we didn't get up to much!
Because we have such intensive (and of course expensive) holidays away, when we are at home I don't feel the need to take the children out and about too much, or to fill their time with pricey days out and activities. Luckily like me they are quite content to stay at home. Harry has been spending lots of time on Minecraft building all sorts of complicated projects and Mia can occupy herself for hours with her coloured pens and stationery collection. We had a major sort out in Harry's room which took almost a week here and there, and I've also had time to get on with my work when it was available.
But now it's time for us all to get back into a proper routine, in particular with reasonable bedtimes and a reduction in screen time. Mia will be starting at the senior school this year which is quite a change for her. Luckily it's a small school, Harry is already there, and many of the children in her classes will be the ones that she has come up from junior school with. Harry is going into Year 9 and I'm assuming that at some point soon he'll have to make some decisions about which GSCE subjects he wants to take, although he already has a pretty clear idea.
Photo credit Elena Mozhvilo via Unsplash
I'm not looking forward to the return of the school run, which I find quite stressful as it involves driving through the traffic and then finding somewhere to park. I'm also not very fond of making packed lunches. And I miss the children when they are at school, I like having them around to chat to and see what projects they are working on.
Over the weekend I shared some of my September goals, and I enjoy having a few goals to work towards. I've set up a habit tracker with three new daily habits - declutter ten items, do a short tummy exercise routine and write a blog post. So far so good! Although I'm already struggling with the decluttering, I'm not sure how I'm going to be able to keep it up!
Fingers crossed it will be a smooth back to school for us all.
Last week Mia went on a four day residential trip with her school. It was a noteworthy event, because it was the first residential trip for either child. At their school the first residential is in Year 6, and Harry's trip was cancelled two years ago due to covid.
The children have been away from us overnight a few times before, even for several nights, but they've always been with grandparents, with each other, and we've been at the other end of the phone. So even though she was very excited, Mia was also quite apprehensive.
Of course it all went well and she had a wonderful time! She did all sorts of activities that we don't do with her, like dry slope skiing and rock climbing, and she also enjoyed the independence of sharing a room with her best friends and taking a bit more responsibility for herself. She did say that she was a bit homesick, but I think that this was outweighed by the positives of the trip.
As for me, I found it really hard while she was away! I missed her of course, and I also missed being in control. Normally I'm in charge of everything that she does - where she goes, what she eats, how she spends her time - and I found it hard to relinquish that. I also felt a bit lost because I was no longer as needed as I usually am. It made me think ahead to when both children are all grown up and have left home - what will I do with myself?!
It was very quiet while she was away. She's the chatty one who is constantly on the move, and we definitely missed her presence! But I'm so glad that she had this opportunity and I hope that both of them have the chance to do something similar again in the future.
Last week we made our third trip to London to watch the Young Voices choir perform at the O2. In 2018 we watched Harry perform, in 2020 both children sang in a concert that they managed to sneak in just before the lockdown, and this year we took Harry along to watch while Mia performed with the choir.
This year marked the 25th Young Voices concert after the show was cancelled last year. This show had already been postponed twice from earlier in the year, so it was quite a relief to see it finally take place.
We arrived at the O2 early, so we took the tube over to Stratford for a walk around the Olympic Park and had dinner in the shopping centre. Then we joined the crowds of proud parents, relatives and friends, and made our way into the arena and found our seats. Our school was on the opposite side and we weren't able to get close enough to talk to Mia, but we could just about see her. We waved frantically and were pretty sure that she was waving back.
It was a great show as always. There was a stunning opening moment when the lights went out and you could see all the children waving little lights in the dark, before the show started with O Fortuna. The choir was accompanied by dancers, singers and musicians. The arena lighting was amazing and really complemented the performances, and when all the singers joined in with synchronised dance movement it looked fantastic across the arena.
It amused me that most of the parents there were fully making the most of a night out without their children. There was constant traffic from the audience seats to the bar, people were coming back to their seats carrying trays of beer and full bottles of wine. The glass of wine that I had beforehand definitely helped my moves in the audience participation rave segment!
We had another brilliant night out watching the concert, and I'm quite sad that my children won't be taking part again as they move to the senior school. If your child ever has the chance to take part in a Young Voices concert then I'd absolutely recommend it, it's a brilliant experience for them.
It's finally the last week of term, after a very strange year. But one thing the same is how anxious I am finding myself feeling as the school year draws to a close. It's heightened this year by the fact that school bubbles across the country are closing left right and centre - fingers crossed that we can actually make it to the end of the week!
I always find this week stressful because the usual routines have come to an end and there are extra activities and events taking place. Admittedly not so many this year, but we have a summer 'bubble' fair, transition days and a themed day, as well as a half day on the final Friday. There are lots of things to remember each day and probably some school run juggling to make sure I'm in the right place at the right time.
Then there are the teacher gifts and thank you cards to worry about, I never know what to get and usually just go with a gift card (although I have upped the value since covid hit, I think they deserve it!).
It's also my last chance to get hold of any second hand uniform directly from the school, which has already been trickier than usual due to the lack of the proper second hand uniform sale. I've managed to get most things but I still really need a bigger blazer for Harry, he has taken me aback this year with how much he's grown!
Finally there's the panic about trying to fit in everything I want and need to do at home before I have everyone at home again for eight weeks. I do some transcription work which is only limited by the amount of time that I can spend on it, and with everyone at home that time really does become limited!
I will have such a sense of relief come Friday lunchtime when I can pull the car onto the driveway, get the final school uniform washing load on and pack away the schoolbags and lunchboxes ready for the summer!
The other day, my children mentioned that a number of their classmates were in possession of a new and exciting item. Apparently Pop It fidget toys are the latest school craze. My children know that I'm too soft, and so when they found me some on sale for only a couple of pounds I caved in and bought them one each.
I must admit they are actually quite fun and satisfying to play with. They are made of soft silicon plastic and you push the blobs in and out from side to side. It's a bit like colourful bubble wrap, but it can be used over and over again, and it makes a satisfying popping sound which has become the new soundtrack to our school run.
I've always been a sucker for summer crazes, and it always does seem to be around summer time that these things appear. I have fond memories from when I was at primary school and it was all about the yoyos, each branded with different soft drinks. I remember my Mum taking me to the corner shop to buy one, and I loved playing with them on the school field. I also remember the special red and yellow plastic skipping rope that I had to have, and the soft squishy balls with faces that we all collected.
So I know what it's like when everyone else has something and you want to be a part of things, and I think that it's a definitive part of the primary school experience. Over the last few years the children and I have enjoyed spinning fidget spinners, crafting with loom bands and taking to the streets to play Pokemon Go. There were also those Sainsbury's Lego cards that we collected for a couple of years running, leading to strangers from Facebook coming to the door to swap for those last elusive cards.
It's all inexpensive fun, and hopefully they'll remember their own indulgent Mum when they've grown up!
What summer crazes do you remember from when you were little? Did you have a yoyo too?
I'm hoping that we have finally said goodbye to the home learning. I've thought this before of course, but this time things seem to be moving in the right direction, and I feel more confident that the schools won't be closing again.
I was relieved to see the back of home learning, and I don't at all envy the poor teachers trying to help children get used to being in the classroom again, without their Roblox and constant access to snacks. But having the children at home gave me the chance to spend more time with them, as well as get a small insight into their school day. And looking back, it wasn't too bad overall.
So here are some of the things that I learned from home schooling the children:
* Teachers deserve a great deal of respect. I can't imagine how stressful it must have been to have planned out all the work for the year, then at the last minute (and not once but twice!) having to rewrite everything and adapt it so that it could be taught remotely. It must have been such a change to their normal working patterns and I don't know how they did it.
* I always thought that I would have liked to be a teacher, but now I know for sure that I don't have the patience. It was hard enough trying to deal with two children, let alone an entire classroom.
* I also always thought that home schooling permanently might be fun. But it wouldn't be for me.
* I'm so glad that my job is part time, hours can be worked to suit, and I don't have to do any live meetings or calls. With my husband's job being so demanding it would have been impossible to juggle everything.
* I had to learn to step back and not get overinvested, and I had to learn to stop myself jumping in to correct spelling and grammar.
* I found that the children are more independent than I give them credit for, and I often do things for them that they are more than capable of doing for themselves. When left to their own devices they had no problems understanding and completing the work set, they just enjoyed the reassurance of me being involved.
* It was interesting to see the areas where the children need some extra help. Fractions and decimals in particular proved to be tricky.
* Their different personalities mean that their learning styles are different. Harry likes structure and clear instructions, Mia enjoys more open-ended tasks. I had to help them adapt to home learning in different ways.
* I found out how much maths in particular has changed since I was at school. While I could always find the answer to a maths problem, it wasn't usually in the way that the teacher wanted me to find it!
Second time around it was all much easier, and if it does happen that we need to learn from home again, perhaps due to a positive case in the class, we are all much more confident with the situation. But fingers crossed, this time they'll be remaining in the classrooms!
Earlier this week I shared my excellent progress with my February goals. I completed them all, and I found it really motivating to have a few things to work on during the month. So I've decided to do the same this month and make a list of goals for March.
It's not such an easy month as February, when I knew that we'd just be staying at home for the whole month. On Monday the children will be back at school, which will be a big shakeup to our family routine, but then the children break up for their three weeks of Easter holiday on the 26th March.
So here's what I want to accomplish:
* Get back into the school routine. I'm hoping that this will make a big difference to the mental health of the children, and that any new changes, like masks and regular testing, don't cause us too much stress.
* Continue my exercise. In particular I want to get back to regular running, hopefully combining the school drop off with a run along the seafront. I have made a new running playlist on Spotify in preparation. I also have a couple of fitness challenges that I'm working on. One of them is this Shredded Abs challenge. I'm on Day 4 and I like to think that I can see a difference, the exercises are certainly getting easier, so I'll let you know how shredded my abs actually become!
* Get the garden furniture out from the garage and clean it off ready for the summer.
* Sort out the garden - tidy up my strawberry plants which seem to have survived the winter, weed the vegetable patch and flower beds. Also make a start on my planting.
* Continue with the healthy eating and lose the last little bit of weight. I also want to investigate some healthy baking recipes, as I love baking but it's so many calories. I quite fancy trying some new things like beetroot brownies or these healthier Easter chocolate nests.
* Find some podcasts to listen to on the school run. I've never been into podcasts but I'd like to find some short ones to make my school run drive more interesting and bearable.
* Finish building my pallet planter and paint it. Hopefully the weather will start to warm up a bit so I can get outside and do some work on it.
* Try and manage some socialising. Currently one person can meet one other from a different household outdoors, at the moment for exercise and from next week to socialise. Then from the 29th March the rule of six, or two households, will be back in place. So it would be really good for me to schedule in some walks with my friends, and then maybe meet up with another family or two over the holidays for some outdoor play, assuming that the restrictions allow.
* Clean out the kitchen cupboards. This job is long overdue. I'm not too bad at sorting them out and using up out of date food, but I'm not very good at taking everything out and giving it all a good clean inside!
* Plan for the Easter holidays. Get some activities lined up, and try and plan for a routine which will keep everyone happy. Hopefully we will be treated to some nice weather like last year so that we can get out and about in the sunshine!
* Publish at least one blog post a week. This one is at the bottom as it's something that I'm struggling with at the moment! But hopefully there will be some new things going on this month and I'll actually have something to write about!
Focus on the children and their mental health - I've been doing the best that I can. Spending lots of time with them especially at bedtime, reading to them and talking to them about the things that are on their mind.
Last week we were able to arrange an appointment for Mia with the well being adviser at school, a lady that she usually sees weekly but hasn't seen since December. I'm not entirely sure what it involves as she's rather secretive about it, but she came out with a big grin on her face and said that it had been helpful for her, so I'm very grateful that our school is able to provide this service.
The news about school starting next week has definitely made a positive impact on us all, it's nice to be able to count down now and they are both very much looking forward to going back.
Paint my nails - I have had painted nails every day and loved it! My nails are really long and nicely shaped now. I'll definitely be continuing this one!
Lose the Christmas and January weight - Yes! I've eaten well all month, on a diet that includes enough treats to keep me going, and I'm back to the weight that I was a few months ago. I still want to lose a tiny bit more, but I'm confident that I'll get there soon.
Keep up the exercise - Again yes, and I'm really pleased with how I'm doing. I've not been for a proper run since before Christmas as I find it hard to get out when the children are around. But I've replaced this with a variety of different YouTube and Apple Fitness videos and I'm enjoying doing some more varied workouts. I've definitely noticed a positive change in my body shape.
Buy seeds and compost - I have my seeds and compost ready to go, I'll start my planting this month.
Do something with my pallet - This has been sitting untouched in the garage for far too long. I lack the correct tools and strength to fully dismantle the pallet, but I attacked it with a saw and it's starting to look like I want it to. I've got a vague idea at least of what I want to do with it, I need to add some little shelves and then paint it and I've been collecting tins to decorate for plants. It's a job for when the weather is warmer!
Upload a YouTube video - I present to you a video filmed in conjunction with my son. It's his Mindstorms device for improving the Animal Crossing experience by repeatedly pressing a button that enables you to convert Nook miles into Bells. It has been very useful!
I'm feeling very pleased with myself for my February achievements. It definitely helped me to have my goals written out so that I could keep them in mind as the month went on. I will shortly be publishing my goals for March so that I can keep myself accountable once again!
So for the next few weeks we are back to learning at home. I don't like to call it home schooling because I'm not a teacher, but I do need to be in constant supervision of the children for the duration of the school day. Luckily our school is very supportive and the children are given plenty of work to do, so I don't need to worry about planning or setting the work myself!
It's a bit different to back in the spring though. Now that Harry is in the senior school he has live lessons on Google classroom which follow his usual timetable through the day. So he can sit up in his room in front of the laptop and pretty much get on with it by himself with me checking in occasionally and providing snacks. He's getting on well, he was exhausted after the first day but he's coping better now that he knows what he's doing.
Mia uses Seesaw and it's very similar to last time, so she's familiar with what she needs to do. She has tidied up her bedroom so that she has a clear desk to work at, and although she is given all her work for the day in one go, she's keen to follow a timetable where she can. We try and get most of the difficult work (that would be the maths!) done first thing to get it out of the way. Although I'd like her to be more independent, the reality is that she does still need quite a bit of help. She also misses having Harry around, so she relies on me for company and entertainment.
It's so much easier second time round as the teachers and children are more prepared and everything is already in place. I also find life easier during the school week as the children thrive on the structure - getting up at a certain time, getting dressed and regular breaks. During the holidays they have a tendency to go a bit feral, with late nights and staying in pyjamas all day!
I'm holding on to the belief that the children will be back at school after the February half-term and this time they'll be staying there. Fingers crossed!
When the children were small, and at home with me all day, I really struggled with the witching hour. We would often go out in the morning followed by an early lunch, and by 4pm everyone was bored and tea seemed a long way off. I struggled to cook dinner with children screaming and hanging off my legs, and there were often tears all round. Even once they were at school I still had tired children to deal with, but as they got older they were easier to look after, they could get on with their simple homework or play, and I was able to get on with preparing lunchboxes and dinner.
But the last few weeks have felt like a return to those difficult days. The children are exhausted after school. They are returning to a routine which they had all but forgotten, and are coping with new teachers, a new timetable and in Harry's case a new school. The amount of homework has increased, and time management skills need to be honed. As with everyone, the state of uncertainty is having a massive effect. With Covid cases already in the school, sometimes I feel as though it's only a matter of time before we are all back home again.
By the time we get home from school, both children are often in tears. Mia is in no state to begin her homework, she needs a drink, a snack and some screen time to calm down. Harry is very good about getting straight on with his work, but when he looks at his list, which usually contains several tasks, he becomes overwhelmed and doesn't know where to start. I end up bouncing between the two of them doling out snacks, hugs and advice, and that's before I even think about starting dinner. This stops me from doing everything that I need to do, and so we all get cross with each other.
Luckily once dinner is out the way things are better. The children have a bath and get ready for bed, and then Mia is in a much better mood to get her homework done and Harry can catch up with his screen and reading time. By the time I have read to them and tucked them up in bed we have all calmed down.
It's going to take us a little while to get back into the swing of things so I'm trying to be as patient as I can, and to do the best I can to help with the transition. I'm really glad that the children are able to be back to school, both for their education and to be able to spend time with their friends, but it's going to take us all a few weeks yet to get used to it!
The end of term felt like a bit of anti-climax this year. Normally I'm desperate for the holidays to start, but although Harry was at school part-time for the last few weeks of term it still felt like a bit of a novelty with a traffic-free school run, no uniform to wash and no extra homework.
I do feel for Harry, he has missed out on a huge number of Year 6 milestones - among other things his first residential, a day trip to the Isle of Wight, a talent show and leavers disco. But at least he was able to catch up with friends for a few weeks, poor Mia had a one hour transition session with her class last week but apart from that she has hardly seen anyone else since March.
We were very lucky with the remote learning provision from the school, and the children definitely benefited from the routine that gave us. They were up and dressed by 8.30am each day to respond to a morning message, and then had regular morning Teams calls with their classes. I'm very keen to keep a little bit of that routine going over the summer.
I'm intending to get them to spend a few minutes each day using the Times Tables Rockstars app. I also discovered the Quizlet app while doing their French remote learning and it's brilliant. I'm getting them to spend some time daily going through some of the vocab that they were introduced to this term. The other thing I'm keen on is reading, but luckily I don't need to force them to do that!
I'm also trying for some daily exercise, even if it's just a scoot around the block, and some form of shared creative time. This week it's been all about the play dough! I nearly decluttered it all a few months back thinking that they were too old for it, but it has kept them (and me!) happily occupied for ages, and I'm even wondering if I need to buy some more!
We are still trying to stay at home as much as possible, and there are many weeks stretching ahead of us without the usual places to visit or playdates with friends. Luckily we've managed to book a week away - even if we can't get out and about on holiday as much as normal at least we'll have a change of scenery. And we will have a few meet ups with friends and family in gardens and down the beach.
Fingers crossed we will be back to some sort of normality with back to school in September, I think that we will all be ready for it!
