Starting Spanish School - the first week

This time last week the nerves were really starting to set in. None of the children wanted to go to school. The 9 year old was afraid she wouldn't be able to do the work because she wouldn't understand, the 7 year old was nervous he wouldn't have anyone to play with, and the 4 year old didn't know what was about to hit him as he'd never even been to big school at all.

First day - feeling brave

Monday morning 9am saw us all standing in the playground trying to look brave. Kaya was lucky enough to have met some of her classmates already and was now firm friends with one of them. She joined her line and before we could even say 'buena suerte' she was gone. Soon after we walked Marley to his class, met his lovely teacher and with a big deep breath he said his goodbyes and went in to meet his classmates.

So that left Baxter. At 4 we had thought he would make the easiest adjustment. However, new school, new teacher, new classmates, new language was a lot to ask of him. He was incredibly brave going in but we arranged to pick him up early anyway.

As the week progressed poor Baxter got more and more distressed. There is one little English girl in the class who is looking after him but seeing him walking around the playground on his own kicking stones about has been tough to watch.

The other two are really flying though. They've both got their little group of friends already and seem un-phased by most of the challenges. Of course there are hiccups that we didn't predict - being called up to the blackboard to do multiplication when you haven't yet covered that in your old school can't be much fun, and who could of predicted that my daughters name in Valenciano means 'shut up'? Still working out how to deal with that one...

For the month of September the school runs from 9am - 1pm but after that it is broken up into two parts: 9am - 12pm and then 3pm - 4.30pm. The children can stay in the school during the break and do extracurricular activities or they can come home. This will be a whole new ballgame for us all but it's nice to be eased in gently with the half days for the first month.

So one week down and I am incredibly proud of my little estudiantes. I can finally start to breath again.

It's the weekend!

Next challenge - moving house!

Blog Gems - School Daze

As mentioned in a previous post, since I've now reached the ripe old age of 1 I am going back to my archives with Blog Gems.


I wrote this post about this time last year when it was back to school time. Unfortunately I can't say that this year has gone much better....


My 6 year old daughter started in a new school this year. We've just moved back to my home town and thankfully she was accepted into our first choice school, which has been wonderful in welcoming us into the community. 'You're not going to regret this' I thought to myself when we first got the approval letter, 'we are going to be a model family. We will go to every AGM, join the parents committee, get involved with fundraising. Our daughter will be perfectly groomed and well behaved every day - this is going to be the best decision you ever made!'.

And now back to reality.

Kaya needs to take her inhaler to school and someone small has taken it from the kitchen shelf. Along with the spare one. After a half hour of searching I find half of it and stuff it in her bag. We're now late.

I get all 3 kids strapped into the car, drive to the school, park as close as I can, get all 3 out, baby in buggy, run the rest of the way and finally get to her classroom, where I see 23 of her classmates in their tracksuits whilst she is dressed in her uniform (which now I see has a yogurt stain all down the front). Kaya looks at me like I've just put the cat in the microwave.

You see, poor girl has only had 3 PE days so far this year and I have forgotten her tracksuit on, em, 2 of those days. Not good mother statistics. So, once again I have to apologise to the teacher and promise to deliver her gear asap.

Just as I leave the school I remember the inhaler so I go back to explain to the teacher that Kaya might need it today, but you know, well it's kind of broken, but nevermind hey, it still works. Kind of.

As you can imagine I'm feeling pretty flustered by this time, but I race back home, collect her kit and fly back up the school with it. Sorry Reception, sorry Teacher, sorry Class, sorry Kaya, sorry, sorry, sorry.

Is it time for a coffee yet?

So having dropped the 4 year old off to playschool (late) I finally sit down to my well earned cappuchino, and what the hell - lets have a cookie too. Mmm, cookies, I put a cookie in Kaya's lunchbox today, which is SITTING ON THE COUNTER IN THE KITCHEN.......NOOOOOOOO!!!!

Want to feel better about your day? Here - read mine.

I should have known it was going to be a bad day when I came downstairs this morning and found cat poo on the living room carpet.

After three kids my gag reflex is pretty good. But not that good.

Then - during the mad rush to get school lunches made and the already misplaced school uniforms on - the toddler has a meltdown because, wait for it, he's NOT going to playschool today.

'But you get to spend the day with Mummy darling'

'NO! Yucky Mummy'

Okaaay.

Having deposited the older two at school I popped around to another family members house (I'm not allowed to mention the person anymore - she's actually bribed me financially not to. Seriously.). Anyway - that resulted in the boy dropping a book through the banisters onto her favourite pot plant and her shouting brought on the fifteenth waterworks of the day. (You can see why I'm not allowed mention her can't you. Or him. It might be a him...Ahem).

On school pick up I learned that my middle boy who had started school three days ago had been slapped in the face repeatedly by the two kids on either side of him. And one was a girl.

Two hours later I collected my daughter whilst toddler had yet another tantrum and she burst into tears because her BFF couldn't come with us on a playdate.

So that's me walking through the playground with two out of my three kids screaming and the other one suffering from post traumatic stress.

The rest of the afternoon didn't fair much better as toddler had missed his nap and was reveling in his new role of the anti-Christ.

They're all in bed now though. I think I deserve a drink don't you?

PITY THERE'S ONLY FECKIN' COOKING WINE IN THE HOUSE!

I should have known.