New starts

All 3 are in school. All day long, every day!! How did this happen ?? I’m sure Leo was just born 5 minutes ago not almost 5 years ago. To think if we were still in England I would have already let my last baby go. Definite pros and cons to this, but I am so glad I had Leo with me these last 2 years.

I’ve been told about this being another phase, something I will get used to. I’m sad all 3 of my kids are in full time education but the inital excitement of an actual break for a few hours is real! I will get used to our new routine as will they.

So Friday Izzy went happily into 3rd grade. We walked her to the gate of school, unfortunately Poppy lagged behind having a tantrum about the fact she was not going to school. Izzy managed to tune her out and concentrate on greeting our lovely crossing guards and waving at friends from the last 2 years. A quick reminder of her classroom location and off she went. Easy peasy! 2.50pm, came back out of school with hair scraggy and a smile on her face. Mainly talked about recess and the girls in her class this year. She was happy about seeing 1 of her best friends from 2nd grade but sad that her other best friend had been moved to a new school – in Florida you attend the school your community is zoned too. She was not happy about seeing an hour of maths everyday on her schedule!

Onto Monday and Leo’s turn. Sunday night I made sure he got to bed at a reasonable time and was looking forward to a snuggle and a read. When I got upstairs he was fast asleep. No nerves or jitters just happily dreaming away. Me, obviously I was a little disappointed to have missed the night before school chat.

I had to wake Leo in the morning but as usual he happily got up made his bed and dressed himself. We all took Leo into school and to his classroom where he got stuck into the morning activity with his teacher. I defenitly held back a little tear but I was so proud of his confidence.

2.45pm rolled round and we eagerly waited for him at the school gate. Poppy cheering him on as he walked towards us! He had a great day. Made a friend but forgot to ask their name and met a “smart boy”. He toured the school seeing all the places his big sisters have told him about. He was starving by the time we got home, he’s going to have to get used to lunch at 10.10am!!

Leo fell asleep 30 minutes earlier than normal, again before I’d even got upstairs to read with him. He looked happy and peaceful. A succesful day.

Tuesday and Poppy’s turn. We are going into Poppy’s 6th full year of school but even though I have been through many 1st days with her this was the hardest. Rob & I have made the decision to remove her from mainstream education and place her in a special education school. The decision took us a few months and I’m not sure when we will see if it was the right one. It makes me see how our childrens lives really are in our hands. Our decisions determine the path they follow. Lets hope we have made the right one.

Her new school is small like a little family. They have an amazing reputation in North Florida. They teach, love and support the kids until age 22. So for us no fear of middle school & high school or where to go in place of a college after graduation. For Poppy stability and familiarity.

Poppy had a 2 hour stint on Monday am to see her classroom and try the car line at dismissal. She was nervous and I had to walk her to her new classroom. She met a support dog on the way and was told he visits them in the classroom, big smiles from Poppy!

Today was her 1st real full day and her 1st experience of the school van. We were actually early, I was impressed with us for getting out of the house at 7.20am! The children all greeted each other excitedly and scrambled onto the van without a second thought for the parents waving goodbye.

Not my car pool today so we waited at the pick up point for Poppy to arrive with her besties after school. She was again very happy with her day and an email from her teacher confirmed she’d done great along with a day report covered in A’s.

Very, very tired and grumpy by 7pm so an earlier bedtime. Maybe this new routine will keep her in bed all night long. Fingers crossed!! Update – it didn’t 🤨 6x out of bed last night and up for the day at 5.30am!

So now thats it. Time for me to start filling my days with all the menial tasks I’ve put off because I have the kids home. Closet sorting, bathroom painting, blind cleaning…. pretty sure my list will get longer & longer as I try to keep myself busy.

I’m sure I’ll squeeze a few beach and brunch trips into the next month or so too though! Wine with my girls to celebrate tonight first 😁