The bell has rung and school has been dismissed for the summer. It was a particularly bittersweet ending for us as our daughters are moving primary school. After lots of discussion, agonising and lost sleep, we came to the conclusion that it would be better to move our girls now. The reason for this is that we now live in a different catchment area for schools and as such they will be going to another secondary school to their friends. Long-term we know this is the right decision but short-term it doesn’t feel that way.
A New Era
We didn’t find out that they had a place at the new school until the Friday before they broke up. This was on Oldest’s birthday and we were in two minds whether we should mention it or not. In the end we felt that being up front and honest was our best policy and so we told her that we would be visiting a new school the following Tuesday to see what we all thought of it. I was surprised and very proud of her reaction when she said that she completely understood. She might be only 9 years-old but she has a very wise head on young shoulders! In fact she is probably wiser than me (that’s not hard though 😉 ).
So the following Tuesday we made the visit, met the lovely head, had a tour of the school and the children then grilled the head on behaviour policies, homework and other important information such as “when is lunchtime?” We didn’t have long to make our decision as the schools finished for summer a couple of days later and as such we had to make a decision that day. I knew that Youngest would be fine but I was worried about Oldest. However, my fears proved ill-founded as she said that she was happy to move. I think that she is probably putting on a very brave face and there have been a few tears since but we have promised her lots of play-dates with her friends and living on a small island means that she will still be able to see them quite easily.
Emotional Rollercoaster
The last week was an emotional one and I am pleased that we can finally put it behind us and look forward to the summer ahead. This will be my first summer working and looking after both children and as such there will be some frantic juggling. I feel extremely lucky that I have managed to secure a regular freelance contract. It means that I can count on a monthly income and that I get to work from home and be here for the children. The only negative is that it is a 0 hours contract - very common for a freelancer - and that means if I don’t work, I don’t get paid. So I’m feeling a little bit anxious about how I will juggle it all for 6 weeks but the reality is that I am sure I will be fine. I just need to find a groove for us all and I’m sure we will settle into it. Luckily, I have support from family as my mum and dad are coming over to help for two weeks, and Mr C also has two weeks off.
Slowing Down
Due to work and childcare it is probably sensible that I slow the blog down for these 6 weeks, or risk driving myself insane trying to keep up with everything. I will aim to still post twice a week but it may slow down to just once a week. I promise normal service will resume after the 6 week holiday, I just need to focus on work and actually getting my talk written for the Jersey Festival of Words (arrrgh). We have also booked a last minute break (more on that in another post) and we are escaping the rock for 5 days. I love Jersey but I am very excited about seeing and exploring somewhere new. A lot of preparation went into this trip: many, many hours of research, a spreadsheet was compiled (yes, we are those people) and reviews scrutinised before we finally took the plunge and booked it.
So that’s us for the summer. I hope that you have a fab and sunny summer. Keep checking back on the blog for new posts, I have the latest book review from the Mumsnet Book Club coming up, I’m also sharing something troubling that happened to me when I went on a run (it has now put me off running), I’m talking about the Jersey Festival of Words, Sober Mummy, Super League Triathlon, Mickey Mouse and much, much more. It’s going to be an ace summer.
