One term down, three more to go.

  Last night, we found the Peg in an upright position with his head on his bed fast asleep!  All of the children in his class are exhausted and so are the mums!

It is not only the children who have been navigating new territory and new relationships, in fact most of them haven’t had to parallel park in front of the whole school so really the kids have had it relatively easy!

There are school lunches to make, homework to oversee, bags to remember, notices to answer and spare change to be found for various school activities. Gone are lazy mornings with long showers and the chance to eat breakfast. School is a whole new ball game and another steep learning curve in both the parent and child’s life.

Prep mums are easy to spot on any given school day. Just dropping the kids off isn’t an option for us so every morning and afternoon we gather at the playground. Parking spots are discussed, stories are verified and general chitchat ensues. It is a lovely little community of parents who are all experiencing the same new issues and concerns. Then the music starts- there is a mad panic as children jump off climbing frames and run towards their classrooms. Parents scoop up their smaller charges scared that they’ll be trampled to death in the stampede!

We follow behind weighed down with ten-kilo rucksacks and extra children. The Peg will be waiting for me, unaware that really he should be carrying his own bag.  Rucksacks need to be unpacked and stored away prior to the start of class and ideally by the child themselves. Again Prep mums to the rescue to make this a speedy process although we are getting better at encouraging some independence.

They’re only five we tell ourselves on the way out as we exchange osteopath numbers and make pacts that we won’t enter the classroom next term.

Then we have our two- mile hike back to the car and more chatter with our new acquaintances. Unless one of us has inadvertently offered their services to the Parent, Friends Association!

Another thing us Prep mums are good at is volunteering. Not content with having other children to contend with or jobs, surely we have enough time to organise activities within school- time. It’s good for your child to know that you are interested in their education and there will come a day when they don’t want to see you at school!

 So box well and truly ticked-I’m on the committee.  The funny thing is I didn’t really know I was on the ‘committee’ until I received the newsletter. I just responded to an email saying that I was happy to help out occasionally, my rationale being that I would probably be at some of the events.

Meetings are tricky though, at the last one we could smell burning and it turned out Bruiser had put the oven on in the staff room!  I have good intentions; I just hope I can help out without my toddler inflicting any permanent damage to the school!

I’m also doing an exercise-based program once a term with the preps. Exercise you shudder- oh how you’ve changed but not really as after my first session my backside was killing me. Who knew you could pull a muscle in your bum!

Again this was kind of a mistake in replying to a class notice that I should have just ignored. A happy mistake though as I get to see the Peg in school mode and help with a program that just wouldn’t be possible without parental help.

Then there was a week of swimming this term where parents could go and help their children get dressed. I wasn’t going to put my hand up for this job until I heard about my child streaking around the pool! He needed the toilet but he’d already removed his trunks so he just did a nudey run to the loo.  His inability to use a towel and attempts at putting his clothes directly on to wet skin were also a strong motivator.  That’s the other thing about Prep mums- we talk to each other and look out for each other’s children.

Term one finishes tomorrow and every prep mum I speak to is overjoyed at the prospect. Maybe our eagerness to embrace school holidays will change over time but we’re all new to this school life and we all need a little break.  We’re having a little picnic over the holidays so we can all re-connect, the kids might enjoy it too!

The Right Decision.

Jake (the Peg) has started school. There was no crying from myself or him (I can’t vouch for his teacher), no party of Corey Worthington proportions and no excessive leg clinging.  The principal remarked how confident he seemed after he robustly wished us goodbye three times in a ‘why haven’t you left yet?” manner. Okay we might have taken a little longer getting out the door but there were bags and lunch boxes to be put away. The bruiser (Alfie) cried but that was because it all looked like so much fun and he realised that now it would only be the two of us all day long. Where’s the fun in that? I can’t wee on the garden or make him laugh quite as much as his brother does but I don’t constantly get in his face every two minutes so there are some positives.

We missed the Peg’s helpful ways and felt guilty eating ice cream without him but those first couple of weeks of ‘half’ days at school went ridiculously fast.  The bruiser didn’t get to have his nap most days and when he did he’d be rudely awaken by his frantic mother who didn’t want to show up at school late.

Initially there wasn’t much chat about school on the way home and when asked what he enjoyed the most the answer was always lunch! They do say not to push for too much information and that eventually they will tell you about their day. Sure enough we are now treated to songs in French, tales of who pushed who in the playground and various games that we’re expected to know the rules to which of course we don’t! Books are excitedly taken out of the school bag before we are barely through the door and often read in the entrance hallway.

Then last week the Peg was given an achievement award at his school assembly for making a terrific start to the school year. I thought he would be one of many but there were only five awards that day. Proud? Just a little bit.

All of this from the boy we nearly didn’t send to school this year because his kinder repeatedly advised us that he wasn’t ready. The Kinder were concerned about his poor concentration and his inability to sit still. He was unable to hold a pencil correctly and should have been able to draw beyond a scribble.

He was assessed by an early childhood worker who seemed to think he would benefit from being sent to a ‘special’ school in Frankston! She found it hard to believe that I hadn’t noticed he was different from other boys his age. All of his friends were demonstrating the same behaviour- concentrating and sitting still doesn’t come naturally to active four year olds.

The report from kinder practically suggested that the Peg had extreme developmental issues.  As a parent I knew that a gross exaggeration of his abilities had been made and that if anything he was just a little bit immature for his age. At this point his kinder seemed to think he would repeat kinder the following year and I feel they turned their attention to the children who in their opinion were ready for school. 

For half of last year we consulted occupational therapists, neurological chiropractors and took part in a school readiness program. The latter was excellent and showed me that he was indeed ready to attend school. He loved his school orientations and started to complain about going to kinder. It turns out he was bored and not developmentally challenged. When I advised the kinder of my final decision to send the Peg to school they still thought I was making the wrong decision. His teacher assured me that she had tried to be positive in her transition statement but I could tell she thought I had made the wrong decision.

I am lucky to live in a country that allows parents to hold their children back a year from school if they feel they are not ready. The Peg didn’t attend a sessional kinder where I could have helped out and seen how he coped with instructions and authority.  I was reliant on the information from those childhood professionals but thankfully I trusted my instincts when it came to making such a huge decision.

That award was an affirmation that those instincts were right. Think I might just have to send that kinder an email just in case they’re still concerned!

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