It was Boy Lacer’s last day at nursery today, *sob*. It really was / is a very special place, it’s the sort of place upon walking in that would make even the hardest nut wish, even just for a moment that they were 4 again, so that they could go and play. Boy Lacer has learnt an amazing amount in the last year, we now don’t have hand washing issues, he can climb, make friends, knows a lot of songs and they’ve taught him some social phrases which have worked so well, that you can tell it’s a phrase they’ve taught him as it’s a lot clearer that everything else he says and he says it a lot (like when they taught him to say his name, which he could anyway, but suddenly he was saying it very clearly, very loudly and to everyone he came across and if the person still didn’t understand, he’d get cross and spell it for them). We didn’t quite get all the goals, he still can’t jump and he is still not toilet trained but I really think those are developmental / medical issues and even with the best teachers in the world (which they are), he wasn’t ready yet.
They had a lovely party; Boy Lacer filled me in with a great long list of foods he’d eaten when I picked him up, including cheese and he hates cheese, so nursery may have worked one last bit of magic there. And they liked the cushion I made and I got a card and a thank you gift for being a rep and the card said how efficient I was, now I am definitely not efficient, well I don’t feel it anyway (and Mr. Lacer would laugh).
Boy Lacer is now very excited about starting reception, which is a miracle in itself, as about Easter time he was very nervous about it, but they’ve handled the introduction to the idea so well. I feel so lucky that we’re in an area with nurseries attached to schools, as I know not every area has that and that we lived close enough to get in and I wasn’t working so childcare juggling wasn’t an issue. Attending a nursery at the school first has really smoothed the transition over and I know from Girl Lacer that it won’t get really properly ‘school’ like (i.e. sitting at desks all day, no playing, well not much anyway) until year 2, so it feels like on long gradual introduction into learning and of course they learn so much through play anyway. So really, although Boy Lacer is now out of nursery and the sand pits get smaller (not that he ever ventured anywhere near the gloriously large sandpit nursery had, which was a shame) and they don’t have quite the space nursery has, it won’t change that much for him. I on the other hand will miss the lovely staff and getting to play with my ‘baby’ in the mornings.
We had the last, or what felt like it anyway (when actually it isn’t as I will have Boy Lacer home for an extra 2 weeks after Girl Lacer goes back to school) Boy Lacer and mummy shopping trip into town this morning. Obviously him starting school does not mean that I am never ever going to take him shopping with me, but the town centre out of school hours is such a crowded place and the relative quiet of wondering around in business /school hours, with far less stress about loosing him, is always nice, very chilled and relaxed, well most of the time, as he would charm his way round John Lewis. I will miss that, he was a very companionable shopping companion and he has actually said “Mummy, you not go shopping, you wait until I come out of school,” so I think he’ll miss it to (and actually, considering that I know, as far as planning on getting work done, 9.10am – 3.10pm is actually a surprisingly short amount of time, I’m going to try not to go into town in my ‘work’ hours anyway). Today we went to Waterstones, where Boy Lacer the businessman honestly commented on their new refurbishment “They made it look nice because they weren’t selling any books”, which is actually presumably true, as I heard Waterstones isn’t doing well, but I’m impressed that he twigged one of the reasons why a shop would have a makeover was to attract more customers. And we went to John Lewis for him to pick some ribbon to wrap the present with and buy cakes for the party.
So, the summer holidays, well almost, Girl Lacer breaks up at 2pm tomorrow (working parents must soooo love that). Six / eight (depending on the child) weeks of entertainment and mediation (the mediation bit, oooh, I feel like Jeremy Paxman with a particularly demanding bunch of politicians, now that Boy Lacer’s speech has improved, they will often try and talk over each other, so it’s lots of gesturing, pointing and fingers to the lips from me , as I’m constantly moderating who gets to talk when). We’re not planning on doing much, Mr. Lacer has two weeks off from next week but that just happens to be when a lot of medical appointments for Boy Lacer all came in at once, so we’ve just about managed to squeeze in a trip to North Wales to see my dad and that’s about it. Other than that I plan on taking advantage of all the free activities the town centre offers and try not to do anything too grand (as grand = money), so hoping for some nice but not too hot weather so we can get to the park.
Work wise I have quite a lot of embroidery to do, but that can be done at night or when the kids aren’t being too demanding, unlike writing of course, which will, I predict pretty much grind to a halt over the holidays (I can embroider at night but not write, not for the want of trying). Unfortunately I didn’t complete my goal of finishing editing my manuscript (which I’ve been editing since January, gulp), although I am sooo close (I basically have the line edit left to do). I may get an hour or two here and there to work on it over the holiday but I know it won’t get finished. I think I would have finished it if certain craft projects hadn’t taken precedence due to time issues, so there were some weeks when the manuscript wasn’t touched, so one of the aims of the holiday is to concentrate on the craft side which I can do with kids around, so that when Boy Lacer starts school I can then devote a concentrated burst to finishing the manuscript.
Boy Lacer’s left nursery, *gulp* (god knows what I’ll be like when he leaves home then!). (Both kids have bought photos from earlier in the academic year, home and they have both grown so much, time flies far too quickly).
