School holidays!

So I've been meaning to write about El's first day of school, but considering it's now April, the term is over, and today was officially her first day of her school holiday, I think I've totally missed the boat on that one.

But here are the photos of the her first day. She was so excited!

At home after getting ready and modelling her uniform...

Checking out her new classroom. Notice Joe in the background with the  baby captual? Jakey was only 2 days old! Only just made it out for the big event. :)

Putting her school things away in her tray

Looking at her name tag. I asked her what she preferred to be called (Elly or Elena) before school started and she  said she didn't mind either and liked them both. So unlike her first day at kindy, I didn't mention to her teacher that she preferred to be called Elly (like she once did). As a result, ALL the kids and her teacher call her Elena, even her kindy friends who used to all call her Elly. It's so wired when hearing all the the kids only call her "Elena," they pronounce it so well too. I've been told by my mum friends from Kindy who help out in the classroom, that when they call her Elly, the kids are quick to correct them "Its' Elena! Not Elly" they say. 

I feel like it's been a huge achievement getting to the end of this term- more so for me. But we did it! We had no absences, we were organised and made it on  time- we were only late once or twice on a Friday when we had to get there earlier for parade. I also remembered to pick her up every afternoon on time- I know this sounds like a given, but it was a challenge some days when I was so tired and trying not to drift into a deep slumber in fear that I would not wake up to pick her up! Most importantly, we did it all with very little tears.

Let me explain, unlike most children who cry when their mum's or dad's leave, Elena BEGS me every morning to let her walk to class on her own  "I'll be right mum, I know what to do, I'm big now! PLEEEEESE!..." she says. So a few weeks into the term, when I felt more confident about it, and parked in the a spot in front of the path that leads straight to her classroom,  I decided to let her. Despite feeling like a was neglecting her and worried that she might forget some of her jobs, I completely made El's day when I told her that she could walk to class all on her own...

There she goes, little miss independent, just under 100 mtrs down the path that leads her straight into her classroom. I wait for a little while after I see her make the turn into her classroom- just incase. All while I wonder where my little baby girl went, and what on earth will the other mums (or teacher) be thinking of me when they see this tiny little preppie walk in all on her own!?   

The tears I mentioned before, come when I don't let her do it. Pretty soon she'll be asking me if she can just take a taxi to school. She's already asked me if she can catch the bus, and one morning when I suggested WE walk to school, she assumed I was referring to just her walking herself. I gathered this when I saw her surprised expression when I  suggested such a thing, followed by her little mind ticking and thinking as to which way she would go and concluding with "There's two roads I will have to cross, but I will look to make sure there are no cars before crossing..." in which I abruptly interrupted her and corrected the misunderstanding, much to her disappointment. 

Despite what I'm sure she is feeling- that her mother is suppressing her independence, Elly is loving school. She is so happy to go everyday and is loving all the things she is learning. Her lovely teacher Miss Francis decided to leave at the end of this term for personal reasons, and El was sad about that, but she has been replaced by Mrs Davis who El things is really nice, so she is excited to start the new term with her new teacher.

But I on the other hand, am excited for the next 2 weeks of no school! No busy mornings, staying in pj's for as long as we want, no school pick up or drop offs- sounds great to me! I did ask El this morning how she was enjoying being at home again for holidays, to which she replied "it's boring, I like school!" hmmm.. going to have to think of some fun school holiday activities if we are going to survive the next 2 weeks! But I LOVED having her home today. I was a little worried if it was going to be full on with the 3 at home all day, but It was so nice for Noah to have someone else to play with and for me to have a little assistant. She was so helpful with baby today, and even with Noah when I couldn't  help or get something for him because I was feeding Jacob, El would step in and help. This morning she insisted she would make breakfast, a vegimite sandwich for Noah and buttered bread for herself while I fed baby in bed.

 I could get used to this! So far (though it's only early days and it might be a different story at the 2 week mark) the verdict is... I LOVE SCHOOL HOLIDAYS!