Family view - Autumn update
Kindly contributed by Fiona B, mother
So we have now hit nursery school. For us I am pleased to say this has been a wholly positive experience.
My daughter LOVES everything about it – the uniform (yes – even at three! Glad we have been able to get most of it second hand!), the teachers, her friends, having a packed lunch! I LOVE it too as I get a little bit of time to myself as there are two mornings each week when I am not working but she is at school! I don’t even have to feel guilty as she is doing exciting, fun things and learning stuff. My friends with second babies are all secretly envious.
When my daughter is at school I am not at home looking after baby 2 (you may remember I am not Miss Maternal 2008) – instead I can go to the gym (without booking the crèche), lie at home watching daytime telly, go shopping... even doing nothing is a pleasure! Call me shallow if you like but I think I enjoy the time I am with my daughter more because of the respite.
Over the last couple of terms we have experienced several ‘rites of passage’. The first was sports day. This involved lots of fun races like the queen race and caterpillar race. All the older pupils came out to watch the nursery children have their sports day and they really cheered them on, supplying practical assistance where needed. Seeing all these tiny children in oversized t-shirts (bought to last a couple of terms and therefore longer than their shorts) pelting up and down a pint-sized running track was really funny. There were some tears - unfortunately not everyone can be the winner - but I think the sooner you learn to win and lose gracefully the better!
This term has begun with the harvest festival assembly. This involved a class production of ‘The Little Red Hen’ – what a classic. My daughter was playing the role of ‘some wheat’ – a role she embraced with enthusiasm. She also had to learn and recite a four-line poem. I was so nervous! I am not sure anyone in the audience except me (who knew what she was saying) could actually hear what was going on but I was soooooo proud. She remembered it really well. I thought it might be quite a daunting prospect for a three-year-old to stand up in front of a roomful of proud mums and dads all fighting for the best video angle. She and her friends coped remarkably well. Perhaps just the innocence of youth but they did not even seem worried!