So it doesn’t seem like long until the summer holidays will be upon us. Half term has just arrived and once they return it will be a whirl of sports days, parents evenings and other school events. Then come the long summer holidays, although these are fairly well taken care of in terms of the dreaded ‘I’m bored!’ or reliance on devices for entertainment. The kids want to go to stage crazy summer school and they also want to attend an activity week based at their school. This involves various sporting events, fun games and swimming and hopefully good weather although there are also art and crafts activities to keep the children occupied. With those booked and our family summer holiday that only leaves a couple of idle weeks. We need some time to recharge and rest as well as a few trips to the park and so on.
It is hard to believe that this time next week I will have two children in double figures, the eldest of whom is rapidly approaching her teenage years! The time seems to have whizzed by and it is hard to credit that this time last year we were worrying about her transition to senior school and all that it entailed. Of course it hasn’t all been plain sailing, but, on the whole I think she has had a good year. We’ll get her report in the next couple of weeks so maybe further comment after that, but after the initial half term of confusion, forgotten items and of course her broken finger things have been much more settled. Indeed Hpops seems to have developed more confidence, tried out new things like orienteering and generally begun to blossom.
The adventure starts again in September as Imp makes his move into Year 6. We take him to tour the senior school in a couple of weeks, although he has been there before this will be his first visit as a potential student! Exams to come and forms to fill in will follow shortly. This time it all seems a little less daunting, we have an idea of what to expect as Hpops has already lit the way and I am sure by the time Pixie gets there we will feel like we are old hands. That is not to say we take it lightly. One thing we try to keep in mind is that all our children are individuals and we have to make the right decision for that child rather than just follow on from what we have done before.
I have really enjoyed being back in the classroom this year, and have pushed my own knowledge having taught the younger children. From September I don’t have any regular work lined up, I do have the kids book pretty much ready to publish but even that can take time. One problem with the amount of teaching I have been doing is that the time I have for writing has been greatly reduced. This is because I have also been studying, I have completed a course about Autism and have been working through an OU psychology course as well. Squeezing in some of the free learn courses is also proving difficult but luckily a lot of these are repeated and can be picked up then. The girls have found a new riding school and Pixie looks set to come off of the lead rein while Hpops has an assessment lesson to see which class she should go into to ensure progression. We still plan to visit some of the horses from their previous riding school which are now based at a local horse sanctuary.
Tentatively I have begun running again, so far so good, well if you count aching for two days afterwards good! Even the kids have been getting in on the act, something we never thought we would be able to say about Imp.Just last week he went on a 3 day residential with school and was able to tackle an assault course and took a full part in lots of other activities. Whilst the Perthes hasn’t fully resolved yet and we know there are still some potential for trouble in the years ahead, at the moment Imp is making good use of his growing fitness and strength. We have his next appointment in the next couple of weeks but we are hopeful that good news will follow, although the usual apprehension will begin to build as the appointment approaches!
It is funny as although the children don’t need us in the same ways as they did in the beginning things sometimes still seem hard at times. We are currently negotiating the hormone highways and with increasing years comest the desire for more freedom and responsibility. We have tried to be enabling in the sense of letting them have some freedoms but tempering it with safety conditions and so on. All the same we are still told we are being mean or unfair or even on occasion ruining their lives because everyone else is doing it. The biggest problem at the moment seems to be social media, the kids want to be on it but we have said no! We have pointed out to them that age limits are there for a reason but they do seem to think we are making it up just to annoy them!
Still the year ahead promises much! New adventures and experiences and also, hopefully a new book and maybe if I can find one a new job (hopefully one that involved teaching and writing fiction combined!)
