For the last eight years or so I have had at least one child at home for the majority of the day. That all changed on Wednesday when Pixie skipped thorough the school gates for her first full day in school. Of course we have had nursery, playgroups and so on but most of the time I have been ferrying the children to and from school, taking them to parties and trying to cope with their never ending demands.
Of course I have plenty of things to do, the huge pile of washing left over from our holiday has become a mountain of ironing, I finally have time to do some uninterrupted writing, study, get to grips with the piano and catch up with my reading but the house still seems too quiet.
It finally hit me today that I am on my own, the previous two days I have walked Pixie round to her new class room and handed her over to the teacher, so it didn’t seem that different to the usual handover but today she told me proudly that she had to walk around to the classroom by herself. She had a big smile on her face, gave me a big hug and hurried off, her hat falling over her eyes but eager to get on with her day. It amazes me how quickly the time has gone and how much they’ve grown up.
Of course I should be happy to get some time to myself, and I am to some extent but as the same time (whisper) I miss them, it’s kind of nice to have them around and be able to have fun, whereas now once we have managed to get of the door vaguely on time, and then come home again it is time for homework, music practice and dinner. Still it’ll soon be half term and I’m sure by Tuesday I’ll be complaining that they’re driving me mad again! in the meantime I’ll content myself with helping out with dance, library and swimming and try not to worry about them!
