The time is nearly upon us, the time when we have a teenager in the house -yes indeed in a few weeks Hpops will hit 13 and, if you believe some of the things you hear she will instantly transform into a moody, room dwelling person incapable of communicating other than by a series of grunts.
What is true is that change happens and scientifically speaking teenagers body clocks don’t really match with the day to day routine of modern life, which is why they appear to sleep far into the morning whilst being able to stay up late into the night! Being tired and grumpy is not unique to teens! Not only that but come September I will only have one child in primary school as Imp moves onto senior school.
With all that is on offer as he grows up my main hope for him is that he takes advantage of all there is on offer. He seems to be developing a flair for and enjoyment from music and drama and as there are quite a few different orchestras and drama groups I hope he will toss some time to join them, as well as his wish to go karting more often and even play more tennis. The other concern is to ensure he keeps up with the work set for him. Homework will be more onerous, as we discovered when Hpops made the move to senior school and so given his different disposition I am sure we will have many battles to come over the homework being completed and the time spent on devices and so on.
It doesn’t seem possible that Pixie is entering her penultimate year of juniors.She has finally been invited to join the school choir and orchestra, so is thrilled at the new activities that await her, she has already been trying to master the art of tying her tie. Looking back at my own photos and those appearing all over social media of friends as the children finish for the summer I marvel at how much they have changed, how grown up they now seem and how we have all moved on. Life is certainly different, I take the kids to school, sometimes they walk home by themselves, other times I collect them depending on what activities they are partaking in.
This change was brought firmly into focus when we discussed their summer holiday activities, they had already asked to be booked into a theatre stage school which takes place at the beginning of the holidays and another one at the end – this time with friends we met on holiday last year and will be visiting from America. We have the 13th birthday to celebrate and somehow next week will mark the 15th year of marriage! There is also the survival camp at school with all manner of activities that they wanted to go to. Other than a couple of trips to the park, cinema and the science museum they seem content to be at home and have quiet time! Indeed when I remarked, that even a couple of summers ago entertaining them seemed to be a full time job they replied they preferred to have some time to themselves, to not be on the go all the time!
We have been to the library and signed up for the summer scheme, we have made sure there is some music practice and homework timetabled in but really come Monday their schedule takes over and I become more of a facilitator than the one that is actively entertaining them. As their independence grows this seems to be the way it should be- them taking the lead in choosing their own activities, finding the things that make them happy and mastering the skills that will take them further on in life. I guess now I get to enjoy the ride as they grow, ensure they know they can always rely on me and make sure that where needed we give them we try to give them some guidance to get them to where they want to be!
