Lessons from my first week as a school mum

So we've just finished our first week at the school gates - and I'm already counting down till half term.

What have I learned so far?

Putting your child's name on his school sweatshirt doesn't stop it going home on the back of another kid.

Despite the letter sent home, the advice given on visits to school and the school prospectus - they change the rules!

If you have a child that REMEMBERS EVERYTHING it may take several days to get him to accept that they have changed the rules.

Jacket potato with baked beans and cheese will always be chosen over the other choices available (though he did have a break and had fish and potato wedges yesterday).

A book bag doesn't necessarily contain books.

You can watch TV on the whiteboard (it was about shapes)

Bullying is evident in 4 year olds (there were complaints of children being called 'fat' and 'smelly' this week).

Sponsorship forms are always available (he had his first on day 3!)

Deciding to fetch son on foot may backfire when he refuses to do the 30 minute walk and you end up carrying/dragging him and finally accepting a lift from a friend.

Life Stages - Starting School

Yesterday was my son's first morning at school. This is a life changing moment - not only for my son but for me as well.

I spent the day before wielding a laundry marker and marking our surname on everything in sight. Then went back and put my son's first name on everything as I'm not too sure he'd recognise just his surname at the moment.

He woke at 2am so spent the rest of the night in our bed - special dispensation as we were all a bit worried. We'd agreed to get up earlier than we had for nursery - the idea being that when the weather gets a bit warmer we will attempt the 30 minute walk so we need to get used to allowing time for that. Plus, of course, we had to have phone calls from grannies and a mini photo shoot.

well mummy and daddy failed at the first hurdle. There we were, huddled in the cold, waiting outside of the classroom door for the teachers to let us in. In the end one brave parent banged on the window only to be told that we should have take the children to reception on this, first, day. Crowded in the reception area we were subjected to a short speech by the headmaster who thanked us for taking notice of the note that had asked us to enter the school via reception on the first day - erm, hmmm. (I've checked we never got that note, neither did we get notification that school dinners have gone up in price or that the uniform list had changed). There was a funny moment when the head ushered us through to the back of the school where the reception classes are and all the parents instinctively lined up outside the doors (along the left side of the corridor, bags on floor) - we've all been institutionalised!

The teachers were very tolerant of the long cuddles and tears but in the end told the parents that they really had to stop crying and leave their children to it. Our son had a bit of a wobble but that was more to do with the fact that daddy was off work (so it must be a special occasion) than being upset - he was far too delighted with the fact that his best friends from nursery were there.

Three hours later it was time to collect him again - we were the last to leave. He didn't want to go home, he wanted to play on the slide. we dragged him away kicking and screaming so that the gate could be locked.

When I asked him about his day he eventually divulged that the best bit was that the computer had different programmes to the one from nursery. This morning when we dropped him off he quickly shed his coat and then made a dash for the computer corner. My OH and I watched in wonder as he booted up both machines and then helped his best friend by opening up the paint package for him! he then gave a distracted wave - 'bye, mummy'.

School dinners

(photo from http://www.number10.gov.uk/Page8237)

Well actually I had dinner at my son's nursery on Monday. I must admit I wasn't looking forward to it - the state of his clothes on the days that he stays for lunch speak to me of food fights.

The menu was Vegatable Lasange and Garlic bread followed by Peach Crumble.

I was a bit anxious about the lasagna - I'm not vegetarian, I do cook some vegetarian dishes but lasagna isn't one of them. I was pleasantly surprised - it was yummy (my son's phrase). He cleared his plate and ate 3 pieces of garlic bread, though none of the side accompaniment of broccoli (you'd have been proud of me as I forced 3 stalks down as a good example). My son likes his food but I've never seen him clear his plate like that.

When the crumble arrived it was a disappointment - the peaches had been strained of any juice there had been in the tin and the crumble was made without any hint of sugar (ditto the custard). I'd expected the type of pudding I got at school. My son, bless him, finished his and asked for more. I said that he could share mine and he promptly pushed his plate aside and grabbed mine leaving me holding my spoon mid-air.

What did impress me was the cook. My son's best friend ate hardly anything and his mother was bemoaning the fact that he didn't eat at home either. 'In fact he won't eat his breakfast, he had half a packet of Quavers for his breakfast today ...' - If you don't know already Quavers are a cheesy crisp - despite the claims of reduced fat and salt content I'm sure they are not designed as breakfast food. Whilst the other mums and I recovered from our shock and tried not to scream out 'what possessed you to give him ...' the cook sat down and shared some constructive tips on helping getting children to eat proper meals. It was really practical advice and I was reassured that she knew her stuff.

We've already seen the menu at the school my son will be attending from January - on Tuesday it's venison burgers and Wednesday it's chocolate pudding with chocolate custard (minus the chocolate I expect).