The Wonder Years

Term time beckons and Sara Whatley’s two little ones are getting their rucksacks out the cupboard again, ready for… SCHOOL AND NURSERY

The long summer holidays are over and it’s time to slip gently back into the rhythm and routine of term time. I think most parents at this point in the year are somewhat relieved to pack their kids off into the safe hands of teachers again; jobs can be resumed, and five minutes peace can be enjoyed. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, and all that! Still to this day I find the smell of a new pencil case and rubber thrilling. For me it evokes the rush of early mornings, the satisfaction of a problem well solved, and the secret notes stored from special school

Absence makes the heart grow fonder, and all that!

friends. As we pulled Mia’s uniform to the front of the cupboard again,

I hoped she would form the same positive associations. At the end of last term, a million years ago to these little school returners, Mia’s class met their new teacher for this year. She was a bit worried when I picked her up and as we chatted on the walk home it transpired that firstly, her new teacher had a tricky name and she was worried she would forget it (she has!), and secondly that she didn’t know enough to go into Year 1.

“I don’t know everything they do!” she said to me quietly, a worried frown on her face.

“But darling,” I soothed, “you will learn it all when you’re there. You don’t have to know it all at the beginning.” “Oh,” she smiled. “Ok then!” And everything was all right again. Sunny disposition resumed. Even as adults we feel like that sometimes, worried that we will look stupid because we don’t know everything from the off. But one of the most valuable life lessons I have ever learned is ‘fake it till you make it’. I wonder if they teach that in schools nowadays? Jarvis doesn’t have those sorts of worries yet. He’s back to nursery again and as long as he gets fed and plays with his friends, he will be more than happy. A little nap in the buggy on the way home then off to pick up his sister from school and to the park we go.

I do love the easy nature of the holidays – the release from time pressures and Monday night film nights if we fancy! – but I notice how we all appreciate the return to our routine. As this term slides into autumn and we crunch leaves underfoot on our journey to and from school, I begin to look forward to the coming winter and all the lovely festive fun the children will be enjoying. Kids honestly don’t know how good they’ve got it, do they? l