Anyone else feel a bit sad about this?

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Just thinking how weird it is that a child goes to school at four and it’s not until they’re an adult that you can freely spend a day with them again outside of pre-allotted times. It feels a bit sad to me.

Blimey. Nowt so queer as folk!

Many unallocated days they have off due to being ill (thank you norovirus) or medical appointments and dentist and teacher strike days & inset days & snow days and so on.

Anyway, our society functions on lots of structured time. Loads gets done this way.

I was so sad when the schools reopened after lockdown.

Once again delighted I live in Ireland and if needed or warranted I can take my kids out of school any day to spend the day with them for whatever reason and not pay fines. I really really do not understand the English system with this.

I think I get it OP. I remember being 11 and during the 6wk summer holiday I felt such an immense feeling of total freedom. I'd left primary school and not yet started secondary school. I didn't belong anywhere, I wasn't attached to anything, there were no expectations on me. It passed the same way any other 6wk summer holiday passed, but how I felt about that one was so very different.

I agree ,
they are so young especially the summer born ones and if you choose not to home educate then i feel they don't quite wholly belong to you once they start school as the state dictates when you can 'have them to yourself' .
Sounds a bit dramatic i know but it is true i feel.
I look back fondly on the days before full time school when they were all mine and time was our own.

and presumably illness is the biggest driver for absence there too, even though people are not restricted.

Inset days!

It can be but mine has asked for and I have allowed them mental health days off. where they were too tired or where they have had stress at home maybe or anything like that and I felt they needed a day off or a day holiday away or something. You just go to the school app and click reason for absence and you can click holiday, illness, personal or whatever. They have a box for an explanation but none is necessary. I think you get a letter home if your child has missed over 15 school days and if it got to 20 without authorisation they would need to contact child services but for the most we are trusted to deal with our own kids time out of school.

I like that idea