Last day of school, feeling a bit sad for my dd`s.

[firestorm]

as ive posted before, we are moving area (at some point) & until then from september i am going to drive the children to their new school 40 minutes away from where we currently live.
today is dds last day ever at her current school. she will be leaving all her friends she has had since reception & going somewhere new that she doesnt know anybody her sister will not be starting school with friends she has known since nursery i feel like such a terrible mother for doing this to them. i know that im doing it for all the right reasons & the small school will suit my eldest dd much better than her current school, & they will both ultimately stand much more of a chance of doing something with their lives & following the right path in the new area. i still feel a bit mean though theyll get over it wont they?

I know just what you mean as we are doing the same. I started crying when I dropped DS off for the last time this morning. But in the long term it is all for the best, really.

Course they will Firestorm. A surprising number of children don't stay at one school all the way through. There was 1 who left from her class last year, another 1 is going today .. and it's not because it's a bad school either. We moved DD1 at the end of Infants and I went on a big guilt trip but it was the best thing we ever did for her and now (aged 13) she has thanked me for doing it several times. Expect a few tears from your elder daughter, maybe when you pick her up or may be not, but probably in the first couple of weeks of the new term. They do take a bit of time to adapt but just ride it out. (May be a distraction would be a good idea this afternoon just in case if you haven't done this already). I invited the little girl next door in who went to a different school anyway. In the event, DD1 was fine and it was me that was struggling but that's how it is sometimes ...

My family moved when I was 12 so I went to a completely different school to all my friends and even my brother. It was hard at first but then OK with a bit of time.
Felt a bit like this with DD as she left nursery last year where she had gone since 6 months old - she cried and cried when she left. We have kept in touch with the best of her friends, and today (last day of her reception year) she told me "Mummy I've got loads of friends here" so she has settled in school.
Children are amazingly resilient - and they all want to make friends too. They will be fine.

Hi

I feel for all you today. I dropped DS off today (he is in year 4). Its his last day, all the class have been lovely and the parents and teachers but the head teacher has been horrid to both me and DS. I can take it (well it did make me cry when I got home) but the head was rude to DS when he gave him his present. How ungracious and bad mannered.

Sorry for hijack just wanted to say you are not a bad mother, you have made your choice for reasons that are important to you and your children. We all want to do whats best for our children. Your dd will love the new school and they get the added bonus of special holiday playdates when you have the time to do 40 mins each way.

thanks everyone you are right, it will probably be me in tears as much as dd. ive met some nice people in the playground at her current school, i cant believe how many parents i stop & chat to & ill miss that. still the new school is so small ill probably know everybody within a few weeks.
the other thing we will miss is that the current school is close to my mums house & we see her most days even if only for a few minutes, i think we will all miss that im filling up now just thinking about it.
good idea sylvm, about arranging a distraction. our neighbours kids go to a different school too, i could invite them round.
Starsmummy, how unkind of the headteacher to treat your ds like that still you never have to see him again after today

dd wasnt upset at all to be leaving her school & friends. i thought we might have a few tears but she was fine, & teacher said she`d had a lovely day.
she is really looking forward to starting at her new school in september. i only hope weve had an offer on our house by then.

Glad she had a good day Firestorm

thanks sylvm had a second viewing on the house today & the people said that they would definitely put an offer in if their own place was under offer. at least its a start. hopefully their own place will sell quickly, until then we`ll carry on.

I know what you are feeling with this move Firestorm as I went through it with my children when we suddenly moved in February. The wrench of moving my children from their school and friends was far worse than anything I felt for myself. But it has been OK. Ds2 has had difficulties being accepted in his new class, but that seems to have improved now, and ds1 and dd have positively benefited from the move.

I expect there will be some regrets and sad moments still to come in your situation, (I found packing up our possessions very hard - it felt like my children's childhoods were ending) but you will all come through it, hopefully sooner than you imagine.

thanks lonelymum i just need for it all to be over now, its been in the planning stages for about 2 years now (due to unfinished building work on the house making a move impossible) & i need to close this chapter in the book & move on.