Support thread for parents burying their heads in sandpits with PFBs off to school

[MrsWembley]

Am I the only one, stood here looking at my DD and thinking,

'nooooooooo, you can't be ready, you can't be about to leave me forever, they can't have you, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO...'

I'm fine with it, really. It's just, well, there's only three and a half weeks to go.

How have others dealt with it? How will you deal with it? How will I react to it? Glad of the peace? Sad at the thought that someone else is now teaching her? Missing her company? Grateful for the time alone with DS?

And how do people deal with school politics? And then there's all those frightful stories I've read on here about dealing with other parents!

If you've been there, please come and help us. If you too are sitting around, pretending it's not about to happen, come here to carry on the pretence.

[herbaceous]

Ooh I yearn for paperwork. It would make me feel secure. So far I've only filled in one form. No letters. No info pack. Nada. I've even written to the head, asking WTF's going on (but politely!).

[iloveaglassofwine]

. DD is off to school on the 4th and so far I have been met with blank looks when wailing mentioning to other mums that i am not ready for this. Nice to know i'm not alone, feel less like a loon .

It's bittersweet really. Sad that our baby days are gone but excited for her at the same time. Will also be nice to have one on one time with DS.

Thanks to the poster up thread who suggested a keyring to help her recognise her book bag. Great idea!

[Panzee]

Hello!

My elder son starts in September. I love his preschool so much I never want him to leave! Haven't bought anything yet, can't bring myself to do it.

[Panzee]

At the taster day one of the mums cheered after she waved her child off. :(

[Adikia]

a lot of the schools round here did afternoon settling in sessions in the summer term, the new kids went in for story time about once a week i think, DDs school just did one full day, most of which sounds like it was spent in the adventure playground if you talk to my DD

My paperwork says that whilst parents are legally entitled to request half days it is strongly discouraged.

herbaceous is it your school that only has a horribly out of date website?

[MrsWembley]

Oh herby, I have a whole nicely packaged pack of paperwork and all for a school that I don't think she's going to be at very long as we've finally got our flat on the market.

I think this is why I haven't done much about uniform. Burying my head in the sandpit.

[MrsWembley]

Panzee !

Did you clock her properly. Watch out for that one, she'll be the one that causes problems at the school gate...

[Bicnod]

I'm here too.

Every time I think too hard about the reality of sending DS1 off to school EVERY day I get this horrible lump in my throat

How can my tiny baby be so grown up?

He's ready and he'll be fine.

I on the other hand...

[MrsWembley]

It's shit isn't it. Utterly shit.

How can we have got to the point where we are (on a daily basis as far as I'm concerned ) screaming at them for not behaving/not listening/not doing as we would wish them to do and yet, now reality is sinking in, would wish them to be completely in our lives forever and never, ever, leave us?

Oh, conflict, conflict, how you are teasing me...

[CinnamonAddict]

Panzee, maybe that was me
No, honestly I wasn't cheering, but I confess I'm looking forward to my youngest starting school.
She is more than ready, having 2 older (secondary school) siblings and turning 5 in November. The amount of mental stimulation she needs is wearing me out.
MrsW no no I'm not a trouble maker. I keep well out of playground politics. Had enough of that with the first 2 dc.

[MrsWembley]

Just noticed the pit fail.

[MrsWembley]

Cinnamon

[GibberTheMonkey]

I'm dreading it but it my case it's my precious fourth born. The baby of the family. My little friend. I'm going to miss him like anything

[iloveaglassofwine]

Oh gibberthemonkey, your post made me well up. That's how I feel, my little DD who has been EVERYWHERE with me for 4.5 years :0(. I think I will be worse still when DS goes.

[Bicnod]

MrsW - yep, he's driving me crazy on a daily basis but I still want him here. With me. Driving me crazy.

I know I'm going to cry after I drop him off. I won't cry in front of him but I'll be in pieces afterwards.

It's going to be really bloody embarrassing

[UnitedZingDom]

labels - use on whatever is absolutely necessary, otherwise get a permanent marker ( Sharpies are nice) and just write name on everything.

I only write our surname, so no probs when handed down to younger ones

[herbaceous]

adikia That's me.

And yes - he's totally ready for school, and will love it, but I've lived the baby years so much, and waited for them for so long, and now they're gone.



Though it could be necessary for his safety - the last few days I've been close to throttling him.

[Adikia]

I think theres something in the water, DD ha been absolutely horrible all week.

[MrsWembley]

Adikia, could your DD's behaviour be due to other family reasons?

[IzziesMummy]

My DS is 4 today, and starts in less than 3 weeks. He goes full days from the start.

My baby isn't a baby anymore! As he keeps telling me, he's a big boy now (he thinks he's grown taller overnight, as he kept saying how big he is now he's 4!). But he looks so small in his uniform, and I've no idea how he's going to be able to manage his shirt and tie after PE.

All uniform bought (shoes finally done yesterday after a nightmare trip to the world's busiest Clarks!), just got to label everything now. Does anyone have any recommendations for name labels? I can't decide between iron-in or sew-in, or between plain ones or ones with a picture on.

[Adikia]

possibly, she gets like it from time to time anyway so it's hard to tell, I think some of its just shes really bored without pre-school, plus its been really noisy here the past few nights so shes over tired.

[Adikia]

i've gone with iron on with a picture and matching stickers for everything from here in the hope it will make it easier for DD to recognise her stuff and I already had to make her scrunchies in school colours so I cant be bothered with anymore sewing.

[Tailtwister]

I'm the same OP, with DS1 starting in a couple of weeks. Every time I think about it I start to cry. It's ridiculous really. He's ready and looking forward to it. It just seems like such a huge milestone, the end of an era if you will.

I just hope I can keep myself in check long enough for him to walk through the doors. No settling in just straight to full days, but he's starting on a wed so a short week to start.

[MrsWembley]

Oh god, what a thought to start a Friday; not just uniform to buy, but labels to be sewn in. Our HM, in the parents' meeting, told us that the iron-on ones don't last very long so it's best to use the sewn-in ones or use a marker pen. I was all up for using a marker pen but DP, oh no, he knows best... Anyhoo, I told him if he was willing to do half of them then fair enough.

Watch this space.

[herbaceous]

I've heard tell of a stamp you can buy of their name, which you can put in everything from clothes to pencils. Still not sure how to label shoes with black insides - are there silver marker pens?