Hallo!!!!!
How's your ds today? It's horrid when you get caught out by a game which everyone else seems to know, but he is now a member of the club of people who do know, and just because it feels like he was the last to find out, I bet there are plenty more. So glad he's found the warhammer (?) thing, and the Halo Boys - that's the start of making friends, isn't it?
DD's having a hard time adjusting to her new school too, not helped by the awful journey and having to get up so early. DH is finding it pretty hard too - 6.30 start does not belong in his world, though he's actually better at getting up than I am.
From what dd tells me, she spends most of her break times in the library reading, so at the back of my mind, I have the worry that she's not making friends. On the other hand, if her way of coping with this massive change is to lose herself in a book, well, I expect she'll emerge eventually when she's feeling more secure about the other stuff.
It's really hard at the moment. I remember a friend's child starting secondary, and he (the friend, not the child) was almost in tears thinking about how tired she was at the end of the day, and how much homework she had to do each evening when she was already tired.
I do know, and keep reminding myself, that that girl is now in year 10 and happy as Larry, copes with the journey, the early start, the homework, everything - takes it all in her stride. So I know that dd will adjust and manage eventually.