I am now the mother of a child at Secondary school - do I now have to act grown up?

[kittylouise]

I cannot believe that dd is now in Year 7 - she was up at the crack of dawn, all dressed in her new blazer and tie.

Off she went this morning full of smiles and excitement. I am so proud of my beautiful baby (baby no more).

I feel so ODD! Mother of an (almost) teenager. Where the hell did all that time go? And I'm still only winging it with this parenthood lark. SHE's growing up - when will I!!

Is it normal to feel so strange?

No, the trick is to act even more childish, then your oh-so-grown-up child will look at you in despair, roll their eyes and go 'Muuuum!' or even better 'Mother!' We always tell our children that parents are only there to embarrass their children, and it gets more fun as they get older...

Just remember to act a bit more grown-up when you get to meet her teachers!

Be warned though, time really does seem to fly once they start secondary school. They get more and more grown-up and independent, which is lovely but bitter-sweet and scary at the same time. My older 2 went back to secondary school today (Year 10 and Year 8), and I really don't know where the time has gone. My eldest is nearly half-way through her time at secondary school!

Hope your daughter has a great first day!

This feeling will last a day, then you will regress back to your normal state.

my ds is just going into year 9 and i act daft it anoys the hell out of him lol it called pay back for all the hormonal out burst he has when we out and he makes a fool out of me lol

Mind you, I suppose all the misty-eyed behaviour will stop once she comes home with her blazer ripped and half the contents of her pencil case lost (probably today!).

Scary that she is growing up!

(Gives self a sharp slap round head for soppy behaviour!)

oh no not Grown up but now you must make every effort to kiss her in public and comment on the length of the skirts and about the ammount of make-up the older girls where. LOL

This is great fun and will result in her making some really funny faces and noises at you

Another Mum who should be grown up here too. My DD started secondary school today too. My first at secondary. She's been as nervous as hell until this morning, when she got up, cool as a cucumber, and was fine. I, on the other hand, woke up and promptly burst into tears!!

She looked lovely in her new uniform. We'd had a few dramas over the skirt, one size was too big, the next size down a bit tight.. as we women know, that magic 'in between' size doesn't exist!! I had a bit of a brainwave last night and sewed an extra button on the skirt as close to the edge as I could to give her a bit more waistband room and that seems to have done the trick.

When we arrived at the school, there were two of her friends from her primary class there, and I was dying to take a photo of the three of them, but thought it would probably embarrass them, so thought better of it.

As for acting grown up? Nah! I'm the biggest kid I know!!

Mmmm, I appear to be blubbing whilst i read this thread! One & only lo starts secondary tomorrow! She is so fine about it, can't wait. She is going to the same school that I went to, so I can't help turning into a teenager again when I see some of the teachers that taught me are still there!!

How do you think i feel, my DD is starting her SECOND year at college next week!!! BUt i have DD2 and she is only 2 (still a baby )

How did they all get on then? We had decided to let DD get the school bus home. She was very keen to do this, as she's going to have to, and wanted to crack on with it straight away. I had a phone call from her -thank God they are allowed their mobiles at her school (for use before and after school and during lunch hour and break, as long as it's not in lesson time, they're allowed to have them on them, must be switched off in lessons.) She was very unsure about which bus to get. Apparently, a member of staff was supposed to be seeing all the Y7's on to their respective buses today, but this didn't happen. Her form tutor did the best he could, but he was a bit unsure about which bus goes where. I told her to wait outside the school as the bus pulls in there. It arrives a bit after school finishes, so because it wasn't there when she came out, I think she thought she had to go to another stop or something. Luckily she was with another girl. I was quite worried and a bit that the staff had let them down on this. Anyway, they got on the right bus and all was well. DH, DS's and I met her off the bus. Seeing her get off a bus for the first time on her own - wow! So grown up!

She had a great day and has yakked non stop about it all and been showing us her planner etc. DH off work this week, and has been tidying and de-cluttering her room so it's more of a 'grown up, practical secondary school girl's room.' Bless.

I've threatened to wave a placard saying 'Goodbye Darling DS' and a large spotted hankie as he goes off on the bus tomrrow morning, but, surprisingly, that hasn't gone down too well

Seriously, though, I'm more nervous than he is...

MaureenMLove- having read your other posts on this subject,I was thinking of you this morning and wondering how you're feeling ( ds started in yr 6 today, so I'll be you next year !) Hope all goes well tomorrow !

Aw thanks MaryAnn! Year 6 really flies, so if you're thinking of doing something special with all of them, get your thinking cap on now!

my son is going into year 9 tomorrow. he's 14 in a couple of weeks. it's scary! i find the older he gets the more silly i get. it's fun