Big School!

Ben and Scarlett:  Foundation Stage 2

YEAH, BOY!

FREEDOM. And.........exhale. I’ve not long been back in the house after dropping Ben off at school. His first day of being in school ALL DAY.

Am I a rotten mother for being glad that he’s there? I have to admit, I have struggled with Ben over the summer holiday. He’s not the type of kid who will play quietly by himself... he needs constantly to be entertained and occupied and interacted-with; someone needs to be dedicated to giving a stream of feedback and praise and answering the inevitable plethora of questions that he has about whatever it is he’s doing -- he needs that element of interaction and recognition otherwise he questions the point of the activity and gets bored. So I hold up my hands (not without a little bit of shame) and admit freely that I have had to resort to The Electronic Babysitters (aka the TV and the Nintendo) more than a few times in recent weeks when I just couldn’t give him the attention and stimulation that he needed during these rainier-than-usual summer months, especially those days when I couldn’t even brush my teeth for having Jude permanently attached to either one of my gazongas.

So – he’s in Big School. Where I know he will respond really well to the structure of the activities of the school week, and has no end of little friends to chase and giggle with. He (with his friend Scarlett) RAN to school this morning, such was their eagerness to see all their little pals from nursery again.

"STOP RUNNING WHEN MAMMY SAYS STOP!"

I know some mothers get emotional at the school gates and some kids get separation anxiety and there are tears, but WHA-HOO that is SO not a picture of this Mama and Boy. Ben is fiercely independent – on occasion, detrimentally so as it leads him to mischief – but recognising this and encouraging him to do things for himself and be a ‘big boy’ is what made him march into that classroom this morning, head tall, brandishing his Wall-E lunchbox, stocked full of his first ever packed lunch.

I wish there was a Classroom-Cam or something where I could spy on him today, to see him being all grown up and on his own.

I’m so proud.