Delete the sticky note Zoom link, cancel the Twinkl subscription, recycle the half-a-tree’s worth of worksheets you printed over the last nine weeks and beyond…. and breathe! Back to school for lots of our little munchkins today, I expect it to be a day filled with many different emotions. My little one cheered and then cried on Friday when I told her it was our last home-schooling day. Whilst she seems to have partly enjoyed “Mrs Mummy” and her teaching style, (especially when it involved multiple stuffed animal friends who all needed to have a go at writing a letter each. Let’s just say the days have been long with this exuberant five-year-old!) she made it quite clear she knows it’s not where my skills lie. Daddy asked “Is Mummy a good teacher?”. After what felt like an eternity she replied “She’s a brilliant baker!”, well that just says it all.
Just a photo of a school dinner style sprinkle cake - for no apparent reason but...yum!
We've all been waiting for what feels like an absolute age to hand our precious ones back to the professionals for their educational needs. Thank goodness we’re now at this positive milestone in our pandemic journey. Finally, with five minutes to myself after months of trying to fulfil roles of parent, teacher and entire social group (I’ve developed some serious skills as an impressionist over the last few weeks), whilst also running a business and attempting to resemble some version of wife, daughter, sister and friend during this time, I can reflect and look forward from this experience.
Right now, I am feeling all of these things and more: 1. Relieved that I can get on with some proper work rather than burning the candle and squeezing things in as and when. To actually be able to plan will be amazing! And attend Zoom sessions that don’t involve learning what split diagraphs or common exception words are. 2. SO happy that my daughter will be back in the classroom, being taught by people who know what they’re doing and being able to spend time with her friends… but also 3. I am going to miss her so much! I'm not going to lie, it's been really hard work trying to teach her, on more than one occasion we’ve both been in tears. But in many ways it's been absolutely wonderful to have my gorgeous crazy girl, best friend, partner in crime with me every day and I’m going to be itching to get to the school gate at 3pm to scoop her up and find out what she’s been up to all day. That's if she’ll tell me! All of this makes me more conscious to spend more quality time with her, after school, weekends and school holidays. That is something I will definitely hold on to when lockdown is over, the special family times we've shared have been wonderful. All this time with just the three of us has massively strengthened the bond we have as our little family unit, the road has NOT been smooth but we’ve learnt so much from this experience. Maybe not about split diagraphs but lots of other important things! So finally here’s a massive well done from me and my cheeky monkey to everyone who's managed to survive home schooling; kids, parents, grandparents, big brothers and sisters, other caregivers, and especially the teachers... thank you so much for getting us through this, providing all the resources, your incredible patience with zoom lessons, (and us!) and being kind enough to praise what you know was clearly a massively mediocre job from us non-teachers. You're so welcome to have them all back today! Enjoy!
Here's a top tip for quality time with your little ones after lockdown, make sure you keep baking! You can use this cookbook: Easy Baking (lulu.com) It’s really quick and easy, and when you can finally spend some time with the grandparents on the 29th March, they’ll love a homemade cake!
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