School’s Starting? Already?

Yesterday evening, it hit me that Noey would be starting school in 2 weeks when the new school term opens.

2 weeks! Yikes! I am not mentally prepared! He’s still a baby, my baby!

The thought threw me into a bit of a tailspin for the rest of the evening and I spent the time trying to make the most of the time with him. (I am sentimental and melodramatic like that.) I chased him into the bathroom for his shower and when he sounded his usual request: “Mummy, sit down and watch Noey!”, I didn’t say no, like I sometimes do. Instead, I pulled up a stool and sat down to watch him play.

We laughed over the face towel floating in the water in his bathtub. A towel fish, I called it. He dunked his empty soap bottle into the water and called it a soap fish in reply. He shrieked with delight as he held the empty bottle under the water only to have it bounce right up when he let it go. We fiddled with at the ring stopper that came with his new bottle of soap. “It’s a tunnel,” he said, peering through it. “Look,” I said closing it around his finger, “it is also a ring.” He spread the 2 halves apart, swooped it through the air and declared it a bird. He had a point.

He stuck the tip of the bottle into his mouth and as I made a hasty swipe at it and chided him for doing it, he told me, “I want to put it in my mouth. My mouth is the petrol station!” I laughed in spite of myself.

Playing and talking to him for the rest of the evening, I know he isn’t a baby an more. He is a boy. Still a little one, but one who is ready to explore the world beyond.

I’m not sorry I didn’t start him in pre-nursery in January. I had thought long and hard about it. Thought and re-thought about it. Looking back now, I don’t regret my decision. In January, he was still in many ways more a baby than a boy. In the past 6 months however, he has become fully toilet trained, improved in his communication, and most critically, developed an interest in interacting and playing with other children. I think he is now more ready to enjoy school. My preference was actually to start him in the 4th term to ease him into Nursery next year, but his would-be principal pointed out that the 4th term is a short term where most of the time would be spent preparing for the year-end concert. As such, we agreed that Term 3 would be best, so Term 3 it is.

(And that starts in 2 weeks! Ahhh!)

I should be glad that at least it means that someone else would be answering all his questions!

I really must start preparing him in earnest. If anyone has any good tips for preparing young kids for starting school and ensuring a happy transition into school life, please send them my way!