Skip to main content

Back to school!

Back to school and back to normal, phew! Funnily enough it's like they've never left - they ran into school, worked out where they should be and that was it - gone. Izzy didn't even say goodbye. I guess I should be pleased - I'm certainly not worried that they aren't clinging to our legs, crying their eyes out.


They spent half the week cooking up a sleepover at Mia's on Friday night, what's new?! When push came to shove and I was heading home from Claire's Abi had a wobble and decided actually she was too tired to stay. So Izzy and Mia (who's in Abi's year but doesn't seem to matter) headed off giggling to the bath together and Abi headed home with us. Good job we hadn't managed to get a table booked at our local for dinner then. Abi was shattered after the week so went to bed early and we got up together on a very rainy Saturday morning to walk the dogs. By the time we got back Glenn had left for his track day and so with nothing else pressing given the weather, Abi and I snuggled up on the sofa together, me reading my book and her flipping from her Kindle to her game and back again. We had over an hour in peace and quite, occasionally chatting about something and just relaxing - lovely. Its so rare that I do that, and certainly not when I have both of them with me - too much fighting over exactly who's got the most comfortable / most important part of me or whatever - NOT relaxing!


Today the weather was much improved and was a mini-triathlon of exercise for me - long walk this morning in the sunshine with the dogs, watching the moisture steam off the grass, followed by a 22 mile bike ride and then a swim this afternoon with the girls. We decided to use the outdoor pool at the gym and had it all to ourselves until Izzy's friend Satari turned up and so immediately a game of mermaid catch ensued (don't ask - didn't understand the rules!). I do love the fact that we are now completely rooted here and everywhere we go we know people.


The other conversation this week, which mainly I'm having with myself at the moment, is school options for Year 7 and beyond. Do we remain wedded to the private system, with all the cost that entails, or explore other options? This has arisen for a number of reasons (mostly back to school discussions) but also because we have an excellent state secondary school on our doorstep which delivers academic results as good as the local independent option as well as a hugely varied set of extra curricular options and a pretty amazing learning environment. It would be mad not to seriously consider whether this would be a good option for the girls, not least the cost of secondary / 6th form private schooling for 2 is approx. £250k out of taxed income!! As Mum says, we'll never know whether we've made the right decision, but we should at least explore. I've asked the kids and their response is simple - "we want the one with boys". Hmm - maybe I'll not bother asking next time!






 'Back to School' photo #1!!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Cough, cough

Izzy - can't do a photo without rude finger gestures It's fair to say that the last couple of weeks have been rough. I managed to get the cough Mum had a while back and it has been horrible! Both Dad and Glenn seemed to get a very mild version of it but Mum and I got the full dose and I can safely say that it has been a stark reminder of just how bad a viral infection can be. It also illustrates the whole Covid experience - some get it worse than others. For me it has meant that for over 2 weeks I have had the worst cough which has left me unable to sleep properly. I still can't sleep lying down fully, and have to be propped up on pillows on my back which is not my favoured sleeping position! It has also meant that Glenn has spent the last 10 days in the spare room because I have been coughing so badly he is unable to sleep in the same room. Thank goodness we didn't all have it - we'd have shaken the house to its foundations! It has also meant that I have been exhau
Post a Comment
Read more

It's beginning to feel a bit like Christmas...

I was sure I write the blog last week.... but, it seems another 2 weeks have flown by and now we are staring down the barrel of the Christmas holidays and the end of the year! Currently it's all about Doug and what a star he has proved to be so far. He has now been with us for 3 weeks and he is (so far, I keep thinking at some point it will change) a pretty chilled out puppy. As a second dog he has been thrown in at the deep end and has been to Sunday lunch with Alan & Sarah (which he loved), socialised at home with friends and their dogs, met babies (he loved Elsie) and started to go for walks. The walking has been a bit different to our previous approaches with new dogs. In the past we have ventured out carefully, making sure that our new baby only walks a short distance so they can experience all the new sights and sounds. Doug's first walk was after Sunday lunch last week, just him and 8 other dogs for bout 45 mins - he loved it! In our defence we didn't let him wal
Post a Comment
Read more

March!

Betty kisses! Blink and 3 weeks have sped by - just like that! The good news is that it's a) beginning to feel like Spring (well, some of the time), and b) that means we are nearly through year end at work which is a blessed relief - that last couple of weeks have been pretty intense.  Although it's been busy, we have a good few weeks, including a lovely weekend where Glenn and I managed to get away on our own for the first time in 2 years - amazing! We only went to a cottage in Devon for 2 nights but the cottage was really nicely arranged and we settled in very quickly. We did have to adjust a bit t the fact that it was in the middle of nowhere - us and sheep - but Glenn had Wi-Fi and the rugby and I had plenty of time to walk so we were both happy. Kerrie and Elsie came and stayed with the kids so they had a great time also, with lots of time to realise that a young baby might look like fun but it's a lot of hard work! Betty and Doug went to Mum and Dad's. They surviv
Post a Comment
Read more