January 28th

 This was it - the first day of school!  Harriet was so excited - she'd been threatening to petition the Department of Education to shorten the summer holidays for the previous two weeks.  As with all things Harriet, we did not take that discussion point lightly.  Luckily I managed to speed up time so that we arrived at the first day of school before things got too serious.

Despite an excited evening the night before, Teddy and Harriet were up and happy, devouring breakfast, getting dressed and brushing teeth so that about ten minutes before we were actually ready to leave Teddy was literally hanging off the front door yelling out, "Let's leave NOW!".

We all headed out to the car.  James had taken the day off, so all four of us drove in to the school.  Negligent mother that I am, I had failed to purchase hair elastics for Harriet, so we made a short detour for those and then, once attired for maximum visual impact, it was on to the pink wall for the requisite photos.

As usual there was a line of eager parents doing the same.  We waited our turn and the children obliged me in an almost willing fashion.

I think it's the change in uniform.  They are both pretty excited about the move to blue (as are families all over the inner west).  I would personally like to accept the award for having the most wonderful child in Year 4.  My god she is fantastic!


If you're interested in comparing this photo to the one taken on her first day at kindy, you can see it here.























And despite his regular reluctance to have his photo taken at nearly all other times, Teddy also obliged me with a photo where he willingly posed. My goodness, what a sweetpea! Hard to believe, after all of the anguish from the past few weeks, but Teddy was delightful.  I smothered him in love and kisses at about every second step.

 

 And even a photo of them together!  Unrehearsed!  Gorgeous!

Firstly we all went down to the area where the Year 4 classrooms live.  Harriet perused the area, however the classroom was closed up and we couldn't enter in there just yet.  Harriet was eager to see Ted's classroom as well, so we traipsed up as a group to his level.  That slightly clammy, tight grip didn't waiver as we climbed the steps to his classroom and entered into the chaos of the kindy area.

Teddy was introduced to his teacher and the assistant. James and I couldn't believe just how we had never noticed his teacher before.  She has apparently been teaching there for years - all other teachers in the primary area strike some sort of familiar spark with me - however this woman just completely and utterly failed to register with either James or myself at all.  Odd!

We obviously failed to snaffle up the teacher we had been hoping for.  However there have been many complimentary discussions about who he did receive, so fingers crossed that all shall work out well.

He found his chair and desk and then shyly hid beside me when his teacher came over to introduce herself to us.  He seemed to gain confidence when he sat down at his desk and wasn't upset to see James and I say goodbye to him when the bell went.

Then it was down to the hall for the introduction assembly of the year.  They always hold a sing-a-long with actions that the parents are to join in with as well.  It's such a warm and welcoming way in which to start the year.  By the end everyone is laughing, someone has poked someone else in the eye during an overly enthusiastic air clap and the principal has had to take off his jacket due to exertion.

 

We went off for a debrief with my gorgeous preschool parent friends.  Everyone shared their stories of the morning and then James and I ducked away to go and eat up.  I chose the cafe and I also chose the shakshuka.  There really is only one adjective to describe it - INCREDIBLE!

 Mine had grilled, smoky eggplant and halloumi chunks in it (as well as the poached eggs). They rolled me, smiling and delirious with happiness, out of the door and down Enmore Rd.

James enjoyed his Mecca coffee so much that, as you can see, he didn't even manage to hold out for the photo of the two of them together.

And after we ate up, drank it down and headed out, the two of us watched a movie.  Short Term 12 was wonderful - a welcome contrast to the absolute crap we've managed to choose lately.  You may remember I made the mistake of seeing Her the other week.  Don't make the same mistake as me.  Learn from me.  Go and see Short Term 12 and all will stay right with the world.

We drove back for pick-up and here is my Teddy walking out after his first day.  We still had to wait for Harriet to finish her first clarinet lesson, so we took him for a special treat surprise - Max Brenner which is about 100m down the road from the school.  He was so exhausted he couldn't remain sitting upright and had multiple meltdowns inside the cafe, on the way walking back to pick up Harriet and then also on the way back up to the car.  He then fell asleep in the car for ten minutes on the way home.



























And as you all know, a ten minute sleep for Ted is like an eight hour sleep to the mother of a newborn.  For here he is, wielding lightsaber force and enthusiasm, well into the wee hours of the night.  The enthusiasm saw him still awake at around 9.30pm.

The second day may have a bit more bite to it I feel.