Welcome to Year 1.

A whirlwind is the only way to explain the first three weeks of school.

Who can ever believe their baby has grown another year older and is now playing in the "big kids" playground or doesn't necessarily need to be walked to and from the classroom?

In the past three weeks I have learnt a lot about me as a Mum too! I have learnt that homework is another layer in our already very busy lives that needs to be managed, or it just won't get done due to time constraints, and that it will cause me more stress than it will Cas, or his teacher, if it doesn't get done.

I have also learnt that as Cas grows I am struggling to keep up with a varied and reasonably healthy lunchbox. From this I have learnt that you can cook fish fingers and then fridge them for lunch the next day!

Read half of a blog post last night about all the kinds of Mums at the school gate. Why there is a need to label everyone I don't know. I just know that I have also learnt that real friends can be made at the school gate. Friends you can talk to, people who are at the same stage in life as you so you have lots to share, friends who will genuinely offer to help out with your child, and often do without any begrudging. Friends who you would help out at anytime if they needed.

Prep was fun and busy, and new. Year 1 is a time to set the pace for the next 11+ years of schooling.