Hello, I’m back on the blog!

Hopefully you’ve all been busy little bees like I have, so won’t have noticed it has been nearly two.whole.months since I last posted *looks a little ashamed*.

Has anyone else found that September, the month of new beginnings (in my case, becoming a school mum, as Little Chap started at his new school’s nursery) has just been and gone in a flash?  Seriously, where did it go?  One minute, it was August, and we were full of preparations:

Then, Wham!  All of a sudden, it arrived – the First Day of School.  Now it’s October for goodness sake, and we are already counting down the last few weeks to half term!  How time flies eh?Of all the months of the year, September has always been a favourite.  Probably the best known on the calendar for new beginnings and change, September was as it always has been, the month when a new school year brings new routines and the opportunity to adopt new and positive habits.  September heralds a new season and the lazy days of summer make way for the industry of cooler autumn ones as we make plans for winter and long for the return of spring.  I definitely felt a change in the energy and blame my lack of recent posts here entirely on my industriousness and resulting need for an early night!

One thing I have done, as we slid warmly (thank goodness) out of summer and into autumn, is take stock of the summer goals I set a few months ago in all that rain.  So how did we do?  Here are some highlights:

A Little Quality Time

• On holiday with Mayfair Dad, we struck a happy balance between visits to the York Castle Museum, Clifford’s Tower and the National Railway Museum with leisurely strolls through the shops and along the city walls, indulging our love of York with Little Chap’s love of all things Knights & Castles.
• Little Chap and I went to Bekonscot Model Village with Lovely Friend Around the Corner (previously Lovely Neighbour).  The little ones loved the tiny models of “real” life.  We didn’t manage a special day out with Grannie this time but we have booked her for a theatre trip at half term!
• The Thomas the Tank Engine day out was too close to the beginning of term and our annual trip to the Goodwood Revival but he took the Little Chap and I to a more local car show, Chelsea Autolegends and also the Tower of London.
• Our rescheduled 40^th birthday party went off well (no chicken pox or fractured ankles this time thank goodness!)  Mayfair Dad’s playlist was a musical walk down memory lane with everything from the ‘80s and ‘90s (our youth) to the present day.  A good number of friends, new and old shared the champagne with us, if not the canapés *makes mental note for next time* and it even transpired that one of my new Mummy friends used to work with our new next-door neighbour…!
• Luckily summer holidays are quite good for reading time and this year I found the Little Chap’s having reached an age where he’s happy to amuse himself for a little while coupled with catching up on Daddy time, means I managed to increase the tally in my Goodreads Book Challenge to 12 of my (now increased target) of 15 books.  Yay! 

Preparing for School

• We managed play dates and birthday parties with Little Chap’s friends from both his old day nursery and his new school nursery, sometimes simultaneously, though I didn’t plan it that way (!)  I hope this helps him to understand that gaining new friends shouldn’t result in losing old ones.
• A few weeks before term started, I used a reward chart to introduce gently the “Golden Rules” of new nursery to Little Chap.  He did so well he earned himself three new books (all with a “starting school” theme).  As he couldn’t have been happier to start his new school when the time came, anyone preparing a little one for this huge transition might find these books useful.Starting School (Picture Puffin)
  Billy and the Big New School (Anholt Family Favourites)
  Lucy & Tom Go to School (Picture Puffin)
  • I accepted that the school run means I won’t be walking to work for a while!
  • Over the course of the summer, uniform items, shoes and wellies were all duly acquired, tried on, washed, dried, ironed, labelled (iron-on, two pressings!) and appropriate alterations made (Yes, please don’t tell anyone, but I got out my needle and thread!).
  • I geared myself up for making packed lunches for the family as school doesn’t do hot lunches before Reception.  Little Chap is thrilled with his Sainsbury’s pirate lunch bag, sandwich box and flask which I’ve been adding to with Lock & Lock and Sistema equivalents so I don’t have to wash it up every night. Mayfair Grannie (no longer Grannie Daycare, *gets tissues out*) bought me some books to inspire.  Not sure I’ll be organised enough to go to such lengths but you never know, the pictures are rather appetising.Top 100 Finger Foods
    After-School Meal Planner
    • Managing a change to my hours for the new term didn’t go to plan.  However, maintaining the status quo seems to be a blessing.  Little Chap effectively reduces his day care hours on Thursdays by three hours, maintains the hours he’s used to on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and just adds the school day (9-3) on Mondays and Fridays.  He’s been tired of course (ok, exhausted), as he went straight in to a full week from the start but I’m confident that with two days at home while he’s at school, I’ll be better able to juggle it all so we can make the most of our family weekends.

    I’m feeling really enthused and energised by the change in seasons this year and my Autumn/Winter goals are all about getting rid of the clutter at home and streamlining what has to stay to within an inch of its life, as I feel I’ve been rather “winging it” since Little Chap arrived.

    I do need to tidy the garden ready for winter and make it my own again and just get into some sort of workable groove that allows me to keep in touch with all my lovely mummy friends, keep up the blog, keep on top of things at home etc.  Perhaps most important of all though, I plan to spend my SAHM days doing those dull chores that will make it so much easier for us all to enjoy quality time together as a family at weekends but also make some time for my own dreams now and for the future.

    Oh what might it bring!  What are your plans? Please post a comment below to share – I’ve missed you!