Strike while the iron is hot….

Can you tell that school has gone back? That I’m working again? Yeah, crickets are chirping around this little blog, and tumbleweeds have been rollin on by. I was so enthusiastic about my online space for a week or so there, and I am still enthusiastic about it. But TIME. And ENERGY. Severely lacking once school holidays finish and I’m back in the classroom. However tonight Pebble is asleep, Paul is out and I have a minute to myself to crack out a quick post.

I am LOVING being back at school right now. Which is something of a relief, because, if I’m honest, I had a real sinking depression towards the end of the school holidays. I was grumpy that I had to go to work, that I couldn’t be a stay at home mum, that I couldn’t spend every doing awesome things with my awesome kid. I loved, loved, loved school holidays, and really enjoying some down time with Pebble. The crankiness about the reality of my life and of having to leave her again was overwhelming. Grump, stomp, whinge, whine.

What do you know? Three weeks later and I’m still enjoying being a mum, and I also get to enjoy spending some of my time doing awesome things with other people’s awesome kids. Seriously, while this particular class of 24 six to eight year olds can sure throw some curve balls my way, they also know how to knock my socks off with their unending curiosity and ability to take what I throw at them and turn into their own learning and understandings. Seeing the light switch on is something I can’t imagine ever getting tired of, and keeps me going when the going gets tough.

The going is getting kinda tough this week, as it happens. I’m working an extra afternoon to have our classroom and school ‘authorised’ to become an IB PYP school, which is kind of a big deal for our school. It’s something that the school has been working towards for years and the whole staff is in a frenzy to prepare for it. This week is the week, and Tuesday and Wednesday is our time to shine, baby! Take a look at the IB site if you’d like more info, and are interested in inquiry learning.

Getting back to our Pebble, she’s kicking arse in this big wide world. She’s taken her first proper ‘week’ at child care in her stride. She had two half days last week, and survived them well. I say ‘survived’ because they were tough, and she was so tired afterwards. The good news is that her second day was better than her first, and on her first day there were only a few sad moments, and no prolonged instances of despair. Just a desire to see her mummy and daddy, which was temporarily fulfilled by cuddles with the fabulous staff in Toddler House.

I find it so reassuring that Pebble has already made a connection with one of her primary carers in particular, and will go to her for a cuddle, and tries to play with her hair when she’s sleepy, just like she does with her mummy. To know that she has someone to give her that comfort when she needs it is a huge comfort to me.

We’re taking things very slow with the integration into group care. Pebble will do two more half days this week, finished her Toddler House stay at 12pm, just after lunch and before nap time. In a few weeks, when things are hopefully going well, we’ll increase it to include the nap time, and then gradually extend the time until I’m able to pick her up myself.

Thank heavens for the angels in our family that can help us out at the moment. Aunty Julie is picking her up early on on morning, and Grandma is picking her up on the other morning. Without them we’d be straight into full days, and I think that would rock our little world a little more than any of us would like. I know that Pebble could survive that, but why not ease gently into things, if we can?

Sending extra special love and light to Kozi this week. ‘Nuff said.