My introduction to the school run...

So Ben has now had two weeks of half days in school and what a two weeks it's been! He has really enjoyed it and taken to it a lot better than I thought he would considering he had not been attending a nursery. During the long walks home he has not stopped chatting about his day, telling me what he played with, what stories they read, who was told off by the teacher and what he had for lunch (just in case i'd forgotten what I'd packed for him that morning!) And each day he excitedly asked if he could go back tomorrow! (He even wanted to go in today on a Saturday!) I am really pleased with how well he has taken to it but I wasn't expecting to find it so hard myself! I really miss not having him at home and so does Elizabeth! And I am finding the 'school run' utterly exhausting!

The first week he was just in for afternoons that only lasted an hour and three quarters so considering its a good 30 minutes walk from our house to the school (and I don't drive) it wasn't worth me going home as I would just have time to sit down and put the kettle on before leaving again! So for the first week I pushed my daughter in the pram around the park (in the rain most days) or had a nosey in the local charity shops before going to pick him up again! The second week he was in for mornings that lasted a little bit longer so I had time to go home have a play with Elizabeth and do a few bits but the time flew quickly by and I soon had to leave to pick him up again!

All this has meant that over the last two weeks I have been absolutely knackered and am behind with everything, the house is a tip, I have a mountain of washing and about 5 half written blog posts to finish! And I thought I'd have more time to myself when Ben started school! How wrong I was! I'm hoping it will be better next week when he starts on full days and I have time to get more done during the day!

I had always had an certain image of the 'School Run Mummies' in my head, I don't where it had come from, maybe a book or a movie but it was very clear, 'a clique of Yummy Mummies with Bugaboos and pink lining bags chatting away about their lives in the playground'. Well my first experience of the reality is very different! There were some Bugaboos but they were mainly being pushed by elderly grandparents, and I was very surprised to find there were more Daddies than Mummies waiting for their offspring! The mums that were there looked like I did, bags under eyes, uncrushed hair and hubby's fleece over the first clothes that fell out of the wardrobe, I had forgotten how hard it would be to get sorted in the early mornings again after being a bit lazy over the summer!

I guess in reality so few Mummies are able to fit the school run in with their working lives and it saddens me that that will me me in less than two months when I return to work!

So it's been an eye opening two weeks and it's not just Ben who's learnt a few lessons at school!

To read about my worries and my #mummyfail on Bens first day click here...