One more day. One more day until the end of term 1. Seriously, 10 weeks gone in a blink! Sort of.

Our eldest headed to kindergarten in February. This was the real deal – big school. There was so much enthusiasm at the beginning of term – new uniform, gleaming lunchbox, nutritious food (isn’t it always nutritious??!), new-fangled shoes that were polished and a school bag large enough to topple him over. Lunches made and packed the night before. Homework signed off each night. Uniform washed every Friday to ensure it was dry and hanging nicely on clothes hanger in the wardrobe. Enthusiasm was there. Ten weeks in, is it still there?

It is, to a degree. The 10 weeks have gone by quickly and it’s been a learning curve for us all. New friends have been made. New learnings have been had. New schedules and processes are in place. Our son even got voted one of two Class Captains for his Kindy year. Standing up in front of the class he said what he would do if he became Class Captain: ‘If anyone was alone I’d help them and be their friend’ (yes, a very proud Mummy moment and I’ll take that thank you).

But let’s be honest. He’s tired. I’m tired. There were some evenings I thought we’d never get the kids into bed. There have been meltdowns especially towards the end of the week. Usually for things that wouldn’t matter to him on any other given day. We had been told by school parents to be prepared for this especially as school and all the activity is new to the kids, their brain is working harder than ever and they’re sitting for a lot of the day – totally different to running around at day care.

Before school started I set a couple of days by to do some batch baking. Pizza scrolls, savoury and sweet muffins, pikelets, zucchini and cheese pies, Vegemite scrolls and pizza bites. There were also some bliss balls, custard cookies and oat and banana cookies. Usually he’d get a sandwich or wrap and then we’d mix in some of the baked goodies. I’m glad it lasted all term because the enthusiasm for baking waned BIG time towards the end of term.

Homework started to come home within a couple of weeks of school starting. A week’s worth of homework included two readers, a maths sheet, spelling sheet, sound words, drawing words that began with letters of the week, mathletics (online program) and Reading Eggs (online program). Yeah, all that with a child who had just spent 6 hours at school and working parents who just wanted dinner and the odd glass of wine!

Depending on the time homework was done, he would either whizz through it or a tanty might occur first and then we’d eventually get through it. What should have taken 20 minutes could end up being 45 minutes – 45 Very Long Minutes. There was no homework for the last two weeks of term. And thank god for that as we were all on tender hooks come the last week!

Throughout the term we also had to remember that Tuesday was library book day, Wednesday was show and tell day and Friday was sports day – don’t forget the sports uniform! Then there was the Easter parade which we (ok, predominately me) made a hat for. And organising the whole family for Harmony Day which was a lot of fun but 6 hours into it the littlest one had just about had enough.

I also volunteered for two Fridays at the canteen which was a great way to meet new parents and my son loved the fact his Mummy was working in the canteen. To be honest I think it was because he got to buy two things when I was there instead of the usual one item! I didn’t realise how much work was involved for canteen volunteers or the fact you’d be on your feet from 830am-230pm. I literally hobbled home on those days! In saying that, I’ve volunteered again for next term…

So, did we survive term 1 of school? Yes we did. It has been good in so many ways and there’s a glimmer of enthusiasm still there. But I do think it’s time for a break. For all of us. Here’s hoping it will bring back enthusiasm for term 2.

How did you go with the first school term? What are the plans for school holidays in NSW? Let me know if I’m the only one hanging for a break…