The Last Summer Before School

There are only 3 more nursery days left and then a long 6 weeks awaits us. We have plenty of plans both for bigger adventures and smaller ones and I know August will be full of laughter, sunshine, late evenings and far too much ice cream.

And then September will arrive and it is all change.  Dylan heads into year four (year four, seriously, how have I got a child that big?), Archie enters his last year at his Infant School and my baby boy is off to big school.

In all honesty, I can't wait.  He is so ready, so far past ready sometimes and his nursery agrees.  He knows the school so well, he knows the building and the playground, the staff and the uniform, he has been in the playground almost every day since he was tiny and he is so confident following his brothers there.  I have already put aside some trousers that haven't given up yet and bought him some polo shirts in the size up from what he wears just incase of a growth spurt / to get him through the first year and we will be completely ready by the time September arrives.

Us both being ready for this new adventure doesn't make it any less though. I still watched him run into his new classroom during the transition sessions and I saw that teeny tiny baby who spent his first weeks in special care with tubes and wires coming in all directions.  I remember vividly the moment I was told why he was poorly and what his prognosis was.  I can feel the emotions from those first weeks and months and I am utterly amazed that we made it all this way and that both of us are the people we are now.  Finn is fearless, strong, determined, smart, loving and full of ideas. It isn't just my world he will change. It is still a miracle that the little baby has become this big boy and I have so much pride, just the same as all the other parents stood their with their first borns, last borns, only children. 

Nothing about the school feels new to me, I have been sending my children there for four years, I am on the PTFA, I am a school governor, I know my way around but it is a whole new experience being the parent of Finn there and this three year journey will be different to the others.  

In the meantime, I have one summer left with him, those long six weeks to cement in my mind who he is before these new influences.  Finn is so absolutely full of character, he doesn't conform, he is himself.  He is funny, so incredibly confident, so sure of himself and I want his teachers to see this, to nurture these parts of him whilst also maybe helping him to conform a little bit too.  This is the last summer before school to enjoy him as a preschooler.  In September we have a staggered start so Archie will go back for two weeks before Finn starts and then he is part time for a couple of weeks too, but it is all rolling into that full time school that will dominate the next few years and this is our last window of freedom beforehand.

I won't be dreading September or considering other options, Finn is so ready for school and I have confidence that they can handle him too. We can't wait for this new chapter in his life, but it certainly doesn't mean any less because of that and if the tears writing this post are anything to go by, I am sure I will crying with the other parents on his first day still!

Finn wears a gifted Maxomorra romper from Nolu