Pre-Term Butterflies

A few days ago, I drove past Grace’s new school and seeing all the teachers’ cars in the staff car park made me think back to where I used to be at this time each and every year prior to having children.  The final days of summer holidays were always spent in my classroom preparing for the term and year ahead.  Day dreaming about all that we would achieve and discover together on our learning journey.  Printing off name tags for each and every student.  Pouring over class lists and picturing the personalities behind each name.  Arranging desks.  Creating a classroom that felt warm and welcoming…

There are only a few days remaining before students go back to school here in WA.  However this year, I’m experiencing things on the flip side from a parent’s perspective and everything feels so foreign.  I’ve become the slightly emotional mama who can’t quite believe that her big girl is off to kindy, when it seems like it was only yesterday she was born.  

Slowly over this past week, we’ve been talking more and more about the journey ahead of us… preparing both Grace AND me.  There has been a lunchbox and a backpack to buy, much thinking on my part about what to actually pack in both, school supplies and uniforms to label, decisions to make regarding morning routines, thoughts on how we will spend our non-kindy days together… and a touch of nervousness on both our parts.

But there is also excitement. Excitement for the adventures and friends and experiences ahead.  For the skills my big girl will develop and for the tales of her days I look forward to her sharing with me as we walk home at the end of a school day.  There will be, I’m sure, many proud moments ahead… moments I look forward to whole heartedly.  So as our first of many terms commences next week, I will undoubtedly miss my little shadow, but will try not to dwell on the butterflies in my stomach and instead think about all the happy times ahead as her schooling journey begins...

Keepsakes And Treasures

We are by no means hoarders in our house thankfully, but lately, I've felt an overwhelming desire and need to further simplify, declutter and sort through anything and everything around our nest, partly due to my desire to start off the new year on a clean and tidy note, partly due to my attempts to create some more storage space as I slowly work on our home office makeover.  Over the weekend it was my keepsakes box that I attacked.

As the girls napped and Paul and I stayed indoors trying to keep cool, I sat down with its contents and poured over each and every letter, invite and treasure that I had saved over the years.  It was a bit of a trip down memory lane as I reminisced over emails from when I was 19 and Paul and I had first started dating, sweet quotes about life and words of wisdom my uni friends and I used to exchange, maps and tickets from past holidays, postcards from loved ones' travels, invitations to weddings and milestone birthdays as well as service booklets from the funerals of those no longer with us.  Each one holding a special memory.  Each one precious.

With storage space in our home lacking though, I had to decide which keepsakes still held meaning for me  as my 'yardstick' for what I consider to be personal treasures has changed a bit over time. Most contents of my box remained.  However when it came to invites and other pieces from various celebrations, I kept only those of immediate family and close friends, rather than holding onto every place setting card, service booklet, thank you note and menu from every wedding we've ever attended. My keepsake box needs to make way for new treasures now like maternity hospital tags, handmade Mother's Day trinkets and mementos of schooling milestones.

Next up, I'm tackling my box of greeting cards...I'm not sure how I'll quite decide which ones become keepers among that collection.  Back when Dad died and we had to sort through his possessions, we came across a box of pretty much every card my sister and I had ever given him, including the handmade clay and honky nut pencil cup I'd made for him as a four year old way back in kindergarten. I have a feeling that my girls will be faced with a similar situation one day when they have to sort through my things...  

I'm curious to know how you decide which keepsakes to hold onto... Are you a hoarder?  Which items make it into your keepsake box?

The metal chest above stores all of my beloved keepsakes from Dad - I'll save the story of it for another post...

4/52

"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week in 2013"...

Sophie: Our little mischief maker - into absolutely everything and climbing at every opportunity...

Grace:  Becoming much more confident in the water... having access to our neighbours' pool while they've been away at their holiday house has made the world of difference... 

Joining in with Jodi

Sunday Cyclone To Weekend Wonderful

Despite a grizzly teething Sophie, the weekend just gone was in fact a great one in my eyes.  While there was no sleep-in or lazing about reading the newspaper in bed, we had a mixture of relaxing moments and family fun, as well as time spent crossing off ‘to-dos’ around our house.  We had a morning tea with family, caught up on washing, sold two no longer needed items on Gumtree, watched the girls cool off under the slip and slide, enjoyed a fish and chip picnic in the backyard, visited the pet shop to buy some treats for Asha (giving me half an hour of quiet time to do a few chores), menu-planned, spent the morning by the river having breakfast and splashing in the water, read a chapter of my current book and most importantly, stayed on top of things house-work wise.

For the past few weekends, I’ve felt increasingly frustrated come Sunday evening.  After a week of constant tidying, picking up after others and trying to maintain a somewhat presentable home, come the weekend, things seemed to fall into a heap.  Monday would roll around and I would be faced with a sink full of dishes to stack into the dishwasher, endless washing yet to be brought in off the clothes line, toys scattered everywhere and a start to my week that felt like I was constantly playing ‘catch-up’.

Not today.  Today I woke to a clear bench and a tidy family room, with toys in their baskets and books on the shelves.  I have an empty washing line and the dishwasher was ready to be unstacked as soon as I woke.  A frittata for today’s lunch was waiting in the fridge and I have all the ingredients I need for dinner tonight.  Today has been a happy day…

I hope your Monday has started off on a good note too…

3/52

"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week in 2013"...

Grace: Forever keeping herself busy at the kitchen bench - drawing, cutting, gluing, colouring...

Sophie:  Discovering, playing and giggling... fearless around water (the teething necklace a permanent fixture since Christmas) 

Joining in with Jodi