End of an Era - Primary School is done

It doesn't seem like nearly 7 years ago when my son started in Reception at school. He does look oh so young on the obligatory first day at school photo:

He has mostly loved being at school (apart from Year 3) and coped very well with a change in primary for Year 4. Today was his leavers' assembly so I armed myself with a few tissues:

He obligingly posed for his last day at primary photo:

Reasons to be Cheerful: Happy New Year! #R2BC

Its January which means I have handed the reins back to the lovely Michelle so do pop over there and say hello! There has already been plenty to smile about even though 2018 has only just begun:
1) Snow
Well it wasn't a lot and it didn't last long but it made for a more dramatic backdrop for our latest fell running film:

2) Coco

My daughter's cat thoroughly entertained 3 generations on New Year's Eve. He is turning lots of non cat people in to cat lovers:

He even tried to join in at Game of Life:

3) New Year's Day dip 

Sinking into the cold of Windermere on New Year's Day certainly put a smile on my face:

4) Family

Having shown you last week how tall my daughter is getting this week I can show you the height of my 11 year old next to my mum (she is 5ft 4.5)! I think he is taller than I was at his age...

Please join in and visit all the other happy linkers and share some love in 2018!

Growing Up

One of the great things about social media apps such as Timehop is that you can easily compare how things have changed on the same date over time. As a case in point here are three photographs of my son and I taken over the last four years. It really shows how much he has grown:

Age 8

Age 10

Age 11

The only question is... how long before he is taller than me? I am 5ft 8.5 or 175cm which isn't short but he is going to end up a lot taller than that!

Where does the time go?

Tonight with my daughter I attended the first proper event on her road to secondary school. It was a road show where one of the local secondaries visited her current primary to let pupils and parents know what they have to offer. I can't believe that my daughter is old enough to be making this kind of choice! It doesn't seem all that long since she started in reception:

Now she is faced with choosing which secondary school to go in 17 months time! We live in an area where you don't have to go to your nearest secondary school as the schools all have surplus spaces due to low birth rates. This means that there really is a choice and the majority of children get the one that they want to attend.

So we have an array of taster visits, presentations and tempting visits by teachers from the secondary schools to entice pupils to apply to their school! I have to admit it would be a lost easier (and cheaper!) for her to go to our nearest school. It is only about 20 minutes to walk or 10 minutes on a bicycle to get there in the morning. If she chooses the other school children from her primary go to she would have an early start to catch a bus after 15 minute walk to the bus stop. The third option involves walking/cycling all the way across town.

But it is up to her which school she feels that she would be happiest at. The one where she can do the subjects she loves and can offer her extra curricular activities that she enjoys. If she isn't happy for 5 years at a school then she won't achieve her full potential. I know she is very bright and should do well were ever she goes. In fact she would like to take the 11+ and try for the grammar school in Lancaster but it is almost impossible for Kendal girls to get in there due to the distance.

She has until October to make the final choice. With her primary school lying between 2 secondary catchments her class mates will head in opposite directions at the end of year 6. I just hope that whatever choice she makes it will be the right one for her!

“What's happening to me?” by Usborne Books

There comes a time all parents dread when you know its time for that conversation, you know the one about puberty and all the things to do with your child changing into a grown up. We all know it happens but maybe aren't confident enough to broach the subject.

With a 10 year old daughter I know that I ought to be talking to her now and not leaving it until its too late. So luckily friends recommended an Usborne guide:

“What's happening to me? (girls)” so I armed myself with a copy and last night had a perusal through it. The book has sections on all the bits that girls want/need to know:

• boobs
• periods
• pubic hair
• spots
• body image
• sex and babies 

Its a no nonsense book that will hopefully answer most of the questions a girl needs to know. It may raise a few too but hopefully I will be able to answer them!

Of course there is an equivalent for the boys:

I had a look at this with some mum's of boys the same age as my daughter and they have all bought copy! It is very similar to the girls one but obviously has:

• voice breaking
• changes to boy bits
• wet dreams

This one I hopefully won't need to buy for a little while yet for myself but I will bare it in mind for when my son gets to double digits... Obviously being a woman I have no personal experience of male puberty so this could be enlightening for me too!

How do you deal with discussing puberty with your children?

Guest Post: Look who’s talking

Here is another guest post from my friend Squiff:

It’s coming up for a year since my son uttered his first real word “cheese” and unusual and amusing choice for a first utterance and over the months he’s kept us laughing as his vocabulary expands.

He enjoys watching the news and delighted in squealing “Horse meat scandal” every time a new food scare hit the headlines. This was funny at home but attracted some odd looks when he started to shout it from his seat in the trolley whenever we turned into the meat aisle at the supermarket.  I now watch the news with my finger over the mute button as some of the other scandals would sound a little less funny when parroted by a two year old.

He loves vehicles and commentates on the passing traffic easily distinguishing between skip loaders and rubbish lorries but 4x4s don’t feature in his “Things that go” book so he’s had to find a name for them himself and now declares “wardrobe” whenever one passes. 

As I child I got myself in a pickle trying to say “cement mixer” and instead said “cermix menter”. This quickly because a family phrase and my entire family now struggle to pronounce the word correctly as we’ve used the wrong version so often so I’ve stuck to “mixer” when talking to my son.

He loves us to read to him and is always passing books to us. One night I was cooking dinner when my husband shouted through “What’s the Egg and Peas book? He keeps asking for it and I don’t know that one” I was unable to reply for a few minutes as I was laughing so hard “It’s again please book dear” was my eventual response.  

Reasons to be Cheerful: Blue Sky at Last #R2BC

Whilst Michelle is celebrating her imminent move to the Sunshine Coast of East Sussex here are my reasons to be cheerful this week:

1) Blue Sky

It's not been the best start to summer so having blue sky this afternoon brought a smile to my face:

Hopefully the start of a real summer...

2) My big boy

As I wrote on Tuesday my son is growing up fast and was enjoying outdoor adventures. This week he also tried rugby for the first time and scored a couple of tries!

3) My gorgeous girl

His big sister also went to rugby and loved it! She may be a chip off the old block and follow in my rugby playing footsteps. There are signs she is changing into a much more sophisticated young lady now:

Glad she appreciates my taste in music including a-Ha!

4) Running away

I was dead chuffed today to not only run non-stop from Staveley to Kendal but did it in 36 minutes. Think I'm really getting the stamina and fitness to run properly! It's looking like I'm running another Race for Life in Manchester this month thanks to Scottish Power. Really hope that this time I can run well under 30 minutes whilst raising more money to beat cancer. And of course its all helping the weight.

Why are you smiling?

Reasons to be cheerful Week 25 Feeling Fab!

Our lovely hostess Michelle is looking forward to some time to prepare for her new life in Sussex. Exciting times for her and her family! Nothing quite so exciting here but enough to be cheerful about:
1) Race for Life
As I wrote last week my daughter and I were doing the race for life in Preston at the weekend. A great chance to do something with just the pair of us. I've already written a full post about the day itself but here is a quick montage:

2) My big boy
I"m not sure whether its the influence of the older boys in his class or being in Beavers but he is starting to be much braver about things. On Sunday he had a good time tree climbing in the park near my parents' house:

He is still cracking through the Beast Quests books and we are now on book 8!
3) Running on the Dales Way
Today I felt it was worth trying out my still slightly sore calf on a run home from school. My route is half on the Dales Way which I join just before the railway line outside the village:

Then it follows close to the River Kent through fields and woodlands. Not only do I pass plenty of sheep and lambs but also get to glimpse herons and other birds around the river. Today as I reached the top of a steep stile (the interesting part of running the route!) I couldn't resist quickly capturing the view of the meadow ahead:

Hopefully this will inspire me to keep on running as its all helping my challenge to get healthy which I wrote about yesterday.

Growing up fast

It amazes me how quickly my Pre teen is changing from being a little girl to a mini grown up. A lot of this is in a positive way luckily! Today she and I went shopping for the much wanted denim jacket to complete her latest look. On advise from the girl in Top Shop (haven't been in there for far too many years!) we looked at size 6 adult clothes. Eventually tracked a cropped jacket in New Look that was a great fit (with sleeves rolled up). Does make you wonder if adults actually fit into size 6 as my daughter is very skinny:

Where has my little girl gone?

 

#FlashbackFriday: Shoes

Like many parents I kept my children's first shoes. As the box with them in fell out of the wardrobe yesterday I thought I would take a look. Its scary to see how much they have grown.

Back in 2004 my daughter was a 3F and is now 2C:

Back in 2007 my son was a 4F and is now 2E.

Have you kept shoes?

Friday Book Review: Notalie Natters

Sponsored post

A year ago we were sent a Notalie doll for my daughter to review. These were a new concept in companion dolls to help tween age girls accepting themselves as being unique, sharing fun with friends and valuing the truly important things in life.

Since then Notalie has accompanied my daughter doing various activities so she was excited about the new book we were sent to review. Notalie natters about what matters is the title of this book for besties.

Kym Yorke has put the book together with chapters written by Notalie about best friends, her dog and bullies. It is written in language that 7-10 year old girls use themselves and has a glossary of Notalie's own words at the back such as fabolistic and knotted.

We did a combination of reading it together and my daughter reading it to Notalie. My daughter could relate to the way Notalie and her diverse group of friends the Notstars interacted and fell out and made up. At this age friendships are hard work and its good for them to read a book showing how normal this is.

Bits of the book are interactive encouraging the child to draw or write in the book something about their friends or their feelings:

My daughter has a lot on her mind at the moment and since we started reading the book she has calmed down a little bit. Reading things laid out in language and pictures that she can relate to seems to be a great help. A great book for 7-10 year old girls with or without the doll!

Book details

Notalie natters about what matters by Notalie Knot and Kym Yorke

Publisher Pizzazz

ISBN 978-0-9573730-1-3

Price £6.99

#FlashbackFriday: growing up

I found it quite interesting to look back at old photographs of me that emerged on my mum's computer from their 40th wedding anniversary celebrations. One thing I can't believe is how skinny I was and the second is how much my daughter really does look like me:

Me at 20 days old

1977 - I still have Sebastian!

1978 all set for the local carnival in homemade costume 

Wordless Wednesday: where has the time gone...

@auntieP