The First Day of School

Last Thursday we probably reached one of the biggest milestones yet.  After so many years of spending his time in creche, he entered the big school life. It’s hard to believe that time has come already. He looks so grown up in his uniform. It’s very surreal.

Being the good parent that I am, I took Thursday and Friday off to drop him off to school and also collect him. He knew from the start that creche would drop him off on the bus and also collect him. He was very excited about that but we didn’t start that until this week. Thursday morning arrived and we all made sure we got up on time. At first he wasn’t too keen on wearing a shirt. In fact he has never worn a shirt in his five years of existence. I talked him around though. Hubby dropped Chloe off to creche. She wasn’t happy at all because normally she goes together with Matthew.

The school boy had his breakfast just so he has his full energy ready to go and enter school life. The school is pretty much around the corner from where we live. As we have never walked it before, hubby decided to drive us there. We didn’t get far. There was traffic on the main road as you come out of our estate so we left the car in the next estate and walked the rest. It turns out that there is a shortcut to the school that we never knew of. This basically drops the walking time to school to only fifteen minutes.

Us parents were probably more nervous than Matthew was. He walked happily to school and he was very nosy looking into the room while queuing up to get his sticker with his name on it by his teacher.  There were already a lot of parents with their kids in the room so Matthew had a limited amount of seats to pick from but he picked one right beside the door. Another boy sat right next to him. Each table had a few boxes of blocks and sticks to keep them entertained and I suppose keep their mind busy so they don’t think about the change too much.

The teacher wanted all the parents out as soon as possible. We were only with him for a few minutes until we heard we had to leave as soon as we can. He was settled anyway and was happily building his blocks. Whereas some other children you really felt sorry for them as they were crying for mummy or daddy. It’s all a bit overwhelming. Taking the uniform aside, the place looked like the creche to Matthew, just with new people in it. His two other friends were next door in the other class and he plays with them in the yard when they have break time.

I got him and was constantly looking at the clock. There were tasks I needed to do but they just weren’t coming into mind as I was watching that clock the whole time. Hubby and I collect him together. He had a great day and learnt the ABC. That’s what he told us anyway. He also received a sticker and a cert for doing so well on his first day.

As I love traditions I couldn’t resist making Matthew a Schultuete (school cone). This has been a tradition in Germany for so many decades. I think it’s a lovely idea to get them excited for school and also a treat for when they come home from their first day. It’s so easy to make. I filled the cone with school related stuff such as pencils, a ruler with his name on it and colouring pens. With that he also received a colouring in book. I could not forget the sweets of course. This included lollipops, Skittles, smarties and milky way. He was in heaven. Oh and there was bubbles and a new hot wheels car, too.

The rest of the day we spent some quality time painting and building Lego until we went off to collect Chloe from creche. The second day we walked to and from school. He sat down in confidence, I gave him a kiss goodbye and he was happy. Since yesterday he has been going on the bus from and to creche. He was telling me all about it and he waved to daddy when he went on it firs time. Long may it last… the love for school and buses.