Fresh Start

There was no dramatic ping, like a microwave or my dishwasher finishing its cycle; no fanfare or parade. It happened without ceremony - our two years is officially up.

Two years was an arbitrary measure. Just the right length for a pause in our lives. Enough time to stop, hit the reset button, recover some ground, travel, regroup, say 'to hell with it', have some adventures.

Mission accomplished.

Now it's time for W to head back to school and I feel like a parent sending their first born into reception; I'm nervous, I'm sending my baby into the hands of strangers. I don't know how he'll cope but I know he'll be fine.

W was only in school for 2 and a half years before being home educated for the following 2 years. We agonised over schools. We've learnt to be brave, to be bold and to try new things - so we lived what we had learned and settled on a new school for W where there were no ghosts, no history and a golden opportunity for him to start from a blank slate. Going back to somewhere is still going back. These days we only go forwards.

I've watched him grow from a sweet, clever, cheeky boy into a sweet, clever, cheeky boy who can cope with helmets and harnesses, new situations, being lost, wellington boots (sometimes full of mud), difficult questions, singing, short sleeves, splinters, unexpected changes, 3 legged frogs. He has faith in his abilities and so do we.

Not many people get to spend 700+ days straight with their 7 (and then 8, then 9) year old. It's lucky I like him.

K will be off to secondary school in September and W needs the time, space and independence to make friends in his year group and he's ready for the comparison, feedback and assessment of a school environment to challenge him. To enter him at the tail end of the year gives him a gentle introduction back into the system and a chance to get to know his classmates, with not long to go until the welcome break of the summer holiday before year 5 (and the 11+ ramp up <shudder>) begins.

To say I was emotional on his first day would be an understatement but he loved it. He came out smiling and he'd made a friend. S asked how it compared to home school; W's verdict : the work is easy and the waiting is boring.

Edit: Day 4, the work is now hard. But the waiting is still boring...

At home our pace is changing. With only K at home my days feel longer and quieter; my stress has halved in line with my responsibility.

It's not an end. It's just another beginning.

Bonjour Paris

My very modest attempts at French lessons had hit a wall. I'm not a natural linguist and find French hard to teach when K loves it and W doesn't. We did the basics but I was out of steam. We happened across £6 kids tickets to Paris in the budget airline sales last year (it was more expensive to get back to the UK than to leave sadly but still a bargain) so we decided on a day trip to Paris to soak up some French culture and practice the basics.

We pre-booked tickets to the Tour Eiffel which are good value although Storm Doris meant we couldn't visit the summit. A quick marvel at the engineering and the views and we were happy to tick it off the bucket list and head out for more exploring. We missed the Catacombs (I tried to pre-book tickets but was 3 minutes too late the night before - you have to book before 10pm for the next day if you're being spontaneous/disorganised like me!) but stood outside, next to the (3 hour+) queue, and showed the boys some images on my phone. We didn't get to see the bones of 6 million people, but there were roughly 6 million people in the queue so we imagined them all as skeletons and then headed off for lunch.

We ate in a lovely little cafe down a side street, managed our order, pleases and thank yous (with a bit of showing off from Mum with a very passable 'Can I pay by card' - thanks google translate). We experienced the Metro and RER and figured out signs. We walked along the river, outwitted a pick pocket (but only just) and found a play park and free toilets behind Notre Dame.

We had got up at 4am, and arrived home at midnight, as storm Doris caused yet more trouble. We were beyond tired but it had been a fabulous day.

I'd go so far as to say it was fantastique.

Off Grid

As we're nearing the end of our adventure we needed a suitably adventurous send-off and headed off for a short stay in a tree house in North Wales.

Built 30ft above the floor, with wooden spiral steps, rope bridge, no electricity, composting toilet, wood burner and a gravity powered shower (situated underneath the tree house) it's the perfect off-grid location for top quality, back-to-nature family time.

I'm still habitually observing learning opportunities so it would be remiss not to mention the links to the history curriculum - how people lived, washed and cooked before electric lights, toilets and ovens etc - as well as practical PE and DT skills with all the usual log chopping, rope swinging, climbing and walking.

When I holler 'Pack your bags, kids - we're leaving in 20 minutes!' up the stairs, the only question I'm asked is 'How many nights?' As a by-product of our various adventures (mostly to much loved Youth Hostels) they have learnt the +1 rule : 2 nights away means pack 3 of everything. In the spirit of learning through doing I never check their bags : the boys learnt through trial and error the inconvenience of forgetting to pack pants, gloves, PJs or a book. A BOGOF lesson - first in the perils of careless packing and often swiftly followed by a bonus lesson in how to share with your brother or make do (socks make great emergency gloves, turn t-shirts back to front if they're filthy, a bin bag can stand in as a poncho...).

I love the ease with which we can head off on adventures these days. Practice has made (nearly) perfect.

Wales delivered the weather you'd expect at this time of year and we waded, jumped and squelched our way through 2 days of perfect family fun for our last term time adventure.

www.living-room.co

Dad Science

Sometimes I just need a morning off.

I've no idea whether this is on the Science curriculum but they had a great time...