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.
