Growing into them pains

Being a parent is full of highs and lows '“ and there's no bigger rollercoaster than when your not-so-little ones start high school.
Aasma DayAasma Day
Aasma Day

Everyone remembers that mixture of excitement and trepidation when starting secondary school.

For that first week or so, you feel astounded by the vastness of your new school and the gigantic size of some of the older pupils.

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And it’s an absolute minefield trying to get your head around having different teachers for every subject in different classrooms and trying to find your way around the maze of a school.

This was the biggest hurdle for me when I started “big school” as everything was so huge and confusing.

I’ve never had a good sense of direction so I’d often find myself traipsing down interminable rabbit warren like corridors desperately trying to find the room I had double history in.

With all new pupils being in the same boat, teachers are usually pretty understanding – to a point.

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But when you turn up to a lesson late weeks into the new term wailing: “I got lost!”, their patience wears thin.

Bring in satnavs for secondary school pupils that’s what I say! That’s an invention that’d do well on Dragon’s Den.

It’s been an emotional time for parents of children starting primary school or making the transition to high school.

For us, it’s been a double whammy as having twins means seeing both children leave primary school and we’ve have felt tears welling in our eyes thinking: “Our babies have grown up.”

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Our twosome were giddy with excitement at the thought of starting secondary school.

Used to nursery when they were younger and holiday clubs for childcare while myself and Hubby have been at work, they revealed no nerves or fear and were bubbling with enthusiasm at the thought of their new adventure.

And they instantly knocked back our offer of accompanying them on their first day as they were determined to be independent from the start.

We consoled ourselves with the thought that at least they had each other.

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Happily, the first week of their new school life has gone smoothly. They don’t seem to have been fazed by deciphering timetables nor have they followed my footsteps by constantly getting lost.

Their excitement hasn’t been dampened yet and they’re still full of the thrill of discovering new things and studying fresh topics. Let’s see how long it lasts.

The sight of seeing their children dressed in their pristine and slightly too big school uniforms has many parents reaching for their hankies.

We felt engulfed with pride at seeing our son and daughter looking very smart and grown up in their new uniform.

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In these days of social media, it’s not just parents who are greeted by this sight but all their friends as they post photographs of them in their new school clobber all over Facebook.

Personally, I love seeing Facebook pictures of children looking smart and grown up in their new uniforms and I enjoy sharing their parents’ pride.

For those who get sick of seeing “first day at school” photos, I’d suggest steering clear of Facebook during early September.

One of the things that made me chuckle was the sight of so many children drowning in their too big for them uniforms bought by thrifty parents to allow room to grow into during the school year.

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We were guilty of it ourselves and did have to suppress our giggles when we first saw our son slightly swamped in his school blazer. He’ll grow into it.

The best “you’ll grow into them” tale I heard was from a friend who played football with a lad when he was younger whose parents bought him an expensive pair of football boots with his name and player number emblazoned on them.

Keen to get her £140 worth out of the personalised boots, his mum bought them three shoe sizes too big so he had to stuff them with socks.

But during one game, when his manager told him to play as number eight, the boy began crying and refused to play as his football boots said he was number nine!

He’d have got sick of those footy boots long before growing into them.

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