The summer holiday was ofcourse the longest of all school holidays. At first my girls were ecstatic for not having to wake up in the morning with thought of school or homework. They have the most enjoyable holiday and as the weeks passed by they began to miss their friends and teachers thus started looking forward to school resumption.
Welcome to motherhood back to school craziness contest and even though I was glad that my girls would be going back to school i was never ready until the dying minutes. I might use my job as an excuse but to be honest the thought of going to the market to shop for back to school items sent goosebumps down my spine. The major markets were definitely crowded with over zealous parents running helter skelter shopping for their children's school items. Trust me the vendors and sellers know how important this season is thereby increasing the prices of all back to school items.
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There are many things to be bought with limited amount of money and the best I can do was to get the important ones. Their waterbottle is still very good and it won't hurt them if they use it for one more term. I went to the nearest market and bought new underwears, foodflasks,shoes, sneakers, socks, school bags and lunch boxes for them. I was so happy that the school would be providing their text books, excercisebooks and other stationaries for them atleast it would go a long way to reduce stress for us parents but the disadvantage is that it will come at an extra cost. We will be paying higher than the actual price which some parents wouldn't mind and those that mind were left with no choice because it's the school rule.
Prior to their resumption I have received an email from the school asking the parents to come to the school with their children on Sunday against Monday resumption date so that they will get to know their children's new teacher and classes. Also the children will get to familiarize themselves with their new classes and teachers.
At first, I found it rather disturbing and wondered if the children will still not get to see their new classes and teachers on Monday. It took me all the strength in the world to finally decide to be there because Sundays are usually the days that I get to enjoy a well deserved rest. On getting to the school I discovered that it was booming alive with parents and children thus I became happy that I made the right decision. My girls get to see their new teachers and classes. The teachers were so happy to get to know their students and I have a good discussion with each of their teachers on certain areas that I needed to see improvement on my girls.
We also used that opportunity to pay the new tuition fees and it was a whole lot. The school bus fee was increased by 65% because of the outrageous increment in the price of fuel. By the time we were done the girls went out to the playground to play with their friends.
First day of school was a success and on the second day my girls were assigned to another school bus. They complained that the minder in that particular bus was mean. I became worried especially if the minder will be the one in their bus for the whole term. I asked them to let me know if she ever display a mean attitude to them again. My intention was to report her and asked that she adjust her attitude towards the children. That same day during drop off I noticed that they were in a different bus and a more cheerful minder who introduced herself and the driver to me. I took a really deep breath of relieve. The atmosphere inside the bus was enough to tell you that the children were all happy and well looked after. They were already talking about sleep overs with their new friends.
Just when I thought all was good, the school head teacher gave me a call while i was at work to plead that I should adjust myself to be able to get the girls ready for school before 5:40am.
What?!.
The roads are bad because it's still raining here coupled with the ongoing road construction and if the children are not picked on time, they will be stuck in traffic and sometimes get to school around 9:30am to 10:00am. The head teacher pleaded that they want all their children to be in school atleast 8:15am. I used to wake up by 4:00am while my girls wake up by 5:30am but after this new development I adjusted myself to wake up around 3:30am while the girls wake up by 4:30am.
Do you know what it feels like to wake up by 3:30am and have your kids leave for school around 5:30am?
That's craziness!