A whole new world..

I’ve been so very conscious of time this year, Hannah’s Year R has sped by at a ridiculous speed and I’ve proudly watched on as my little girl, the youngest in her class has thrived in her new environment. It’s not easy being one of the little ones, and I’ll never know whether my decision to start her on half days was the right one or whether it made it harder to her to settle and feel like a full member of the class. She had months of being worried about playing in the big playground, but thanks to lots of support from school is now happy and confident all day long. I no longer need to worry about her wandering around by herself looking for her big sister for support, she can now manage by herself, find her own friends and join in their games. Although she doesn’t have a best friend, I know she always has people to play with and makes new friends easily.

I still look in the back of the car and can’t quite believe all my children are at school, how my littlest girl spends her days without me, I imagine her carrying her lunch tray to her table, picturing the water slopping everywhere, sat busily at the table in her classroom writing or playing imaginative games in the outdoor area.

I worried before Hannah started how she would manage the school work being compared to children almost a year older, but Hannah has astonished us all. Her reading is amazing, we frequently sit back astonished as she sounds out long words, reading books I wouldn’t have expected her to be capable of until way into Year 1. The world has suddenly come alive with words for her and it’s just magical to watch. She constantly reads signs, packets in the Supermarket and anything else she can see around her.

“That pub serves food ALL DAY Mummy” or with a cheeky whisper in my ear “That man is called Tom, it says on his badge”.

One day last week when all was eerie quiet upstairs I found her sat cross legged on her bed reading a book to herself, her lips mouthing the words as she read. She still seems so young to me, it’s hard to believe she is so grown all of a sudden.  As much as I have missed her at home this year, I have loved watching her blossom. I look forward to seeing her smiling little face at the end of the day, even at the latter half of the week when the smiles become more short lived and my cheerful little munchkin is replaced by a tired, grumpy girl I barely recognise, but I know that after a cuddle, a snack and a rest my loving little Hannah will be back, quick with kiss and a new phase of kind little notes. However bad my own day has been, she can always make me smile again.