01 February 2010

The End of Summer

Another summer, another vacation is over
A September morning with the sun and the smell of the clover
Down by the gate we sit and we watch all our friends go by
And pretend we don't hear the bell that rings through the summer sky

"Heartbeat" - George Michael

Except that summer has only just begun in the last couple of weeks, and it is February not September. But the sentiment is the same - the summer holidays are over and it's time to go back to preschool, and yet I don't really want to.

Kathleen and Victoria went back to daycare last week (1 day for Tora, 3 for Kat). Playcentre and ballet start back this week and playgroups next week.

When the summer holidays began six weeks ago I thought it would be a very long summer with two pre-schoolers at home every day. But it's actually turned out to be pretty good. Except perhaps when Kathleen wants to play Sleeping Beauty for the umpteenth time.

We've been keeping pretty busy. We've gone for a long drive about once a week, to either Palmerston North, Paraparaumu or Wellington. I thought the car trips would be difficult but Victoria is generally pretty happy in the car and Kathleen now enjoys playing games as we drive. Plus we've listened to copious amounts of Wiggles, general kids music and ABBA. Yes, both girls are big fans of Mamma Mia the musical. Sometimes when we've had a bad day I'll put the singalong on, and we'll all dance and sing and shout and be silly, and it really lifts our spirits.

The weather for the first half of the holidays sucked, very wet and cool. But the last couple of weeks have been hot and sunny. Victoria has spent most of January naked. Her potty training is coming along quite well, and most times she'll use the potty rather than have an accident. But I'm not sure I'm ready to take the plunge into knickers just yet.

I guess one thing that has helped the holidays go quickly is all the distractions we've had with Christmas and Kathleen's birthday, Peter being home for a couple of weeks over Christmas, and Peter's mum coming to stay a couple of weeks ago. Plus we've been to the zoo, movies, library, playground. There's been no shortage of things to do.

I think the thing I've enjoyed the most over the summer has been just not having to rush out anywhere in the mornings. We've been able to get up and take our time over breakfast, sometimes even watching TV while we eat. And if we don't finish breakfast or get dressed till 10am, then that's fine. Or if we don't get dressed at all, that's fine too.

However seeing the smiles on the girls faces when I picked them up from daycare last week, not smiles of being happy to see me (although there was some of that) but smiles because they'd had a great day, reminded me that although it can be a pain being having to rush out the door every morning and being so busy, it is actually worthwhile for them to interact with other kids. So while I may be sad that our special time is at an end, I know that they're still happy and enjoying themselves wherever they are. And that's all that matters.

-Megz