Ella's first day at primary school

There are umpteen heart-wrenching moments in the life of a parent - your child's first day at big school has to be very near the top of that list!

The build up to Ella's first day at Curro Aurora was pretty exciting, but fairly daunting - the preparation for Graduation from Gr R at Wendy's pre-school, to school meetings, the purchase of Gr 1 text books, uniforms and the final packing of the school bag, took place over a few months. So many proud moments!

Used to only leaving home at 07h50 to get to school by 08h00, I realised that, in order to get two little girls out of bed, dressed, fed and to school before 07h30, I had better get my own butt out of bed, and ready before they even wake up. So (much to my horror) 05h30 is my new time to rise and shine!

On Wednesday 9 January, I was up and dressed before 6h10 when Ella's alarm was set to go off. Reading messages for her, received on my phone from family and friends, left me with a lump in my throat, helping her into her smart new uniform left me gulping for air, but smiling with pride.

I'll never forget Ella's first day - or her excitement at the end of it. It was such a relief to have her jump into my arms and tell me how much she had enjoyed her day. It's wonderful now to see her so excited to learn Afrikaans and Zulu and she can't get enough of her numbers - long may that last! She makes sure every night that I have seen and signed her Comms book, she dresses herself each morning with such care and proudly tucks her shirt into her skort (it's almost as long as the skort itself) before she brushes her hair until it shines.

The first week wasn't an easy one, Ella takes a while to settle, she doesn't deal well with change, and each day she cried great big crocodile tears as we arrived at school. Each day since has been easier though, her Dad had a good chat with her last week and she has been so brave. These days I leave her on the playground, with a bunch of other little girls, all chatting about their plans for the day.

Come 2016, I'll be dropping my little Jem off at big school. Completely different to her sister, she'll be one of those kids who can barely spare the time for a goodbye hug before she dashes off to play. Jem's biggest challenge will be having to keep socks and shoes on for an entire morning!

xoxo