Changes

...and the next adventure begins.

The long school holidays are over and life has returned to packed lunches, ballet lessons and homework.

This time though things are a little different. The comfort and familiarity of the walk to the primary school at the top of the hill has been replaced with the bus ride or the lift to the city. 

This is High School territory.

This is...

... jam packed (and crazy heavy) school bags; 

...locker combinations; 

...timetable abbreviations; 

...lunchtime meetings; 

...7am activities;

...new friendships. 

This is a whole new world and a massive adventure.

We are in the steep learning curve. The 5.45am alarm is taking some getting used to (well definitely for me, anyway!)  Sibs however, is able to jump out of bed and become instantly wide awake. 

So far she has managed to remember her hat daily and the violin or the sports kit on the allocated days....and they have all come home again! I consider that a great start.

I am enjoying, no, make that loving watching her enthusiasm and smiley face as she recalls her day. I silently punched the air when she told me that she was enjoying maths. She was nervous about this subject so thank you, thank you lovely maths teacher.

There are so many new things to take on board - even the names of some of the subjects, it's all so grown up!

On the whole the transition has been remarkably positive. 

There have been a few moments though....

There's been the laptop that was 'charging' without being plugged in!

The first time she started at 7am and didn't pack an extra snack to see her through until morning break.

The time the bus was a little late.

The afternoon I found her sitting cross legged on the floor of her bedroom in from of her mirror checking to see how much of her back brace was showing through the material of her blouse.

That one was a little tough....

Sibs is a reasonably confident kid, but I have to remember that however well she has adapted to many things during these last few months, some things are just tough. 

How does she share her back brace with another seventeen new girls in her class? She wants to - she just doesn't quite know how to. 

We're working on it and I have every faith that we'll get there when the time is right.

So I have spent a few mornings this last week or so just sitting watching a little bit of the world from my front deck in the sunshine. I have reminded myself to take things each day at a time. The quiet rhythm of the ripple stitch crochet blanket that I'm working on definitely helps to slow the mind and it seems that Modlen the cat has taken quite a liking to it too.

2015 is marching on but I'm keeping up!