motherhood

June 1st…to return or not?

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Since Boris announced that he was hoping for schools to get back as soon as 1st June this subject has been big on my mind. As a mum of a reception child it was a huge shock hearing the age groups they decided to send back. Most parents of a child around 4-5 years old will agree they don’t like to keep still for long and you need eyes in the back of your head to watch what they are up to. I can’t even fathom the pressure teachers are going to feel to keep these distancing measures in place.

I’m not up to speed on all the science etc behind this awful virus. I don’t know all the figures or details of age groups mostly affected, all I know is my view as a mother of my children. As I currently write this I am about 90% sure that I won’t be sending Joey to school. Our school has yet to share any detail of their plans on how they will keep the children and staff safe in school. Obviously I want to hear it before I make the best choice for us. I have a little boy who is really wanting to return to all his friends. He also isn’t old enough to comprehend what it will be like to have to try and stay two meters away from them. I mean I’ve seen grown adults who don’t seem to be able to grasp the concept. I want to make an informed choice not just on my wishes but also on his. My sole job is to protect him the best way I can.

I know many key worker children have had no choice but to be in school. This must be so difficult for their wonderful Parents. I also feel that by returning more children to school, that really don’t need to be there, will be placing more risk on those children that don’t have a choice. I am also aware that if we send our children back their core learning is going to be focused on social and emotional well being. They are not going to be able to share toys or take a book out the library to learn to read. I am such a big fan of working on children’s emotional well being, do I feel this is the right way to go about it? No!

The other argument in the topic is that things may not be any better by September. I agree with this completely so why not wait? why not have the time to create proper plans structures etc instead of causing potential distress and upset for around 5 weeks. God forbid Joey became ill and ended up on oxygen or worse a ventilator. Would those 5 weeks of learning social skills from a distance be worth it? NO!

I am speaking only on my own thoughts for my child personally. Every child is different and every parent will have different views. It will be an impossible task to keep everyone happy but I believe this is a time to trust yourself, maybe go against the grain.

 

 

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The summer term has started!

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The Easter holidays are done! When school closed today was the day the children should of gone back. I’ve said it before but I actually enjoy having them at home.

I did a lot of my own Planning as I feel it’s super important to keep them learning and wanted to give ‘proper’ home schooling a go. So I have used YouTube, Pinterest, Twinkl and just general google searches to find out what my children ‘need’ to know for their current age and how to teach it.

Something I have found that I feel maybe hasn’t been picked up or perhaps, in a class for of 30 kids hasn’t been noticed is that my son Joey (5) is really advanced especially in Maths. He can easily do addition and subtraction (faster then my brain haha) so I’ve decided to jump in and start multiplication. I’ve delved into the knowledge of phonics!! I didn’t even realise this was a thing until Joey started school. He is beginning to read a lot more confidently and his writing is improving. All of this is through one to one attention.

Penny (3) should be starting her 15 hours of nursery from today. There wasn’t a space for her in the current school Joey is at until September so she wasn’t going to be starting anyway but I figured I would give her snippets of learning along with Joey for however long I could keep her attention. Now she has been very behind when it comes to her speech due to hearing difficulties, the by no means has ever held her back in anything. We sat down today and I wrote a P and she instantly copied me! That was easy (phew) I kept her attention for around 5 minutes (I guess I’m pretty boring) and then she went for break and never returned. Oh the beauty of home school.

I have done some research into home schooling and what it’s really like but have found that many of the Facebook groups etc are quiet unwelcoming in the current situation and are very quick to say that this is not ‘true’ homeschooling as a lot of it is still teacher led! Through my research I found that homeschooling works best of you don’t turn your house into a school. So I took the approach today of trying to make a game out of almost everything we learnt. My favourite part of the day was when I read a story and Joey acted it out as I read it. It made such a difference and was a lot more fun then just sitting and reading a book. (Btw reading is my absolute favourite thing to do but 5 year olds like to move) I’m still in the process of building new ideas for mummy school as I call it!

We were loud today, we learnt in the garden, we took a break exactly when we needed it and we enjoyed learning with a difference. I’m just trying to embrace what’s been sent to me and really use this time to build on my children’s education but in my own way. I would love to hear and read about other people experience, even if you do it full time!

Thanks for reading

Amy x

The next step.

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Part of the reason I started this blog was to find something to do to keep my mind busy in the quiet moments. I wanted to do something I loved and that is writing. I might not be brilliant at it, I might not know all the correct grammar and even sometimes the correct spelling but it helps and I enjoy it so that’s all that matters.

I wanted to be open and honest about my Journey with anxiety. As I have said before it is such a taboo subject and people including myself are afraid to openly talk about it. I think it’s partly because for anyone that hasn’t been through it, it’s difficult to understand. On Friday I went to my first therapy session. I have decided that I need to work through my issues as I don’t want to be on my medication all my life. I want to be able to work on my own mind to make it strong enough to eventually be without it.

When discussing what road I wanted to go down the therapist gave me two options. She said that we could do as follows:

counselling sessions

These sessions would focus on past situations and we could talk them over and work through any feelings I had surrounding them.

Cognitive behavioral therapy

These sessions are designed to help focus on the right now. We can’t change our past and we can’t control our future. This therapy helps you learn how to focus on the now. It gives you techniques to cope with stressful and worrying situations.

I have decide to got for the CBT. I don’t really want to dwell on my past, Like I said it can’t be changed. I also don’t want to waste my time worrying about things that may or may not ever happen. I want to live in the now, I want to enjoy every minute I have and I want to raise my children with this mindset. I don’t want to pass any of my anxiety to them.

So this is the journey I have decided to take. I will update you all on my sessions and I will pass on anything that I learn. I hope sharing my story can help at least one person out.

Thanks for reading!

Amy X

 

Date night!

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Well we have made it to date night!! So far Penny hasn’t caught scarlet fever and Joey’s antibiotics have kicked in and he is feeling much better. So I have packed them up and will soon be taking them to my Mum’s house.

We are so excited to go out and actually enjoy a meal and not have to inhale it. I think its so important to have some time for just us and to actually have a conversation that isn’t interrupted by one of our children. I always get a bit anxious leaving the kids. Even though I know they are in good hands with my Mum I just like to be there to tend to their every need! I think this is maybe the second time I have left Penny even though she is almost 15 months, She has been such a bad sleeper but I am sure I will miss her more then she will miss me. Joey is very excited to go as he has been stuck in the house most of the week with scarlet fever.

I’m going to go and check their bags for about the 100th time now to make sure they have everything they need haha!

Thanks for reading!

Amy x