My baby girl has one month before she turns five and heads off into the big wide world of school.* How is that possible??
We have been having "school visits". Every Thursday we spend the morning up at the school with other children who are starting soon. The children get a taste of what their days will look like; they meet their teachers and future classmates. They get familiar with the layout of the school, they go on walks and learn about The Yellow Lines, which must never be crossed without an adult. They practise sitting beautifully on the mat, putting their hand up to speak and walking in a line.
Of course my Princess never actually walks anywhere. As the line progresses around the school grounds, she is the only kid skipping. But she manages to sit nicely on the mat without too much wriggling.Proud (and nervous) mums and dads stand at the back of the classroom and watch their little ones practise being school kids.
"A for Apple, A, A, Apple... B for Ball, B, B, Ball..." they chant, turning around to check that we are catching their brilliance.
When the teacher starts to hand out scissors for the Phonics activity, Princess races over to me, clearly agitated...
"Mum, Mrs Martin doesn't know I'm not allowed to use scissors!" she stage-whispers.
"What do you mean? Of course you can use scissors!" I reply, slightly confused.
"No mum, remember, I cut my hair????"
Ohhh, bless her! I forgot I had banned her!!
Yep, it's only a month til my wee girl gets pushed out of the warm kindergarten nest, and into life as a Big School Girl.
We all can't wait!
* In New Zealand children start school straight after their 5th birthday. Photos in this post were taken by my lovely friend Meg, whose adorable son will be starting school with Princess.