Looming December

Suddenly it's Christmas. The kids have 2 and a half weeks left of school/preschool and playgroup. Ruby had her preschool graduation last week, our very last one! It was a bittersweet occasion, we have been so lucky to have had all our kids at this wonderful preschool, as one parent said, it feels like you're dropping your kids with their Aunties for the day, it is so warm and homelike. Another chapter closed.

Ruby has had a couple of transition sessions at Big School, and (thank god) has decided that she will go to school next year. Her Year 6 "buddy" is a lovely girl (I kind of orchestrated that pairing, lol, as a great many of the girls in that year seem to be the simpering kind of preteens), who has 2 little sisters around Ruby's age. Ruby is greatly enamoured of her 'best friend Emily' and says hello to her shyly in the playground.

The next couple of weeks will be so busy! Declan's class is doing many varied Christmas Craft activities, so i will be helping out there with the other parents. Simon's class is doing the 2 week swim-scheme, which are the government funded swimming lessons. Simon has finally, finally, got some confidence in the water, so he is actually looking foward to it this year, and all 3 kids will be doing lessons in the summer holidays as well.

Dexie has had a difficult week. There is a whole lot of construction going on at school at the moment, a new library is being built. Fantastic! But the site happens to be right next to Declan's classroom, and all day long there is the constant noise of chainsaws, mulchers, diggers etc etc as all the trees are cut down and the site levelled. Last Tuesday Declan came out of school as white a sheet. When he came home he just lay on my lap and sobbed. The noise had totally overwhelmed him and he was beside himself by the afternoon. The next day the teacher sent him to another classroom where he spent some time on the computer with the headphones on, and he was a much calmer boy. It's days like this that make me feel much better about having an official diagnosis for him, as all it took was that simple step to move him from the noisy environment. Everyone understood, no fuss was made and Declan just got on with his day.

I am trying to plan a birthday party/ bbq for Ruby's birthday. I have invited 5 families for a 'last hurrah' so to speak. Most of them I see through playgroup, one family will be moving away next year, the opportunities to see eachother will have to be made, rather then just happen as they do now.