On Parenting: School begins

The beauty about the children going back to school is that it brings a huge semblance of order in my life. For starters, I wake up early to get them ready for school and get into town early. Experience is proving that the mornings, when well utilised, can be the most productive part of the day. The other alternative for me would be to work late in the evening when everyone has left as I tend to work better with minimal or no distractions.

So, school has started and I will tell you that this is something I was not looking forward to at all. Because I was so full of dread for it, I made huge efforts to mentally prepare myself for the stress and trauma that comes with the children going back to school. After the Christmas break, it was just a matter of time before we would be heading to school and here we are…the term started.

As we got to school, the young man was quick and loud in his announcement. “I’m so happy…I will be seeing my friends again. I can’t wait to see Jayden…”

His excitement failed to rub onto me but I was glad that he was excited about school. Because it’s a new year and new classes, the older child will have a lot more work and I had a candid discussion with her to the same effect. She has really relaxed during the holiday and put on some weight as a result something I’m not certain I’m really excited about. But I let her be because I knew the new school term was going to be rigorous...it always is and sometimes it feels like it only gets worse. The beauty though is how the children are able to adjust and come to speed with what is required of them.

School generally gets all of us organised as the schedule is quite straight forward. Because of the work and home requirements and because there is no house-help, school time gets us all planning and being creative. With the planning we find there are set targets and an orderly way of doing things. All this encourages productivity and growth which we would have otherwise missed out on.

Even the youngest member of the house is required to plan and organise his things so that there is a smooth flow…vital skills for any human being is you ask me. So, grudgingly, I will celebrate the onset of another school term.

jmabola@yahoo.com