It is (finally) the last week of school. Here are some last-week of school thoughts.
Weather, first on my mind: It has been epicly sunny recently. I do not remember the UK ever having this much sustained sunshine. It's been hot but not too hot - even though it's getting to 80 every day it's also pretty dry and there is a breeze. I have to put suncream on the kids daily. Lily has lost two hats in school. Ezra lost a hat at a birthday party but luckily I got it back. It's warm.
Childcare: Our amazing Nanny is back full-time today after two half days. I've did two kid pick ups this week. It turns out that when I pick up kids after a full day of watching twins I am tired and worn and filled with dread, but when I pick up kids after a day of work and then only have 2 hours of watching kids and twins before dinner I really enjoy it. Interesting to know.
Sports Day Saga: Ezra and Lily finally had sports day - this was delayed twice due to rain and twice due to heat. Sports Day is a British tradition where school kids compete in egg and spoon races and other random sports and parents come and watch and it's a BIG DEAL. I knew about it before I had kids because many colleagues would take random half days from work because it was sports day.
The schools usually split into 4 or so houses that all compete. Sometimes it's hard for me to remember the difference between living in the UK and living in Harry Potter.
Teacher Gifts: I joined WhatsApp again after a long absence and got added to the school group for Lily. One of the moms sorted a present for the teachers via the chat, but besides that I'm fairly sure I'm going to leave all WhatsApp groups in August. I can see where I will sort of need it for the PTA but mostly it seems unnecessary and I still prefer text.
We bought £5 Starbucks gift cards for every teacher in the wraparound club the kids go to. I know they don't get paid much and I so appreciate having wraparound care! We will drop them off today with the card.
We also have £5 coffee vouchers to the outdoor teachers (PE/ART). Ezra made the following card for his PE teacher:
Twins have their year end party for their Friday nursery, which is at 11:15 on Friday and has a raffle. Do you love a school raffle? I do. I feel like it's so much better than donating money when I might win a really random prize. The only issues is I cannot tell if the 11:15 party has food.
End of Year Wrap Up: I think we've returned all the school books to the school. We've also donated some furniture to the after school club. The kids have loved the school lunches this week because they had sausages TWICE - I think they are using up all the leftover school food. We've had a pile of art home for Ezra. We returned bookbags and didn't get them back.
It's all winding down. Or winding up? Hard to tell.
On Friday, to celebrate the last day of school, I've invited some kids from Lily's class over for Ice Cream after school. Which means I need to get ice cream. And cones. And sprinkles.
Everything feels fast and flexible right now, which is fun but not the best for focusing in work. Maybe no one focuses in July? I'm not sure August will be the month of focus either, but professionally I'm not sure it's great to achieve nothing from May to September (which is how I feel about my year).
Is school end a distant memory for you? Do you achieve anything professionally in the summer or is it a write-off? Do you do teacher gifts, class WhastApps, or class parties? Am I insane for inviting 5 people over for post-school Ice Cream or is it a major life hack because we don't have to leave the house?
I work at a university, so the summer is the only time I have to spend on long-term projects. I am getting actual work done this month instead of just hopping from emergency to emergency. I'm also regularly strolling in late and leaving early because IT'S SUMMER!!!
ReplyDeleteAlso, sports day sounds like my worst nightmare. Poor unathletic kids.
Hi Rachel, catching up on your blog. We've been away (still are away) so reading and commenting is haphazard these days.
ReplyDeleteOur last day of school was June 18th... Seems like a long ago.
My kids have something called a "field" day and it's similar to sports day - it's mainly tug of war, games, etc. It's pretty low stakes. The thing is NJ can be suffocating in June so we slather sun screen like crazy. The kids look like ghosts they are so white with sunscreen.
Summer in regards to work- I do not work and do not get paid. By the end of August I do some mandatory online trainings but those don't take long.
We are at the half way point of a twelve week summer. I think having people over for ice cream sounds fun. There is such a fun energy here on my kids last day of school.
ReplyDeleteThis is my first summer working in 5 years and so far I’ve been keeping up with work but wouldn’t say I’m making a lot of progress. I’m not planning any more vacations this summer so I hope to be more productive in the second half of the summer than the first.
I’m happy to hear that you have your nanny back and can at least be doing different work during the work day and get the respite that offers you.
I work on a university campus but other than the students not being around (or fewer), work doesn’t feel different in the summer. Ha.
ReplyDeleteI am sure it’s a completely different ball game with four kids!
It’s funny that so many parents here talk about the summer being over when in Europe, the summer break just started…
I am so happy to hear your nanny is back!