ALEX JONES
LOOKS AHEAD TO HER SON’S FIRST DAY AT SCHOOL — AND WELCOMING HER DAUGHTER
TV presenter Alex Jones bade a tearful farewell to BBC’s The One Show and caught up with
hello! for our Back to School digital issue before going on maternity leave. Her third child – a girl – is due this autumn.
The 44-year-old star, who is also preparing her eldest son Ted, four, for his first day of school and dealing with her other son Kit’s “terrible twos”, joked: “It’s lucky I don’t like the quiet life.”
Alex, who married insurance broker Charlie Thomson in 2015, said nothing will stop her taking Ted to class for his first day of school in September.
“Oh my gosh, even if I’ve had the baby an hour before I wouldn’t miss it for the world. I think it’s a rite of passage as a parent.
“Both Charlie and myself will probably go. I will sob; I mean, I’m filling up now thinking about it. We will then go for a coffee and gather ourselves.
“The great thing about the job I do is that I will be able to take him into school. It’s the evenings that are trickier, so it’s really important to me that I’m the one that’s present and able to drop him off. Gosh, especially in the first few weeks. Even if I’m in labour, I’m just going to have to cross my legs and pop in the car and take it. It’s going to be emotional, so emotional. But I think I’m just hormonal anyway!
“Charlie is slightly relieved that at least one is at school age and going to be out of the house for five days a week. But I’m just terribly sentimental and I know that I will be one of those mothers who’s a blubbering wreck when I see him in his little uniform for the first time.
“I’ve loved having Ted as a baby and a toddler and now as a little boy. I do feel sad that our mornings that we spend together, we won’t be able to do any more. But I’m really trying to make the most of this precious summer – like going on picnics, just the two of us – because you really don’t get this time back.”
Alex – who competed in the ninth series of Strictly Come Dancing with pro dancer James Jordan – says she is preparing as much as she can. “Ted is a little bit anxious and he keeps saying: ‘Mama, I’ll be shy. I’m not sure.’ I’m trying to say: ‘It’s going to be really good fun,’ when half of me is thinking: ‘Oh God, it is so overwhelming, isn’t it?’ Even for adults, when we start a new job or whatever change we go through, change is sometimes hard to deal with.
“We’re reading a really good book, Starting School, that was suggested by another parent. I
bought it for Ted for Christmas. It’s a classic book and it explains what to expect on the first day. It’s about a group of children and it says: ‘On the first day, David went into the class with his parents,’ and it goes through the weeks, and then you end at the Christmas concert and that’s the end of term and it’s time for the holidays. And that has been invaluable because Ted now knows what to expect.
EMBRACING CHANGE
“And he says: ‘Oh Mama, it’s gonna be really similar to nursery; there’s a home corner, there’s a dressing-up corner.’ And I said: ‘Yeah, it’s really not a million miles away.’ And I think that’s settled him a lot, because he’s a little boy who doesn’t like change. So that makes me nervous going into September with a new school, a new baby and potentially a new house. Oh my God. Classic!
“But I think he’s excited about it. Beforehand, I’ll take him around the school and say: ‘This is how we’ll walk or drive here every day. Let’s go buy your uniform. Let’s have some playdates with some boys and girls who will be in your class.’
“Oh, my goodness, I never opt for the easy option. But I quite enjoy the chaos and I think that’s the only way to embrace it, because it is chaotic and about to get even more chaotic once our little girl arrives.
“Obviously, starting school is a big milestone for any parent. I can’t believe it’s come around so quickly. And we’re so grateful that we have a little girl on the way. I keep asking Kit: ‘ What’s in Mummy’s tummy?’ and he goes: ‘Honey.’ He has no idea. I think he thinks it’s lockdown weight!
“Balancing the three of them with a full-time job, as any mother will tell you is, on some days, insurmountable. It’s so huge. But I think what you get back from it, and they can be rare moments, when you think: ‘They all make me laugh, and they’re all getting on really well,’ it’s worth it. And they won’t be this young forever. In the blink of an eyelid, they will be at that stage where they’re not so reliant on us any more.
“It is a lot and I just take every day, one day at a time – take a big, deep breath. I rely on a lot of chats with girlfriends who are in similar positions. I rely on chatting to Mum at the end of each day, and she’s my sounding board, because you never think you’re doing it right.
“More than that, I just try and do it with a smile on my face and we count ourselves lucky that we are in a position where we have got two lovely children and another on the way and fulltime jobs. It is a complete blessing.”