Timely return – until half term

It’s that time of the year again when parents dust off their children’s school bags and wave goodbye to them at the school gate.

Whilst I no longer have children at school or indeed in any form of education, I still remember the mixed feelings you get as a parent when September arrives.

Initially it’s a relief to be going back to a routine.

But as it draws closer, there’s a bittersweet sensation.

You suddenly find yourself wishing you were back to those long summer days at the beginning of the holidays when everyone was relaxed and bedtime rules were thrown out the window.

But then you remember the half-way-through blues when everyone is fed up and you’re trying to juggle work and childcare and boredom, not to mention the cost of a day out.

It’s unbelievable how much a trip to a theme park or a tourist venue can cost per family.

Then the end of the summer arrives, the weather changes and you’re suddenly flung into those fraught days before school starts.

The queues to buy school shoes (how could they have grown that much?), the buying of every conceivable piece of stationery (seriously how many compasses does a child need?), through to the mad first morning when you have to get them up and out of the house in one piece.

But there’s always that first 10 minutes of peace to look forward to. Whether it’s at home in the kitchen after you’ve dropped them, or at your desk at work.

Either way don’t get too comfortable, it will soon be half term!