Life on the other side

The phone is ringing, I have a small boy hanging off my leg and a baby girl balanced on my hip.
“hello, It’s Maureen from the school, just checking you are still coming to the induction meeting tomorrow?”

Well I’ll spare you the details, but after a long and complicated conversation we established a letter was sent, but it did not make it to me, explaining Alpha has a place at nursery to start on January 26th every morning and there was a meeting for new parents, could we come childless!!! and bring child’s birth certificate….

They said I could take the children along if I had to, but it would be better if I didn’t… after a few panicked phone calls to mum and MIL (Mum in Law) I established children would have to come with me and that was that…. so after getting up early the following day and making sure everybody didn’t look too scruffy, and then struggle through the pouring rain to school…. (this is tricky as two year olds are magnetically drawn to puddles especially when not wearing wellies) we finally arrive at school.

Birth Certificate forgotten….. Weetabix encrusted on my shoe and in Alpha’s hair….not too bad??

I am not the only parent with children in tow… phew, there are 2 other children, a baby, and a little girl must be about Alpha’s age. so we are offered tea and given some toys to play with while we wait….
3 pushchairs in the room, 2 are pristine with smart changing bags hanging off the back, one looks like it is packed to cross the Sahara and by the state of it probably has at some point it has an interesting selection of crisps, leaves, mud, and possibly vomit ground into it and is dripping and steaming slowly in the corner… guess which one is mine??

So the Head Master does a little intro speech to us all… the other children sit quietly with their mum’s mine do not!

Alpha manage to get wedged under the lady next to mes’ chair, I try and extract him while she gives me a forced smile and I try and look like I am listening to the head master… then the baby starts to copy the head master talking (I think it’s a conspiracy) “Blah, Blah, Blah, Blah, Blah” The head master stops talking and looks at her and smiles, she stops shouting Blah and stares at him blankly, he starts talking again and so does she……

After we have been given lots of bits of paper and signed a million things we head off into the class rooms to be shown round, they had hidden the children away in the corner so we can see round, Alpha gets stuck right in, picks up a Djembe (African Drum) and heads over to the corner where the children are quietly sat watching TV, I am talking to one of the teachers and turn round to see them all manically dancing with Alpha at the front of the class playing the drum…… Oh my boy, you are a character and very hard work, but you don’t half give me some funny stories to tell!!