Transitions

It only just occurred to me today that the holidays will be over in just under two weeks.

Two weeks. I have no idea where the holidays went and am now having a little panic attack about all the things we wanted to do, but haven’t done, all the things that need to be done that we have yet to do.

Sure, we have filled our days. There have been trips to the pool and the beach. We have been to the movies and had some ill-fated trips to the shops. We did the zoo. We spent three weeks in Tasmania – surely that counts for something…?

But all that doesn’t get the shoes bought, or the blazer altered. Or the hats washed, or the socks found, the books labeled or the long promised play-dates fulfilled.

And that’s just the tangible stuff.

With this realisation that school is going back, I also realised she is going into Year Three. This means she moves from the junior school playground, to the middle school playground. She competes against the older kids in sport and will be moving to the middle school choir.

Small things to most kids, life altering to Poss. These transitions will need to be prepared for; need to be managed.

I see a social story or four being added to my list of things to do.

Yet, after a weekend like this, where she has been on edge and highly strung, I wonder if she has actually had enough of a break. Maybe she is still tired? Or maybe we have passed it now and she is bored?

There has been tears. Lots of tears. Demands, yelling, tantrums and meltdowns. She wants the whole world at the moment, everything she sees from the sublime to the ridiculous, and yet, she wants nothing. She cries for glasses she doesn’t need and won’t eat anything other than ice-cream for lunch, yet can’t think of a suitable birthday present for herself.

She is struggling to focus and can’t sit still. Back to throwing herself of the furniture and rolling on the floor. We took her to a circus school open day, which she loved until it started to get busy, noisy and then another child got in her way.

“I hate other children” she declared loudly as she made for the door, and that was the end of that.

We have a full week ahead, with us trying to squish as much holiday fun in as we can. But I think I will have to find the time to start this transition stuff. Start talking about heading back to school; label the books and buy the shoes.

Otherwise, I fear the first week back will have a similar ending to the visit to the circus school.

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Don’t forget I have a giveaway going at the moment...