July madness

So it's here,  July has arrived. Well actually, it arrived eight days ago, but as its July I've only just managed to get round to posting this.

You see July in England is the end of the school term, which means everyone (me included) goes into hyper mode of things that have to be done before the end of term, and special events to mark the end of a year ( well it is a whole 6 weeks before we see everyone again). Except this year it's worse. 

My youngest leaves junior school in 9 days (not that I'm counting). This means Induction days and evenings for the new school, but also a leavers party, a leavers service, and a leavers play. Preparations are apace, they all collide to form a spinning whirl next week, at which I will be somewhere spinning in the middle.

See as a working Mum I nearly hold it all together, some of the time. Putting on an additional layer on top pushes me neatly over, and I sit looking at the forms, lists and washing feeling totally out of control. Yet this is just the surface of what's going on, as this is about an end of an era, and me letting my daughter move to the next stage of independence. No more walking to school with Mum (I miss those chats) no more standing in the school playground (even though I often felt out of place in my work clothes it suddenly seems good) its the end of a pattern I've been doing for 10 years.

Last week another request from school- old photos required for the leavers play. Inwardly I groaned, another thing to squeeze in, on the clock of no time. Tonight I went and looked, and couldn't quite believe how quickly time had gone, from the first pictures of school.

It went from chore to memory lane. You see July is actually about making these last 9 days special, of building memories that can't be got back. Be prepared for a few more posts over the next two weeks as a Mum tries not to get caught in the spinning whirl, takes her head out of the lists, and appreciates the moment.

Jane