Back to Work After the Half Term

We’ve had a fantastic half term holiday as you can see! It was great to just kick back for a few days, enjoy some walks, do a load of art and craft, play games, enjoy movies snuggled under blankets and have no deadlines to worry about.  There might have been more than one day in the last week which found us still in our PJs at tea-time and I don’t feel even a little bit guilty!

Today however is back to school, back to pre-school and back to work day. Being a clever and organised Mum *cough* I found Kieran’s PE kit hanging under heavy school coats and needing attention after 4pm yesterday. No drama one would think (thankful for the modern conveniences of the washing machine and tumble dryer) until opening the bag. It contained one plimsoll and a school fleece. No shorts, no outdoor sports trainers, no jogging bottoms, spare socks or t-shirt.

We scrambled around and gathered together a motley arrangement of replacements and Kieran has had a flea in his ear about looking after his things and has been sent off to school today to find his original kit in school lost property (much to his disgust!).

That carry-on overcome I cleared my desk, made sure that I had a fresh notepad, sharpened pencils and filled Kieran’s pencil case, made up packed lunches, laid out uniform and clothes for Taylor and made sure everything was ok before going to bed.

This morning…. Everyone was showered and changed in good time. Taylor dropped juice down his clothes and needed a complete change, I realised I’d forgotten dinner money and had to shoot off at the crack of dawn to go to the cashpoint and then…  two minutes before we were due to set off Kieran tells me he only has one school shoe.

One.

In my hallway we have a small bookcase with a basket for gloves and hats, hooks for school bags and bits and pieces and shelves for shoes and boots worn regularly. Kieran’s school shoes have been sat in their allotted space for the whole week yet this morning one is missing (I suspect 3yr old led foul play).  Running out of time we ran around looking for the missing shoe and in the end I’ve sent his nibs out wearing trainers (his good trainers which we’d stuffed into his gym bag to replace the ones that are missing).

I’m ready for another holiday already and have spent time Googling late deals from the UK to a wide range of destinations worldwide and dreaming of a restful Easter break after which we may come home rejuvenated and find everything where we left it and ready for going back to school!

I’m now at my desk, have had two caffeine laden coffees and am ready to get started on sorting out the 403 emails sat waiting for me (madness!) and organise my diary /to-do list into some sort of calm, grown-up and gym-bag free order.

I do love half term with the kids but the transition from holiday to back to work and school doesn’t always run so smoothly! Is it just me?

 

*This post was written in collaboration will the mentioned business however is true to my own thoughts, feelings and experiences

Back to School with Asda and George

When the lovelies at Asda offered to send me a back to school care package I was very pleased to say the least! Our package included polo shirts, a lunch box and a pencil case.

The polo shirts I was thrilled to receive as I’ve had these from George (Asda) before. I have a (now) seven year old son who arrives each day at school neat, tidy and shiny and comes home looking like he’s been dragged through a hedge backwards. This means white tshirts don’t stay white for long and thankfully these clean up brilliantly on a relatively cool wash without becoming murky. Starting at just £3 makes them all the more attractive to me who seems to spend a small fortune each summer restocking uniform, PE kit and everything else!

Next up was a generously sized pencil case with owls on it. This was proclaimed as “too girly” so has been shamelessly stolen… by me. Kieran doesn’t actually need to take a pencil case or tin into school yet however does need stationery and bits and pieces for him homework box. The range at Asda are high quality and won’t break the bank either.

Sistema from Asda

Last but not least (and my personal favourite) is the Sistema Slim Quaddie in blue. This is a lunch box which has a number of small sections which are easy to open and the bottom features a large compartment perfect for bagels, sandwiches etc. Kieran adores this, and there is one section that holds a conveniently sized juice bottle. If your child wants to use a different one this bottle could be used at home and the section would hold more foodie goodies. Kieran has tested his over the summer at his play-scheme and it is the perfect size to fit inside a lunch bag with a handle and still fit a normal sized juice bottle at the same time.

Kieran had hot school dinners at the end of last year but has asked to go back to packed lunch mainly because of his fun new lunch box.

Asda have come up trumps for us in the past when it comes to Back To School, and continue to do so. You may now use Paypal on the Asda Direct site too which is handy for many.  Check out the full range here.

*We received these items free of charge and were asked to write an honest and open review which we have.