Sheds and Schools

I have decided that I our house is essentially not that different from the tree house that my Dad built myself and my brother and sister. It moves in the wind and the rain thunders on the roof. You can also feel the gusts through the windows just like in the tree house which had no glass. Double glazing seems to be unheard of over here.

We have been having some very windy and wet weather over the last few days. The gusts have been between 100-140km/hr and the rain has been falling in sheets. I was lying in bed last night and I could feel the whole house rattle and shake. It was like sleeping in a rather rickety old shed. I now realise why all the curtains in the house are so well lined, its obviously to keep out the drafts, a kind of linen double glazing. This morning there had been another landslide across the rail tracks causing delays into Wellington again and the sea was a murky brown colour as opposed to the glittering blue/green it is most days.

I have not been able to post over the weekend like I normally do as we have all been getting ready for my daughters first trial day at school. She gets to go to school for an hour today, Tuesday and Wednesday, to meet her teacher, class mates and get used to the routine. This happens for two weeks until she actually starts school on her 5th birthday. I think I have said before on my blog that I really like the NZ way of starting school on your birthday as it makes it all very individual. Well after the next month I will be able to confirm whether it works as well as I think it will!

This morning we picked up J (my oldest daughter) from Kindy just before 11am and took her across to the school next door. We were taken from the school office to her classroom. It was break time so there were kids milling around everywhere. Her teacher Ms Griffin introduced herself and showed J were to put her coat. J then met all her class mates (there are only 13 in her class) who came up to say hello. Most of them she already knew as they had been to her Kindy. J was led away by a nice girl called Holly and taken to do some drawing at a desk. From this point on it was clear I was no longer needed. So I tried very hard not to show that this was somewhat upsetting and took my remaining baby to have a hot chocolate and a fluffy in the local cafe.

When we returned an hour later the first thing J said was "can I not stay the whole day Mummy!". I am now obviously completely redundant!

This afternoon we went shopping to get a new school bag and lunch box.