School's In

Probably the most significant day yet of our time in Queensland occurred yesterday, when all three kids started school. For Ben it was the first day ever - but if he had any nerves or misgivings, they were not on show for us to spot! Nathan too seemed to be full steam ahead - bring it on. Stephanie was probably the most nervous, but even she was looking forward to getting back into the environment where she had other girls to play with and mental stimulation as well.

That leaves Mum and Dad. I think Shelley in particular was taken by how big of a day this was - that after nearly 10 years since Nathan was born, she was for the first time going to have all the children off her hands for hours at a time on a daily basis. I decided to take some time off work and go along with the family to make sure it all went well.

At home - each of the kids got themselves dressed up in their smart new uniforms, then presented themselves to me to get my adoring encouragement. They did look great! Camera out, it was photos of each child individually, just the boys, turn this way, turn that way, stop screwing your face up, and in the end a few nice photos of our first day. Then it was photos of them picking up their lunch, walking out the front, putting their bags in the car, ready to go off... ok, I was a little taken by the whole thing!

Off we drove. It's a strange trip to school - because there are four distinctive ways you could drive there and it was extremely difficult to predict which one might be the fastest or the best. I chose the longest of the routes which also was mostly on the motorway network so going at higher speeds. It worked reasonably well - but it will be weeks, I suspect, before we know which one is really the best.

Scenes on the road outside the school were chaotic. And even inside the gate there were parents with cameras clinging to tiny children everywhere and no-one seems really convinced of where they were supposed to be or what happened next. We had decided I would take Nathan and Stephanie to settle them in their classes, and Shelley would look after Ben. Fortunately, the class rooms for the two bigger ones were only a few rooms apart. After some thought, I decided to take Nathan to his class first, and after he had met his teacher and given me a quick kiss, he was off to sit in his seat, meet his guide for the day, and basically start to settle in. Stephie was really good right up until the point we got to the door of her class room and suddenly she felt a little hesitant. Most of the kids were already there, sitting on the floor, and looking very at home. She clung hard to my hand for a few moments, but then her teacher noticed her arrival, came over, and with a few words encouraged her along. After a few moments, I was confident to leave her as well and the two of them were done.

It then took me quite a while to find where Shelley and Ben had got to. The school has a bit of a maze-like quality, and with certain doors closed and locked (why I don't really know) it was more complicated than usual. But, after a few minutes, I found them - Ben off playing and exploring his new world, and Mummy still talking with the teacher and going through details of the preparations made to deal with Ben's allergies. After several more photos, we were done. We finally made it away and back to the car. It was amazing how the school yard had taken on a more peaceful quality in the 30 minutes we had been there! We found the car and explored another of the possible routes to school as an alternative route home.

Over dinner that night, the stories came flooding out of the children about their first day. Everything positive, everything exciting. It's only the start, but it could hardly have been much better. And that makes all sorts of things easier for us all...