I wonder in time to come,
what exactly my children will remember,
when they are asked about me?
I know I was a very mothering mother,
and enjoyed the physicality of being a mom.
The hugs and kisses,
the knowing they need you.
However I am not the most organized mother.
My children have even gone as far as to say,
they do not think I am a “real” mom.
Mind you this is usually,
when they are speaking of home baking,
and homes of their friends which are immaculately clean.
In Ireland the Summer Holidays last forever.
(Well May to September for the older ones,
and June to September for my youngest)
As a result of having them home for so long,
I find it almost impossible to remember,
that they will in fact have to go back to school.
I love to see them on holiday,
with nothing to worry about.
Just being and doing as children should.
The difficulty with this is,
that I put my head in the sand,
and my fingers in my ears,
and refuse to face up to the whole,
“time to go back to school” reality.
It reminds me of Christmas,
some mothers are ready for September,
before the holidays even begin!
So it was,
that I did not buy a new uniform for my daughter,
to replace the one I mistakenly recycled,
until last Monday,
which was in fact the day before school began.
The ladies in all the shops I tried,
were actually kind enough not to laugh at me,
as they told me that they had no small sizes left!
Gulp.
I also did not remember,
to buy the copies and small things,
my youngest needed for school.
Nor did I remember to check,
if in fact the uniform,
I thought was in her wardrobe,
was actually there!
So it was that this morning I woke,
and had to face the painful truth,
our most wonderful Summer holidays were over.
My children had to face the painful truth,
that they were foolish to trust their mother,
to equip them properly for school.
My older girl is gone off,
wearing an old pair of school pants I found,
which belonged to her sister,
and were last worn at least six years ago.
My youngest is gone in,
wearing a skirt which also does not exactly fit well,
but will surely fit perfectly,
in six years time!
Although lucky for me with all the whining over the uniform,
they paid little attention,
to everything else they were missing.
Perhaps I might wonder what they will think of me,
in the years ahead,
but today I know exactly what they think of me,
and I would not like to print it!
photo credit: ilhu industries via photopin cc
photo credit: tropical.pete via photopin cc
photo credit: ashley rose, via photopin cc
My thoughts on a page. 
I think all mothers need an intern as an assistant. 🙂
Oh that would be perfect!
Yes, but did any of them think to broach the subject of getting organised and making sure they had their house in order come the day without leaving all to you? are there not five more people living in the house besides your good self? possibly an observation/question in there somewhere.
Chris.
Ha ha don’t think I did not use that as my major form of defense. However they told me I had said it was all sorted! I have denied saying such a thing of course!
Poor you. I hate the school uniform blitz too. I worked it out this year that I have been buying school uniforms for the last 19 years to the tune of 80 school uniforms. Any pleasure I ever had in it, like maybe, in those first few years, has long gone. It is now something I tackle as late in the holidays as possible. I too have been caught out with the ‘no sizes left’ scenario. This year, I threw uniforms in my trolley along with groceries at Asda and then sent my fifteen year old into town with the 11 year old to purchase shoes and schoolbags, socks and pants, etc. And it’s always so costly. the list of requirements seems to grow every year.
As long as they got to school on time. They did get to school on time, didn’t they? 🙂 (Spot the teacher!) x
Well now you ask! Only joking. We had to leave early to walk the new pup there with my youngest. The only catch was my older daughter left herself a bit late and thought I would bail her out with a lift. Wrong. She is not the best timekeeper so I just thought I’d mark her card early. Then I began to write this post about her old uniform etc and felt quite mean. She tells me she got in unnoticed. I do not think that is the same as being on time!
Love it. Hard life lessons. And guilt, thrown in. All mums’ punishment for ‘marking cards’. You know it’s right but still you can’t help thinking about their wee faces. 🙂 x
She stomped her way to school! Her face though was a picture.:)
Oh dear. Fun, isn’t it? 🙂 x
Ha! Last year, after Christmas, I got a text from my husband on the Thursday before son was due to go back to school on the Monday. “Jane is in the office.” “Why is Jane in the office?!” (She only works term time) Well, aparently, they should have gone back to school on the Thursday. Not the Monday. Oops. Apparently, not the only child this had happened to…
Oops right enough! It’s hard keeping track of it all. I discovered a couple of weeks ago I was due back to school on the Monday not the Wednesday as I had thought. (Wednesday was for the kids!) I’m one of the teachers. I did make it thankfully. My own kids kept me right. 🙂 x
Classic whatever about the kids, the teacher getting it wrong!!
I know. Red neck. 🙂 x
I know. Red neck. 🙂 x
Hahaha. I love it that the TEACHERS aren’t all as organised as they look! And that means that my disorganised-ness as a mum will (hopefully) be forgiven more easily.
Ah, but once we’re there, we have to be ultra-organised. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. 🙂 x
Oh gosh yes. Every single report I ever had from school said ‘Must get more organised’ and yet I could organise every last detail of an event and have it go off brilliantly. I reckon there must be a set limit to the amount of ‘organised-ness’ available and if you use it at home, there is none left for work…
I obviously don’t use mine for home. Don’t know where most stuff is half the time. 🙂 x
Ha ha. We had a similar moment a few years ago. We invited one of the kids best friends over for a final sleep two days before going back to school. I went to collect one of my gang from gymnastics only to discover they were due back the next morning! It did not go down well when I went home and broke the news!
Oops!
Well you can’t keep up a good blog and get that stuff done too!:) I think you are a fine mother…as far as I can tell, and odds are they won’t even remember this day! Maybe other days….but not this one! 🙂
Yes at least my priorities are right, my blog is never neglected! 🙂
I also did not remember to buy the copies and small things,
And that is what they are, small things, if they even remember it in a few years it will be with fondness, it’s the big things you need to be good at, food, a roof over their heads, endless love and patience.
Now if you forget to feed them and lose the house and savings in a Las Vegas gambling spree and they have to live on the side of the street…they might not look back on it with much fondness. 😀
Well if I forgot any of those things I might keep it off the blog but the chance to lose the house in a gambling spree in Las Vegas sounds very tempting.
it happens to all of us Mommas, we have WAY too much on our plates…
Yes I agree, but on this blog which I know my kids will never read I have to admit that I just couldn’t face the end of Summer! They survived and I am all set for the second day of school. 🙂
Awwwwww…. 🙂
they will remember you for the loving, kind mother and wonderful person you are. everything else will fall by the wayside. it may take a while, but mark my words.
I think every mom alive gets told how they should be better. I know my kids had plenty of complaints with me. It used to pierce like a knife when they said those things. (I had eleven and trying to keep up with the basics like clean laundry, a meal on the table every day, and toting them to and from after school practices and activities was a nightmare). It’s only now as they are older and having kids of their own have the begun saying things like, “Mom, I don’t know how you did it. I often think back and just wonder how you kept up with it all.” You’ve got it right as a mom. They’ll get it right, too, when they get a taste of what being a mom is all about.
Enjoy your day! 🙂
I am finding it hard to read your comment past “I had eleven”. Wow. I have read your blog before now and I think you are an amazing strong woman. It is not a blog I can read often because of my own past and triggering, but as someone who was on the receiving end of abuse, I would never ever hold his wife responsible on any level.
Thank you for your kind words, I know I too never appreciated my mum until I had a child.
Keep up the good work.
Hope to see you again.