Norwegian Wood

(I’ve been listening to the Beatles a lot.)
I don’t know that this entry is going to be all that exciting but, it’s been a proper while so I thought I should. I don’t know, I’m not really in an angsty type place (which is usually where I need to be to write) so inspiration is lacking. But, it’s been a busy old while (hah! When isn’t it these days?).

Let’s start with Zoe. She turned 3 earlier this month. I’m not sure how I feel about this. I remember when she was a newborn (vaguely) and wishing she could do things for herself, but now she can, I’m not too happy. I want her to be my baby for a while longer yet. She still is, in some ways, but she’s got a independent/stubborn streak as large as her mother’s. Because of her September birthday, she’s not started nursery school yet, unlike most of the other children we see on a regular basis. About  6 months ago, I’d happily have let her start but now I’m glad she’s not, she’s not ready yet. Large groups and noise still have the ability to completely upset her. The problem is that we’re now limited in seeing our friends because they have nursery to attend. It’s not as tough on her as it is on me, it’s made me realise I was relying too heavily on one or two people for social contact. So, to that end, we’re starting a new music/singing group on Thursday, slightly out of area, so hopefully I can be brave enough to chat to a new mum.

Anyway, she had a lovely birthday, with far too many presents. We spent the actual day, just the two of us (Duncan had to work), and went to the Great North Museum, which she loves, and had cake. We had a party with friends a few days later at a soft play place, which was very good. The only problem was caused by our nursery who didn’t give one of Zoe’s friends the invite so they thought they weren’t invited, which was embarrassing for me, because they were. Luckily I saw the mum the day after and explained and had a party bag for her daughter.

I had tutorial between birthday and party. I handed in 3 assignments, go me! Hopefully they’re all OK. I’ve also booked my second student course, to run in Feb/Mar time and a course for after I’ve qualified next summer, which means I need to get essay writing sharpish. We’ve booked to go back to Centre Parcs in December, for 4 nights, to enjoy the Christmassy-ness of it all. We go the afternoon after my last session of my first course, so it’ll be a much welcome break.

What else? We’ve been starting to consider schools. Zoe goes to nursery next September and, in an ideal world, I’d like her to go to the nursery attached to the school she’ll go to, but there’s no guarantee of that. We have her name down for the nursery of the local school, which is 2 minutes walk away, but I’m also putting her name down for a C of E (church of england) school in the area. It’s a smaller intake (30 rather than 60 children) and is a former failing school, but is now out of failing status. It has a satisfactory ofsted report, compared to the mostly good report of the local school,  but in terms of test scores, it’s pretty much the same. We’re not C of E, but I’m not adverse to Zoe going to a C of E school – I have no issue with the basic principles of christianity and as long as we balance it at home with some healthy skepticism and teaching her about other religions (although I’m sure they’ll do this as well), I’m happy. It’s the small class size and good scores that are swaying me. But I can’t decide if I’m being slightly mad to send her to a C of E school when we’re not really anything. I don’t know. It’s currently undersubscribed so I won’t be depriving anyone of a place. We’ve got 12 months to decide but I can see it’s not going to be easy.

Finally, I managed to get out the house for a child-free meal with Duncan at the weekend. We went to one of the poshest restaurants in Newcastle, managed to get a table that afternoon. It was lovely – and not really all that much more expensive than we’d spend on an OK meal somewhere else. It’s something we definitely need to do again (although maybe somewhere slightly cheaper next time!)

Until there is a next time…
xx