Burton Archives - Mummy Mishaps

So another month has passed and Burton has now completed 8 weeks at school (although 1 week was half term of course!). He really enjoys it and we have not yet had a day when he has said that he does not want to attend, which has been a relief. I did wonder if after having a week off for half term last month he may have been a bit reluctant to return, but there was no problem. In fact I think he was looking forward to going back.

Burton has adapted to school life so well and I am very proud of him for this. His reading and writing has come on in leaps and bounds and it has been amazing to witness first hand how much he has grasped these, and how quickly.Whenever he has been taught a new letter at school he takes great delight in telling me and then sounding it out along with the actions he has been taught! His daddy and I were very proud and pleased when he was awarded a certificate for his hard work in phonicsWe attended his first parents consultation (the school’s terminology not mine!) last week and the good news is that he is doing very well, and his enthusiasm and eagerness to learn and his enjoyment of school is evident to his teacher. It was also lovely to be told that desite being one of the youngest, Burton is among the higher ability pupils in his class which is reassuring especially as I had worried so much about him starting school having not long turned four. However, as much as he has been excelling in his academic work, there have been a few teething problems in other areas. On a few occassions there have been incidents between Burton and another boy with water and the sink in the boys toilets!! *sighs* However, it was also good to hear that whenever Burton has been told off, he is remorseful (*phew*) and eager to please and make up for what he has done wrong.This term his class is learning about Australia and then Christmas. A few of his class mates have taken in some cuddly toy animals that derive from down under, such as a koala bear and a kangaroo that sings Waltzing Matilda. Burton is most perplexed that he cannot take in one of his toys because none of them have an Australian link, so he asked me on the way home the other night if we could please go to Australia to buy him one. I explained that we could not because it was too far to go. “But Mummy” he protested “It only takes a few minutes”. I told him that it takes a whole day and a whole night to travrel all the way there, to which he replied “that’s ok Mummy, I am allowed to go because it would be for school”! Ha ha if only.

Part of his project work for this term is to make a 3D Australian animal, and to begin with I was going to get him to make something out of egg cartons and bubble wrap! However, daring to make something a little different, Burton (Jenson) and I made this cupcake crocodile instead which Burton is going to take in tomorrow as it is also his turn for ‘show and tell’ (again). I just hope Burton can remember the name of the decorating jobs he did and the piping bag he used, so he will have something to talk about !

This post was brought to you as part of Flashback Friday

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In My Boys

Up A Tree

Jenny PaulinOctober 28October 298 Comments

Every afternoon when I collect Burton from school, I am met with the same question each time

“Mummy, please can we go to the park?”

Then I usually get one or two of his school friends who live in the same village as the school is situated in, ask me if Burton can please go to the park!!! Of course on a dry day I will take both boys there, but more often than not it can take so long to leave the school premises that we often do not get to the park! This is because there are a couple of trees just by the entrance to the school grounds, and most home times Burton and his friends insist on havinig a climb! A couple of them can do this unassisted, but one does need a leg up – usually by me for some reason, he always prefers to ask me instead of his Mummy!

In Flashback Friday, My Boys, Uncategorised

Burton’s 1st Month At School (Flashback Friday)

Jenny PaulinOctober 1019 Comments

So can you believe it, because I cannot, Burton has just completed his first month at school! I have heard other Mums tell me in the past that once your children starts school time passes by even faster than it did before, and I have to be inclined to agree! I also find that having dropped Burton off at school, the time Jenson and I have before we need to go back and collect him 6 hours later just flies by too!!Burton is really enjoying school. During the first week he did seem surprised that the next day he had to return, and at the end of the first Tuesday he actually told his teacher that the next day he would not be attending school because he would be going to the soft play (our usual Wednesday play date place) with mummy and Jenson instead! However, now he seems to understand that he, like his daddy who works, has to go to school Monday – Friday and then gets his two days off at the weekend. I am wondering if the half term break at the end of the month might put him off wanting to go back to school? I guess I will have to wait and see.He had to perform with the rest of his class last Monday at the schools Harvest Festival in the village church. I offered to help escort the class on the short walk to the church so I was able to watch the service and hear Burton sing “Big Red Combine Harvester”. Despite him happily singing it at full pelt complete with all the actions for friends and family, when it came to it he went all shy and actually looked like he might burst into tears at any minute!Since his first day Burton has had homework in the form of two library books and a ‘white’ book which contained no words only pictures, aimed at getting him to describe what he thought was happening in the story by what he could see. Two weeks later he moved onto a ‘pink’ book which contains a few key sentences describing the action in the book. Alongside this, he has been given a set of letter cards to allow him to practise his phonics and learn about blending and segmenting. He must be doing well because two weeks in and he has been given a writing book to practise writing those letters and some two letter words, and another book to practise writing three letter words.Also, he had a project to complete within the first 3 weeks entitled Home Sweet Home as this is the theme that his class is all about during this first term. He enjoyed drawing pictures for it (see below) and cutting out and sticking pictures in it too – infact since he started school he has not stopped drawing pictures for me!!I do try to make sure he does at least half an hour of ‘homework’ when we get in from school before tea, and will try not to do any at the weekend (apart fom the project which we had to in order to complete it on time) because I think that is family time. Time to play and have fun and not worry about his schooling. I think it is paying off as his reading is coming along in leaps and bounds which is amazing to see before my eyes and hear with my ears! His class have had some work put on display in the school corridor where they had to do some ‘junk modelling’ to make types of buildings that people live in. Burton made a flat and I was chuffed to see that his teacher had included a quote about what he made on the board behind his ‘masterpiece’ (lol)I dont get much out of Burton about what he has done each day as soon as I see him, I tend to get a few comments here and there up until bedtime. However, one thing which did make me laugh was last Thursday when he proudly announced that he had been taken to the “big boys pub”. Apparently a few others from his class went too! I asked him if he was sure it wasnt a club, “No, Mummy a pub” he answered firmly. Hmmmm I thought. So I asked him what he did there and he said he had to use a mouse! LOL it was a HUB! Oh that really made me laugh, and today when I collected him he cheekily told me that he had been to the pub again today!!He will have his school photograph taken today and I am taking Jenson in to sit with him – fingers crossed they will both sit still and smile nicely for the photographer! He also has a show and tell and he is taking his Room on the Broom book in for that.

I have noticed, as has his teacher, that he keeps sucking on his fingers something which he has never done before and a habit I do not want him to adopt either. He did tell me that a boy in his class does it to which I had to tell him that the boy in question has probbaly always done that, whereas he has not and he does not need to do it. I hope he soon stops because it make him hard to understand when he is stood there sucking his fingers!

Overall though, I think Burton has settled in very well so far and long may his zest for learning continue. I am very proud of him – well done my darling boy x x

This post was brought to you as part of Flashback Friday

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In Flashback Friday, Uncategorised

Last Sunday Night (Flashback Friday)

Jenny PaulinSeptember 19September 2326 Comments

Last Sunday night as I put the boys to sleep I was feeling very emotional. Burton was due to start school the following morning, and I had spent most of the day (not to mention most of the last few weeks) on the verge of tears at the sheer thought of it and all the emotions I was feeling inside. On top of which I did not want either of the boys to see me cry because I don’t like to in front of them. Anyway, after my usual laying on the floor next to Jenson while he dozed off, I got up to kiss a still awake but almost asleep Burton goodnight, when he out of the blue asked to hold my hand and if I would stay until he fell asleep.

Well, that little invitation just tipped me over the edge! I was trying my hardest to stifle my tears which started my nose to run and I was having to sniff a lot and compose my voice when he asked me a couple of questions, because I did not want him to see me cry and ask me why I was. As I held his hand in mine I stroked his hair too and after about 10 minutes he fell asleep. Then it was like the flood gates were opened and I cried my heart out. I cried at the fact that my boy was off to school in the morning and as much as I knew he would enjoy it and it was going to be alright, at that moment I did not want to ever let go of his hand. I did not want to allow this next stage of his life happen and change what we had already.

In Family, Uncategorised

Burton’s 1st Day At School

Jenny PaulinSeptember 1625 Comments

So it finally arrived.

The day I had been dreading and tormenting myself over for the last 4 years and 2 months: Burton’s first day at school.

I awoke this morning following a restless night awake for most of it thinking about today, so instead of being bright eyed and bushy tailed, I was more bleary eyed and frizzy haired! Anyway, a little before 7am I heard Burton stirring and then I listened to him and Jenson share a little conversation which really made me smile

Burton: Jenson, if I take my phone (not a real one but a toy one !) to ******* school today, you can call me to see how I am getting on

Jenson: (excitedly) Yes Burton, I will!

Sadly, for both boys phones, toy ones or otherwise, are not permitted at school so after being the bearer of this bad news it was agreed that Jenson would keep his phone close by in case Burton needed to contact him for any reason!! How? You may ask…… by Burton holding his hand to his ear to make a pretend phone of course!!!

We arrived at his new school early – in fact we were the first ones there (*this* has never happened before we are rarely early to things, and it may possibly never happen again!) and Burton skipped down the path happy to have arrived. While we waited he had a little look inside his new ‘Seahorses’ classroom.

Once the doors opened we went in and found his peg and hung his PE kit bag and coat up and then made our way to his classroom. As soon as we entered I could feel a huuuuge wave of emotion swell up inside me and tears well up and I was thinking to myself “not here, not now don’t cry in front of him“!. Thankfully, I held it together (until we left!). We left him perfectly happy trying to decide what activity to do first, I felt a mixture of relief and upset – it was strange.

When we arrived to collect him he was happy to see us, and he would not stop talking about his day. He coloured in a seahorse, he threaded beads, did some PE where “you will not believe this we took off our socks and our shoes, it was funny” !! He played outside and there were stilts and he ate all his lunch and snack. He also bought home his book bag containing three books all of which we have read twice before he went to bed tonight!

Needless to say he enjoyed his first day at school and it looking forward to returning tomorrow. I am so happy for him. I still feel a little heatrbroken and sad and could still cry if I think about this milestone too much. However, knowing how much he loved today makes me very happy and very proud.

Today marked the end of an era and it made me sad BUT it also marks the beginning of a whole new chapter in Burton’s life, and as long as it continues to make him happy then I will be too.