The Story So Far

We thought we’d better introduce ourselves officially in a blog post. We are Emilie and Rosie and we met around six years ago. We were teaching Reception in adjoining classrooms and hit it off straight away. Not long after that we both went on to have our first babies, both girls, just eight months apart. Followed quite quickly by our second babies! Again we were very lucky to have two girls but this time born just five weeks apart.

We would meet up once a week at each others’ houses and drink tea whilst the girls played. Having someone to meet up with regularly that was going through the same things was a life saver at times. The girls have literally grown up together. We’ve had some really lovely times.

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It was Rosie that suggested we start an Instagram account, purely as a way to structure our time at home and to save our sanity as stay at home mums with a limit to our budgets. It’s grown much bigger than we ever had imagined and whilst we’ve slowed down a little recently due to new babies, pregnancies and the small matter of a global pandemic, we hope to once again start sharing what we get up to at home.

Rosie is currently working full time as a teacher and I gave birth to my third baby in May. This time we added a boy to our gang and Rosie is due her third baby in January. The Play at Home Mummas gang is growing and we are looking forward to sharing some baby activities over the coming year.

In Conversation with Lisa from @peachy_speech.

Lisa is a Speech and Language therapist. Every time I see one of Lisa’s posts or watch her stories I come away having learned something new. She shares the theory around learning to talk and it genuinely is fascinating stuff. We’ve loved finding out a bit more about Lisa and how she got started on Instagram.

1. Tell us three interesting things about you.

* I own about 50 statement necklaces – it’s been a long standing obsession and I’ve collected for about 10 years, I pick what necklace I want to wear each morning and arrange my clothes around that!

* I am allergic to Wheat and Dairy – which means a lot of the really good foods are not allowed! But things are better than they used to be as many years ago my main options were ricecakes and apples!

*I worked for the NHS for 8 years before I started as an Independent therapist “Peachy Speech”. I loved being part of the NHS and only stopped when I developed an overactive Thyroid and couldn’t juggle the boys, the commute and the hours with the health stuff too. I needed something more flexible to fit amongst school runs and to be more local, so private work allowed me to do that. I miss being part of a team and having a peer support group the most!

2. Why did you start your Instagram account?

I’d thought about running a page ever since I had Jack and was on maternity leave. I even created the page and the name during that first year but I didn’t actually post anything until Maxton was almost a year old – 3 years later! A lot of what supports early communication can be slotted so easily into everyday life. It really breaks my heart that all the preventative support for speech and language has had to be pulled (usually due to funding) and it means that a lot of families with early concerns are left to wait until they can access a service when their little ones turn 2-3 years old. I wanted to create a place to share easy activities and strategies that could be added into everyday life, almost as a way to fill that gap. The account has evolved from there really, I did have a spell of being drawn into quite elaborate play set ups and lost my way a bit with why I was doing it! But certainly, more recently I’ve felt a much stronger sense of what I want to share – strategies, theory, information that offers educational support and then easy activities that link to these.

3. What’s the best thing about Instagram?

By far the best part of Instagram is meeting people. I’ve got a handful of people I’ve never met before but message or interact with most days and can actually say I have real friendships growing with, which is something really amazing! I also love hearing from families that have tried stuff out from my page. I think within parenting we very rarely get feedback on the job that we are doing. It’s not like in an office when you get an appraisal and emails of congratulations for presentations you’ve done. So when I get a message from someone saying I’ve supported their little one say their first words, or use a sign for the first time, or they no longer need their referral because they’ve been able to support skills at home, it’s the best best best bit of feedback and just brings me such joy!

4. Best thing about being a parent?

Has to be watching a little personality grow and develop. I love looking back at Jack and Maxton as babies and matching some of the traits they had then to the humour and characteristics they have now! Watching them grow into grown ups is going to be amazing.

5. Worst thing about being a parent?

Oh the sleep deprivation!!!!!!! Enough said on that!

6. Top three Instagram accounts and why?

Susie from @resolvetoplay

I love following Susie because she shared such brilliant activities but also love her honest stories including her boys. She’s so relatable as a parent and her passion for play and making education fun is clear in all that she shares. I also love how supportive Susie is of other accounts, she inspires me to buy from small businesses and share other peoples account more to support other people who are sharing their knowledge with fellow parents!

Gina from @andbreathe_challenges

I love to follow Gina because each month she sets a different challenge and encourages such a sense of community. They are always so positive and often include an element of mindfulness and I just love being part of them. Gina’s stories are always real and insightful into working parenthood too and she manages to share the highs and lows without ever seeming like she’s complaining.

Becky from @beckys_treasure_baskets

Becky is so creative, she shares so many amazing ideas and they include such a variation of targets from story telling, spelling, arts and craft, numeracy and sensory play. I find her account so inspiring but not intimidating or unachievable which I think it a really hard balance to get!

7. What would be your dream job if you’re not already doing it?

I can’t imagine not working with children and families so it would need to include them somewhere! I worked in preschools as an assistant and really really enjoyed seeing the same children everyday and being such an important part of their lives for that year – so I think either a preschool teacher or I love the idea of play therapy and using play to support vulnerable children and their emotional development.

8. What advice would you give to a parent that has concerns about their child’s speech?

Trust your instincts. In my experience parents are almost always right. If you have any concerns pop to see your local SLT or HV for advice and reassurance. You will always be the expert on your own child, there is no one in the world that knows them better than you do. So lay out your observations to a professional and ask them to provide the theoretical knowledge they have to either confirm or dispel the concern with follow up support and care afterwards.

9. What do you hope people gain from following you on Instagram?

I really hope they gain ideas for play at home, knowledge about speech, language and communication skills and above all reassurance that we as parents are all in this together! I share my knowledge on communication because that’s what I know! But I use Instagram to learn about behaviour, psychology, phonics and writing because those aren’t what I’m expert at! There will always be someone that is thriving in an area you are struggling and vice versa, because we all have different specialisms. I try and follow accounts that lift me where I’m struggling, and I try to offer stuff that will lift others where they may be….

What a lovely interview! If you’d like to find out more about what Lisa does go ahead and give her a follow @peachy_speech.

In Conversation with Nicky and Sue from @buddiesbabiesandbicuits

What we found interesting about @buddiesbabiesandbiscuits is that it’s run by two friends, Nicky and Sue! Just like Rosie and I, they share a variety of activities for their children. Science, craft, play and even food inspiration fill their colourful feed! Continue reading to find out more about the story behind @buddiesbabiesandbiscuits.

1. How did you meet?

We met through a local group of mums having a second child at the same time.
Then we kept in touch and both had our third child within a few weeks of each other!

2. Why did you decide to set up an Instagram account?

We had both just had our third child and found that we weren’t doing as much with the kids generally! So we thought this would be an incentive to do more activities with them. We also were finding it a bit lonely being on maternity leave again. We initially found it made us meet up with each other more frequently but then discovered that there was an entire community out there of like minded and really friendly people!

3. What are your favourite play set ups and why?

Sue loves the sink plays particularly. Scope for any theme mixed in with lots of mess! The kids love them.
Nicky enjoys the arty or science based things. Her kids will play with any fizzy or colour changing things for enough time to drink an entire cup of coffee. Sometimes even with a biscuit.

4. Best thing about being a parent?

The hugs, love and laughter. It’s never quiet when you have three! You just have to embrace the chaos.

5. Worst thing about being a parent?

The days when nothing goes right no matter how hard you try. Or when you feel ill and have to get on with it all anyway. It can be really isolating without good friends.

6. Do you homeschool or have you ever considered home schooling?

It’s something Nicky periodically considers. But I’m a bit of a worrier and I worry that I couldn’t cover all the subjects well enough.
It’s something that fills Sue with horror. But mainly because she doesn’t have the confidence in her own abilities or the time to organise the resources.
We both totally respect anyone who does!

7. Top 3 Instagram accounts and why?

Resolvetoplay. Susie is the most lovely and supportive Instagram friend out there. Love her stuff!
Caraflorence. Cara does such fabulous science and play stuff. We learn a lot from her!
Muddlypuddly. We love Avvy’s fabulous mix of science and nature and outdoors. In fact we would both quite like to live with her.

8. What would be your dream job if you aren’t already doing it?

We’d be selling kids books!! Sue has written loads (for fun) and Nicky loves to do illustrations. We’ve published some parodies of some famous books on our blog. Check them out.

We hope you have enjoyed finding out a bit more about Nicky and Sue! If you don’t already follow them their Instagram @buddiesbabiesandbuscuits and blog are full of ideas for parents!

In Conversation with Gina from @andbreathe_challenges

Gina is one of Instagram’s good eggs. She inspires others with her monthly challenges and honestly shares the ups and downs of family life. We have nothing but praise for Gina and what she does, so we knew we wanted to include her in our interview series. We asked her the following and Gina answered with her usual honesty and positivity.

1. Why did you start your Instagram account?

I started my Instagram account after a period of suffering quite badly with anxiety. I decided that I wanted to focus on taking small steps each month to make a change to my mental health and well being. I started posting my monthly challenges and people joined in with me. I quickly realised that there was a community to be created full of people who needed a little prompt to help them look after themselves too.

2. What’s the best thing about Instagram?

The best thing about Instagram is the friendships I have made (my husband says it’s like online dating for friends). It never crossed my mind that I could make a brand new circle of friends that literally make me howl laughing and pick me up when I’m down. I love the sense of community that has been built through the challenges too. I love seeing people like each other’s posts and support each other. Instagram is a very positive place for me.

3. Best thing about being a parent?

Best thing about being a parent is when I take a step back and look at these two amazing human beings that I created. My heart just bursts with pride and love daily.

4. Worst thing about being a parent?

Worst thing about being a parent is the lack of sleep. It’s better now as my two are older but they are early risers and I love a lie in. I haven’t had to set an alarm clock in 8 years ha, ha.

5. Top three Instagram accounts and why?

My top 3 Instagram accounts… I have found this so hard to answer. I truly follow so many amazing people on here who literally inspire me daily. I adore the play account community that I have been welcomed into, even though I don’t share many play ideas. Accounts like yourself and @fiveminutemum have genuinely changed the way I parent and made me realise that I’m enough.

Then there are the amazing creative accounts like @pandering_to_boys and @big_fat_greekmother who are so talented and put so much effort into what they do. They honestly should be paid for the content that they create.

Then there are the accounts who share their lives and provide inspiration and hope @abbiewalkerh @kisscub @breathlesslymothering have changed the way I view the world and are just amazing human beings.

Sorry not three but I could go on even more. I love Instagram.

6. What would be your dream job if you’re not already doing it?

I do love my job teaching adults English but I would love to do something with my psychology background in the future.

7. What do you hope people get from your posts?

I hope that my Instagram posts give a little bit of inspiration along with showing the not-so-perfect side to parenting. Each month, when people join in with my challenges, my heart is filled with joy. I want to change the world and I think that needs to start with us looking after ourselves too.

If you want to fill your Instagram feed with positivity, then @andbreathe_challenges is great place to start. Go ahead and give her a follow.

Starting School By Lucie

Starting school for my eldest was an emotional time for all! Becoming a parent has taught me a lot about myself, one of the main things being that I’m not great with change! I get emotionally attached to everything, so the end of 4 years at nursery and the beginning of school was fraught with emotions for me.

Once the summer months kicked in, we started to prepare ourselves for school. Uniform was ordered, first tip… get yourself enough for one of everything per day, particularly polo shirts and shorts/trousers (or the equivalent). There is enough to think about in a school week without worrying about a Wednesday uniform wash load! I tried to encourage my son to get himself dressed each morning, socks included, in a bid to set some good habits for the year to come.

One of the other Mums in the class set up a Facebook group for all of us to join which was really handy. One for posting reminders of events etc. and also as a bonus to help remember everyone’s names! I’m terrible at this! Via this group there were a few summer socials organised, picnics after settling in sessions and such like. These were really useful for both me and my son to get to know a few people from the class, in advance of that first day. I also took my son along to the village toddler group with my baby once a week over the summer, which gave him another opportunity to meet some future classmates ahead of school starting. Anything you can do to get a few friendly faces in their minds eye before that big first day is a win win.

I would encourage you to attend all the events that the school invites you to in that summer term, not just the specific sessions for future Year R students but also wider events. Our school does a charity bike ride, which my husband signed up for, as well as a summer fair… it helped both us and our son to get to know the school, the staff and other families.

By the time the first day rolled around, we were as ready as we could be. I was more emotional on the first day than anyone else! And that is fine… it’s a big step for us parents too. Our son was totally fine, he walked in like a champ, no tears or anything. I was so proud and a bit relieved. As the days and weeks wore on, it became clear that leaving you at the gate with no fuss didn’t automatically mean he was coping with school perfectly. I learnt pretty quickly that in fact each child shows that they are adapting in totally different ways. It turned out with us that our son and a few of the other boys were getting a bit boisterous at break times. There were a few quiet words with the teacher at home time, as well as eventually a ban on play fighting across the board! At the time I felt mortified that our little angel, who always did so well at nursery, was seemingly turning into a ‘naughty’ boy! But actually in hindsight I see that it was all about finding his feet amongst his peers. Working out who he was in amongst this sea of new faces and personalities, after the security and familiarity of nursery.

The other unexpected side effect of school was the tiredness and how that manifested itself. We’d get home from school and the slightest challenge or request from me would be met with total meltdown and tears, not unlike toddler tantrums! I was taken aback to say the least. Again with the benefit of hindsight I see that he was actually giving all of his ‘good’ self to school. Trying to follow rules, learn phonics, do what the teacher said etc. By the time he got home he’d reached his quota of compliant child and it was me that got the less savoury stuff! If this happens to you and your little one, I’d just say ride it out, try and be kind and patient and it will pass as they make those all important adjustments.

Also worth mentioning reading. My advice would be take it at your child’s pace. Our son wasn’t fussed with reading at all in the first two terms… it was a real struggle to get him to sit and focus on it. I had to pick the moment just right, not too tired, not distracted, nice and quiet etc. If it isn’t happening, don’t force it. Read to them and ask them to read a few random words. It does happen eventually and you’ll look back and be amazed how much progress your child has made.

I realise now that I haven’t even mentioned the school run! Safe to say I could write a whole other article about that! In brief… be prepared and leave with plenty of time. I’ve learnt this year that I have a problem with chronic lateness!!! This is not a good mix with the school gate closing at a specific time. There is nothing more stressful than a rushed school run, so if you are like me and never leave enough time, try and work on this now. We seem to have got it nailed these days, but that first term was a steep learning curve!

So in summary the year hasn’t been without its challenges! But when that moment clicks, and your child starts to love learning and shows it to you and their teacher… it really is quite magical. You suddenly have this little human standing next to you that tells you all about the life cycle of a frog or will randomly read a word from the TV that you had no idea they knew. Embrace that first year with all its challenges and discoveries and pat yourself on the back for getting your baby through the school gates for the first time.

Starting School by @from_diamonds_to_dummies

Firstly, may I start by saying its ok to feel emotional about this as a parent, IT IS A BIG DEAL!!! Your baby isn’t a baby anymore and is about to embark on that long career of education, its a huge milestone so personally I think its as much a transition for us as it is them! I found the idea very daunting and as much as I was involved with my daughters pre school the last time I really spent anytime in early years education settings I was the student! Almost a year on and I feel comfortable and at ease with the situation so felt I could write a few helpful (hopefully) tips and muses!

Home visit- DO IT!!! it might seem like nothing at the time but its so helpful meeting the teachers in the comfort of the childs own home.its a really valuable experience we found. in our case particularly as we were new to the area and our child hadn’t gone to a local feeder pre school and didn’t know any of the children in her year it was great that she had her teacher in mind all summer.

Lunch taster- DO THIS TOO! my daughter loved our taster school lunch together and it was comforting for me to know what a typical lunchtime looks like and how it works.

Talk about when you were first at school and what you liked to play with (try and imagine if you cant remember!) they love knowing that you were little once too! Particularly if you might even have been at the same school as your child many moons ago!

Get them involved with the mundane tasks as they’re actually things for them to get excited about i.e.: the fun name stickers you can order online for their clothing etc. I let our daughter chose the character, colours and pattern to allow her more independence and something to look forward to, same with the uniforms if you can involve them in things and they have a choice its a win win.

Remember- they all have different settling in periods and i’ve learnt that children all adapt differently and surprise their parents all the time. If your child seems to take like a duck to water without a wobble, great, that might continue throughout, but be prepared for it not to and for them to have a delayed reaction to something totally random at some point! and try and remember thats ‘normal’ !!

I feel strongly that emotionally its a huge step for them regardless of where a parent thinks their child is placed statistically in terms of academics etc its the emotional focus that needs to be the primary consideration. Its not about being “sooooo ready to learn” its about being best equipped for a very big milestone and mingling with the largest group of other children their age or younger with the lowest child to adult ratio of ever before!

After all we’re all born “soooo ready to learn” but we’re perhaps not all born ready for school and sharing and being kind and considerate and navigating the toilet independently and all those other things that we are hopefully aiming for our children to master in their early years!

Admin- lastly if you know any of the parents already start a whatsapp group, its a perfect way to avoid being that parent who forgets something that will inevitably add to your guilt when your child is distraught they’re seemingly the only on who didn’t know it was bring your dragon to school day etc. Go to the coffee morning straight after the very first drop off, if not for the communal cry just being a bit more familiar with the setting yourself will help to calm those nerves that will undoubtedly arrive as you let go of your childs hand for the first time at the door.

Remember even if they didn’t run into the classroom only briefly turning back to wave, they will do, one day, I promise.

Good luck !

Getting Ready for School

If like me you are preparing to wave your baby off at the school gates this September, you may be wondering if there’s any way you can prepare them for this huge shift. Rosie and I worked as Reception teachers before we had our babies so we know a little bit about what they’ll be getting up to once they start. We thought it might be handy to put together a list of ways you can get them ready. This is not a list of things they have to have mastered, more a list of little things you could start to encourage over the next few months.

There isn’t a focus on phonics or number here. As always our advice is to only do those things if your child is interested and you’ll find lots of inspiration on our Instagram or Facebook pages (#pahmmaths, #pahmletters, #pahmschoolready).

1. Becoming more independent using the toilet is a great place to start. Wiping independently, fastening trousers and washing hands are great skills to practise before starting school.

2. Putting on their own coats and shoes. Maybe your child has already cracked this but maybe they are quite happy for you to do it! They will likely be in a class of around thirty and if the teacher has to put on thirty coats and thirty pairs of shoes it is going to massively eat into their playing and learning time.

3. Beginning to recognise the first letter of their name. This would be great to help them find their own peg, book bag etc and could help them feel more confident in this new environment.

4. Play some turn taking games. If your child has been to nursery they might be well versed in playing with lots of other children but maybe this is all fairly new to them. Playing simple turn taking games can really help prepare them for waiting their turn come September.

5. Once you find out the teachers and other members of staff that will be working with your child, talk about them! Mention their names and talk about how they are there to help. Becoming familiar with the adults that will be supporting your child will really help with the transition. This is also important as children sometimes don’t speak up when they first start school if they don’t feel well or are upset about something.

6. Encourage eating independently. Give them lots of opportunities to practise using a knife and fork. There will be staff around to support them over lunch but they’ll have lots of children to supervise.

7. Enjoy them! Have fun with them, play with them, read lots of stories and sing lots of songs. If like me you are wondering where your baby has gone then soak them up at every opportunity.

We really hope this is useful! If you have any questions please get in touch. We would be happy to help if we can.

Colour Week

Messy Play

I squirted different coloured paint on top of shaving foam. I had intended it to be a colour mixing activity but I turned my back for a few seconds and the girls just got straight in! Really very, very messy play!

Painting

Using an artists palette we talked about different colours and what they looked like.

Patterns

Using different coloured lego I worked alongside my eldest to make some repeated patterns.

Whilst it may seem like a fairly simple activity it really helps to support your little one to make links and notice patterns in their environment, thus developing their mathematical mind!

Colour Sorting

We used this theme as an opportunity to sort our toys in our garden. We simply drew chalk circles on the floor and filled each one with the same coloured toys!

This simple activity only requires pom poms and coloured bowls. It featured in our 5 Minute Fixes – check it out for more quick activities!

Bath Time

Choosing a colour theme for bath time is great for helping to secure your child’s awareness of different colours.

Water Play

Using flowers past their best, or petals and leaves that have fallen on to the ground you can create a lovely (and free!) sensory activity. You could just explode the textures and smells, of with older children they could make potions or perfume.

Colour Hunt

Create a list for your little ones to tick off next time you go out. We wrote this for our jaunt to the local park and it kept the girls occupied the whole way. They worked together and we were so impressed by their communication skills!

We’ve introduced “I Spy” recently and it’s really developing the girls’ observational skills. We’ve introduced the game using colours to start with and have noticed some new flowers in bloom in the garden!

Letters

Writing for a Purpose

Showing children that there is a purpose to writing can really inspire them to make marks. Get them involved with writing shopping lists, birthday cards, signs etc and they will quickly become interested. Here we made birthday cards for a cousin and she signed her name.

Water Play

Using water is a great way to expose children of different ages to letters. Here I put some magnetic letters in coloured water and suggested to the girls that they try and collect as many of the letters as they could using a variety of tools. So many skills are being practised here and I was able to differentiate for the two girls despite the almost two year age gap.

Letter Formation

Using familiar toys to engage little ones with letters is a great place to start. Here I made the first letter of her name and suggested she place more lego on top in the same places. She loved it and repeated it several times.

This is a great activity for practising letter formation and the letters can be made larger or smaller spending on the stage your child is at. I wrote some familiar letters on a tuff spot using chalk and suggested she trace over the top using water and a paintbrush.

Using water and a paint brush meant we could practise forming our initial on the ground in the garden. This encourages gross motor development and confidence with letter formation, as the water just dries up so mistakes don’t matter!

Letter Recognition

This was very simple to set up and is great for children who are just beginning to recognise the initial letters of their name.

Getting together a variety of letter resources is a good idea once your child starts to show an interest. I picked these letter stickers up from Home Bargains and they are great. I let the girls just explore the stickers here and as I took a back seat I could hear my eldest pointing out the letters she knows.

This simple activity was set up to allow the girls to practise recognising their initial. The aim of the game is to clean away any letters that don’t belong. Quick to set up and can be made easier with the exclusion of upper- or lower cases, or more difficult with the inclusion of more letters.

We both believe that it is important to stress there should be no pressure for children to write before they are ready. The activities we set up are purely to spark an interest, and this is how we worked when we were Early Years Teachers. It is so important to take the impetus off the final product and focus on the *process*.

Writing a shopping list, card, letter, sign, name – whatever – in front of your toddler, without even mentioning the fact you’re doing it, will be sparking an interest and they will want to copy.

All these fine and gross motor skills we mention will be preparing children’s muscles for writing. We don’t just mean fingers and hands, we mean forearms, upper arms, elbows, shoulders, core – it’s all important!

Starting Preschool

My eldest has recently started preschool. Whilst I was an Early Years teacher and have supported families with this transition, nothing prepared me for how I would feel when it came to leaving her for the first time a few weeks ago.

First of all came the selection process. I know what I like and I know what I don’t. I looked around three nurseries and none of them were perfect. I’ve been very lucky (or unlucky depending on your viewpoint) that neither of my girls have had to go to a nursery or a childminder. So this was the first time I’d ever had to select a suitable nursery for my first-born and it felt overwhelming. I wanted to get it right.

I won’t go into why I chose the place I did. I think choosing a nursery or school is such a personal choice. What I would say is don’t go purely by an OFSTED report. Go and look around the setting. You can’t get a feel for a place from reading someone else’s opinion on it.

Then came the settling in sessions. Both times I dropped her off she was happy for me to leave her for an hour. Whilst I will admit this left me feeling a little heartbroken, the fact that she felt happy there made me feel better about the whole thing.

I’d decided to just use ten hours of the allocated fifteen to begin with, with a view to increasing it possibly further down the line. So, after two happy drop offs in her first week, I felt like it was all going to plan.

Then came week two. I’d told her where we were going and she said she didn’t want to go. When we got there she screamed. She glued herself to my leg. One of the members of staff managed to peel her off me (something I had done previously when I was teaching) and suggested I leave. I did as I was told and then hid around the corner with my toddler in the pram, had a little cry and rang my husband.

I wanted to go back in and get her. The guilt was awful. She isn’t going there because I need the childcare. I’m a stay at home Mum. She’s going because she’s entitled to some hours. My husband convinced me that she would be fine and I went home. I had a sudden flashback to all those mums I’ve shooed out the door, whilst their three year olds scream for them to take them home.

The next day was more of the same. The week after was worse somehow as she didn’t cry, but ran to a corner where she looked completely defeated and refused to kiss me. I hadn’t anticipated it being so tough! Or that I would actually consider keeping her at home.

This week I’ve dropped her off without much fuss. She’s gone in without tears. I still feel guilty. I’ve come to the conclusion that you feel guilty whatever you do as a Mum.

I’m sure there will be more difficult drop offs but I think overall I like what I see at this setting. I also love watching her play with other children through the window when she can’t see me. It’s really lovely and I know she’s learning so much from these new interactions.

Have you recently settled your child in at nursery or preschool? How did you find it? Whilst the first few weeks have admittedly been pretty awful, I feel like we might have come out the other end and be ready to embrace this next stage.