A new chapter ...

It's been a rollercoaster of a day.

Not only have the blissfully long summer holidays come to an end, signalling a return to routine for the whole family, but my eldest daughter has taken her first tentative steps into the scary, rather grown-up world of high school.

At least, it seems scary and grown-up to me. We've waved goodbye to the simple security of a bright and cheery primary school classroom where a single teacher nurtures, cajoles and cheers the same children on for one whole year.

Instead, my daughter must embrace the demands of switching classrooms and teachers every 40 minutes, lugging a backback bursting with text books which will become her reading material of choice for the next ten months. She must get used to being the youngest child in a teenage environment, rather than the oldest and most revered in the final year of primary. She must motivate herself for the hours of serious homework ahead, each mark counting towards a grand, end-of-year total.

But of course, these words, tinged with anxiety and apprehension, come from a mother's heart. Seeing my daughter begin a new chapter in her journey is like the first day of school all over again. Me filled with hesitation and emotion, while she charges ahead with excitement and enthusiasm.

It’s late as I write this and my 11-year-old is tucked up in bed, probably dreaming of tomorrow’s challenges, but before she fell asleep, I asked her to name the best thing about her first day of high school. “It was fun,” she told me, tiredness failing to dim the excitement in her voice. “We changed teachers every lesson and I got a locker with a padlock for my books.”

So the very things that worried me, were the undisputed highlight of her day!

Perspective, hey – it’s a wonderful thing.

Deborah