Long summer holiday
Unlike last year, we did not book any summer school for our daughter because I felt it was a bit too much money after eating our savings pot for a few months. Therefore, I told her this year it was not happening but we'd go swimming as many times as we could and also go for plenty of tapas during the summer. Without an actual holiday booked, the tapas and some dinner moments were a welcome change in the daily routine for my boyfriend because he had to keep working all summer, of course this meant he was overloaded some weeks.
Where I'd normally hold the budget a bit tighter in terms of eating tapas and some nice dinners, this time I decided to be less strict because it's summer for him as well, not just for the two of us. While he had his working hours, the kid and I went for swims many days during these three months. The best thing we could do a few nights a week was get out for some tapas so he could chill and have a beer after a long (sometimes stressful) day at the (home) office.
The first half was easy
I was surprised by how smooth things were going, the swimming pool in our community really made a huge difference in the perception of the summer holiday. Although she can't go alone and always needed me to join her, the fact that we could just into our garden and jump in the pool rather than driving to the beach and finding a parking spot to dip in the sea was pleasant, especially for me. I didn't end up at the beach once this year while they did once.
I love the sea and waves but as my holiday started with a hernia and lots of pain, the fact that you can sink into the sand with rocks 20/30 cm at some spots and it's hard to stand in the water with some rocky waves, made me realise that I was best off in the pool without any room for error with my back. I'm glad I did because weeks ago, the pain vanished almost fully. I feel blessed for being able to shake off this hernia nonsense even before summer ended.
Less creative
The downside of the fist period where I was still in lots of pain and used heavy pain killers every day was that I did not feel creative more than 2 days in these 12 weeks. I feel guilty for not being the crafty mom most of the summer, but we'll catch up in the next months to craft for the upcoming holidays, it is what it is. I can feel guilty about it and disappointed yet it will not change a damn thing so I better shake that off and be happy the pain is gone.
I fully expect the creative flow to return soon once we all get used to the new and normal routine again. No matter how nice it is to be able to sleep in a bit longer, once you do this for too many weeks, it doesn't really help me at all. I'm personally happy that I need to get up the same time every day again to get the little one to school.
Grateful for the school swap
This morning was our first walk to school, and while walking, I felt so happy and grateful that we don't have to hop in the car to get her to school anymore. Just a walk around the corner is all it takes. To our surprise we were allowed at the school yard, where at the old school we had to drop her off at the gate. This felt a bit more personal and so far, I'm loving what I see. She has a nice teacher, the school seemed really organised (she loves that!) and now we hope that she's making friends asap because she is the new girl again this year. With one big difference this time and that is that she speaks Spanish already, which should help!
It's weird to have my own time again
After three months it's very strange to be able to be productive again in the morning. I already knew from last year that I'd probably not be as productive as normal the first day(s) of the new school year. For some reason it's always a bit of a mental block the first days. Which is ok, as I spent the time to catch up with a friend and made some plans for later this week while also organizing the monthly budget sheet again.
I'm excited to hear the first day stories when we pick her up at 2 in the afternoon. I'm hoping she had a wonderful day and found some likeminded kids to play with as well.
The picture in the header is my own.