School summer fetes ( 1st time around )

When you are pregnant you can find so much information, from bump to birth and then on to toddler age you can find countless books, guides and helpful information. I have found that once your child gets to nursery age this help and information drys up! As a 1st time mum to a now 4 1/2 year old who will be starting full time school in September i thought i would share my views/tips on all the things you will face 1st time !

As you may or may not know, my son is only 4 1/2 he attends morning nursery this is part of the school he will be joining come september and i am tryingly hardest to embrace everything school ! so with this in mind when the news letter came home informing me about the upcomming school summer fete i was really excited !

The school had a really good system for donations by hosting mufti day for four fridays but rather then bringing in a £ each week the child had to bring in a donation 1st week it was un-wanted gifts i had just had a good clear out so Bodhi went in with a bag full of items that we just had hanging around being un-used 2nd week was for soft toys now this was a little harder due to Bodhi having very strong feelings to all of his soft toys! But i had a few beanie babies tucked away from way back when so off they went into school ! week 3 this week was bring a bottle again i found this week pretty hard as i was unsure if they wanted wine/beer soft drinks bubble bath?! who knew!! so i played it safe and sent him in with a bottle of posh looking fizzy juice and the last week and the day of the fete was sweets/chocolate and i sent Bodhi in with x5 little bags of sweets that were 5 for £1 from asda. I personally feel like we donated a lot ! but i didn't spend more then £1 on each week so same as if he was paying for mufti.

When the friday rolled again for the fete the weather was looking pretty good and everyone was buzzing! This was when i started to worry , how much money should i take? do i like Bodhi do everything ? how much will the bouncey castle be? all of these things i had no idea of the answers, so we went back into school for 2.30 and the hall was PACKED! like rammed ! parents queuing for the tombola and kids running around hyped up on ice pops and sweets!

I went with the idea that Bodhi would have £4 to spend ( i was thinking the bouncy castle would be £1/2 and most games/treats would be 50p ) turns out i was wrong so Bodhi went running off to play and spend his money and this is how £8 ( yeah i let him have more ) got spent in less then 10 minitues

30p - lolly pop pull  (didn't win but got a lolly )
20p - lucky dip ( party bag type toy )
£1 - coconut shy -  ( didn't win )
£1 bean bags into buckets -  ( didn't win )
£1 ping pong ball into cups -  ( party bag type toy )
£1 x3 tombola tickets - ( room air smelly thing with the sticks? - see photo )
50p soft toy tombola - ( duck )
£1 sweet tombola - ( bag of mixed sweets )
£1 bouncey castle
£1 ice pop & ice cream cone

BOOM £8! with not a lot to show for it but Bodhi was really happy and thats what counts no? so tips for your 1st time attending a school fete * take change * set a budget * tell your child when the money is gone its gone * do the bouncey castle last * take a bag * keep calm it will soon be over !

Baby Bodhi is starting school in September !

Today is the day that we find out about lower school addmisions, I am SO pleased to say that when my inbox pinged the email stated that Bodhi has been given a place at our first choice school. This is also the school he attends nursery at and we also live in the next street to it, we moved house in 2011 while I was pregnant with Bodhi and one of the things I loved about the house we live in is that it was so close to a lovely little school 

So you could say I've been waiting for this email for over four years ( cause well I have ! ) I don't know what I would have done if we hadn't got the place we wanted ( pleased I don't have to even have to think of that tho ) some people arnt so lucky, in our area last year the schools changed from lower , middle , upper and became junior the to secondary school meaning Bodhi will be spending the next 7 years learning at this school. 

Bodhi started nursery last Easter so by the time he starts school he will have had a year half with in nursery doing only 9-12 he has a solid group of friends and I am starting to become friends with some lovely mums ( and dads ) I am crossing my fingers that they all will also join the boy in September 

My heart is a little sad that my baby boy and my old child will be going to full time school come September.. But on the other hand I know he is ready and I am ready for it he loves nursery and really enjoys learning at the moment his favourite things are letters and writing , I can't wait to start doing home work projects , book reviews the works with him and watch him become a little man. Today is a happy & sad day