A Matter of Choice

It's the start of a new era in our family,  not only is it back to school time which is always a big change after 3 months off but this year both boys are in the same school for the first time! Louka has been very excited to go and has taken it all very well so far,  this morning was the first sign of reluctance - saying 'Well I don't really want to go to school today' but that was as much as we got.  Leo laughed and said 'You don't get to choose!'  and he got on with it.  They seem to be very happy so far being together, and its made school runs much easier. No more debates on who to drop off or pick up first, and no more driving!   As school is just down the road we are now walking which I am really enjoying and a great start to the day.  I could write more but after years of oversharing online I'm becoming increasingly reluctant to,  maybe I'm getting older and wiser, maybe it's because I have a much wider selection of facebook...

Facebook drives me mad a lot of the time, not mad enough to not live on it constantly of course (It's not that I *want* too, I HAVE to because of my work, well that and I'm far too nosy not to!)  It's full of rubbish a lot of the time, but also lots of little gems, funny things and random links that are a major time suck but so addictive. Every now and again though it throws up a gem, or in this case inspiration for a blog post... Recently I saw a link to an 80's nostalgia website and this particular post was all about the 'Come and Praise' hymn book that surely every 80s kid held in their grubby little hands once upon a time. (I couldn't find the original post, so I'm making my own!) We used this book every morning in assembly throughout my primary school years. They were kept in a box and handed out at the door as we left the classroom to go to the 'Big Hall' for assembly.  There were many very battered copies in the box and a few b...

It's back to school day today! After almost 3 months of lazy days, lie ins and not much of a schedule to stick to it was time to set the alarm and get the boys out of bed again.   It was a bit strange this morning,  it's actually the first year where I have to really use an alarm. They were always such early risers that it was never needed before,  always set but more as a back up in the unlikely event of us sleeping in.   Towards the end of the school year I did have to wake Leo a couple of days,  but it was mainly due to his reluctance to get moving than sleepiness.  But for the first time, we have had a school holiday where the boys haven't been up at the crack of dawn,  in fact their average getting up time was between 8am and 9am.  Something I'd never have been able to imagine in the days of broken sleep and 5am starts. Of course it's good but it meant I felt like I was getting up in the middle of the night when me alarm went ...

When I was at school walking was the only option to get there and back,  it wasn't far and my Mum didn't drive so there was no debate about it.   My boys schools are both local,  one more so than the other but we have always driven so far.  Loukas is in walking distance but it would mean leaving earlier and as we leave at 7;30 anyway its quite precious time!  Also his little legs mean what would probably be a 10 minute walk gets much longer, and I'm also very lazy when it comes to walking anywhere!   Leo's really is close but as I drive Louka he just gets dropped off on the way past. It had been mentioned about Leo walking on his own at some point this year, to much debate from different people.  As I said, it's really not far (you can see the top of his school from our balcony)  but he does have at least one road to cross, and there is no pavement for some of the way. Many of his class mates walk without adults, and have been doing so in th...

The new school year starts here! It's been a long summer holiday,  13 weeks of lazing around,   swimming, playing, watching tv, broken up with some great days out and a lot of late nights, and a surprising amount of lie ins! The boys went off happily enough to school this morning,   Leo was equally pleased and not impressed about the end of the holidays,   Louka didn't really seem to have an opinion either way,   I'm sure that will change once he remembers he has to go every day. It's not as big a change as last year, which saw both boys starting a new school.  This year is just a change of class,  Leo into 2nd class and Louka into Prodimodiki (pre-school)  rather than the nursery class.  So new teachers for them both but the same building so hopefully they won't take as long to adjust. We were pleased to discover that Louka has the same teacher that Leo had when he was there,  which made it all feel a bit easier too. I've ...

After the long summer holiday - (I still can't get over how long they have here, even though I've decided that I like it!) last week was back to school for the children of Cyprus. Most of the Mum's I know here had at least one child changing schools this year as our 4 year olds join the 'Prodimodiki' (pre- primary) class. It's all very confusing for us non-Greek speaking expat Mums but we slowly seem to be figuring it out. After much confusion I think I've established that Leo will do two years of Prodimodiki, this first one being optional and next years being compulsory as preparation or proper primary school.  It turns out that I could have left Leo in the same class as last year (although without the friends he'd made) which I didn't realise until they rang me in the first week of September to tell me the starting date.   I was briefly confused as the what to do even more so as they needed to know straight away but the lady very helpful a...

Although summer has been around at least a month here, its now official as the schools finished back on  the 19th June.   Leo had the option to continue going until the end of June, (well,I say he had the option...  he didn't have much say in it!) so he finished last Friday. There is a summer program running a his school for just €10 a month more than we would usually pay but after some thought I decided to give him a decent break. Because of the very long summer holiday the rest of the year is long, no half terms and only a few days off for Easter and Christmas.   School starts early at 7.45am, so it will be nice to not hustle him out the door every morning for a while. Leo has had a fab school year, better than I could have imagined back when I was so worried about it all. His teacher was lovely and thankfully Leo thought she was great. Leo went happily to school almost every day, and sometimes asked to go on the weekend! He loved playing with his frien...

If you've been reading my blog a while you will no doubt remember how worried I was about sending Leo to school, from trying to work out where to send him, and how to enroll  to his first day at his 'big school'   it's been quite a concern of mine.  Although he seems to have enjoying his time at his school since September I had wondered exactly how he had been getting on, he always says he doesn't remember when you ask him what he's been doing and because of the language barrier he often can't explain very well even when he does remember! Today the parents were invited to spend an hour in the class and then to enjoy coffee and cake whilst having a chat to the teachers about the children's progress. It was interesting as my Greek is not yet good enough to understand what was going on very well but brilliant to see him there being so much a part of the class and happy.  As I walked in, he had the biggest smile on his face and after running over for a k...

Well, they say you learn something new everyday and that's certainly true living in Cyprus! Leo came home from school today having made this... His teacher did reiterate the writing with him as we went to leave and asked him if he understood but he did his usual 'smile and wave' thing  where he nods and says 'Nai'  (yes) even though I think he's just humouring them.   All the children were leaving with them and I didn't think much more of it, as they often come home with religious looking artwork. He also brought a letter which with my limited knowledge and the help of Google translate I managed to gather was about the subjects they were covering this month.   (winter and water apparently!)   The end of the letter mentioned  the  Τριών Ιεραρχών , the same as on his colouring.   I couldn't quite understand what it was saying other than they were something to do with letters! As I had a Greek lesson tonight (brought forward from tomorrow ...

It's not often it can be said but tonight our little Leo was an angel! He played his part in his first ever school play and was brilliant! I had no idea if he would take follow in my footsteps and refuse to do it and burst into tears  or if he would do what he was supposed to.  He had learnt his lines off by heart, even correcting me on my pronunciation of them, and had been excitedly showing me how he had to run around on the stage but I didn't know if the huge audience and camera flashes would put him off. Unfortunately we were sat the other side of the stage to where he stood but we did see him and also manage to get a great photo. It was the only photo we got of him as he refused to let Aaron take one before we left home.  Not wanting to upset him before the play we didn't force the issue! He had been looking forward to going to school at night (the play was at 6.45pm - interesting as he usually goes to bed at 7pm and he has to be at ...

Leo has been at his new 'Big school' for 3 weeks already, he's enjoying it and is now going off each morning without a fuss which is brilliant! Each day when I pick him up he's so pleased to see me but comes out happy and full of beans telling me all about his day. I've been making sure when I collect him that I'm not late, but also trying not to be too early (I am usually too early for most things!) as I didn't want him to expect me to be the first Mum in each day. This usually means I am sat in the car for a while or I sneak into the school and try and catch a glimpse of him before he sees me.   It amazes me each time I do to see him in this new environment getting on with it and looking so grown up. On Friday as I pulled up in the car I could see all the children in the playground which was different to usual. I realised that they were all marching with the teachers who were also banging drums and singing.  Each child was waving a Cypriot flag they ha...

Regular readers, and especially those who follow me on Twitter will know that Leo started his new 'big school' last week. It was something I was very nervous about, right from the start when I enrolled him back in January not having a clue what I was doing. We had put him in Nursery back in June  as in addition to my nerves about sending him to an all Greek school, I was worried about sending him somewhere on his own for the first time  around the time I was due to give birth, I thought this might be a bit much for him to cope with at once/ Although in some respects we achieved our aim - get him used to the idea of school five days a week, it can't really be classed as a resounding success. At first in his 'baby school' as we now call it, as expected there were tears but after just a couple of days he went in reasonably happy as long as I did everything in the same way each day (get him out the car, put his bag on his back, hold hands and then choose a coloured...

The first thing Leo has ever brought home from school.

August is finally upon us and this means that this month we will be welcoming a new arrival into our family! The next couple of months are going to be interesting to say the least,  baby will be here soon, Leo will be changing school and Aaron will still be working a 7 day week, (I think at the moment he is on day 76 or something like that!) and we still have to peak of the temperatures to come! We'll survive I'm sure,  I'm not actually complaining (believe it or not!) I'm just enjoying the calm before the storm.  I'm excited, nervous, calm and apprehensive about the whole thing all at once! I look at Leo at the moment and wonder how he will react to all the changes that are approaching.... We started Leo at nursery school back in June to get him used to going somewhere without us.  It's been a mixed success to be honest, most mornings he plays up a little and asks not to go, and every day when you pick him up he and ask him what he had done he says ...

This week as Leo went to nursery school for the first time I thought this would be a great photo choice for my Flashback Friday.... This was taken on my first day at Primary School, I don't remember that much about it but I do remember the photo being 'staged'  and my parents asking me to go to the end of the drive so it looked like I was going but Mum saying that it was pretend and she would be really taking me in a minute! I asked my Mum about the day and she said I was not impressed!  When the teacher rang the bell for class all the children, including me ran straight over to the teacher but I was the only one to run straight back to my Mum crying! She ended up being the only Mum to have to take their child inside where the head mistress plucked me out of her arms and told her 'You've had her for years, it's our job now' It took a week or so for me to go without a fight, to begin with Mum took me and settled me at my desk, then progressed to sa...

My least favourite thing about living in Cyprus is the fact that I generally have no idea what I am doing most of the time when it comes to the 'official' stuff.  I realise this is partly my fault and if I could speak some useful Greek (rather than the random things I have learnt so far) then life would be much easier, but as yet my Greek is so limited I cannot hold any kind of helpful conversation and I'm constantly trying to figure out what the hell is going on! I have spent many many hours on line trying to find concise information on everything from becoming residents, getting medical cards, tax rebate and most recently how, when and where to enrol Leo into school.  Although over the last couple of years I've used many websites I have yet to find one with all the answers, this is probably due to the fact no-one knows all the answers as I have a sneaky suspicion they frequently change! Using a combination of websites and experiences of fri...