Our big boy E was born in late June and at just on 3, we have already submitted applications for Prep (months ago) and have finalised kindergarten offers for next year ... you read right, applications over 18 months in advance! This is cutting it pretty fine in comparison to some of the prestigious Sydney schools that require you to enroll at conception to be considered but the Gold Coast is not quite there - yet.

So applications for Kindergarten were made early 2014 and offers have been sent out with orientations taking place as I type. We had decided on two preferred kindergarten options for E next year, one being a pre-prep long daycare program at my alma mater and the other, a classroom type 5 day fortnight at a local Community Kindergarten.
S is very happy for me to keep him in the loop but to make all the main decisions around schooling so to be entirely honest, my preference was (and is) for the Community Kinder because of the program structure, replicating of 'school' with the same class for the entire year and the excellent learning and social outcomes they produce.

Earlier this year after submitting our application, I was contacted by my former school to advise they were deferring E's application to a place the following year due to his birthday being so close to the June 30 cutoff Queensland has. They advised it was policy to not consider enrolments for children with birthdays after March the year they are due to start and to defer them for the following year. So essentially they were telling me E wouldn't be ready or eligible by their policy to start Prep the year he was due (2017) and I would need to hold him back. I was furious initially... that they didn't consult with us or ask our plans and intentions around E's schooling first and foremost or even request to meet him and assess his readiness.

Here's where the dilemma can kick in ... in my experience and circle, many parents are now being told that if children are too close to the cutoff, they should be held back and start school a year later to give them time to get school ready and gain the necessary maturity, particularly in the case of boys.
From what I can tell, and this is a personal observation only, this is causing a massive skew of the system that was never intended where in some cases there are almost 6 years olds starting in a class with 4.5 year olds. The system was designed for a natural range of 12 months that would eventually even out over the years not the 18+ months we are starting to see and there is an expectation now that children have a level of maturity and school readiness that was previously thought to be gained by starting school.

With this all in mind, and I understand we all only want the best for our children, we have decided we would be disadvantaging E by holding him back a year at the rate he is tracking. His carers and educators have informed us he is a keen learner and clever little boy with an excellent vocabulary and memory. His learning is at the higher end of his peers and having him repeat a curriculum like the kindergarten program would do him no favours at this time.
Thankfully he has been offered a place at the Community Kindergarten and after his orientation last week, we enormously impressed by the facility and especially his lead educator. We feel it will provide a positive opportunity to help get him as 'school ready' as possible and from there, its on us to choose the right school community to nurture him with our input regardless of his age.


Now we wait with bated breath for Prep offers to come in around February next year ... we have made 3 enrollment applications and I have put a bit of groundwork and effort into our first preference with opportunities that have presented but we would be happy with any of the 3 ultimately.

Its scary in some ways to be making such enormous decisions around our child's future and the pressure to get it right and set him up for a bright future. In other ways, its exciting to be planning his next step forward with anticipation to watch him grow and learn so much more than he already knows.

What is your experience with choosing your child's pathway to the education system? I know some exclusive schools in our capital cities require enrollment at conception even along with non-refundable deposits in the thousands of dollars so I guess we're pretty lucky here that while its competitive, its not insanely so.

This may be a boring post to some so feel free to skip past, I won't be offended but it might just help other mummas out there... wardrobe organisation and keeping on top of it is a near fulltime job it seems given babies/toddlers need a new wardrobe every 2-3 months (or more) in those early years.

First things first, if you are drowning in clothes (like we do thanks to shopaholic me and grammy), separate everything into size and then type of garment - so all your 0000, 000, 00, 0 etc separated by size sorted into neat piles of onesies, shirts and shorts etc.

I must add, I'm paranoid about furniture in the boys' rooms after reading a horror story in an Australian newspaper about a 2 year old and a chest of drawers so given they have built in robes in their rooms,  I prefer fabric storage drawers hidden in the cupboard in addition to a wide deep change table/dresser in Cs room and a big heavy hard to move shelving unit for toys and books in Es room strapped to the wall. I can't stress enough to think through your furniture choices for your childrens' rooms with a thought to safety - will they/can they climb on it, will it tip over... consider buying straps and securing pieces to the wall.

The fabric drawers the best for organising! They are hidden away but still look good when the toddler leaves his doors open and they are labelled to help my husband find things and actually dress our boys in a public appropriate outfit. We are just coming into Spring here at the moment but still enjoy some cool days so are using both Winter and Summer wardrobes, our labels on Cs drawers and Es boxes are something like this:

• Hats, socks
• Singlets & underwear
• Daycare clothes - this includes a range of shorts, tees and l/sleeve tees that are all labelled & can be worn for DC and messy play 
• Leggings, tracksuit pants
• Tracksuit sets
• Pants, Jean
• Shorts
• Boardshorts, rashsuits/vests
• Winter pjs including onesies
• Summer pjs

I keep all the next season's items I buy in a box in their wardrobes and in the last month of the season when the weather typically changes here, I pull it out, arrange it and cull the existing wardrobe as necessary. This June, I found almost all C's size 0 l/s tees were too short over his little belly so removed all but a few of the bigger ones while all his pants and leggings are still great length and width wise so remain in a drawer labelled accordingly.

When culling the littlest guy's wardrobe, I pull my favourite pieces out of his culled pile (a Nike onesie or Sooki set) if its still in good condition,  and have been popping it it in a box I'm saving for my sister's baby #2 in case its a boy. All the rest that has been worn and/or washed to death goes to my mum for sorting and storing or to give away to family friends or charity.

When culling Es wardrobe, I obviously put aside anything in good condition (which is most of it as he has a lot of clothes) for C and it gets stored in the boxes in C's wardrobe labelled for season, size and type (pants/shirt/pjs). I tend to buy E a lot of Country Road and Target as I find it washes and wears well so even at full price, I get my moneys worth when it passes to C for round 2 and I'm finding even with his active traits, most pieces are still in at least good condition when he's through.

I've been pretty lucky size wise as E has been spot on in sync with seasons and average sizing therefore I have been able to time his wardrobe refreshes/replacements with the seasons. Whereas C has tracked a bit faster in growth than E and is ahead by one size at the same age ... which means lucky me, I get to shop for new clothes as we haven't been able to rely solely on Es hand me downs.

I find keeping up their wardrobes is constant job and I usually spend 10 mins in there every weekend rotating outfits or re-arranging things while the boys have a play in whichever room I'm in (under my feet of course) or if I jag a double nap like I did this weekend.

As I mentioned, I'm a little OCD with organisation, particularly wardrobes so I hope this might offer some helpful tips to others.

Delayed but that's life with a toddler and a baby plus working full time I guess.


Our littlest boy turned one earlier this month and of course it wouldn't have been fair to not throw him a first party like we did with E - I swear the second kid does get a raw deal but that's for another post. Cue a guest list of 70+ and over 50 attendees including a circus of 20+ children under 10 but we love to entertain our family and friends so it was a wonderful day made even better by our amazing backyard that suits crowds and children and fun.


There was no theme and no face painter like Es but we did put up the boys' jumping castle ... although the children has more fun digging in the play yard with E's fleet of Tonka trucks. Kept food simple with a sausage sizzle, cold beers and lots of homemade finger foods the boys love including chocolate crackles - because what children's party is complete without them!


C had a great time and E was in his element running around with all of his 'big' friends (our friends' 5 year olds).

Our weekday routine has run a little like this for those interested:


I start work at 8am so I need to be out the door by 7:30am and with a toddler, a baby and a forgetful (okay, lets give it its real name, disorganised) husband to also get sorted and out the door each morning, my organisational Type A skills are in overdrive.

My 12 months of Maternity leave is over and I'm back at my desk as though I'd never left.
Well not quite, we did lose government while I was gone (coincidence you think?) but hopefully that's a temporary thing - especially if skeletons keep falling out of the Labor MPs closets.

So moving forward, I now have time to blog again - lunch breaks anyone! My first in around 12 months I tell you ... With an almost 3 year old who has a flair for the dramatic and an almost 1 year old who can't bear to not be in touching reach of mummy at all times, I'm lucky I even managed a toilet break most days let alone food.

Unlike most, I've been looking forward to my return to work. I like my job, my boss and my co-workers. It's a fun and supportive environment and allows some 'me' time which helps me to be the best mother to my boys that I can be. I'm also very lucky that my boys only need to go to daycare one day a week thanks to amazing family options courtesy of my mum and mother in law which allows the boys to see and play with their cousins weekly and spend some quality time with their grandparents.

So life with two... It's been a ride, a very crazy ride so far and things are just starting to settle down for us now.

Charlie, or Charley Bear (CB) as he's been affectionately known as by his big brother since he came home from hospi, went from dream angel baby to more demanding/high needs than E in the blink of an eye and it's only now since he is crawling and cruising that he's calmed down a little. Truly, I'm sure the kid just hates being a baby and wants to skip straight to toddler. He grunts and squeals or squawks with frustration every 2 minutes and demands to be in the middle of the action at all times. He despises sleep, it's for the weak I think he feels, just in case he misses out on anything and don't even think about trying to spoon feed him, he'll clamp his lips shut and grunt and wave his arms like a madman until you give him control. No matter who you are, if you're not mummy, the bottom lip will drop and he will let out an almighty scream until he's back in mummy's arms, with the only exceptions being grandpa and sometimes daddy... Thankfully this is slowly passing too but don't try to extend a short cuddle if you want to keep your hearing intact.

He's a beautiful little boy with the absolute cutest of smiles but there has been a lot of tears this past eleven months and honestly, I recognise now, a little post natal depression too.

I've got lots to write about and share from over the past 12 months including an enormous renovation project we've undertaken, the antics of life with 2 under 2 and what I did to survive the past year.

I'm not sure if anybody checks in here anymore but it's a great little journal and outlet for me so expect some regular posts and feel free to get in touch.

R x

Bonds
Given the littlest guy is already in 00 and his big brother didn't hit that size till Summer, I grabbed a few essentials in the Bonds 40% off sale. I stuck with the stretchy jersey cotton so he would get some wear out of them as the weather warms up (if he's not already in 0 then) and I'm a sucker for their two way zips which make the constant changes a breeze. How cute are the colours and prints!

There was jumping castles, Frozen karaoke - yes, we walked around with Let It Go in our heads, slides and more. E and his little friend H had a ball watching Nemo and checking out the life-sized Buzz Lightyear and Woody at the Toy Story zone. It was definitely busy but not crazily so and we lined up for a few attractions before calling lunch at just the time things started to get crazy.

We had some success getting both boys to sleep over lunch (at the pub of course) much to my shock (and disappointment - I would have preferred they hold off for the trip home) and headed for the car to go home. Of course the rain that had been threatening all morning finally fell and the pram rain covers were still in the car. The boys remained mostly dry although a little damp but we got soaked trying to sprint for the car.

Once strapped in and on the highway, C decided to completely lose it. He hates the car at the best of times but this was the worst and he wouldn't calm down. He actually started holding his breath which scared the life out of me and I screamed for S to pull over. We ended up taking the next exit and had to stop for half an hour to get Charlie out and settle him. Not quite the way I wanted the day to end.

It was a great day overall as I had S home on a weekend for a change so it was fun to get out as a family and spend some time with lovely friends.

I intended to start a monthly bucket list back when I started maternity leave but somehow just never got around to it so here goes now...