Why 'Back to School' is a bittersweet time for parents all over South Yorkshire

My ‘school mums’ WhatsApp thread has been pinging like mad since the beginning of August with everything from uniform queries to last minute summer homework panics.

We’ve spent the last week trying on last term’s uniforms to see what still fits, buying new snack boxes, PE kits, and swimming gear, and ironing name labels into anything that stands still.My daughter has informed me that she's a ‘big girl’ this year. Last year was her reception year, and as of this week, she is officially a Year One girl. My five-year-old is walking around with a puffed out chest, and is very determined to ‘look after’ all the tiny four-year-olds that will be walking onto the playground this week for the first time.

As for me, I’ve mentally ticked off the first year of school, with some level of alarm at how quickly it’s passed us by. In the last 12 months, Imogen has learned to read, write, and has mastered some of her early times tables as I’ve watched on in astonishment.

Two years ago, when she started nursery, it was a big change. After three years of her life where I knew every little scratch that appeared, every sniffle, every new word, first food, or grumbly mood, it was time to share her with the world, and it was so strange listening to her singing songs I’d never heard of, and talking about children whose names I didn’t know.

This last year, she’s become even more absorbed in her friends and teachers and the world beyond the school gates. She’s started telling me things I don’t know, because I’m no longer the one to teach her everything. “Mummy, did you know that some insects and spiders have an exoskeleton…?’Umm well, no actually, I didn’t.

I’ve learned that asking her what she’s been doing that day, as she sits in her car-seat on the drive home, will get me nothing but a shrug.

Ahh but if I’m patient, and can wait until that evening when I’m tucking her into bed, it will all come out. My shiny eyed little girl will relay every picture drawn, playground quarrel, and lunchtime treat. I'll find out why so-and-so is her bestest ever friend this week, and who has just found out they’re going to be a big sister. It's one of my favourite moments of the day.

In the past year, she’s grown so much, but she’s still my little girl, and this is the thought that comforts me as we head into another year, and I prepare to kiss more of my baby goodbye, and welcome more of the young lady who's taking her place.