Fill 'er up

Well that was a hard few weeks.

Not only was my little one off school for a week - but he kindly passed his virus on to his parents in equal measure. Phew! Not pleasant.

We are now fit and healthy and back on the school run.

Do you ever watch your fuel gauge nervously as it runs ever lower on the run in to school?

Sadly, I need to top up the fuel a few times a month and it is quite disheartening to see your fuel (and money) literally get eaten up every time you drive. Yesterday, I was running low - two bars  left. I thought I could make it home and then try my luck tomorrow. Well tomorrow now being today came and we made it and onto the last bar. I am running on orange ie fill up fill up fill up. I am not quite on dangerous levels yet but I will have to struggle on and fill up on the way. I think it will be ok - just.....

All I want to avoid is having to fill up in the morning on the way in - that would be a real nightmare but one I have so far managed to avoid.

An ill wind

So far this week - no school run.

Unfortunately my little one is ill and has had to stay off school. It is such a shame that he can't go just as the school year has started.

It was inevitable really - all the kids returning and the longer days - he was bound to pick up something at some point.

Hopefully he will return in the next few days - but though my journey without him is quicker - I do miss it - that quality time first thing in the morning (at least if he is talkative and not being stubborn!).

Changing lanes

There is that age old conundrum - when stuck in a traffic jam where there are more than 1 lanes of traffic - do you move lanes to another where it appears that traffic is moving faster - or stay put and hope you catch up?

Today - after another struggle to a) leave the house b) with shoes on  and c) to get into the car I found myself late and in a horrible traffic jam.

Not for the first time I question whether I should be in the outside lane when lane no2 moves quicker. On balance, and after 20 minutes, I probably made the wrong choice.

It will be @@d's law that I change tomorrow and then get stuck.

5 minutes

I am leaving early now, much earlier.

Isn't it amazing what a difference just 5 minutes makes?

This was evident this morning during phase 1. On the first few days there was minimal traffic leading up to the first (but moving) log jam. Today due to Pokemon Fusion related issues we left 5 minutes later and got stuck.

(As an aside - I really do like Pokemon Fusion - these Japanese cartoons are awesome and remind me of the quality of cartoons we had when we were small)

Other than the annoying early delay the rest of the traffic until phase 5 was free flowing.

We got in early just in time to label up a snack box before departing to the playground.

I was told to leave today - so I know he is happy and confident.

Rota shmota

Well it worked well last year but most things have a shelf life and so did this.

Getting into work late every day for a year made things a little awkward and for other reasons I won't delve into, my rota became impossible to maintain.

So began a desperate search all summer for a new rota. I must have called, emailed and texted everyone I knew or didn't know to no avail. I was met with apathy, excuses and sorry I can't helps in 9 out of 10 cases.

There were those who kindly offered their services in an emergency which was great and very helpful but in the end as we had no-one else to approach, we decided that the school coach on the way back was the way forward (nice run of words there!).

So now I take in the mornings and from Monday the coach will bring him back.

Let's see how it goes.....

I'm Back!

Well that's it - holidays over and I am back on the school run again.

I will blog more as to the rota shenanigans that took place over the summer another time.

For now, this is day two.

It was just me and my son and TRAFFIC.

Isn't it just typical that the first day back (yesterday) when you want to get in quick without any problems so you can see what's what and settle them in in a relaxed way is anything but!

Of course, that is exactly what happened. We left on time only to be confronted with a HUGE traffic jam on what I like to call phase 2 (more on that later) of my run. A five minute stretch took 45 minutes to pass.

Luckily once cleared the run was quick and almost traffic free. We made it with two minutes to spare and just in time to line up to go a new class. Phew!

What was nice was that despite the above, I saw most of my friends (albeit briefly) and that at least made a difficult morning better.

But the best thing of all - a happy child at the end of the day!!