Today was the first day back at school after a seven-week break for four of our kids.  One started high school, another started at the school his brother attends.
Two years ago – the last time we had kids starting new schools – this day and the ensuring weeks did not go well due to some anxiety issues in our family so some of us were a bit nervous yesterday.
But they all had smiles this afternoon and it seems to have been a good start. Our littlest one starts kindy on Thursday. He can’t wait. My feelings are more mixed. I will miss him. The photo at right is of him in a ‘boat’. I pulled him from ‘country’ to ‘country’ today to pick up and drop off cargo (ie. items that were in the wrong room).

I’ve already planned what I’m going to do on  Thursday in case none of my friends is around and I’m feeling a bit down. There’s a patch of national park near our place, and I’m thinking a little bushwalk, finishing at a cafe for a pot of tea and brainstorming session, might be a nice distraction.

I’m looking forward to gearing up in terms of writing and writing-related things which have been on hold while I’ve had little ones at home and juggling paid freelance jobs for the past 12 years.

I’m aware that having all our kids in school won’t automatically free up lots of extra working hours  – there will be special assemblies and Masses to attend, pupil free days, flu season etc. And the next lot of holidays will come around fast. But like my children today, I am full of hope for the new year.

There’s also a raft of home organisations things I am itching to get to. First on the list is updating the boys’ beds from toddler beds – a job seriously overdue. And there’s a bunch of other stuff I need to do which I will probably post here. If you’re like me you can never get enough of before-and-after-photos, and I’ve got good reason to take lots of them!

Over at The Catholic Weekly I have a few new stories up. Please read and share them.

One is the column about multi-family holidays based on our week in the Blue Mountains at the start of the month. And a news story about Archbishop Fisher’s efforts to make the supply lines of the archdiocese and its agencies free of slavery and labour exploitation. High-risk sectors for modern forms of slavery and labour exploitation include the service industries, clothing and agriculture.

Much of what we wear, use, and eat, is tainted by slave or unfair labour. Yet hopes are high that modern slavery can be erased within a generation, with the Catholic Church in Australia leading the way in international best practice.

In terms of reading, I am LOVING Bill Bryson’s At Home: A short history of private life which came recommended on a mothers’ Facebook group I joined. And while ‘enjoy’ is not the right word, I appreciated an article in The Australian Magazine on new Order of Australia member, former police detective and whistleblower, Denis Ryan.