Is It That Time Already?

Yesterday morning, I received a letter addressed to 'The Parents of Miss A Gibson'. In this letter, it notified me that, from her 3rd birthday, Anna was eligible for 5 free morning/afternoon sessions at nursery school and that attending would mean great educational benefits and gaining of vital social skills. It also helpfully informed me that I should start looking at possible pre-schools/nurseries now as I would have to decide in the next few months, due to over-subscription of popular places.

I genuinely thought that there had been some administration error. 'Anna, my baby, has only just turned one' I thought as I glanced up to see Anna attempting to get the Weetabix on her spoon, only to see it catapult across the room and land on the bookshelf at the opposite side of the room (Anna can now feed herself with a knife and fork/spoon although she it sometimes falls off the cutlery before it reaches her mouth! Miss Independent won't let anyone feed her nowadays and you receive a serious dirty look and scowl from Anna if you even dare to attempt to help)

In fact, I was so convinced that there must have been some mistake that I phoned up 'Cheshire Children's Services', just looking for some reassurance that it had been sent far too early. I think the lady on the other end of the phone must have to deal with this quite a lot from mothers like me! 'No, you have been sent it correctly' she said, trying her best to sound reassuring 'It is hard to realise that they are growing up so fast but we do advise that you put Anna down for your choice of nursery school in the next few months'. What!!!! I haven't even decided what Mums and Tots playgroup that I want to take Anna to yet (which is taking months as I devise checklists, data graphs and a clear comparison chart of what resources each playgroup offers!!! Well.... maybe not that much but I am still comparing the two finalists in my list!!) .

So we now face the task of deciding which nursery/pre-school that Anna will go to when she turns 3 years old (I'm still not sure that she will go for all 5 mornings to start with but obviously I do agree that she should go for important social and independent skills). It means that James and I will be taking tours around the chosen finalists (we currently have 4 pre-schools/nurseries on the list). I think James is dreading it, not because of the nurseries themselves but because of me! When I was considering going back to work, we did a tour of day nurseries and after every one, I walked out saying 'No, that is not the right one for Anna'. I have to admit that my reasons were quite lame (Wrong colour carpet, uniforms looked too formal etc). James thinks that I will be exactly the same this time. However, I am reassuring him that this will be different. 'Don't worry', I say 'I know that Anna will only be there for 2 and a half hours each morning and she is so much older and will be desperate to play with lots of other children/toys/books. By 3 years old, Anna will probably want some escape from her mummy too'. Even as I say it, I have a fear that, in my opinion, no nursery will be good enough for her, which is just crazy as lots of them will be. As long as Anna is happy and having fun in a safe and supportive environment, it will be fine. I will just have to keep chanting that to myself when the time comes to choose!

As for when she starts pre-school, James has a clear picture in his head of how it will be. He describes it as one where Anna runs off to play without so much as a backward glance at her Mummy (which is often what she does now at her various clubs and groups). Meanwhile, I will be stood at the gate crying. He is probably right!