School starts at 7.20, so we have to leave at 6.55, which means getting up at 5.45. That’s quite an adjustment after 12 weeks of holiday, getting up at somewhere between 7.00 and 7.30!
The upside is that school finishes at 13.30, so you have a long afternoon. We will probably enroll them in afterschool programs for a couple of days (Dutch class and some sport activities), which will end at 14.30.
Saturday night was a rough night, at bedtime Nils started sobbing: “I want to go back to Prague”. It was heart breaking and we had a hard time consoling him, it was the first time ever one of the boys spoke about going back to Prague. Later at night Lars woke up several times, he was anxious about not being able to make new friends at his new school.
On Sunday morning, Romke dropped off Olav in his new class room, and he seemed fine. I dropped off Nils and Lars in their class rooms. As soon as they found something to play with, they told me to leave. When I picked them up they were full of stories about how many Dutch children they have in their classes. (Nils 3, Lars 3 and Olav 2)
Now we have 3 days under our belt, and they settle in nicely. No problems whatsoever, Lars doesn’t wake up at night and no talking about Prague anymore. Romke drops them off in the morning, I pick them up by taxi.
The house feels overwhelmingly empty to me without the boys. For 12 weeks I lived with them 24/7, and now I feel very unsettled for the 6 ½ hours that they are gone. Good thing my sailing class will start next week.
This is their new school uniform. Pay special attention to their big ugly shapeless black British shoes that are mandatory in this school.
This is their new school uniform. Pay special attention to their big ugly shapeless black British shoes that are mandatory in this school.
