Saying Goodbye...

You'd think it'd finish a girl off to have to deal with the emotion of a first and last day one after the other...

Because just as Ava has gone into her "new" school today... tomorrow, we prepare for her "last day" at Nursery.

We didn't really plan on having a last day at Ava's current school... at least not until she reached Year 6 and was ready for the big transition to Secondary School. But I have been reminded again, these past few months, that His ways are not my ways. That God always has a bigger picture, a better plan an intricate design that I cannot see, and cannot always understand. We didn't get the school place I had planned for... but we did get the school place he had planned for us.

I know who's plan I'd rather follow!

And yet knowing we are in safe hands doesn't make the goodbyes any easier. In many ways, Ava is oblivious... a few of her little friends are also starting "new schools" in September, and I'm not entirely sure she's clicked that the majority of her little friends are staying put. And to be honest, I'm quite happy with it that way...

And so we find ourselves saying goodbye to lovely friends... and perhaps its me, who does understand what all this means, that is actually finding this transition hardest.

Because its not just Ava who's made friends this year.

Little did I realise, when I rocked up at the school gate last September, how much this bunch of ladies would come to mean to me...

We have gone through milestones together this year... we have picked up and dropped off each others children... we have supported each other through new arrivals and sad partings... we've laughed at the antics of our children, and shared our concerns and worries... we've bonded over fish and chips, countless cups of tea and coffee, and even full English breakfasts! We've all smiled and waved through our first Christmas production together, cheered our children through their first sports day, and helped the children through their little tiffs and upsets.

And these past few weeks, while I've been "in recovery"... they have really shown their stuff. Dropping everything to look after my children for me... taking Ava to and from school to save me the school run... getting their husbands to drive me to the Doctor's surgery... cooking us meals and creating amazing "Breastfeeding Survival Kits" full of goodies! These are true friends... people who go out of their way for you, people who are willing to be vulnerable and real with you, people who listen because they want to understand, not because they have something to say...

I really never could have believed that in one short year, I would have made friendships that I hope to keep for years to come...

So Kirsty, Natalie, Suzie, Siobhan, Sarah, Anna and Dilek...

This one's for you.

Mwah.xxx

(and a big thank you to Andy for driving me to the Doctor's surgery!)