We had a little first time school starter at our place, the fifth time I’ve packed a little one off to school, just two boys left to go.

Did you have a first timer this year? How did you cope?

As for me, I still don’t know what to do with myself, having just two toddlers to chase during the week is going to take some getting used to. I thought a lot this week about my first child heading off to kindergarten, and how much build up there was.

I spent the month beforehand getting uniforms together, sticky name labels printed, lunch boxes, bags, stationery, I had the whole kit sorted, even pencils with his name printed on them.

All of it stuffed into a back pack three times the size of the kid, strapped onto his back and looking like an enormous turtle, in the school gate he toddled.

Teachers taking him in hand leaving me at the gate with a tear in my eye, wondering where did my baby go. All that build up, ending in short but sweet goodbye.

Fast forward a decade and my how things have changed.

No waving them off from the gate anymore and mum has to go in. Classes, canteen, library, lunch foods, readers, bathroom details all need to be talked about so parents are in the loop about school routine completely.

I think this is a good and bad thing, and why didn’t teachers think of this stuff when I had the time to do it 10 years ago?

I love how informed teachers like parents to be now, you can never to too involved in your child’s education in my opinion, but like I said I now don’t have the time!

When I think back to how much effort I put into that first day of school all those years ago, compared to this past week’s effort, I hang my head in shame.

In a hand me down uniform, shoes bought at the last minute and a hat of the wrong school colour (they were sold out), everything labelled with a marker instead of fancy personalised labels, drink bottles and bag scrounged from about the house that morning, and running at least 15 minutes late we made the dash into the classroom, a toddler under each arm. I