Stress Is My Middle Name

Oy.  I need a glass of wine and a masseuse.

First - a huge thank you to my brilliant new neighbor and her daughter for coming by last night and putting Atticus to bed and staying with the kids so that Greg and I could enjoy a wonderful dinner out on our 7th anniversary.  This was the first time in a few years that we've been together on our actual anniversary - so it was a true treat to have a nice meal and bottle of wine on our anniversary.

Now... as to the reason of the lingering stress?  Primary and Nursery school.  OY VEY.  Granted, it's not quite as bad (or as expensive) as it is in New York, but still.... moving countries just prior to the school year is no fun.

Once we had the neighborhood and house figured out - I began the in earnest search for the local primary schools.  The terminology here is different from home.  Public school in the States is "state school" here in London and private school in the States is "public school" here.  Sometimes private is also called private.  Sometimes Pre-Prep.  Just to add to the fun...

So, now we have an address and we're just a wee bit outside the "catchment" area for the closest state school.  But - based on prior years, we still had a good shot of getting in.  We filled out the paperwork and sent it into the "council".  Then we heard back that we needed to prove our address before we could be added to any existing wait lists.  G'ahhh.  So, now that we'd been in the house for a whole week -- I packed up the kids and grabbed as much proof as I could find and headed over to the council office.

Then we wait.

And now it's a few days before school is due to start and we haven't heard a THING.  I started leaving messages like a crazy woman everywhere I possibly could.  I actually got the direct line to the really nice bloke at the council who never could tell me where we were on the Honeywell list... We were up to 18th on the wait list for Belleville (which is further away as the crow flies from our house) but Honeywell apparently maintains their own list and their offices only reopened 48 hours prior to the start of school?????  For Pete's sake... that's just nuts.  But anyways ---

I got ahold of two private (public) schools and arranged for two tours.  As it turned out both were full for Year 1 (based on Atticus's date of birth he should be in in Year 1) but were able to offer spots in their Reception classes for Atticus.  I couldn't have dreamed up a more perfect solution.  Yes, he's the oldest one in his class - but coming from the States, Reception is a much closer match to our "Kindergarten".  There were a bunch of pros to each school and it came down to several small but key things that made the difference.

Parkgate House School is the chosen school.  To be honest, it's probably my top choice from before we even moved to London.  I really enjoyed what I'd read online and it does seem to be a great choice and even more important a better choice for Atticus than drowning in a Year 1 class at a state school where there are 30 kids instead of 20.  These are small classes inside a small school where he gets to do really awesome things.  Like learn violin.  And have swim lessons every Friday.  And start taking French.  And karate.  And if we stay more than two years -- horseback riding!  In true Atti fashion, when we arrived to tour the school, we first met up with the Headmaster.  Atticus said hello, sort of shook his hand and then asked where they kept the horse.  :)

Now that we'd accepted the position, it's been a scramble to get all our ducks in a row for the start of school.  The kids missed the "official" first day, but they both attended today.  Atticus did smashingly well at drop off and had a great day even earning two star stickers.  He was quite pleased.  I returned at mid day to drop off Wren who also was a champ!  She put her wooby in her cubby, gave me a scowl and a hug and off I went.  With both of them in class, I scooted as quickly as possible over to Harrods to purchase school uniforms!  OUCH.  Yes, our uniforms come from Harrods.  But, I suppose on the upside it really does make mornings go smoother when there's no choice in what to wear!!

Tomorrow is Atticus's first swim lesson.  I mean, really?  They get to go swimming each Friday?  Wren has ballet each Monday.  Love it.  This school does a great job with academics and yet also really encourages sports, arts and team building.  I hope it lives up to my expectations!!

Don't Be Late

So the boys took a ZipCar out for the first time on Saturday to Costco.  It's 9 miles away.  It took 30 minutes to get there and almost an hour to get back to the house.  This caused the car to be returned about 7 minutes late.  The penalty for late return? £35!!! That's about $50.  Ouch!!!

The good news? I now have pots and pans, a Tassimo coffee pot and lots of food. :)

School? Eeeeek!

So, ummmm... School starts in a little over a week and I have NO clue where the kids will be going!?!  It's a little unnerving.  If Atticus gets into Honeywell, he'll be in Year 1 (which may be a disaster) but it means no uniform and that Wren jumps to the top of their nursery wait list.  If we get into Belleville - there is a uniform and I have no idea if Wren is even in their system.  Fabulous.  If we go the private school route, there's a chance of starting in Reception as opposed to Year 1, but it's private school and not free and still leaves me trying to figure out where to send Wren.  And there's definitely uniforms that will be needed for private schools!

Oh, and the offices reopen on September 2, which is 48 hours before school starts.  I'll have at most 36 hours to sort everything out.

This is insane.  It's going to require a lot of patience, some good ju ju and a few glasses of wine!!!

New Friends

I somehow stumbled upon a message board thread about American moms living Between the Commons.  Brilliant!  We've met up twice at a local playground and am happy to report back that there are some awesome new friends to be made!  Woot!  A few are originally from Texas - which was kind of fun, a few are east coasters... But all in all a great group of women and kids.  Maybe this London thing won't be so boring now that I'm meeting folks.

Double Decker Buses

We did it.  I took the kids on a bus adventure to the Wandsworth Council today. It wasn't as bad as I anticipated. Ha.  Surprisingly easy.  Wren swatted at boy in line, Atticus was whining and interrupting every 3rd word, the woman at reception questioned why all of the utilities are in Greg's name...and I'm hoping that everything we gave her will suffice to prove we actually live here!!

The kids really wanted to ride on the upper level but the trip wasn't long enough to warrant it! Next time.  I'll take some photos next time too.  :)

The Dust Settles?!?

There are still a LOT of boxes strewn about the house.  A LOT.  It's rather difficult to watch two kids, build furniture and unpack at the same time.  Not that this is news... :-)

We do now have a proper living room.  Thanks Greg!  I must admit, the Ikea Erktorp sofa is really comfy!  It would be slightly better if I could find the box with my throw pillows and blankets!  Atticus's room is all put together as well.  Unpacked even!  Wren's bed is complete, the rest of her room is on hold until we can build her dresser.  We did opt to flip her bed into the bunk like Atticus's bed.  I originally wanted to keep here's low and add curtains - but when it's low, there isn't a lip on the bed frame, and we were afraid she'd roll right out!  When the bed is flipped, there's a decent lip that keeps her in place.  And.. if you saw the picture posted to Facebook, she's feeling pretty pleased with her big kid bed!

Greg and I have a bed and side tables, but we're still searching for clothes in random suitcases!  Good thing Greg wears a suit 5 days a week!  Although... The downside to suits?  Dry cleaning costs a bloody fortune here!  It was just over £24 for 11 shirts.  That's about $36 to have 11 shirts cleaned and pressed.  Good freaking grief!  It's dry cleaning folks - we're not secretly funding black hole research or curing world hunger are we?  I mean if we are, then sure...

I've met some cool Mums thus far.  Some virtually, some in person... :-) My brand new next door neighbor is actually American and married to a Brit.  They have a sweet and teensy tiny 3 week old baby boy.  Ahhhh... Those were the days! Ha... Only one little screaming ball of joy.

There's also a group of American moms who live close by that are trying to organize a weekly get together just to say hi, drink coffee, and let the kids run around the playground.  I'll see how that goes this Friday...

Next up on the priority list?  Figure out exactly where we're sending the kids to school in a few weeks!  I don't know when we'll hear from the public/state school -- and the private schools are all on holiday for another week and a half!  Eeeeeeeek!!!  And I haven't even started the search for nursery school.  I'm really hoping that if Atticus gets into the state school it will get Wren into their nursery program. Pleaseeeeeeee.... Pretty please!!!!!!

And now... Sleep.  :)

Move In Day

We're packed up here at the apartment and expecting the van in a couple hours that will take us to the new house!  This will be interesting.  The only things put together at the house at this moment are Atticus's bunk bed and 3/4 of Wren's bed.  Ha.  The couch is still in a box, our bed is still in boxes and the mattress is in the middle of the living room floor where the unhelpful Ikea delivery folks left it.  (More on that later...)  We should be able to sleep there tonight and then the moving van is due to arrive tomorrow morning with all of our "stuff" which has successfully cleared customs!

Always the adventure... let's just hope the adventure allows us to have an actual home for a couple of years!!