'All the little things I didn't realise I'd miss when my youngest daughter starts school.'

As another year quickly approaches its end, so does the amount of time my youngest child has left at home before beginning her journey through school. With this knowledge came the realisations of all the tasks I can now get done in one eighth of the time and the things I can do alone that I haven’t been able to do without (the often unwanted) company of children for the past six years.

It’s the simple things that came to mind at first. Like the fact that I will no longer need to try and discreetly slip out of the room to go to the toilet alone, soon I will be able to enjoy my bathroom breaks for as long as I want. I can sit there all day if I truly desire. I can get all the house jobs done in one hit instead of folding one t-shirt and then having to buy plastic food from the ‘shop’. I can pop on ‘adult’ Netflix and watch a movie or show rated higher than G.

However, after I had listed a handful of these ‘positives’ in my head, I stopped because although there are often times when the thought of playing with another Shopkin, Barbie or LOL makes me want to stick one of them in my eye just to get out of it, the idea of no longer having any preschoolers, no longer having any children at home with me, not for even one weekday, leaves me, surprisingly, heartbroken.

Soon, my last little helper, my little shadow, my little entertainer, my little mischief-maker and my little friend will be off to school and my days will unquestionably be very different. These are just some of the things I will miss.

Daytime dates.

Monday and Tuesday when I am at home with my youngest daughter Milla, we usually have one ‘daytime date’ each week. Whether it’s a ‘coffee’ at a café, a trip to the playground, borrowing a book from the library or on special occasions a trip to the movies, the absolute fun and adventures we share, when doing something that is just for fun and just for us, has created so many memories. Knowing soon that these will be restricted to weekends and holidays and not every week, like they are now, makes me realise how quickly children grow up.

Cuddles and kisses.

There is nothing better than cuddles and kisses from your kids. In fact, other than my kids and my cats (and on occasion my husband) I don’t even like cuddles and kisses, but with them I CANNOT GET ENOUGH. The days I am at home I find myself the constant recipient of these demonstrations of love. Whether it be snuggles on the couch, a giant running bear hug in public, an arm hug while attempting to eat lunch or an uncomfortable embrace on the toilet, there are never restrictions on when or where they may occur. Soon though, these opportunities will be limited to weekends and before or after school, which let’s be honest, usually just consists of rushing around and super levels of crankiness.

The only consolation is at least my cats aren’t off to school any time soon and they also like hugs.

Holding hands.

There is no better feeling than when you’re out and about, running mind-numbing errands than feeling that little hand find its way into yours as you’re walking. It makes some of these mundane tasks a little bit easier to get through when you have your sidekick next to you, hand in hand. Oh how I will miss the hand.

Having a helper.

As much as I hate ALL domestic chores, having my little helper, Chux in hand, brings a smile to my face. Milla is always ‘helping’. Although I often have to secretly completely redo all the jobs she has assisted with, I love that she wants to help me, that she is learning new skills and that I have company while hanging out the endless supply of washing. Soon I will find myself taking on these jobs all on my lonesome.

via GIPHY

The games.

I can’t believe I am saying this but yes, I will miss playing games, playing with the toys and reading books… well, at least some of them. I will miss playing hide and seek outside in the garden, where Milla will hide behind the thinnest tree, convinced I will never find her. I will miss reading her stories and making the sounds and voices of the characters and her reaction when they ‘come to life’; I will miss her imagination when the staircase is like a giant slide and she comes bumping down it on her bottom. The world is a much more fun and exciting place when you are a kid, or when you have one around.

As much as the thought of having minutes, even hours to myself brings me some glimpses of joy, the knowledge that never again will I have a preschooler by my side is without a doubt ‘a tough pill to swallow’ but one which I soon, will have to.

Can you relate? Have you had to go through the 'my-kids-are-now-at-school' blues? Tell us in a comment.

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