The end of another school year

Here we are with just under three weeks left of the school term!  Where has this year gone????  I truly thought it was just me getting older but even the kids are commenting at how fast this year has gone by.

With Christmas Pageants done and the christmas tree put up, we are now faced with our traditional hanging of the christmas lights.  I have boxes of lights sitting here waiting for the weather to cool a little for us to hang our outside lights.  It seems like such a lot of hard work each year but to me it is a little piece of happiness that we can give to our community.  We don't have lots of lights but I think our house looks quite pretty each christmas with what we do have.  This year my hubby has just bought a 3 metre tall inflatable santa with lights inside which will take up our driveway (I think this one was a bit of overkill on his part but I guess at least people will be able to find our house lol).

Christmas is a magical time and I won't let anyone destroy that.  I think we all need a little bit of magic in our lives the way the world is now.  Just to see a smile on a person's face is worth all the effort we go to.

As the end of the year draws to a close, I feel sad also that there are kids at school that have been reading to me every week of the school year that I won't see much of any more.  I have volunteered to hear reading for both my primary school boys so have had 50 year 2, 3 and 4 students chatting to me each week.  It has been wonderful getting to know each of them and watching them get more chatty with me as the year has gone by as they have grown more comfortable around me.  Some of them, sadly, it is obvious that they don't get to read at home, so have been their parent figure in a way and they have flourished with just that little bit of attention.  I love getting to know the kids and it is so nice to be able to know exactly who it is my children are talking about at the end of the day.  It is so much nicer than the high school kids coming home and telling me all about such and such at school and this multitude of names spring up and I have no idea of who they are.

I am so grateful to be a stay at home mum and be able to take part in these areas of my children's lives.  I get to attend their school christmas parties and help out on excursions and listen to them read.  I wouldn't change that for anything.

I urge all of you to stay connected with your children as much as you can.  If you can volunteer a little of your time to help at the school, please do it.  It not only makes your children feel loved and special, but it also makes other children, who may not receive much love and attention at home, to feel special too.