Julie Helen: My boy's first day at school

I can scarcely believe that we are at back to school time already. There’s huge excitement in our house because we have a small man starting big school.

The preparation required granny to go on a shopping trip for uniforms. We had two popular shops in mind to find the navy and blue garments that he needs.

My nan, a dressmaker by trade, was quite adamant about where I should go for good quality stuff when I visited her in hospital just a few months before she died. She was clear that I should get the very best for her great grandson. 

That conversation will forever be etched in my memory now. It wasn’t our last one, but it was a gorgeous spark of nan sharing her professional knowledge with me.

I can still feel the wool of her knitted cardigans which I always wore in primary school. They had a strong cable knit and set me apart from the kids who had flimsy machine-knit jumpers.

My mum has always been an expert at getting ready for school. We always had everything we needed. Mum turned up our uniforms and made sure we were turned out perfectly too. She has done the same for Ricky which feels very special.

I’m so glad that she feels well enough to be labelling uniforms and twistables and taking him for his school shoes. Of course, he convinced her he needed the most expensive pair in the shop!

Things have changed a bit since my day. Ricky only needs a few folders in his bag, he will get all his books at school. Mum had such a talent for covering our books with clear contact which was see-through that a new teacher generally assumed the books weren’t covered. They were smooth without even a ripple and I got used to showing the teacher the triangular edges of the contact on the inside cover to prove they did in fact have a protective layer on them.

I always knew I was really lucky to have support at home to flourish in school. 

If we ever needed anything, we had it, and it wasn’t that way for everyone. I knew I could go home and get help with homework. I look forward to giving Ricky the same support. He already loves learning new things.

We had a class meet-up last week in the local hall. Ricky was so excited. I was nervous but I gulped it down. I was only nervous because I don’t know all the other mums and no matter how hard I try I always worry that my disability will get in the way, or worse still that it will impact negatively on Ricky. Of course, everyone was absolutely lovely, immediately jumping to grab me a chair, and I could have drank all the tea in China if I wanted.

I had lovely chats and Ricky played away with all the new kids. He already knew one girl because we are lucky to have friends already from before Ricky was born.

Driving the couple of kilometres back home after the meet-up, it began to sink in that this is our community, the one Ricky, David, and me will build together in this gorgeous new chapter of our lives.

Granny has already been to visit to bake scones and sleep in the guest room. Everything is new, exciting and sometimes overwhelming, but I’ll take a leaf out of Ricky’s book and just roll with it and be energised by each and every day.