First-day tears, but now as mums

It’s a wrench when your child starts school, the flip of what you felt as an infant. It’s a beginning and an ending, says Sue Leonard

YOUR child is ready for school. He can hold a crayon, unfasten his lunchbox, and go to the loo by himself. He’s excited, and you know that you should be, too. But you remember your own first day. You remember the strangeness of it, and the noise and the fear. Your stomach is in a knot, and you’re close to tears. How can you, and your child, best survive the day.

“You need to stand back,” says Áine Lynch, CEO of the National Parent’s Council, primary. “Remember, the primary system has changed. It’s a much more happy, colourful, and relaxed place than it used to be.