Parenting is a funny thing, even though those first few months and years are precious I found myself half willing them away until the girls were old enough to sleep through the night and give me some well earned zed’s. And then they reach that stage and with it comes an independence that can sometimes take you back. They want to go off to friends houses alone, they want to hide away in their bedrooms and play and they talk of going to school….
My big lady is off to school in September and is more excited about it than she was about turning four, which let me tell you was a big deal. And of course I’m thrilled to see her embark on this new step but it’s also daunting for the Mammy in me. 
I’m new to this whole process so figuring out when to buy books and uniforms and bags and tracksuits is all an adventure. I’m thankful for the friends I have whose kids are a couple of years ahead of mine that impart so many nuggets of wisdom I feel on top of things. One piece of advice I was given was to buy a good few uniforms and have enough so that the big lady can just wear it all day long. It saves the hassle of changing clothes which lets face it means double the washing in my eyes.
Usually I’m the last one to be organised so this year I’m going to be on the ball. I spied the M&S School Uniform Collection recently online so I dove in and went mad. Call me crazy to buy stuff already but the big lady is fairly fussy when it comes to what she wears so I wanted the options now rather than be left with dashing around shops in August unable to find anything. I sized up as it’s still early and the big lady has some growing to do over the summer so I erred on the side of caution. 
It took me the guts of about two nights to trawl through the M&S website as they range of skirts, pinafores and shirts is quite frankly mind boggling. I went for a lot of two packs just because they served as the best value for money and anything with the words ‘non iron’ sucked me in like no mans business. Nothing cost me more than €16.00 (which was in fact the price of a pack of two pinafores so technically that’s only €8 a dress) and obviously she hasn’t had a chance to wear the items yet to put the quality through its paces but the materials feel thick and durable so I’m happy on that front for now. 
So while I’ll pack these beautiful uniforms away now for the summer months and enjoy the freedom and laughter that the summer brings the dawn of the next new era will weigh with a mixture of joy and anticipation upon my mind.
*This post is a sponsored collaboration with M&S Ireland and Shopping Links.
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