Getting Ready to Start School With Very.co.uk

[This post is sponsored by Very.co.uk]

Tomorrow will be Max’s last ever day at nursery.

I’m not OK.

I’m an emotional wreck, in fact.

Honestly, I’m a little bit surprised by this turn of events, because, as I’ve mentioned before, Max’s nursery is literally attached to the primary school he’ll be attending. He’ll be starting school with most (although not all) of his nursery friends, and he’ll be able to stop by the nursery gate to say hello any time he wants to. So, I mean, no biggie, right?

So, I thought I was totally cool with this huge change that’s almost upon us.

Then this week his school uniform started to arrive, we got his hair cut in preparation for the big day, and, Max casually transformed into a Big Boy right before our eyes:

Seriously, though, how is he somehow FIFTEEN already?

(Also, yes, he looks very like his dad. I have noticed.)

We’re actually just a little bit premature with the uniform and haircuts, here. Max doesn’t start school until later this month, but we’re heading down to Kent next week for a visit with our family there, and by the time we get back we’ll have just one day to go before his first day, so we had to get everything ready in advance.

As far as Max’s uniform goes, we’re extremely grateful to have had a little help on that front from my sponsors at Very.co.uk, who sent us this gorgeous box of goodies:

This arrived when Max was in bed, so I left it out in the living room for him to open when he got up. Here’s how that went:

Max’s school uniform is fairly informal, with sweatshirts and polo shirts on top, combined with trousers or skirts/dresses. We’ve already got him a set of sweatshirts with the school’s logo on them, but the branded items are pretty expensive (especially considering how hard Max is on his clothes; he came home from nursery yesterday with a giant hole in the knee of his joggers, which were only a few weeks old…), so we opted to go for logo-free polo shirts, which which came in a pack of five.

All five of these were cheaper than just one branded shirt from the school’s official supplier, so it’s quite a big saving, and I’ll definitely be going with this option in the future, too.

Max will wear these with trousers for school, but he also needed joggers for P.E., so we got him these ones, along with a matching sweatshirt:

In this photo, Max is also wearing his brand new school shoes, which are from Clarks:

I was really impressed with the quality of these. As with his joggers, Max seems to need a new pair of shoes every few weeks; not because he outgrows them, but just because he absolutely wrecks them. These, however, are much sturdier than his trainers, so I’m really hoping they’ll last him a good long while.

And finally…

A backpack shaped like a bee. Because of course you would want a backpack shaped like a bee if you were 4.5, wouldn’t you?

And, with all of that, I think we’re good to go. Or, at least Max is. I, as I said, am feeling very emotional about the whole thing – even more so after seeing him dressed in his school clothes – so apologies in advance to anyone who sees me at the nursery gate on his last day: I’ll try to remember to wear my waterproof mascara, but, well, let’s just say I’m not good with “End of an Era” type scenarios. Not at all.

At the end of this particular era, however, comes the start of brand new one: and at least we’re well prepared for it…