Today Ms Papaya and Little Po started their first day of school.

Last night Ms Papaya was too excited to sleep. After four months holiday, she couldn’t wait to get back to school . Just before she fell asleep she told me that she wanted ‘limboo paani’ in her water bottle and some nachni chips , badam and raisins in her snack box.

Funnily enough this morning I got this message from my school Whatsapp group.

Many of my classmates are grandparents ( one of them has a 12 year old !) and we often discuss the way our grandchildren are being brought up .

I suppose our parents were shocked at how we brought up our kids and our grandparents horrified by the way we were brought up.

From the benign neglect of my grandparents ( my parents tell me that their parents never had to drop and pick them from school as they walked there . They never had to meet teachers and never had to pack lunch boxes) to the more concerned parenting of my parents’ generation , parenting has transitioned to a complete scientific study involving spreadsheets and counselling services.

But somethings remain the same – new school uniforms, new shoes, a snack box and bottle and that apprehension on both sides as we stand at the bus stop and wave the little ones goodbye.

Today when I picked up the little ones from school, it struck me that Wow Dinga is already a big boy. Two years into school, he is already one tooth down and thrilled to be the big brother on the bus that will take his siblings to HIS school .

It won’t be long before I attend their college graduations and remember with nostalgia their first day of school.

Ciao