Hi ladies, how's everyone doing? I've got DH and DD1 away at the moment which has been a bit weird but surprisingly calm and orderly. Guess I know now where the household chaos is really coming from!

Cass, that summery fruit sounds gorgeous. As you know, I do not love summer, but I'm happy to make an exception for the seasonal fruit LOL. BTW I would absolutely bring that kind of play up with the centre. If it was innocuous then no harm, but if it's a red flag it might well be the specific thing that the centre needs to do something about it, in which case it's very valuable to have talked to them.

Trill - wow high school. H had her orientation day on Tues, seemed to be a success, and I was glad to see there's a few nice girls from her "group" who are going there, not that she'll have any problems socialising and making friends. I think E will be more introverted in that regard. Anyway, week boarding is good provided your parents don't constantly make excuses as to why they can't get you on the weekends . Does it add significantly to the cost? I'm still reeling from the letter we got advising the fee increase for DD's new school next year, it's now quite a bit more than comparible schools in the eastern suburbs/north adelaide. This is our local school so I don't know why it should be so. I have such a good vibe about it in every other way, but I'm fretting about the cost especially next year when we're shelling out for childcare as well.

Cally, why is private not an option because of DH's job? Plenty of public school teachers send their kids private.

Arte, excellent score on the freebies. Don't feel guilty, enjoy. Sometimes the tide flows in and sometimes it flows out and that's just the way it should be. I like your sandpit management practice...that's my kind of housework! LOL How did pet day go? I rolled up to E's kindy last week and they had a whole touch table of real, stuffed snakes, lizards etc. I do sooooo hope they emphasised messages about NOT touching when you find them for real!!