I don’t want my blog to seem all sad and upsetting, however it’s felt important to try and show people why I set it up in the first place; ultimately it is about Betty. What happened to her was and still is incredibly sad. To be honest everytime I write I think about her, in fact there’s not a day that goes by when I don’t think of her. I love the fact that this blog is giving me a chance to say her name more and people are saying it. We won’t have a home where her name will be called up the stairs to get dressed, share that toy, eat your dinner please. I suppose as time goes on her name will fade into the background, but hopefully through my blog this wont happen. I hope I have created somewhat of an introduction, an understanding to where you find me today – I don’t think I could ever have shared our story until this point in time. Right now other things like sharing her picture still feel so overwhelming I just cant do them. I hope in time I can share her with those who are following and reading intently.

Thank fully much of my day to day life revolves around Archie B! This is where this post finds me, on the subject of school uniform! Another weekend begins and I get the machine loaded up with the previous weeks wear ready for Monday morning (which will creep up before we know it) Since he started school in September I seem to be fighting the loosing battle of the uniform! I don’t know if it’s just me (or Archie) but we seem to be going through items of school clothing like underwear! Did anyone else think when their child started school they would buy a couple of sets of uniform and these would last them for the entire academic year!?

Maybe it is just my son, but so far we are on his fifth! Yes fifth pair of school shoes (will come back to that in a moment) third pack of polo shirts (I originaly brought 2 packs of 2), I’m contemplating wether to buy another pack as all the ones we have including the newer ones either have bolognaise stains on (he only seems to take his jumper off to eat lunch when it is a tomato based meal day – amazing!) Or they have been washed, vanished and tumbled so much they are developing holes and going grey, yes he does completely look like a vagabond child. I have to keep asking the teacher what he has been doing to be getting holes in literally everything in the hope I don’t look like an awful mother sending my child in looking so disheveled! Pairs 1 and 2 of school trousers, by Christmas these had gone through on the knees, I brought 2 new pairs and these are already starting to wear out. I recently brought him some school shorts for the summer term and sure enough his knees are beginning to look like his trousers! This week he had his first tumble and a bit fat purple bruise appeared on one knee! Oopsie!

(Healing nicely now – but he was feeling sorry for himself earlier this week) 

Now going back to the shoes – the shoes are just not standing the test of time one little bit. Unfortunately because Archie is extremely strong willed he would not wear the £50 pair of Clarks shoes on offer, they were ‘too ouchy’, actually they were just a properly fitted pair of shoes in comparison to the Crocs he had lived in all summer. Instead we opted for Next (I personally love next so didn’t really have a problem with getting them from there) but I did wonder if at half the price at £26 they would offer the same quality – well obviously I cant compare them to Clarks because he wouldn’t wear those shoes. Well, we got to November, at which point a large hole appeared in the front toe area! Having kept my receipt, I took them back and they kindly exchanged them for a shiny new pair. I kid you not the first day home after wearing his new pair and we had a scuff the whole width of the front of the shoe! What is this child doing at playtime? Walking on tip toes like a t-rex bearing his full weight down on his poor shoes… I’m still not sure. These shoes made it to January when I was too embarrassed to take another pair back so we opted for Asda, half the price again at £11 this time (maybe I really should have thought about this at the time) but I figured if they are advertising this footwear as ‘school wear’ it had to have some level of durability – surely!? Nope… these made it 6 weeks before a large hole right through to the inside opened up in both shoes! You guessed it… took them back, they exchanged them with no fuss, another shiny new pair. I think we got roughly about another 6 weeks before they went through again (this time even worse) but I couldn’t bring myself to take them back! It was obvious that Master Burborough was having some serious rough and tumble in his shoes. So change of tact, this time we go for good old M&S, we get a real leather pair, £30, 4 weeks in and so far so good, no scuffs or even worse holes! There is hope for the shoes yet! Needless to say come September I think we will be trying out Clarks regardless of protest.

(Check out his sorry looking shoes) 

I’m hoping by the time he starts Year One he will be more mature and just sit quietly at playtime. Yeah right! I wonder what the next school year will have in store for his poor uniform…

Jen