Dear ones, a few days ago the first exam of the sixth form was coming up and the conversations at breakfast didn’t go beyond noises like Grmpfl and hmnn. These are the days when I only find out by chance the evening before an exam that something is coming up at school. Because someone is looking for an exam sheet. Or a working pen.
The end of school help in the sixth form
When I think back to how crazy school drove me for a while! I celebrated the book „Are you still doing well or do you already have children at school?“ and the corona period with homeschooling almost drove me to burnout. Now they do everything themselves. I’m no longer involved in homework or exams. I’m out of it. Can you believe that? Yes, I would never have expected it myself!
What I find exciting at the moment: You love the pictures of all the shoes in our doorway, which often look very similar, but the children are getting to an age where this uniformity, this not wanting to stand out and fitting in at school like everyone else is giving way to individuality, some are now daring to try different hairstyles, different clothes, a new courage is emerging from puberty, a finding of oneself and also showing oneself, yes, really somehow a coming of age.
The study continues
The big one, the one who moved out, has her first nights in her own flat behind her, has bought cling film and a crate of water for the first time in her life, has cooked fish fingers with mashed potatoes with her flatmate and, in addition to fun party evenings, has also thought back to home and then visited us again <3 The third semester has just started again. How quickly it all goes.
What else is going on? I’m celebrating the anniversary with the creature that has satisfied my passion for caring for my children since they grew up: my little horse. It’s been quite a ride this first year with him. It was love at first sight, then I crashed down in December after it spooked and I thought to myself in my whiplash: Wow, it feels like I should suddenly be playing Champions League football.
One year as a horse mum
And don’t we think the same with a baby at some point? When we realise what a responsibility we have? And then you get advice and help and regain confidence, which was really very similar in this case – even though I was at least able to sleep through the night during this time 😉
At the beginning he also had a moult, later a fungus, then there were scuffles in the herd and as a result horseshoe losses from time to time, but then everything became calmer and better and euphoric – until in May a wound on the front inner leg wouldn’t heal and after an X-ray it was clear: the bone had splintered after a kick, the little one needed an operation (luckily I have surgery insurance!).
I’m telling you: I almost went mad and realised once again how deeply in love I was with this black and white dream pony <3 I was at the clinic every day and in the two months that followed, we very carefully brought ourselves back to where we were before, all as an absolutely inexperienced horse mum who had somehow come like a virgin to a child 😉
Well, and what can I say: we’ve grown together, we’ve both learnt so much together, I have the feeling that it’s better than ever right now and I’m so incredibly grateful for this experience and this opportunity and this real piece of the pony farm in my life, which brings me back absolute peace and contentment in stressful times. Hachz.
What’s still to come? Well, a quiet weekend. Finally, once again. After book releases and moving out and Zwilli’s birthday and the election campaign, I had crazy plans to run the Cologne half marathon on Sunday 5 October. I’ve been training all year, have the most amazing running partner and have surpassed myself several times and have even managed 14km several times, which I thought was absolutely impossible all my life.
This was a great, exhausting and time-consuming experience that made me fitter than I’ve ever been in my life. But then a fortnight ago my knee gave out, and not just with sore muscles or tension, but really with the feeling that the torn meniscus I had discovered during the coronavirus pandemic was causing water in my knee again, so I unfortunately had to give up on my dream of doing something like this in Cologne and with the cathedral as my destination.
I didn’t find it easy and I cried too, but then I thought: it’s not meant to be now, the last few weeks have been tough anyway and nobody can take all the training sessions away from me. I’ve achieved so many goals this year that I’m now just going to sit back, keep my fingers crossed for my friend Steffi and take it really, really easy at the weekend… and ride and live in the day instead of running for kilometres around the area. It’s also nice to be thankful for all the other reasons. How are you spending the long weekend?
