It’s been an emotional couple of weeks for professional dancer Ola Jordan, who waved goodbye to her four-year-old daughter Ella at the school gates for the first time.
The former Strictly star and HELLO! columnist opened up to us about the heartache she felt when her little girl started big school and she saw other mums with their babies at the shops.
Below, Ola explains that while she is full of joy at Ella’s new milestone, it’s been a difficult adjustment for her as she adores spending time with her daughter…
Ella’s first day at school
Ella’s first day was brilliant. She was so excited to go in, she knew she was a big girl now and she's going into a big school.
The second day she was skipping in, but on the third day, not so much anymore. And then it got progressively worse. Today she cried quite a lot, but I think it's also to do with the fact that she's getting more and more tired as she’s there for longer.
The first week she only did 2.5 hours a day. Now she’s doing mornings until after lunch at one o'clock. She comes out grumpy. She's not as happy when she comes out.
The mornings are busy at the school gate and she's got to go in by herself – I find that hard. There are two teachers there to meet them when they walk in. She goes: "Mummy I want you!" She was looking at me going: "Mummy", and then I had to wait for her teacher to get her.
Ella has made some friends though so hopefully it improves soon.
Waiting up for daddy
The other problem is that because her daddy is working in London, she wants to see him when he comes in but it’s making her bedtime too late. He's loud as well when he comes in! I want a quiet house to get Ella to bed and at the moment she's not getting that.
I'm looking forward to when he actually goes on tour and then I can get a routine going with Ella where she can go to bed earlier and have dinner earlier. His first shows are at the start of October.
Ella also has clubs after school: Tuesday it’s gymnastics, Wednesday she's got dancing and then on Thursday she's got a private lesson – although that will eventually be on Saturdays, so there’s a lot going on.
Ola’s emotions at Ella starting school
I'll be honest, the first day I cried. Ella was so happy going in on the first day - I didn't want her to see me upset so I held onto my tears.
James went with me that day to drop her off, and we were both cheering. A lot of the other parents were hanging around and chatting, but I couldn't even look them in the eyes. I put my head down and just went straight to my car, and then I cried.
I'm so happy that she's going to school, but it's just my little baby! It's a big thing for a parent… she's in the system now, she's going to school. It's just different.
Then when I went to the shops on her first day there were all these mummies with their little babies going to baby classes and the shops, and I realised, my baby is not going to be doing that any more with me. It was quite emotional for me. I can't lie, I was upset.
Uniform and mum friends
Ella loves her school uniform; she doesn't want to take it off. It's quite cute because she goes, “Mummy, can they see I'm a schoolgirl now?”
I love it because there's no discussion, as that’s what she has to wear. She understands that's what it is - everyone else is wearing the same thing.
I haven’t met many of the other parents yet. There are quite a few of them as there are three classes. Everyone is keeping themselves to themselves at the moment. I’m not really a PTA mum – I’m the last person you want on there, I'm not an organiser!
We do have a school WhatsApp group but James is not allowed on there. He’ll get us into trouble!
Day out to Hamleys
I’m taking Ella to Hamleys in London on Sunday for an event while James is training, and we’re really looking forward to it.
Ella and I often have arguments about what she wears but I’ve told her that if she wants to go to the toy shop, she has to wear what mummy tells her. She laughed but I said I mean it!
I told her we could even match outfits and do our hair the same – it would be so cute. She said, "Yes," but she wants her hair in one plait. I really don’t want my hair like that, so I said two plaits. She said, "No." So, I can see this is going to be fun! Then she said she wants to wear her school uniform…