The School Run

The school run has been a fixture of my daily routine for the last 10 years. Summer and winter, rain or shine. There’s some things I love about the school run and some things I don’t but in three more years my school run days will come to an end as my youngest gets to high school so whilst I still have it to do, I want to celebrate the little moments.

The school run can be a social occasion when you catch up with your mum friends, or a busy rush if you have somewhere to be. I like to get to school with plenty of time to spare so that my son can read to me in the car or work on his spellings and I’ve often left the house with my breakfast bowl and eaten my melon or Weetabix in the car! If I don’t get out of my driveway by 08:30am I get caught up in the school run of the school next to our house so I escape before I’m blocked in. I do however, like to leave a clean and organised house behind – dishwasher and washing machine on and couch cushions straightened… most of the time!

But no matter what happens before the school run – that moment after it, at 09:00am as I get in my car and pull away from school bells and kids running round, the lunch bags trolleys and PE kits on pegs, I can start to think about my day and everything I have to do. That is a magical moment of calm. For the next six hours it’s all about my schedule, not their timetable, and as every busy mum knows – we often have more to do than time to do it so the freedom to get on with it is welcome.

At the start of the new school term I created a Periscope series called #TheSchoolRun to celebrate this exact moment and to share a little of my daily routine with people who read my blog and people who enjoy my YouTube videos. My web developer convinced me to do it – he said my readers would like to know more about me – a behind the screen look at what I’m up to. My first thought was “Who cares?” “Why would anyone be interested in the minutia of my life?” but I realised that the ‘behind the scenes’ stuff is often the parts of a creative work that I enjoy the most. When I used to read my teenage magazines I’d love the fashion shoots but I also enjoyed those articles that showed the model had a bulldog clip pulling in her jacket to make it fit in the picture, or when you see a smart newsreader in their suit jacket on top, wearing jeans and slippers under the desk!

So in the interests of sharing a bit of random routine, I’m taking my best school run each week and broadcasting a short video on Periscope which I also upload to YouTube for longevity. If you follow me on Periscope or Twitter (@Businessmum) you can be alerted to the live feeds. The video can be seen on Periscope with any comments I get for 24 hours afterwards, but the YouTube version is forever! Here is my YouTube playlist of #TheSchoolRun so far…

The video below is this weeks’ #TheSchoolRun and in it I mentioned my school run saviour boots, but I couldn’t show you! So watch the video then I have pictured my school run outfit underneath!

This was my outfit on the day of that school run! (It’s typical of most of my daily outfits!)

Mystery Boots c/o Hotter £95 Now £89.00
Leggings by Primark
Top by M&S
Scarf by Per Una at M&S
Jacket by NEXT

For a lot of my week when I’m working from home, I often do the school run in my gym kit, if I’m off to spinning or yoga. But its the days when I can dress up that I really enjoy the school run. I like to get some lipstick and nice boots on and a swishy little skirt or some skinny jeans – these days aren’t as often as I’d like!

Last week when I picked up my burgundy boots, I was at the Hotter shoes store opening in Leeds with some other Yorkshire bloggers.

I’m pretty sure I’m the only one to get these boots but there were some lovely styles chosen to review by the other bloggers – in all styles and colours. When I’ve reviewed Hotter Shoes before, I’ve always found them to be comfortable and my new boots are no exception!

Since last week when these boots became mine, I have worn them every single day! They have been my school run saviours and also when I was in London last week for a meeting and the rain hammered down all day, they kept me comfortable and dry. The leather foot and moulded sole are waterproof and my feet were cushioned by Hotter’s patented Pyramid Foam Technology (I learned about this on the store opening event! I even Instagrammed on the night mentioning the technology!)

If you haven’t checked Hotter out, have a look. I would have previously said that there are usually one or two gems in each collection, but in fact for Autumn/Winter 2015-16 they have seriously raised their fashion game. Their footwear is both stylish and comfortable, they have to be tried to be believed! In fact a blogger friend told me last week that she’d bought some Hotter boots after reading one of my fashion posts and loved them but before she tried them for herself she thought I was mad! Honestly, you just have to try them! Hotter have also recently launched their blog – check it out for some inspiration!

I’ll be sharing my weekly school run on Periscope / YouTube until half term so you can catch up with me in coming weeks if you happen to see the live notifications! I may continue after half term if I have more to share! Let’s see how it goes.

Do let me know if your school run is anything like mine. What are your school run essentials? Plus is there anything you’d like me to cover in a future #TheSchoolRun blog? Share in the comments!

Disclosure: I received the Hotter boots for the purpose of this review but all opinions are my own.