Her daughter Faith started secondary school last year, and Liberty X star Michelle Heaton says the extra logistics mean that their morning routine takes three hours!
Michelle – mum to Faith, 12, and AJ, 10, with husband Hugh Hanley – says, “I’m up early and then Faith gets up at 6.15am so she has plenty of time to get ready. We leave the house just before 8am, and I drop Faith first, then I go to the other side of the town to drop off AJ. With traffic, the school run can easily take an hour. That is time consuming when it is twice a day! We’ve only got one more year of this and then AJ starts secondary school too, so it will be easier.”
Michelle, 45, says that despite the busy schedule, secondary school has been a positive step for Faith, who starts year eight in September.
“She has really come into her own, she is so mature and big school has really boosted her confidence,” she smiles. “She’s also found a group of new friends too, which is lovely to see.”
Next month, AJ will go into his final year of primary school and Michelle says she is feeling emotional about the prospect. She says, “He’s my baby, it feels so strange that that will be it with primary school for us. Faith was so ready for big school, but AJ still seems so young. We have a year to go though so we will see how things evolve by then.”
After school pick-up, Michelle says her children come home tired. She says, “They grab a snack, usually some fruit and a bag of crisps, and then they have a little bit of down time, watching TV or playing the PlayStation. Faith has a lot of homework now, but she usually does it while I cook dinner and she’s really good at getting it done on time.”
She adds, “With AJ, I think it will be different when he starts and he won’t be as eager. He was recently diagnosed with dyslexia, so we will have to work with the school on that, but it’s a big school and they have lots of departments to support the pupils.”
Once dinner is done, Michelle will prepare for the next day and the family all head to bed around the same time.
Michelle says, “We like to all be upstairs by 9pm or so, Faith will watch something with me in bed, but they are usually asleep by 10pm. Hugh and I also go to bed then so we are ready to do it all again the next day!”
