A mum-of-four has shared her hilarious back-to-school snaps in which she is seen jumping for joy and popping oven the bubbly behind her kids as they line up ready for school.
Like thousands of parents, Rachel Boast, 31, became makeshift teacher when schools closed for lockdown so was ready to celebrate her little ones’ return to education by reinventing their annual uniform shots.
Hilarious photos show Rachel necking champagne from the bottle on her doorstep in Saunderton, Buckinghamshire, before enjoying having the house to herself for a day.
Rachel Boast, 31, from Saunderton, Buckinghamshire, celebrates as daughters Maisie Brown, six, Poppy-Rae Brown, eight, and Amy Roberts, 11, pose for the camera (left to right)
While her daughters Maisie Brown, six, and Poppy-Rae Brown, eight, find the scene amusing, eldest daughter Amy Roberts, 11, is left to look on in embarrassment.
Rachel’s husband Steven Boast took the snaps on Wednesday night before she put the kids to bed and enjoyed some me-time ahead of their first day back the next morning.
The full-time mum admits she’s had a tough six months trying to educate and occupy her girls and three-year-old son Ethan Boast, and thought the usually mundane shoot was the ideal time to start celebrating.
Rachel thought up the idea while driving to her home on Tuesday but didn’t tell her kids she’d appear in the background and instead surprised them.
Like many parents Rachel was forced to become the teacher for her children during lockdown
With the house now very quiet the mum says she is excited to have more time to herself
The full-time mum posted her collection of witty shots to Facebook, where they racked up more than 40,000 reactions in just six hours.
Rachel said: ‘I’ve had that bottle of champagne for two years, waiting for a reason to pop it open, and I thought this was the right moment.
‘I do a back-to-school photo every year and it’s normally just the kids at the front door, but how many times do we have six months at home with children, so these are special photos for a special occasion.
‘I even hit Steven’s car with the cork and he said ‘I can’t believe you’ve done that’, but I didn’t plan that bit.
Here Maisie, Poppy-Rae and Amy look amused by their mother Rachel’s reaction to them returning to school
The mum said that there were points she questioned her parenting abilities over the months as all four children stayed home – the girls usually visit their dads but couldn’t for nine weeks
‘When I was celebrating, there were lots of people coming off the train and Amy was embarrassed, but Maisie’s laughing because she thinks I’ve lost the plot and Poppy laughs at anything.
‘When the kids went to bed I ran myself a nice hot bubble bath and had a few glasses. There’s a couple left in the fridge and I’m having one this afternoon with my feet up.
‘I should take out shares considering the amount of alcohol I’ve drank over the past six months. The house is really quiet now, but I’m excited to have more me-time.’
Rachel even says she’s worked out how many hours it’s been since the kids were last in school – around 4,000.
Here Rachel is seen enjoying a brief moment to herself before the children get home from school
Steven, who worked all lockdown as a baker at Morrisons, didn’t have a glass of Rachel’s bubbly on Wednesday night because he knew it was her ‘me moment’ after looking after the kids since Tuesday, March 17.
In July, Amy returned to finish primary school for four weeks but Rachel had to continue to homeschool Maisie and Poppy-Rae before giving them six weeks off for summer.
Amy is now starting year seven, while Poppy-Rae and Maisie begin year four and year two and Ethan starts nursery in two weeks.
Rachel says she managed to adapt the school curriculum into fun activities like playing an A-Z of ‘I spy’ and solving maths questions with trampoline bounces.
But it’s not all been plain sailing, and what many have dubbed as ‘the longest summer holidays ever’ led to some rough patches for the 31-year-old.
The mother said she came up with fun ways to bring the school curriculum to life including solving maths questions with trampoline bounces
Rachel said: ‘There were times when I was questioning my parenting abilities, asking myself if I’m doing the right things, and I’d have good weeks and bad weeks.
‘Because I’m used to them going to see their dads and they couldn’t for nine weeks, I was used to that break and it was a lot to have them here all the time.
‘There were days where I’d have happily reached for the gin by 12 o’clock, but I didn’t.
‘I think at one point I thought I was a hired referee, because they were all saying ‘she’s done this’, and ‘she’s done that’, particularly with Maisie and Poppy-Rae.
‘But now I’ve been made redundant from my teaching job, so I’m glad they’re back to a proper education, where people know what they’re doing and I’m not being corrected by kids.’
Rachel is very happy to have been made ‘redundant’ from her makeshift teaching job
Rachel, who used to work in ophthalmology for the NHS, says lockdown has encouraged her to sign up for a counselling course at night school and she hopes to become a high school mental health counsellor.
She thought it best for her three girls not to visit their working dads for the first nine weeks of lockdown and she’s tried her best to help them understand the situation.
Rachel said: ‘I’ve been really open with the girls about everything, and they’ve sat with me when Boris has been giving the updates, because there’s no point me trying to sugar coat it.
‘Amy has a really good understanding of it, Poppy is quite a worrier and wants to know the ins and outs of everything so she’s been reading stuff and listening to conversations.
Here the girls read on the trampoline in what Rachel calls ‘the longest summer holidays ever’
‘Maisie’s been away with the fairies. She just knew ‘I’ve got to stay away from my friends, I’ve got to keep washing my hands and I’ve got to sing happy birthday’, and that’s about it.
‘Now they’re happy to see their friends, and they’re happy for routine because we lost the structure. So just having a set wake-up time, they’re excited for that.’
Aside from a few tears in the morning from Maisie, Rachel says all three girls ‘had an amazing first day back’.
Her post to a Facebook group said: ‘Just some subtle, obligatory back to school photos.’
One member commented: ‘Absolutely hilarious. I will be doing this on Monday’
Another added: ‘So funny! It looks like the older girl is [thinking], ‘mom! You’re so embarrassing!’, and the two younger girls think you’re hilarious!
Rachel replied: ‘Literally she hates me for it.’
A third said: ‘Hahaha by the far the best back to school pic I’ve seen.’
Rachel added: ‘I’m relieved they’re back and there’s going to be thousands of mums who feel the same.
‘If it makes people laugh then that’s great because we’ve not had a normal six months, so why have normal back to school photos.’