Four start out on their big school adventure

It's red-letter day for any family when a child starts "big" school. It marks a certain coming of age - the end of the "baby" phase. In the case of George and Linda Richardson from Balbriggan, Co Dublin, it's all of the above - multiplied by four. Shane, Shannon, Kyle and Jenna are quads and they started big-school last week. And just in case the household wasn't busy enough, older brother Dean, who'll be 13 in December, had a new beginning too - he started secondary school.

On the night before their debut, the house is calmer than expected - thanks to the superb organisational abilities of George and Linda. Over the years, says Linda, they've had to be organised. The quads uniforms are in individual bags at the bottom of their beds ready for action in the morning, even though they'll have their breakfast before they get dressed. "It would be just the day they'd spill or something and I don't have spares of everything," says Linda, who estimates that uniform, shoes and books have cost £110 per child. Noel Heaney, a local draper, sponsored school tracksuits for PE. Dean's uniform and books have come to around £450.

Shane, Shannon, Kyle and Jenna were born on June 26th, 1997. The years up to now have been busy, to say the least. "I used to think this day couldn't come soon enough," says Linda, remembering the endless round of feeding and changing when they were babies. "But that passes and it gets a little easier as they grow."

Has she plans for her free time now? "What free time?" she laughs. When the quads get dropped to school, it's home to clean up after the morning mayhem and get ready to pick them up again at 1.40 p.m. "Life will be pretty much the same," she says, "except that I can do the housework at my own pace." The washing machine in this household does at least three loads a day.

The quads are not in the same class groupings - the school advised against this. As the extroverts, Shannon and Shane are in one group; Kyle and Jenna, more reserved and quiet, are in another. Keeping the personality types together is calculated to not let one overpower the other. "Hopefully, it will work out," says Linda. "Although, when they're older and when real homework starts, I think I'll want them all together." She reasons that it would be very frustrating to assist with homework if they're all on different pages of a book, for example. Also, George and herself are anxious that each of the quads get exactly the same chances.

Like any parents, launching their child, they have concerns. Will they settle? Are they too young? Will they be happy? "Every parent has those worries," says Linda, "but it's different when they're all at exactly the same stage. They're individuals and you want them to be individuals, but you worry about whether they'll all have the same abilities."

It's important, too, she says, that they socialise with other children and not become overly dependent on their own unit. "We thought about keeping them on at playschool but they're ready to move on and, quite frankly, playschool for four children is expensive," she adds.

On the night before, the troops were mustered - Antoinette, Linda's sister, and Bernadette, her mum, are on standby and George has taken leave from work. Will there be tears? "Maybe after we drop them off when the hustle and bustle is over," says Linda. "Probably not before that - we'll be too busy."