Daycare & School

Our older daughter is growing up way to fast. I realized she would need to start school sooner or later. This is kind of inevitable but the moment came too soon.

The last day of daycare was on 8/19 and she started a new school on 8/20. It’s been a bitter sweet moment for her and for me. The days prior to the big day I kept worrying and couldn’t sleep well.

My baby girl spent three years at the daycare where everyone and everything was so familiar to her. She was showered with attention. She was surrounded by loving people. She met her best friend there. She knew the daily routine, the games, the songs, the dances. She was one of the older and mature kids in daycare and was setting a good example to the little ones that just started.

The day before the official school date, we took Ariela to the school for the morning assembly (K and above started a day earlier). It was a gloomy morning with an on/off drizzle. Everything around us was new – kids, parents, teachers, buildings, papers. We watched as the older kids assembled and listened to the principal’s speech. My daughter was always next to us looking around her and taking everything in. She asked a lot of questions because she simply didn’t understand the language and what is happening.

My mind kept me up for a long time the night before school. How will she transition? Will she understand? Will she make friends? Will she be able to open her lunch? Will she eat? Will she use a restroom? Is she going to cry? Will she miss her daycare and friends? Man, oh man…I could go on with all sort of questions running through my mind.

The next day, I drove her to her first day of pre-K and spent 20 minutes with her in the class (no, no, I wasn’t the only parent there). We found her little locker with her name on it and put her stuff in it. We’ve walked around the rooms and finally sat down at the table to play with a sand. I didn’t care that I was late for work. Even without her saying anything I knew she needed me there. Those minutes I spent in her new classroom were important to both of us. I want to believe I made it a little easier for her to be left alone in a new environment and new faces.

As for Mr. V, he left the diaper bag in my car (by accident) and only realized it when he was close to the nanny’s house. So, he turned around and came to the new school where he and the baby sister could also be part of Ariela’s big day. Later, he said he was glad he had to turn around and see our big girl at her new school. I totally know what he means. Moments like these are priceless!