yesterday, January 28th, was the first morning that I packed 3 little backpacks up. I know this is the start of many years of packing lunches and backpacks up so it seemed monumental for me. This term, Charlie will go to Montessori for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday full days. The girls will go Tuesday and Wednesday mornings from about 8:45 to 11:45. I am like a new person having 2 mornings a week where I can actually plan things.
the kids were excited and charlie led the way into his school. here is your first glance at ellie’s outfit (she is right behind charlie)– she was VERY determined to wear just want she has on. I tried a few suggestions and then quickly realized that I was not going to win that battle.
this was honestly the smile ellie gave me! not sure if it was nerves or what, but I can’t believe it! from this shot her outfit looks ok. she is wearing a 18 mth gap fuzzy zip up, a summery orange dress with a tulle layer and grey jeans with her adidas tennis shoes on the wrong feet.
my awesome trio!
being greeted by Leonie – the director.
Ellie saw another kid go hang up his backpack so she marched over there right away and did it too.
claire stood there nervously for a bit.
ready to be a school!
claire decided to go for it too.
Desiree, one of the girls’ teachers watching them dig into something right away. They didn’t even hesitate – they just started touching things instantly. I warned Desiree that they would probably be into everything and she laughed it off…well, I was right because when I went to pick them up she said “you’re right! they are BUSY!! me and Catherine (the other teacher) had to tag team them to keep an eye on them!”. I just knew they were busy girls, but for some reason I felt better being told by a preschool teacher.
Desiree showed the girls the new bearded dragon that is in their classroom. they came home that night talking about the “dinosaur” in their room. apparently one of the nominated names for the dragon is dinosaur because of ellie and claire.
at first when I was going to leave I thought I should just sneak out and not say goodbye because I didn’t want to start any water works. when I started stepping away, ellie said “goodbye mom” and waved (!!) – I almost cried at the thought of her being so casual. then she came up and wanted a kiss and a hug and went back to see other things. claire did the same thing! what big girls they are – I was proud of them!
I have to say I just love how organized and peaceful this Montessori classroom is. It is such a great setting for kids.
so today (their second day) when I went to pick the girls up I found out that they were playing with water in the sink and had basically flooded the kitchen area and soaked themselves, but were apparently giggling like crazy. I should have warned the teachers that whenever you hear giggling you should run to see what they have gotten themselves into. The teachers were amazed at watching them together, which is an experience. I love watching them giggle together – they are almost in their own world. That being said, I think they are giving Montessori a run for their money. I hope that with a few more weeks under their belt they will be a bit easier on their teachers. Desiree also said she could tell right away that the girls are not overly attached to one another, which is what I thought, but it is nice to hear that the teachers can already tell that they have their own interests and like to explore those.
