So our ECFE class? Is AWESOME. First, it’s in this beautiful school which is in a beautiful area of town – the school was built about 5 years ago but you walk in and it feels like it’s been built to last: stone walls, high ceilings, spacious classrooms and lots of windows. The ECFE classroom was like the Hatchling’s dream come true. Soooooo many toys and things to climb on and things to push around and cubby holes and water tables and – the Hatchling’s favorite of all – an old plastic bottle with wooden clothespins in it. Oh, joy! There were about 10 other kids there, most with moms but a few with moms and dads, which is cool. The Hatchling was TOTALLY in her element. Interacting with loads of other kids? Check. Charming the pants off the other parents and teachers? Check. Freaking out the other parents with her off-the-charts height and crazy number of teeth? Check. (“How many teeth does she have?” several parents asked. “All except her 2-year molars,” I replied. “Wowwwww,” they breathed.) When it came time to sit in a circle with the other parents and kids and sing songs together, little miss always-on-the-go actually sat in my lap and grinned her little head off the whole time. When it was time for the parents to sit together while the kids played under the supervision of the aides, the teacher warned us that most of the kids would probably want to stay closer by for the first couple of sessions. Before the warning was even out of her mouth, the Hatchling was over on the other side of the room, showing one of the aides her mad skillz-of-an-artist on the magnetic drawing board. She played catch with one of the dads, stole surreptitious teddy grahams from several of the kids, and said huge enthusiastic “HI’s” to everyone she encountered. In short, she had a blast. And since all the parents seem like nice, interesting people, I had a pretty good time, too. It will be really great to meet with this group once a week, if for no other reason than to allay my COMPLETELY IRRATIONAL AND INSANE anxieties about the Hatchling’s developmental milestones. Because, look! It’s a whole room of kids her age or thereabouts, and hey – they all throw tantrums! And none of them are really talking yet! And most of them don’t sleep as well as she does! And none of them are as cute!
Yep: reaffirming my child’s inherent awesomeness. THAT’S what it’s all about. (Where’s my eye-rolling emoticon?)
