Little Schoolgirl

Kiwi started preschool last week, and she is L-O-V-I-N-G it! When I left for work the morning of her first day, she told me matter-of-factly, "I am not going to miss you today, Mommy." And...she was right! It turns out that having nine other little playmates, a whole room full of new toys, a playground full of more new toys, and a busy schedule of projects, snacks, songs, and stories leaves little time for homesickness, which is exactly what I'd been hoping.

I love that she's so stinking excited about everything: "We PAINTED! And played in the KITCHEN! And I made dinner for the DOLLIES! And I rode a BIKE! Outside!!!!" (Never mind that these are all things she does at home on a fairly regular basis, too...) Oh, and her teacher? "I LOVE HER! She is BEAUTIFUL! She let me get this ring from the TREASURE BOX! Because I DESERVE IT!! And next week I get a turn to be the LINE LEADER! And all the other kids will follow me!!" There simply aren't enough exclamation points to convey just how supremely awesome the whole thing is.

Because the universe apparently loves irony as much as I do, this super-perfect preschool happens to be a Christian one, which means the Kiwi-fruit branch of our agnostic family tree is no doubt going to be coming home singing "Jesus Loves Me" and reminding us to say grace before we eat. She's even going to have a role in the class Christmas play, "The Story of Jesus." (How much uncontrollable giggling would be permissible in this situation? The cuteness promises to be overwhelming. I can hardly stand it already.) I'm sure that somewhere along the lines, we're going to have some 'splainin' to do about who this God person is and such (I even looked for a kids' picture book that might give a basic introduction to different religions and religious symbols/holidays, but no luck yet.), but we'll just have to take things as they come. Considering that I went to a Baptist school through second grade and know several verses of that song about getting into Heaven on roller skates, I'm well aware that any religious teachings she gets now may not necessarily "stick," anyway!

She goes Tuesdays through Thursdays, for three hours in the afternoon, which means there's just enough time to drop her off, bring Ellie-Bug home for a nap, and then go back to pick her up again. Those two solid hours of quiet and/or productive time in between is priceless to whichever one of us Bears is home with the girls that day, though!

What a big kid!