First Day of School

leaving home

discovering the kitchen with "nene" in tow

Her cubbie

Somehow the day arrived. Mini is in Nursery School! Last night I put together her snacks, packed her extra clothes, printed pictures for her family collage and got mentally prepared for what was to come. This morning I woke up at 7:15, C at 7:45... we left the house at 8:15 with Papa, school supplies, daily supplies, and oh yes...our favorite 21 month old. She was READY to go! When we got to the school we walked up and she was immediately interested in where we were. We walked into her class and there were her teacher Ms. M and the assistant teachers Ms. R and Ms. N and about 6 other toddlers. She was greeted with a warm "Good morning Cecilia!" and she immediately looked up at me, hugged my leg and said, "Mama?" I told her that this was her classroom, these were her new friends and teachers. She then gave me another, "Mama?" and I picked her up, repeated, and introduced her to the teachers again. "Will speaking in Spanish make her feel more comfortable?" asked Ms. M..."yes"...so we sat on the floor and began to play, one of the other teachers immediately brought her a baby in a stroller and she ran with that heading over to the play kitchen. She handed me a spatula and before we knew it one of her classmates came over to see what we were up to. That was my cue (D it's time to go)...so I called her over for a kiss (which she gave me) and then D asked for the same with a hug (which she gave him), "Te vemos en la tarde amor, te amo" I told her, and she smiled giving me the "It's OK mom, I've got this!" ... but I didn't. I quickly had to leave the room, because I could feel them coming...the tears. My baby...my sweet girl didn't put up a fight, she welcomed the experience.

 All day I found myself wondering, "what's she doing?", "is she having fun?" , "is she eating well?", "is she napping?"... at 5:30pm, I picked her up... she was sitting quietly with the other after care kids singing songs ...and then I saw her "daily report"... Mini was right, she's got this!