Christmas Choir

Yesterday morning we attended Eva's school Christmas party. Sitting in the bleachers watching her, I found myself welling up. Eva is beginning the process of growing away from us. It makes me emotional and proud. Up until now she has mostly been right by our sides, doing most things with our direct help and support. And now her independence is increasing by leaps and bounds.

It really hit me that I'm a MOM attending her child's Christmas concert. I remember being Rudolf in my kindergarten Christmas play. And probably my Mom felt a lot like I did. Oh, the cycles of life!

Here is a little one minute video of the event. Andrew also posted photos on his Photog Blog. Josh enjoyed himself so much he even sang along with the last song!

First Day Back at School

Eva had her first day back at school. It went MUCH better than I expected! Even last night she would start tearing up at the very thought of it and I worried it would be tough this morning.

We have spent quite a bit of time preparing for this day. We counted down the weeks and days so it wouldn't sneak up on her. We did a little art therapy- I had her draw the things she was looking forward to and the things she was worried about. (Her concern was missing Mommy). And last night we had a long talk before bed. I reminded her that she had a choice about whether she concentrated on the sad things or the fun things. That there were good and bad things about everything. And I prayed for her.

More answered prayers! I walked her to her class, and her English teacher invited her over to the English classroom to help out. Eva took her hand and away she went. That was it!

I think it helped that she scratched her arm and got a special bandaid before school, and then got bitten by an ant right before we went into the schoolyard. Served as distraction.

When I picked her up she said that it was a "good" day. Her teacher confirmed that it had gone really well too. No crying, good socializing, and Eva was excited about going to the flag raising ceremony. Later in the afternoon, Eva mused, "Actually today at school was pretty fun!" I'm so happy!!!

Bursting with Pride

We had year-end parent teacher conferences today and I almost wept. I knew that it was going pretty well but their report indicated far more progress than I had expected!!

Eva has opened up beautifully at school. She is relaxed, interested, curious, and much more assertive. She has become much more patient. She understands a lot of Spanish, and asks someone if she isn't sure. She interacts with her classmates in a combination of English and Spanish. She accepts invitations to work and play together (though she hasn't quite made it to the point where she does the inviting). A really big milestone happened last week. The children take turns bringing snack for the whole class about once a month. The child who has brought the snack is in charge of leading the prayer. Up until now she has declined when it is her turn. Last week, she insisted, and did beautifully. They said the look on her face afterward was almost one of shock and disbelief that she had overcome her trepidation and really done it! Yay Eva!!

They told us she is very intelligent. She concentrates very well and her work is neat and detailed. They were particularly impressed by her drawing of the road to Mazatlan. She has an excellent memory. She is very observant as well, and often already has a good idea of how to use materials she hasn't worked with before, because she has observed other children using them. She is moving along well in math- adding, subtracting and dividing. She is keen to work on writing.

She is struggling a little with differentiating the phonics sounds of English vs Spanish letters. Not surprising.

I asked them for suggestions about how to manage a situation like the one that happened at the Day of the Child event. Eva refused to participate in any of the activities. They suggested respecting her desire to not participate, but not letting that stop us from participating and enjoying. In other words, give her the time and space to find her comfort zone, but don't give her the power to control our activities. I thought that was good advice.

Have I mentioned how much I love this school??? Her teachers obviously care about her. They care about her emotional health and development just as much as her academic development. They respect her individuality, enjoy her, and celebrate her successes. They support her in her struggles. They set boundaries. They challenge her. They provide a safe environment where she can find her own way and achieve at her own pace. They build relationships with the whole family and see themselves as partners with us. They are kind and gentle and loving. These observations are not limited to Eva's teachers. Every member of staff and administration has exhibited these qualities. I think we've stumbled upon a very special place and I am so grateful and blessed.

Micah stayed home with Bertha while we went to the school. He was very excited when she got here, but got very sad and spent a large portion of the time we were gone crying and then watching for me out the front window. Finally, he consented to have some cantaloupe and then asked to watch tv. I guess having a babysitter is more fun when your big sister is there too.

Weekend Activities

Two very contrasting days for me this weekend. Saturday was WAY too busy for my liking. All good stuff, but too busy. I used to have busy days like that all the time but now I will do whatever I can to avoid it going forward. I like my nice slow pace of life, thank you.

Saturday morning it was Andrew's turn to sleep in so I got up with Micah at 5:30. Got most of the dishes done which felt good. Headed to yoga at 9:00. I just didn't have enough sleep in me so I was useless. Right after yoga I hurried straight to my La Leche League meeting. Fourth in the series of four!! I enjoy going but it's nice to not "have" to go now that my course requirement is completed.

Got home, ate, packed us up and headed out to a birthday party. Swimming, pizza, nice people... Lots of fun. We noticed that the kids have finally reached that age where parties aren't so exhausting because they can fend for themselves a lot more. We actually fit in quite a bit of adult conversation!

Watched and enjoyed Valkyrie and fell into bed exhausted.

Today felt like Mother's Day all over again! I slept until 10am, completely undisturbed, and woke to a clean kitchen and empty house. After a very nice Quiet Time, I spent the afternoon cooking. Figured I should take advantage of the relatively cool weather to use the oven. I was proud to make quite a good lasagna without a recipe. I have come a long way. Then I whipped up some oatmeal raisin chocolate chip cookies. Muy delicioso! Too delicioso. I have authorized Andrew to intervene if I try to eat any more tonight.

Now I'll watch a little tv and work on some crochet.

Tomorrow's kind of an exciting day. Andrew and I are meeting with Eva's teachers in the morning since we will be already gone when they normally have parent-teacher conferences. I look forward to hearing what they have to say. I asked Bertha to come hang out with Micah while we're doing that. Eva will spend the afternoon at school doing a special event. They're renting inflatables and some are waterslides, fun! It will be a long day for her away from me so hopefully she can enjoy the event and not get sad because she misses home.

Eva's 2008/09 School Photos

I'm kind of giddy about these: Eva's first school photos! Such a milestone.

(Front to Back, Left to Right)
Santiago, Bernardo, Gabriel, Ana, Antonio, Isabela, Lourdes
Eugenio, Eva, Javier, Pablo, Regina, Carlota, Margarita, Pedro, Lorenzo
Pato, Margot, Sofia, Maria Emilia, Ana Vicky, Beto
Anavilly, Raquel

Sorry it's a bit blurry... Our printer/scanner stinks.

A Bust Outing

Today Eva's school had special family activities as a celebration for Day of the Child. We were all so excited about it! Once we got there, though, Eva was miserable. The first game she was a bit nervous but warming up, then we did volleyball with a great big ball, and it just wasn't making it down to her level. That's when she got really discouraged. She said, "I'm no good at these games". She refused to participate in anything after that. I couldn't seem to convince her keep pushing through, trying, and finding a way to enjoy herself.

Trying to hit the ball

Post-discouragement (and me with a weird-looking arm!)

We're just not sure how to handle this. In her defense, Eva by temperment is slow to adapt to new situations, there was a huge crowd of people, most of the games were new to her, she was one of the smallest kids, and there is still somewhat of a language barrier. However she was in a familiar setting with us right beside her, encouraging her and showing her by example. She just stood there arms at her sides, complained, and eventually cried. We felt so bad for her that she was missing out on the enjoyment of the day! Her attitude was especially frustrating when it came to the 'flag chase' activity, because she HAS played it before and she loves chase.

We thought about just leaving. Would that have sent the wrong message? We ended up staying to the end, and intentionally observing the last activity, which was spelling Montessori with our bodies.

I hate to see her missing out, and I was upset that she had no interest or appreciation for the effort and time the school put into this event.

Thoughts on how to handle this and future situations like this; how to best encourage her without pressuring or making her feel bad about herself?

Addition

Every Friday Eva comes home with a packet of the work she has done throughout the week. This week one of the items was a page of addition problems. Her teacher wrote the problems and Eva determined and recorded the results (with some guidance from her teacher).



The math component of the Montessori method gets me excited. It's so tactile and visual and natural. Math can sometimes be such an abstract subject for students; the way it is presented in Montessori makes it so much more concrete.

Here is what A Parents' Guide to the Montessori Classroom by Aline D. Wolf has to say about it:

A child in a Montessori class never sits down to memorize addition and subtraction facts; she never simply memorizes multiplication tables. Rather, she learns these facts by actually performing the operations with concrete materials. When the child wants to do arithmetic, she is given a sheet of paper containing simple problems. She works the problems with appropriate materials and records her results. Similar operations can be performed with a variety of materials. This variety maintains the child's interest while giving her many opportunities for the necessary repetition. As she commits the addition facts and the multiplication tables to memory, she gains a real understanding of what each operation means. In a Montessori classroom there are many materials that can be used for adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing.

THE SHORT BEAD STAIR

The Short Bead Stair represents the quantities one through ten in easily recognized colors. A single red bead represents 1. A bar of two green beads represents 2. A bar of three pink beads represents 3, and so forth, with the bar of ten golden beads representing 10. If a child wishes to do the sum 3+5, she places the bar of three pink beads beside the bar of five blue beads, counts the total number of beads and records her result: 3 + 5 = 8.

Eva School Update

Last week was much better for her! She is trying to be more open. She is still not excited to go to school in the morning, but she is dawdling less. Her teachers have noticed a difference in her social behaviour. I'm so glad that she is trying. It won't take long before she is really reaping the benefits.

Updates

Eva has been doing super great at school this last week! Late last week I sent a note with her to her teacher, and she just hopped right out of the car and dashed to class. So now I send a note with her every day (today she told me to write "I love you very much"). That sense of purpose, a mission, really drives her. Awesome!

She has been sniffly since she started school. No surprise, given the germ exposure and stress factors. The last few days she's developed a cough and is obviously not at 100%. I suggested that she could stay home from school. She didn't want to!!

Eva's teacher told me this morning that Eva is starting to interact with her classmates in spanish! She is really starting to understand, and to communicate. I'm super excited for her!

Update on me: thanks for your prayers! I have been feeling quite calm and patient lately, and the high volume verbal outbursts have really fallen off. I am feeling energetic and filled with purpose and achievement! :)

A Wedding!

Last night Eva was invited to her teacher Anavilly's wedding. It started at 8:15pm! Eva consented to a long nap in the afternoon, and that worked out nicely. Eva was excited at first, a little uncomfortable but smiling at the start of the photos, and kind of sullen by the end. Lots of people and action! All the kids were taken to sit in a section together for the ceremony. I managed to snag a seat right behind them. For a kid who likes to always know what to expect, it was pretty overwhelming. Eva asked several times to sit with me, but did end up staying with the class and doing well. At the end of the wedding, they had all the kids blow bubbles around the happy couple as they walked up the aisle out of the church. Fun! Eva was on a high afterward and needed a few minutes to play and read before she could think about going to bed. An experience to remember!

School Update

Things are pretty good! The last couple of weeks Eva has been crying and stalling about leaving the car in the mornings. But she always comes out glowing. She really enjoys everything about school... except being apart from me. It is definitely improving but still an issue for her.

*New information since I started this post:* Eva didn't cry or stall the last two mornings! She has developed some coping skills for missing me. She puts my name on many of her drawings at school. I'm so glad she's working it through!


Micah is still sad in the mornings, but he doesn't cry anymore.


Eva is starting to learn some spanish- so fun! I'm excited for her. I'm seeing some changes in her and I am so pleased to see that they are overwhelmingly positive changes. She is gaining confidence, she is learning the language and developing better people skills. She is making friends. I see glimpses of new maturity, intermixed with some angry behaviour as she processes her new reality.

Eva reported this week that she has been standing up in music class. She also has begun attending English class. Yay Eva!

Happy Birthday Eva and Micah!

Micah in his spiffy new Woody jammies, with "Bulleyes" and his fire extinguisher that actually squirts! (haven't told him yet because he'll be a menace with it)

Eva so pleased and excited that she finally got the Jessie she's been wanting for months

I didn't do a special post for Micah on his birthday because Andrew was out of town. We were going to celebrate a few days later... but a few days morphed into two weeks. He didn't seem to mind and we thought it might be nice (read: easier for us) to have them open their presents at the same time, share a piñata, etc...

This morning when Eva got up the rest of us were already up and watching some Lazy Town. We greeted her with a song but that was a little overwhelming so early in the morning and sent her running out of the room. When she re-emerged Micah gave her a big birthday hug and greetings. I think we all enjoyed it more than Eva did though :)

So now the kids are officially two and four! When I ask Micah how old he is, he says, "Big."

Eva is quite excited to now be four. Though there are some things she's waiting on until she's eight. Watching "The Wizard of Oz". Initiating relationships with her classmates. Attending English class at school (doesn't like parts of the teacher's face). Standing up during music class.

Today when we dropped Eva off at school, she cried. This school thing is good, but incredibly draining for her. By today she was feeling just about done. Good thing it's the weekend!

They had a pretty fun day at school. They worked on the traditional Day of the Dead display, did cooking class, and had music class. Eva sang one of the music class songs on and off all afternoon. For snack I sent a cake and they had a little birthday celebration for her. Sang to her in both english and spanish. Eva did a little some kinda something with a globe (I didn't quite understand her explanation) and then she served her classmates.

She really loved the cake! I am so glad. I don't have a tried and true, go-to cake recipe so I practiced this week. Made three cakes. The first one, chocolate zucchini, turned out well but she didn't really like it. The second one, carrot cake with chocolate chips, turned out ok and she didn't like it. Last chance, last night. High pressure situation. I went with a simple vanilla cake. And didn't hear the timer go off. Came out a little overcooked. But I slathered the fresh whipping cream on those hockey pucks and garnished liberally with fresh strawberries and kiwi. I figured if the cake were inedible, they could still enjoy the fruit and whipped cream. It really did look nice, if I do say so myself. When we picked her up, Eva commented how much she loved her birthday cake! Phew!

Day of the Dead altar display

Andrew took the day off today (!!!). So great. We picked Eva up after school and went to a restaurant called Peter Piper Pizza. One of those places with the games that give you tickets you can redeem for cheap plastic goodies. Kids ate a lot of pizza and played a lot. We played a lot too. Got addicted to the basketball game. It was fun but also gave me a headache.

Goat in back of truck on the way to the pizza place

Self-portrait in Peter Piper Pizza. You can see Eva and Andrew in the background

We came home and opened presents. Big success on that front! Then we had strawberries and whipped cream. We have a piñata but figured we'd had enough excitement already. So we postponed it until tomorrow morning. The kids fell asleep in a flash.

A Much Better Day!!

Eva had a much better day today. Thanks to those who prayed for her!

As we pulled into school this morning, she told me something she hadn't mentioned before. She said that yesterday they went to see the "real Mexican flag" and she started to cry and couldn't see her teacher. The lightbulb went on!! I remembered that on Monday mornings the whole school assembles in the gym for the salute to the flag. I can imagine how bewildered Eva must have felt. And that incident set the tone for her whole day. When I picked her yesterday I asked her what the best and worst things were from her day. She said the worst thing was falling on the playground. And there were no good things.

I spoke with her teachers today and they had already realized that she needs to be prepped for change and had planned to adjust their approach with her given that need. Eva was a little clingy to me at first so Micah and I stuck around while she made a flag for us. I peeked in the window and it was a delight to see her working so diligently. Once she was done she came blasting out the door to give it to us. Then with barely a goodbye she dashed back into class. Whoohoo!

Micah cried bitterly as we left. "Miss Eva. Miss Eva! No go school Eva." Poor fella.

It was a sweet morning. We watched the end of a fun movie we had rented, then we napped for 2 hours!! My first good sleep in 3 days. I just haven't been having restful sleeps, at night or otherwise. Plus Micah's internal clock hasn't adjusted for the time change so he was up at 3am.

Eva emerged from class tired but happy. When I asked if there were any good things today, she replied, "There were LOTS of good things!!"

Overwhelmed

Eva has started telling me she doesn't want to go to school anymore. We talked about it quite a bit and it seems to come down to her feeling overwhelmed and lonely. Andrew and I think back to how much our brains hurt in the first weeks and months here in Mexico and empathize huge.

She is never comfortable in new social situations, and there she is without me- her constant companion the last 4 years- not speaking the language, for a long time every day. She said that the noise and activity gets to her. I assured her that it will get better with time, and that she will learn spanish and she will make friends and become more comfortable. I also mentioned that she could ask the teacher if she can step outside when she is feeling overwhelmed. Have a few moments of quiet outside by herself. I could feel her relax at that suggestion. And then she didn't need to talk about school anymore. I am hoping this is a good solution that will help her through. Tomorrow morning when I drop her off I will speak with her teachers at more length to brainstorm other solutions. I'm sure it doesn't help that she is tired. She actually said she was so glad to go to sleep tonight! Hopefully she gets a good sleep tonight and will have a better day tomorrow. Poor kid. It is not easy. But we expect that the difficulty and effort will pay off huge once she gets over this hump. I am however concerned that if this becomes overly negative for her it could have major consequences down the road. At this point, it's not negative. It's a really great environment. But it is difficult. If you're the praying type, would you say a quick prayer for Eva?

School Girl

I wish I had a photo to include in this post... it would show Eva glowing with pleasure and pride.

She started going to school this week!

She is attending the school I posted about here and here and here. I just love it- every contact with staff and administration and students has been nothing but positive. They are so warm, welcoming and open. It is a Montessori school and I am very keen on the method and their philosophy. I love it that snack has to be whole foods, and no soda pop allowed. I love it that they have a recycling program where there is no municipal program. I like it that they keep their celebrations low key. I like what I see when I visit the school. I appreciate so much how accomodating they have been to us, how interested they are in knowing about Eva so they can best guide and help her. I love how they want to know me, and Andrew, and Micah. That they want to work together with us. I feel that Eva will thrive. Time will tell!

Eva is doing terrific. She is doing short days to start with and will work up to the full (5.25 hrs) day. The first two days I dropped her off at 8:30 and picked her up after snack at 11:30. The next two days I picked her up after recess at 12:00. When she visited last spring she struggled with the recess part because she doesn't have experience in playground dynamics. So I was glad that she got a couple of days to get to know her environment and classmates before heading out onto the playground. Her first recess she played a little bit then asked for me. Today she played chase with two other little girls! She told me she had a sliding incident so I guess she's still figuring out how to work with and around all the other kids on the play structure. Tomorrow she will stay through recess and I'll pick her up at 12:30 after music class.

Her teacher says she has been "working beautifully" and commented how focused she is when she is working. She said that all the other little girls want to work together with Eva. She also commented how well Eva colours.

Eva's excitement about school definitely outweighs all trepidation and difficulty. The first time I dropped her off, a teacher she didn't know offered to take her to her classroom. Eva wasn't comfortable with that and started to cry. But she overcame it quickly, and happily went with her own teacher- didn't even look back. This morning when she was getting out of the car, her proud enthusiastic grin was priceless. Like I mentioned, recess is challenging for her, but she is not letting it stop her. We did some role-playing about recess, and her teachers are aware that it is a challenge for her and that support seems to be working for her. This morning she did tell me she didn't want to go to school. She wanted to stay home and watch movies. But it didn't take much convincing to get her out the door. This is very tiring for Eva, no matter how much she loves it. I am sure she will be glad for the weekend break.

The evening of her first day was tough! She was being super stubborn and wouldn't listen when I asked her to come get ready for bed, even though we'd agreed it would be a good idea to get ready a little earlier than usual. It ended up being a huge meltdown. Then it struck me! This is a kid who likes to have control. And at school she was faced with tons of unknowns. This was her way of trying to get her balance back. As I realized that I pulled her into a hug and applied the technique I've learned in a number of great parenting books. I verbalized that going to school was a lot and hard. That she doesn't always know what to expect, or what will come next, or where to go. And she immediately relaxed and calmed. The evening went much better after that, and they have been better since (except yesterday when she napped after school and then didn't get to sleep until after 10:30!!).

On the way home in the car today, Eva told me a few things I'd like to record for posterity:

Eva: Today I played tag with two girls.
Me: How do you say 'tag' in spanish?
Eva: I think "taggo", or maybe "tagu".

I love seeing that she is really starting to pay attention to the language. For a long time, she would just kind of blank out when someone was speaking spanish. Now, she is actively listening. She has noticed that a lot of spanish words end with "o"!


Eva: You know a few things. My teachers know everything.

Hahahahaha! I thought I wouldn't get this til at least the preteen years!

School Success!

Eva loved it. Absolutely loved it. She was supposed to be there for an hour but she wanted to stay so they let her stay for snack and recess- three hours in total!

A couple of little girls really took a shine to her and they were all running around together at recess. One of them asked for our phone number so she could invite Eva over to play. In general we have found that kids are fascinated with the fact that Eva speaks english. One of her guides told me that her classmates were coming up to her and saying, "I speak english too," but in spanish. So cute.

The class made a Canadian flag to welcome Eva. She did some painting and drawing. She participated in the snack cleanup activities.

Micah and I hung out on the play structure for a long time and had a little snack of our own on a bench. We were then invited in to join the snack in the classroom. It was so interesting to watch life at the school. The sixth grade kids are finished their final tests and so were doing some social services like groundskeeping and helping the younger kids. The students have so much freedom and seem to do so well with it! They are also very disciplined. A few of the children were in charge of putting out placemats and serving the snack. Every child was in charge of washing his or her own dishes after they had finished eating. I put a mat on the ground to sit with Micah and do one of the activities I found on a shelf, and one of the girls informed me that we were doing a "table activity". Whoops. The discipline they have instilled already in these children at the age of three is impressive.

We're a go for school in the fall!

A Great Meeting with the School!

A photo of the grounds. Incidentally, my American friend whose son attended this school for 6th grade worked with the school to install the peace obeslisk you see in the foreground

We went to the school today and met with the early years director. She is so great. Incredibly gracious and kind. She listened to my concerns without judgement, and spoke to them. She feels that this is the ideal age for Eva to enter into school, and that she will benefit from and be open to being with other children and learning from exposure to a new environment. Especially one as enriching as a Montessori classroom.

She was sympathetic to my concerns about conflicts with other children. She said she couldn't guarantee there would never be a conflict with a classmate. However she could assure me that the guides are trained and experienced in recognizing unhealthy situations and working together with the children to resolve them. Also she pointed out that the children are free to leave the classroom at anytime to go outside onto the patio, to the play structure, or to visit the chickens they have there. I like this a lot because it can be so helpful to have a change of scenery (especially to the outdoors) when one feels frustrated or overwhelmed.

We dropped in on the classroom and met Ana, who will be one of Eva's guides. She speaks excellent english and actually does summer camps in San Antonio, Texas. While I want Eva to 'do school' in spanish, it's also important that she is able to express herself and be understood when she really needs it. Eva was very shy, clinging to my leg and pretty much silent. But she was also extremely excited. (Micah just barged right into the classroom. In fact, we peeked into the english class on the way there, Micah marched in and took a seat in their circle. No shyness issues there.) A number of children stopped their work to come over and see who was in their class. They were curious, open, friendly but not at all aggressive about it. I just loved the look and feel of that classroom and the children in it. So orderly and peaceful, but you can also feel the energy and concentration.

The director offered that Eva could come on Friday for an hour (or as long as she'd like) as a guest to the classroom. She can come one other time for a longer period before the end of this school year. And in the fall if she needs it, Eva can make a gradual entry to going to school full time.

When I told Eva she could come back on Friday for an hour she said she wanted to come for five hours, and she wanted to do it now! Her enthusiasm hasn't diminished.

We'll take the director up on these offers, but even without them I'm pretty much convinced that this will be a good thing for Eva, and that the risks to her wellbeing are very minimal. I'm so looking forward to seeing how she learns and grows through this!!

The Question of School

I've been thinking a lot about school.

Eva and I found a wonderful Montessori school that we are both very excited about. She still asks me periodically when it will be time to start school. We visited twice and were very impressed with the facilities, the method, the philosphy, the materials, the director. Eva especially liked that everything in the room was "just the right size" for her. The director was so warm and welcoming and so open. She likes to work with the entire family, not just the student. They stress respect and building a self-confident child who loves to learn. She was so kind and gave us all the time we needed to look around, ask questions, and observe in the classroom.

All the children were quietly working while we were there. They were interested in Eva but obviously engrossed in their work. Students would periodically approach the "guides" (2 per multi-age classroom of 20-25 students) for, well, guidance. Each child would put away whatever he or she was working on before taking out a new activity. There was a feeling of peace and concentration in the room.

I know Eva will thrive in many ways in this environment. I do have a couple of concerns though. She will be going to school every day for five hours each day at barely four years old. That feels so long! And I want to protect her from potentially damaging forces and situations- grow her confidence and maturity under my wing before exposing her to things she would handle better if she were a little older.

The number one factor in the "Pro" column of this decision list is the language. If she goes to this school, she will be fluent in spanish before very long.

I think sometimes about homeschooling. There are some excellent curriculums out there and I think children can benefit enormously from being homeschooled. But it isn't for every family. Anyway these are things that I think about. I'm going to meet with the director at the Montessori school this week and talk to her a little more about my concerns.

Yesterday I asked Eva if she was still excited about going to school. She immediately replied YES! I reminded her that she would be there from just after when Daddy goes to work until after Rest Time. She said, "I'll be fine there without Mommy and Daddy!"