New Schools

What is it about new schools that fills parents with a sense of foreboding anxiety?

In August little miss Haana was starting middle school! Not just a new school, but so much more. No longer will they have a home room and home room teacher who spends a lot of time with them. Now each class will be in different room, 4 minutes of time to move in between classes. Students have to keep track of their schedule. Teachers are no longer baby-ing my baby! 

Not everyone was filled with anxiety. Little miss Haana was mostly excited. A bit nervous but mostly excited. A couple days before classes were about to start the school has a welcome night. Little miss Haana caught up with all her friends who, like her, wanted to be done with the summer and get back to each other!

For the parents, it would take a bit longer to figure out. New school, new teachers. New pick up and drop off timings. New bus schedule. New routes. But most of all it meant my baby little miss Haana was growing up. 

On another front, Bobby, who was now enjoying his playschool was now going to go to a new montessori. We had done some homework. Toured multiple montessoris in our neighborhood, then zeroed in on 2. Met the teachers at both the places and decided on one. But the big question was, would Bobby like it there?

A few more weeks of worrying about it, and then it was time for Bobby to start the new school. We went to drop him off with a lot of trepidation. He was excited to be going to 'big boy school'. His teacher engaged him in dinosaurs and just like that, he was good! I turned around, lingered outside the class door before finally heading home. When I came back to pick him up, he was doing great! 

So just like that both Bobby and little miss Haana started new schools!

Graduation Preschool

Last month there was a big day for little Miss Haana and us. The Montessori school had ordered and sent blue graduation gowns and caps to wear on the big day. Little Miss Haana could hardly wait.

Incidentally my parents came from India to visit us for the summer. So, on the big day, we all, grand parents and parents and Miss Haana made our way to the school in the evening for Miss Haana's preschool graduation day.

The kids were ushered to their classrooms as we waited in anticipation on tiny chairs for the ceremony to begin. The school had made a short video to celebrate each child and their time at the Montessori. We caught a glimpse of little Miss Haana sharing a delicious joke with her friend at the playground and both of them giggling. The kids were asked how old they think their mom and dad were, and most of them were replying that their parents were really old! Miss Haana nailed it when asked how old her dad was. She said her mom was 8 years old, which is exactly the right answer too!

Then, finally their class was called out. All the kids of Primary D, dressed in blue graduation gowns and caps came out in a line. I saw this little baby in the middle. The class sang some songs and then, were given their graduation certificates one by one. I woohoo-ed! We were reminded this is the first of several graduations to come for these kids, and that several of these kids will go on to prestigious schools when they grow up, some on scholarships. All that is too far in the future for me, I was smitten by the present.

Soon, it was picture time, and we took selfies with little miss graduate Haana. Pictures with friends, pictures with teachers.  Pictures with parents and grandparents. And then with the evening drawing to a close, we headed to Miss Haana's favorite eatery for dinner- the one that serves no vegetables, but I'm not saying anything today!

Ice cream For Mumma

Little Miss Haana and I were talking to Softy Mausi ( Aunt Softy) this morning and i remembered an incident from earlier in the summer.

In the summer,  little Miss Haana's montessori used to have an ice cream truck visit once a week,  and the kids could get a treat from the truck. The first time she had an ice cream at school, i asked her which ice cream she got, and where mine was?

The next time the ice cream truck came to school,  little miss Haana got herself an ice cream of choice. And then when to ask for one for her mumma!! She was told it's only for kids.

But i just remembered this today and felt what a sweet, sweet thing my little baby Haana is,  asking for an ice cream for mumma at her school😊.

Miss Nylie

Miss Haana's assistant teacher at the Montessori is very popular at our house. She's her favorite! Every evening I am told what Miss Nylie said or did or didn't say or didn't do. When I don't do what I'm expected to do, the little girl gives me an exasperated look, knits her eyebrows, shakes her head, puts her hands on her waist and says "So sad!"- just like Miss Nylie! Usually when I pick the little girl up from school on Fridays she asks me if Miss Nylie can come to our house on Saturday! 

So far I've mostly found these things cute and adorable. Till yesterday little Miss Haana was telling her daddy this:

Daddy, I want you to be my daddy and Miss Nylie to be my Mumma!!!

:-O

My mouth opened to a big "O"! She giggled like it was a shared, delicious, naughty little secret that had gotten out .

Naughty it was! And I wasn't about to let the opportunity go by.

I lamented at how hurt I am that Gugu  said this and how sad I am! She came to me, kissed me, touched my cheeks and told me -"I was just kidding, ok?", and giggled. I said, "No, not ok! Gugu doesn't want me to be the Mumma! I'm so hurt!". This time she came to me, more kisses on my cheeks, more caresses, and she said, "No, no! I want you to be my Mumma, ok? I was only kidding! Ok?". I purr with "Aww, my sweet baby!".

At this time I felt like it was working out for me afterall.. Such deep hugs and kisses for me are usually only afforded when my little baby is asleep! 

I secretly make plans on using this premise for extracting more hugs and kisses at a later time! Devious? Desperate times call for desperate measures! 

The Ballet Recital

The Sunday last was a big BIG day. It was the day of little Miss Haana's ballet recital. We'd been looking forward to it for more than a month. 

The little girl loves her ballet classes and her teacher Miss Nanda. The ballet classes are at her Montessori school. A couple months back we got a note from the ballet teacher that all the students need to have proper ballet outfits with a tutu, pink ballet shoes and pink stockings. We promptly made a trip to a proper dance outfit store, where both the little girl and I had trouble zeroing on one ballet dress to buy- they all looked so overwhelmingly cute on her. Ultimately we went home with two. 

The class had been practicing since 6 weeks for the recital. They had been measured for special recital dress. We had been instructed on the stockings and shoes to get. The excitement had been building for weeks.

Finally during the previous week we got the ballet dress with a headband. That night we immediately tried the dress on at home and it fit beautifully. The trouble was- getting the little girl to take it off! 

I had invited some of my and Miss Haana's closest friends and family for the big day. That morning I bought a delicate shade of pink Burt Bees' lip balm and shimmer. Gugu and I put finger nail paint (something I do not allow on a usual basis) and as always I applied the same color on my nails. I made Miss Haana's hair into 2 neat pony tails with tons of little pins and some hairspray to hold it all together. Then there were a couple pink flower hair clips on either side and the headband. 

Once at the venue little Miss Haana could barely stay on the ground. She was skipping and jumping and posing and prancing around like a little fairy princess! My friends arrived graciously on time and little Miss Haana's friends (Rushil and Anya) were super excited and thrilled too. After tons of photos all around, the time came to send the little ballerinas to the auditorium stage. The little girl hugged her dad( who may have needed it) and followed the line of little ballerinas gingerly but without looking back.

The show started and as soon as the little girl entered it was heavenly! We were on the front seat (I was at the edge of my seat) and the little baby was so cute and beautiful and unbelievably sweet! She followed all the steps and performed with a sense of importance and perfection. Somewhere in the middle while the music and dance was still on, she saw us and as if she remembered something, she waived at us and blew a kiss. I smiled. More dance followed.

And then again, in the middle of the song and dance she remembered something.. There from the stage she looked at me and said "Mumma! mumma".. I was puzzled. I looked and nodded at her half asking her what she wanted to say, half reminding her to continue with the ballet. She said "Mumma, I want to give you a hug"! The whole auditorium breathed an audible "awww"! That's one sentence I would never forget the rest of my life!! I laughed silently and nodded( me too!) and blew a kiss to her. She blew one back and carried on with her dance. 

She performed beautifully. At the end, all the girls were given certificates and tiaras for their performance. And the event ended. I noticed the entire event neither Anya nor Rushil had made so much as a single sound - they were engrossed too! I was told later by their moms, they both wanted to take up ballet classes now!

Outside as little Miss Haana came out she jumped into her Dad's arms. Then I made my way to her. And she and I hugged and kissed each other deeply! Perfect!

Miss Elizabeth

My little girl loves her teacher Miss Elizabeth at her Montessori. Some days when I pick up little Miss Haana from her school, in the shape of Miss Haana, her teacher Miss Elizabeth comes home. 

She sits me down "quietly, okay?".  Then, some days, she puts on some music for me and tells me to "Listen to the music, veeerryy carefully, okay? Listen to it." If I start to get up and leave, she tells me to "No! Sssit. Sit quietly okay? Sit! Now listen to the music okay?" 

Some days if I hurt myself doing something, the little Miss Elizabeth (at my home) attends to me immediately. She checks my boo-boo, then tells me "Oww, it will be alright, okay? You'll be alright verryy soon, okay?"

The other day the little girl told me she will be a pink ballerina (they are going to have a dance recital for their ballet class). I got all excited and asked if she could teach me some and if I could be a pink ballerina too. I was told in no uncertain terms I could not be a pink ballerina. Heartbroken I lamented. She relented and declared I could be a brown one. I retorted I didn't want to be a  brown one, I wanted to be a pink one. After some negotiation we agreed on yellow!

On other days little Miss Elizabeth at my home sits me down and reads stories to me.

It's quite an experience having a Montessori teacher at home :)

Peers and Paint

I pick up my little girl from her Montessori in the afternoon everyday. Up till now when I pick her up some of the kids in her class have already been picked up. This was the case with the little baby's best friend Miss Mahika. 

Starting this week Miss Haana is going to be dropped an hour yearly to school at 8, and picked up an hour early too. On Monday when I reached to pick her up I had the pleasure of meeting Miss Mahika. 

When I reached the classroom, as always, my little cute girl came running to hug me, and placed herself on my lap and we giggled, and I kissed. Several other kids came running in our direction too. The first thing Miss Mahika did (before pleasantries) was shove her outstretched hands, palms down, in front of me. Purple nail polish! She waited till I had the opportunity to appreciate the nail paint to her satisfaction. If I hadn't noticed already Miss Haana chimed in- Mumma I want nail paint on my fingers too! I laughed in response.

The nail paint on fingers has been a contentious issue I've steered clear of so far. I feel finger nail paint is too visible, eye-catching and fashion conscious,that I decided Miss Haana should not get nail paint on her fingers (toes are ok, and we choose and change those every week). Now with the best friend having nail paint and them discussing it at class (Miss Haana didn't want to wear socks to school on Monday so she can show her friends her toe nail paint!), it's peer pressure too. I can tell I have some battles approaching. For this week, though, happily, she forgot all about nail paints when we reached home! Phew!

My Favorite

It's been a couple weeks since the little girl started her new Montessori school. They had soccer practice this week. And my best part of the school experience is when I pick her up.

Little Miss Haana comes running up to me as I open the class door and I kneel down and we have a big big hug. Followed by kisses of course. Some days I'm required to bribe so we can come home. "Let's go to the slides and swings", usually come in handy. 

And then as I turn to their teacher to ask her the days' report, the usual report is- "Oh she is so good! She talks so sweetly everyone here just wants to hear her talk! She's very good! No problem at all! And she picks up things so fast, as we tell her how to do certain things... She was perfect". She is everyone's favorite!!

I am beaming both inside and out!

First Day of School

Today was the first day of school - for both the school and little Miss Haana. And I am delighted to report they both had a wonderful time. 

We had been prepping he little girl for the change by telling her she will go to a new school soon. And finally the big day arrived. This morning Dad went to drop her to school. I was anxious she may feel distraught and would resist being left at a new place. I got a phone call at 9 to report how it went:

Dad took the little girl to her teacher and told her about school. She seemed a little anxious but didn't resist much. As dad left and then watched her classroom on the camera from the school lobby, the little girl looked around to absorb the new surroundings. She listened to the teachers. Went and got herself some toy to play with. She helped and directed another little girl on how to use another toy she was playing with. She had been talking to the other girl when the class was then taken to wash their hands for snack time. She was ahead in the line for washing hands and then was placed on a chair. She grabbed a few bites and milk . She seemed concerned about a couple of other kids who were very unhappy to be there. I could see in my head her itching to go to them and say "Oww, it's alright! It will be fine!"! That's what she would do at home.

Then a few more minutes of toy time. And then the class was lined up for going out to the playground! I thought she would have a blast in the playground- and she did. To begin with, once outside she remembered (not that she ever forgets it) that she, afterall, is a ballerina. So she practiced her twirls and bows and more twirls for a bit. After that she ran around round and round. More gleeful minutes of playground later, Dad decided to leave her there and my live running commentary into her day stopped as well. But I was so releaved that she was having fun.

I had planned to pick her up earlier than usual - a little after 3pm. As I reached the school I saw her teachers outside in the playground. They waved to me. I ran inside- urgently wanting to meet and hug her. We had our usual animated high pitched hug and kiss meet-up routine. It's been maybe a year since I've been picking her up from daycare but our animated pickup routine is still as animated as ever! Disney should take notice of her;-) Very soon, though, she wanted to get out of my grasp to go back to the slides. After one slide down, I was taken (holding by my finger ) to try the other slide. I didn't anticipate this, but I had trouble getting her out of the school to go home. In the end, I had to resort to bribery and tell her we will go to the other slides closer to home. And then we both got into the car and went to the other slides! 

That was Miss Haana's the first day of school.