Nora's Last Day of School

Friday was Nora's last day of school.  We have had a universally positive experience with the child care providers we chose this summer, but the school was just too far from our home.  Though we know switching schools is the best decision for our family, we were really sorry to take Nora out of her current class.  Her teachers have taken such good care of her that she warmed up to them very quickly. They were also very sympathetic and understanding with me as I made the adjustment to leaving her.  Nora may have "only" been there for a little over four months, but in the scheme of her life, that's a long time!  When she started there, she couldn't crawl well, and now she is running all over the place.  I will miss getting the chance to see her interact with her classmates, as well.  At first, they really had no idea what to do with one another, but recently they really started playing.  They could hug one another, hand one another toys, walk over to see what one another were doing, and the like.  I am thankful that she was there for picture day so that someday I can show her this group shot of her first class!  I need to write a little description of each one on the back so I can tell her about each of them.

I was already feeling emotional when I went to get Nora on Friday as a result of the Connecticut school shooting.  When I picked her up I just hugged her as tight as I could until she gave me a look like "Geez, Mama, what??"  After I gave her teachers their thank you/holiday baskets, we made the rounds to give cookies to the other staff members who have also helped make her comfortable there.  I don't know if they knew about the shooting yet, but I was thankful to have an excuse to hug all of these women, too, because the news heightened my attention to the fact that the people who choose to look after our children in this country are some of our greatest resources.  I'm not be surprised when teachers sacrifice themselves to protect their students, because I know that most teachers sacrifice a little bit of themselves for their students every single day.

It was also nice to see Nora say "thank you" to each of these women in her own way.  I could tell how much time everyone spends with her by the way she would lean toward them to be held or walk up and hug their legs.  Obviously she had no idea what was going on, but she was quite thrilled to be the center of attention.  I was also surprised to see teachers I'd never met coming out of their classrooms to say goodbye to her and say nice things to me about her personality and habits.  It would've been a lot easier to leave her behind on that first day if I could've somehow seen the future to know that her "goodbye" would be this heartwarming.  I knew I trusted the staff when I picked the school, and I have watched as it became evident that Nora enjoys her time there, but saying goodbye put all of that in relief and helped eliminate some of the residual guilt I had about putting her in full time daycare.

Now Nora's stuck with me for about a month until she starts at the new center closer to our house and gets to meet a whole new set of people.  I know that will be another transition for her, but I think it will be much easier than it was the first time.  She knows how to handle being away from us, she enjoys interacting with other people, and she likes the additional stimulation she gets in a social learning environment.  I'll have the option to take her for full days, but since my workload won't be as intense, my plan is to spend more time with her in the mornings before dropping her off.  I'll also be able to keep her home more if she gets sick or overtired, so that will be nice as well.  I've finished my grading, so I'm looking forward to being a full time mom through the holidays and our visit west to meet her cousin Everett, who should be arriving any day now!