Kindergarten!
We had a busy week this week! K's parents arrived Sunday night. That was an 18-hour trip from England, so they were exhausted!
On Tuesday, Layth and I went to his school to meet his teacher, Mrs. Robinson. Since we didn't even know we were coming to Seattle until kindergarten registration was over, we didn't get one of the coveted full-day kindergarten positions. Layth will only go to school for 2 1/2 hours every morning, which makes it difficult for the teacher to squeeze in the full curriculum and difficult for parents to plan anything else for the morning. He was uncharacteristically shy and withdrawn there, and stuck pretty close to me while we dropped school supplies into the proper piles. It was very hectic, and we only spoke to the teacher for a few seconds.
Later in the afternoon, Layth and Maya started swimming lessons. Layth hasn't had lessons in over a year, and Maya, never, but they did surprisingly well! The instructor uses the floatation belt method. They start with two floats in the front and two in the back, then one in front and three in back, then none in front and three in back, then work down to no floats a half-float at a time. Layth started with three and one since he had lessons before.
On Wednesday morning, I walked to Layth's school for the parent orientation. It was a nice, peaceful walk through dappled shade and woods. I came upon a nest of baby squirrels on the return trip, and stood there watching them for several minutes. I discovered that the hill we live on is steeper than it looks! Apparently the sound of the car's engine straining as we drive up the hill wasn't enough of a hint for me. I thought my heart was going to leap out of my chest by the time I got to the top, and I've since been told it's the same even for my slimmer and fitter neighbor (which made me feel better.)
Thursday was the big day, and Layth and I packed up his backpack and walked to school. We were under strict instructions not to walk them to class, but to have them meet a teacher at the flagpole who would walk them down. No teacher ever came, so we all walked our children to class. It was pandemonium in the halls! Mrs. Robinson meets the bus students in the morning, so we had to wait for her to come in, and she looked very surprised to see us all after having given us those strict instructions. I mentioned that there had been no one upstairs to bring them down, and she said they'd fix that the next day. (They didn't.) Layth and I had practiced finding his class on Tuesday, so he was in good shape. Layth seemed a little nervous, but excited and ready to find his seat. I met one of my neighbors there, whose son is in Layth's class. On my way out, I saw a sobbing girl and thought about how hard that must have made things for her parents. I had mixed feelings about sending him off to school, but at least I knew he was happy!
We were almost home when the Newcastle Days fireworks started right next to us as we passed Lake Boren. I was hoping they would last long enough for us to get home and call the children to the window. They lasted for about 30 minutes! The family was already gathered at the window when we arrived. We had a gorgeous view. It reminded me of a dream I had one night while we were still in Texas. I had been anxious about the move, and couldn't really imagine myself feeling at home in a new place so far away, but then I dreamed that we were in our house watching fireworks through our window with a view of the mountains in the background, and I felt happy and peaceful. Technically, even if we did have a view of the mountains (our view is of lots and lots of tall pine trees,) we wouldn't have been able to see it at night when the fireworks were going off, but the feeling was the same. I felt happy and peaceful.
On Tuesday, Layth and I went to his school to meet his teacher, Mrs. Robinson. Since we didn't even know we were coming to Seattle until kindergarten registration was over, we didn't get one of the coveted full-day kindergarten positions. Layth will only go to school for 2 1/2 hours every morning, which makes it difficult for the teacher to squeeze in the full curriculum and difficult for parents to plan anything else for the morning. He was uncharacteristically shy and withdrawn there, and stuck pretty close to me while we dropped school supplies into the proper piles. It was very hectic, and we only spoke to the teacher for a few seconds.
Later in the afternoon, Layth and Maya started swimming lessons. Layth hasn't had lessons in over a year, and Maya, never, but they did surprisingly well! The instructor uses the floatation belt method. They start with two floats in the front and two in the back, then one in front and three in back, then none in front and three in back, then work down to no floats a half-float at a time. Layth started with three and one since he had lessons before.
On Wednesday morning, I walked to Layth's school for the parent orientation. It was a nice, peaceful walk through dappled shade and woods. I came upon a nest of baby squirrels on the return trip, and stood there watching them for several minutes. I discovered that the hill we live on is steeper than it looks! Apparently the sound of the car's engine straining as we drive up the hill wasn't enough of a hint for me. I thought my heart was going to leap out of my chest by the time I got to the top, and I've since been told it's the same even for my slimmer and fitter neighbor (which made me feel better.)
Thursday was the big day, and Layth and I packed up his backpack and walked to school. We were under strict instructions not to walk them to class, but to have them meet a teacher at the flagpole who would walk them down. No teacher ever came, so we all walked our children to class. It was pandemonium in the halls! Mrs. Robinson meets the bus students in the morning, so we had to wait for her to come in, and she looked very surprised to see us all after having given us those strict instructions. I mentioned that there had been no one upstairs to bring them down, and she said they'd fix that the next day. (They didn't.) Layth and I had practiced finding his class on Tuesday, so he was in good shape. Layth seemed a little nervous, but excited and ready to find his seat. I met one of my neighbors there, whose son is in Layth's class. On my way out, I saw a sobbing girl and thought about how hard that must have made things for her parents. I had mixed feelings about sending him off to school, but at least I knew he was happy!
K signed Layth up for a soccer workshop that started today, thinking it would be a great father/son thing to do. Yesterday he realized that he would be working almost every Saturday morning for a while. Daada (K's father) took Layth to the clinic and met the same neighbor I just met. Unfortunately, Layth only likes soccer when it involves his family, and only for about 5-10 minutes at a time. He didn't like the clinic and didn't want to go back.
Maya got her hair cut after the soccer clinic. What a cutie!
K and I went furniture shopping again tonight and ordered Maya's bedroom furniture, but still can't decide on patio, master bedroom, or formal dining room furniture! We ordered the full-sized bed and tall dresser from this collection:
We were almost home when the Newcastle Days fireworks started right next to us as we passed Lake Boren. I was hoping they would last long enough for us to get home and call the children to the window. They lasted for about 30 minutes! The family was already gathered at the window when we arrived. We had a gorgeous view. It reminded me of a dream I had one night while we were still in Texas. I had been anxious about the move, and couldn't really imagine myself feeling at home in a new place so far away, but then I dreamed that we were in our house watching fireworks through our window with a view of the mountains in the background, and I felt happy and peaceful. Technically, even if we did have a view of the mountains (our view is of lots and lots of tall pine trees,) we wouldn't have been able to see it at night when the fireworks were going off, but the feeling was the same. I felt happy and peaceful.
posted by Nikki | 10:08 PM
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