Another Day at the Park

Although Mam was done with school, there was just one little item of business left on Monday this week. Park Day. Our family has been at the same preschool for three years now and I think I've posted about Park Day each time. It's such a fun time for the kids, although I have to admit that after three years, some of the same old, same old is getting a little ho hum for me. Such as the giant, inflatable worm that eats and then poops children.Obviously, Mam is having a grand ol' time. I think she ran around in circles being eaten and then pooped at least a dozen times before she abandoned the worm for the bouncy house carousel.

I'm not complaining. Although I was slightly bored, it was fun to watch Mam run around enjoying all the different things. This is actually the first year she's gone all by herself. Smunch has always been there with us before...two years ago as the graduating preschooler and last year as an afternoon kindergartner who had a free morning to join us.

This year, the bubble station was of particular fascination. I think she went back several times, even though I urged her on to some of her other favorite activities.She had fun throwing rings around floating critters and getting to choose a prize for no real accomplishment in particular.She had a grand ol' time fishing with a magnetic and picking a prize for a fish successfully caught.She got a balloon animal. In typical Mam-girly fashion, she requested an orange snake. But, at the next station, where she had her face painted, she duly requested a pink unicorn on her cheek.She dug for buried treasure in buckets of sand and added a pile of trinkets to all the junk I was already trying to juggle. Too bad I won't be at this event again, or I'd write myself a big reminder to bring an empty bag with me...a bag for all the things I will surreptitiously try to sneak into the garbage can in the next month or so.

Mam also paid a visit to the "pocket lady" and picked out her favorite prize of all...She ate popcorn and Otter Pops. She visited with all the friends she ran into. In general, it was a very happy time. Of course, it's also a time for bittersweet goodbyes. Here she is with her favoritest teacher of all.Because Mam was enrolled in two preschool classes this year, Mam had six teachers and as far as I can tell, she loved them all. Looking at the sweet photos of her with them, I realize I loved them all too. I didn't full appreciate why some of my friends were having such a hard time with their youngest leaving preschool. Sure it's a little sad, but they're going to KINDERGARTEN! Maybe part of my excitement has to do with the days when I didn't think she'd ever make it to kindergarten. Or maybe my friends were just more sad because they'd had more years to absorb what a wonderful place this preschool really is. The director can be a little strident at times, but her love of children is unsurpassed and her ability to hire fantastic preschool teachers is really unbelievable. Not only have we never had a bad teacher there (and we've had 11 different ones in 3 years with the 4 classes the two kids have been in), but the teachers don't leave either. Although these are teachers who probably see 80 kids every week, they always knew who she was...including many of the ones who weren't her teachers. Even the office staff knew Mam by name...long before they knew my name, I might add. And they have a way of making you feel like you'll always be part of their family, no matter how old your kids are.

In so many ways, it's a magical place. I hope Mam looks back on it that way too.

And, She's Outta There!

Mam walks out the door on her last day of preschool (which she went to after listening to her brother read his story at the Authors' Breakfast). So much confidence as she walks out the door. It made me a little sad that she seemed to be in such a hurry, despite all my declarations about how much fun kindergarten is. But then, this has got to be just what they want in their preschool graduates, right? She's ready to get out there and see what the world has to offer.

More Singing of Spring

Last Wednesday was Mam's very last Spring Sing at her preschool, where she's been for the last couple of years. Although the preschool director got all choked up when introducing our 4-year-olds, after seeing 8 "sings" in the course of the last three years, I wasn't as sentimental about this one as I'd expected. It's still unbearably cute. And, Mam is just luminous up there, waving to all her fans.And it is impressive to hear 100 4-year-olds sing 14 songs, even if they're largely the same songs I heard at the last two Spring Sings. Of course, when there are so many of them, any given one can forget the words and it doesn't really hurt the performance. And they have so many cute little hand motions and songs with sign language.Unfortunately, Mam's class was the last one on the stage and that meant they sat at the front. That's unfortunate mostly because her preschool is loaded with type-A parents who will wait an hour to get in and get a front row seat. I'm not one of them, so we generally have a back row seat instead. It was hard to see her through all the bodies in front of us.I think she knew we were there. At least she waved at someone after every song.

And when it was all over, we joined the kids for snack, where they used pretzels and blue frosting to "fish" for Goldfish crackers. Very cute.And so, it was over with very little fanfare. It was fun, it was cute, there are still a couple of months left. I guess I ought to enjoy them while she's still in preschool!

Preemie Mom Confessions

It's been a long time since I really thought about being a "preemie mom". Because I'm able to forget most of the awful stuff that happened at the beginning of my kids' lives, I don't dwell on it. Better to work on the problems than linger on the potential causes for those issues, I say. And, the truth is, I've found that words are wholly inadequate to describe those days. There's no way to convey to someone with no experience just what it was like. None.But every now and then, there's a day that takes me back to some of those really bad times...not necessarily in a bad way, but in a contemplative sort of way. Yesterday was one of those days.

Yesterday, we went for our conference with Mam's preschool teachers. This is the conference where they discuss your child's readiness for kindergarten. "Do you expect any surprises from them?" Daddy asked on our way there. "No," I said. "But then, they wouldn't be surprises if I expected them, would they?"

There have certainly been surprises along our way to this point. Some of them very bad, some of them not so bad, some of them fantastic. At moments like this, where judgement (no matter how kindhearted) is going to be passed on one of my children, I often remind myself how far they've come. It plays out like a movie...with flashbacks in muted colors, but with strong emotions still attached.

[FLASH]
Me: (in a hospital room, waiting not-altogether-anxiously for word about my baby girl, whose delivery was so scary, I didn't dare ask about it) What were her Apgar scores?

Disembodied voice: Zero, two and six.

Me: Huh. I didn't know you could be alive with an Apgar of zero.

Dawning realization...She wasn't.
[FLASH]
Mam's teacher: She traces and cuts with scissors very well, she knows all her letters, she writes her name...

[FLASH]
Neonatologist: She has a small bleed in her brain. There isn't anything we can do about it. We'll do another ultrasound next week to see if it's gotten better or grown. As long as it stays this size, it should be meaningless.
[FLASH]
Mam's teacher: She counts very well, both out loud and in her head. We don't do them in class, but I asked her if she'd ever done a dot-to-dot. She was so excited to show me.

Me: (laughing) The byproduct of many children's menus!

[FLASH]

Neonatologist: The scan shows a cyst in her brain where the bleed once was. It may be nothing. It may also develop into something we call PVL, which is often linked to severe learning disabilities.
[FLASH]

Mam's teacher: And, of course, she can walk, run, jump and skip like nobody's business.

[FLASH]

Me: (trying to get the attention of a doctor who had so far avoided me) Did the PT [physical therapist] come to see my baby when she was here last week?

Neonatologist: Yes.

Me: What did she say?

Neo: We're really concerned about her. She had very low muscle tone and didn't respond well. It's not a good sign.
[FLASH]

Mam's teacher: We'd really love to keep her, but she's totally ready to go.

Me: Yeah. I know.

But there was always that lingering doubt. That little tiny voice that said..."But she was dead."

I don't know that I believe in miracles. I'm a science-y sort of girl. I think we were exceedingly lucky. I'm very grateful for that, despite the terrifying days that were Mam's beginning.

I'm painfully aware that not all parents, especially those of preemies, but many others as well, get such good news. Some parents never get the chance to hear about kindergarten at all. And the fact that Mam is almost five and perfectly prepared for kindergarten isn't something I can take for granted. It's so much more than we were given reason to hope for.

Snow in January?

I wonder how the folks in Minnesota would feel about this. This is one of the playgrounds at Mam's preschool...in California. This is the one they normally call "The Beach". But no, that's not sand. That's snow. Considering that it hasn't snowed here since I was Mam's age...and it didn't look anything like that even then...it's sort of bizarre to see the sand all covered with the cold, white stuff.

This is one of those things that might happen only in a place like this...an upscale suburb where too many people have too much money.The school declared Thursday and Friday "Snow Day" and had someone come blow the play yard full of snow. Of course, the staff and volunteer parents didn't get away without some hard work either. They built sled runs, brought sleds, supplied a bunch of carrots for snow men and supervised hundreds of preschoolers, some experiencing snow for the first time.

It was magical, despite the overcast, drizzly weather.

Although Mam took one run on the sleds, she preferred to make snowmen with her friend, Jessica.It was nice that she got to have this snow day, considering that I bought her a snow bib after the failure of snow pants in the Sierras. This may have been her only chance to wear it before next year (fortunately, it's that big).

It was only half an hour of snow time, but all the little kids were so cute and there wasn't a single one of them sitting around doing nothing. They all had important business with the snow.

From time to time, the excesses around here make me roll my eyes with something between disgust and jealousy. But today, the excess was just plain fun.I bet there are some folks in Minnesota who would be thrilled if we brought a bunch of outdoor heaters and turned one of their playgrounds into a beach for the day. Don't you?

Park Daze

Around here, probably as in many school districts around the country, it's tradition (apparently) to end the school year with a day in the park. Both kids had a day in the park. Turns out it was the same park, just two days apart. Mam's "park day" was first. Her preschool always puts on a spectacular event for all the little kids...complete with a bouncy house, a bouncy caterpillar to crawl around in, face painting, fishing for prizes, a "snack walk", bean bag toss, treasure hunt, bubble, popcorn, ice cream. You name it. I had to take Smunch this year since he wasn't in school 'til the afternoon, but we all had a good time...despite Mam just having recovered from her miserable stomach thing.Here's our Mam with one of her favorite teachers, Mrs. P, doing the treasure hunt.She came home with lots of crap loot. I loved Mam's teachers this year. They were truly fantastic. I was really excited to find out she'll be having one of them again next year. She was thrilled too.

Smunch's park day happened on Wednesday, which was also his last day of kindergarten. It's hard to believe it was over so fast. It was a similar kind of event, also featuring bubbles and face painting, but adding more snacks, spin art... and the most fantastic game ever - the donut eating "contest". The only prize for eating your donut was that you got to eat a donut, but that was reward enough. This was the best photo op ever!It was sort of a bittersweet day, at the end. Without a year-long teacher to show for all the effort, the class took happy photos with their "long-term" sub, who was with them for a week and a half. I give her a lot of credit for taking over. She did a really good job, working with very little other than 17 kindergarteners who had gotten awfully squirrelly before she showed up. Did I mention the face painting?

So, it's over. Wow. It feels more momentous than I'd imagined. Despite all the difficulties with speech, with hearing, with just sitting still...Smunch got a glowing literacy report to go with his pretty, new diploma. You would have thought he'd just graduated from med school with how fast I ran out and bought a frame for him. I'm proud of the little guy and it turns out...he's pretty proud of himself too!

School Things

It was the week before spring break, so naturally, there were "school things" last week.

First, there was Smunch's first display in the district-wide art show. They didn't pick anything all that exciting from his collection, but he was pleased to see it there and then go off to look for his friends' artwork.

Then we had the kindergarten open house. It was a really big deal for the kids. They each had a checklist of all the things to show their parents. I spend enough time in the classroom that I'd seen most of it before. So, I spent more time chasing after Mam as she visited this friend and that. The room looked great though. They do a much better job of showing of their artwork than they can do at showing off the more academic stuff, but face it amateur handwriting just isn't as pretty as a bunch of watercolor flowers on the wall.
The week was capped off by Mam's "Spring Sing" at preschool. It was as adorable as always. It never ceases to amaze me how they can get 100 preschoolers to sing a dozen songs with hand movements and everything.
And, as usual after these sing events, we all went back to the classroom for refreshments. The siblings who attended were invited to sit at the snack tables with the students. I'm not sure exactly how Mam felt about that. You?

No hiding from Goocha

So, could the day after Mam's birthday do better than the day itself? It looked likely.

Much like last year, I made Mam cookies to take to her classmates at school. I was fully prepared to make cupcakes this year, now that she's at a school that doesn't discourage frosting, but she wanted cookies, so cookies it was.

Mam's school has a funny little tradition of having a marionette named Goocha come out and locate the birthday child. This particular incarnation of Goocha listened to the kids ears to see if he could hear the birthday song and looked in their mouths for traces of cake. Very cute.


And Mam got the requisite birthday crown. The class sang happy birthday and ate cookies.

All in all, I think Mam was more excited just to have me hang out at school with her than she was to have cookies or a crown or special attention. Her friend, Kaitlyn, on the other hand, didn't seem pleased to see me at all. It just meant less of Mam's attention for her!