Ted and Hazel waited up for me together so I could have some snuggle time with her after I got home from work. I read to her, and we talked about her last day of preschool. (More on that later.) Eventually, she started poking me and pulling on my fingers and giggling. In the middle of that she said, “You don’t want to rile me up!”
“Why?”, I asked.
“Because then I won’t sleep well.”
“Well, then maybe you should stop poking me and pulling on my fingers!”
She giggled some more.
I dropped her off at school today, taking my camera with me so I could snap some photos to mark the occasion. I remember the picture I took of her on the first day, when she was walking up the steps to the school, uncertain but game for it. She was fine until we went inside and heard another kid crying hysterically. That set her off, and for the first few days I had to rip myself away as she was crying. That was hard. The teachers kindly texted me when she had calmed down, just a few minutes later. They carried her and snuggled her, and she adjusted pretty quickly. She was two and a half years old. Now it’s 2.75 years later. She speaks Spanish to her teachers (at least some of the time), she’s got loads of friends at school, and she’ll be heading off to kindergarten in the fall. Today it was my turn to tear up and give her multiple hugs before I left. It’s the end of an era. Her little sisters will go there when they turn two and a half, but that’s not until January. Until then, it’s adios to the preschool that’s nurtured my daughter through these important years of her early childhood.
This afternoon Ted and I did naptime with the twins together. That’s a rare occurrence, and it was nice. They both fell asleep on the nursing pillow, and this time I was able to transfer them to their beds without waking them up! I was very, very happy about that. I have positioned the nursing spot in between their beds, and it’s tight enough that I can more or less roll them off the pillow onto their mattresses, though it’s a little bit uphill, so felt a bit dicey. I’m glad it worked.
Then I had my usual 7-student teaching day, ending with my student K’s last lesson! She has graduated from high school, is giving her senior recital tomorrow, and will be heading off for college in a couple of months. It’s always hard to believe when students I’ve taught for years reach this point. It’s bittersweet too: I am glad to see her moving off into the next adventure in her life, but will miss seeing her every week. She’s worked hard, and I’m so proud of her.
Tomorrow, I have to clean up my studio so we can do the recital in an appealing environment. Not much I can do about the back yard, but Ted and I will get to that next week. Such is family life, especially with small children. I am looking forward to tomorrow’s performance.
CelloMama 