Today was the first day of Gerritt's pre-kindergarten. I signed him up for the program at the community center close to our house back in April. As much as he enjoys playing with Sophia, I felt it would be beneficial for him to get out of the house & socialize with other children closer to his own age (his current class consists of other 4- & 5-year-olds). I also wanted him to get used to the routine of going to school (to ease the transition to kindergarten next year), even if it's just 3 days a week (Monday, Wednesday & Friday from 9:30 am - 1 pm).
I was able to spend considerable amount of time reading books, studying letters/numbers & doing arts/crafts with Gerritt prior to Jacob's arrival. Nowadays, with so much of my time taken up by exclusive pumping, keeping crawling Jacob safe, recovering from sleepless nights, cooking nutritious meals for the whole family & making Jacob's teething pains more tolerable, to name a few, I simply can't give Gerritt the same level of attention. As much as he loves being with me, he needs more social & intellectual stimulation.
Gerritt was so excited to go & I enjoyed packing his first ever school lunch. Friendly teachers Vicky & Barbara (who is from England & really reminds me of an English nanny on the Nanny 911 TV show) taught children to wash their hands upon arrival & went over typical daily routine. Afterwords, we were able to meet other parents & kids (14 total) & to get familiar with the classroom. It happens to be right next to the large outdoor playground we like to visit. I could see Sophia, Jacob & I spending many mornings there while waiting to pick up Gerritt. I can't believe my oldest son is almost 5 years old! I hope it will be a fun & productive school year & Gerritt will thrive in his new environment.
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