Becca posing in her school uniform. Below, she is on the bus. She looked really concerned even though she kept telling us she wasn't. But she was cracking us up - I blew her a kiss and she quickly looked away and when she got on the bus she wouldn't let me hug her. Ahh, so it begins . . . I thought that I had at least one more year of being affectionate with her in public, but today showed me differently!
Josh holding his shu bao
Both Becca and Josh had their first day of school today. Becca is attending one of the international schools in our city. Last week, she was so worried for many different reasons. I think that the biggest reason is that she was worried she would be behind academically. I reassured her that even if she was behind, her teacher and I would help her catch up. Then last Friday, Becca and I went to pick up her uniforms. We got a tour of the school by her teacher. I had never seen her act so shy! But by the end, she was acting a little bit more like herself and was excited for Monday. This morning Becca was up and dressed by 6:30! This is amazing for our girl who could sleep everyday until 9 or later. :-) She had a great day at school! One of the things we were most excited about in moving to China is that our children would have friends from many different cultures. In Becca's class alone (a class of only 15 kids) there are children from: Australia, Germany, Japan, Korea, Denmark, and Hong Kong. Becca has a male teacher - her opinion about that: "I don't know how I feel about that. He is nice, but I have never had a boy teacher before."
We had debated all summer where Josh was going to attend school. Finally, a couple weeks ago we found out that our first choice of a school for him (a preschool/kindergarten in our neighborhood) had space for him. This school teaches half the day in Chinese and half the day in English. He has been uncertain about starting school. This morning he told us he was in the middle - not excited, not too worried. I woke up this morning with MY stomach in knots because I was nervous for both them! ;-) I knew they were going to be fine, but I was apprehensive for both of them because of how different everything is. I was also a little anxious because Josh would be going to school all day. I told him this last week and he asked me, "Will I sleep there (at night)? Will I get to come home for dinner?" I told him that he would come home everyday and have afternoon snacktime at home. So often, we just don't think how our kiddos are going to interpret what we say! When I picked him up from school, he told me that he had a great day. His favorite thing that he did today was have piano lessons (he will have them twice a week) and was so excited to show me his piano book.
All in all a great day. Well, maybe except for Tori who was a bit lonely without Becca and Josh at home. She kept asking for her pink backpack so she could go to school too. We think we might send her to Josh's preschool after Chinese New Year (end of January) for the second term. She so wants to be big like her brother and sister!
Oh, it's amazing how quiet things get when they go off to school! Even with the newborn, Elizabeth and I just look at each other and comment on how quiet it is.
ReplyDeleteThis summer Z did the 'anti public affection' thing. It's a small bummer in the growing up of kids process.
I'm so excited that your kids are enjoying school so far and that it is going well. It's a hard one to trust- but trusting when you are in SUCH unfamiliar territory I'm sure makes it even more so.
Good job you two for being such great parents to your kids that they can face change and new things with courage, even when they are scared.