We walk in the classroom and Ali immediately runs up to some lady who we haven't met yet and gave her a hug. It was the teacher's assistant. She then proceeded to walk around and say hello to everyone and start playing with the toys. I quickly realized I had to clarify which kid was actually going to be attending school.
Zoey warmed up after about 20 minutes (about 5 minutes before it was time to leave) and I'm a little nervous for her first day. I'm sure she'll love it and want to go back right away, but she was quite reserved (compared to her extroverted 2nd-child sister...which is a little strange).
So Zoey is going to be a peer model in a class of 7 other kids, most of whom have some sort of learning or developmental delay. In fact, out of the 3 kids we met yesterday, 2 of them have Down Syndrome and one of them is quite hyperactive, but quite cute as well :) In fact, I love them all already. But I started thinking...
...are we denying our child the traditional preschool experience? You know, cute little schoolhouse-looking buildings, their best friend in their class, classic, cookie-cutter snacks, a little more playing, a little less learning...
So it begins. Keeping up with the Joneses. We have had to remind ourselves for a year or so now, we can't go there. We don't want to. But man, it's hard. The Joneses are great. We really like them and get along with them quite well. But we can't compete. We'll never win. It'll never be worth it. And life would be boring! Who wants a world full of Joneses? What about Smiths? And Andersons? And Thompsons? And Eislebens?
I can't wait to see Zoey fall in love with school, her teacher, and her new friends. And I can't wait to see these two faces reunite at the end of each school day. One day, Ali, one day.
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