My Schwoopie

Ah, my wee little Nell... (yes, 'schwoopie' was referring to Nell, my 10-month old...) I found out yesterday-- after visiting a new mama with a 5-day old, 6 lb baby-- that Nell isn't exactly so 'wee' anymore. I can't fool myself any longer. She's out of the womb-like behavior, doing some speed crawling, even starting to wrestle with her need for some independence from Mama-- a seriously hard thing for me to swallow.

I'm kind of joking, but we're definitely at a transition point with our kiddos. Up until now, my physical attention has been all on Nell, while my daily life, outings, schedule have revolved around Big Brother. When we went out, she was popped into the wrap or Ergo, and there she stayed: through the walks, the parks, the cafes, the playdates. She wanted me, and wanted me close, and everything else revolved around Dennis' wants. Suddenly she's bursting with life, energy, laughter, and opinions. It's so refreshing and wonderful, yet challenging to suddenly realize that we need to revolve our outings around Nell also, on where she can play and crawl, taking into account that she doesn't want to stay squished close to Mama for hours on end, nor is she entertained by the music in the car for long stretches like somebody else we know.

And then preschool entered our lives. Ah, yes, the warmly-welcomed preschool. I was ambivalent about sending D anywhere, until I found The Preschool. The most wonderful, beautiful little preschool, that is a perfect fit for our lives and our parenting philosophy. It's totally play-based, emergent curriculum (emergent meaning that which emerges naturally from a child... activities that the child would naturally be interested in and learn on their own). Very 'hands-off' on the teachers part, staying small in the room and yard, except during guitar-time or when a child seems to need some snuggling. The teachers are super intentional about the way they speak to the children and letting the children problem-solve on their own as much as possible, giving them words to use when they can't find their own. All of it is just so intentional, which is exactly what I (didn't know I) was looking for.

I'm just so pleased with where we're at, how each stage floats fairly gently into the next. As Nell transitions into a new life stage, so does Dennis. Granted, it doesn't feel like that every day, as we have many incidents of sibling tackling (I'm sure you can guess who does the tackling) and crying fits. Sometimes I can't go to the bathroom without N chasing me, crying for MaaaMaaa, or wanting to stick her hand in the toilet. D has some serious pizazz that isn't always easy to channel in the right direction...But my kids, oh my kids. They give me so much life, and teach me so much about the world. I tell myself I'm teaching them, but I know deep down it's the opposite, and I'm cool with that.