Sophie starts Kindi

Okay, it’s only 7.5 hour’s a week, but it’s still a milestone for Sophie. Up until now she’s been tagging along with me and watching her big sister run off to Kindi and now school. Now it’s her turn!

From 9pm on Thursday morning she was asking me every five minutes, ‘Is it time for Kindi yet?’. We’d dropped Charli off happily at school (with her Star Wars Trump cards for ‘News’) and headed down to Lyall Bay. Thankfully, it was a gorgeous day. We visited our favourite little surf cafe and then played at the playground and beach. Sophie continued to ask… ‘When will it be time for Kindi?’, ‘We don’t want to miss it!’, ‘We need to pack my lunch box!’…

Finally 12.30pm rolled around and we were there, super prompt, for the 12.45pm start. Sophie was so proud of herself. She was eager to walk in carrying her own backpack and looking ever so ‘Little Miss Independent’, but she did confess, ‘Well, I am a little bit nervous’.

It felt great to be back at Kindi. The teacher’s are so warm, friendly and understanding and the environment is wonderful. The indoor, outdoor flow and proximity to the sea gives it such natural aura. Frequently the sound of the waves can be heard sweeping up on the nearby shore, just a short 5 minute stroll away.

Sophie couldn’t wait to find her locker. ‘I belong here!’ was written all over her face as she neatly stowed away her bag and surveyed the assortment of activities at her finger-tips.

First stop was the play dough table. We were soon joined by other children. Sophie and I set to task quickly getting to know names and making friends, in between rolling, squashing and cutting dough.

For both Sophie and I this was all pretty easy. Though she felt a little nervous there was no clinging onto my hand or hiding behind my knees. We’d been here before. Some of the parents were already well known to me, as they had children now in Charli’s class at school and were now settling their younger children into Kindi. Phew! Quite a different scene to when Charli started, bless her, not easy being the oldest child at times (I know!).

When ‘Circle time’ was called Sophie walked onto the mat with only a little hesitation. She joined in the songs before feeling a little overwhelmed and sitting down to watch. There were quite a few children settling in and crying for their Mummies, which naturally made Sophie feel a little concerned and if I could have put a bubble thought to her head it would have read, ‘What the heck is going on here!’. Nevertheless, she coped admirably and was excited when a little girl was asked to take Sophie’s hand and lead her out to play.

The rest of the session was spent painting, playing in the sand-pit (where she told me, ‘I love Kindi!’ – sweet words to my ears!), swinging and climbing. Sophie worked hard to make friends and was a real trooper. In fact, she was so happy that I happily helped the teacher’s out with a task or two on their long ‘to do’ lists.

I’m so looking forward to spending more time at Kindi with Sophie this term and being able to help out.

The day wasn’t over though. It was time to pick Charli up from school and I was very much hoping she’d be a happier lass. Thankfully, the weather had been kind and she’d been out cross-country running! This was her first time and she LOVED it! The whole school participated and they’ll be running every day (weather dependent). The running course sounded extremely exciting, ‘Mummy, we have a real rain forest by our school! We ran through it and the very long grass. There was even a waterfall. And there was no gorse!’

She was so much happier than her first day. However, I did have to carry her to the car-park as she was so physically tired – but I’d rather that than have her bouncing off the walls with pent up frustration! Once home, and a good drink and feed, she was beautiful. There was a calmness about her that wasn’t there on her first day.

So, the first week of the term was over – only two day’s as Friday was Waitangi Day! I’m so grateful for the gentle lead in and will feel a lot more positive when Monday morning comes round. For the time being, we’re having a fabulous, long weekend!