Chevrefoil and other stories

Pre-K graduation was at the end of May and now Anne is going to be flying up to kindergarten in the fall. I am so proud of her and how hard she worked (and how much she learned!) during the year -- and I’m grateful for her patient teachers. Pre-K today is more like what kindergarten was for us: they learn letters, numbers, counting up to 50 and writing skills in addition curriculum on the environment, the community around them, helping others and being kind. 

She made so much progress -- from struggling with scissor skills and handwriting to being great at both. She made good friends and had lots of fun.

The kids had so many interesting visitors! Barnacle Billie taught them about sea life, Wild Adventures brought other wild animals into the school and of course, they met doctors, dentists, policemen and firefighters. The fall brought hayrides, raking leaves sent from northern family and friends, pumpkins, Johnny Appleseed...and the spring saw them raising butterflies and other small critters in their classroom.

One of Anne’s favorite days was St Patrick’s day. They made a leprechaun trap and the teachers painted little green footprints around the school before they arrived the next day so the kids could track the leprechaun back to his treasure!

 I am so grateful that Anne was able to have such a rich pre-K experience. 

She will be attending the same school for K-8 (unless something changes). She is already looking forward to meeting her kindergarten teacher, playing in the big kid playground and getting to eat lunch in the cafeteria with the big kids (the preschoolers have their own ‘lower’ school with separate facilities and they eat lunch in their classrooms). She is not looking forward to having to wear a full uniform all the time though! 

This is a new chapter for her and one we are all very excited about!

The Animal Crossing hogging has continued. Anne has the same problem I have with inventory space -- we stuff everything into them even if we don’t need it. She usually has several different outfits, flowers for her hair, her character’s sleep-time eye mask (I tried to have her put it in storage and she said NO), hats/shoes, etc...and then random mats. 

Her bag hit the ground with a thud that resounded through the empty apartment. Beren sat down beside it, stretching her legs out on the cold wooden floor. She frowned, looking at the floor and then the naked windows, the panes coated with a fine glaze of frost. Certainly, some rugs and curtains were in order, if not a few of the bright hangings from her rooms back home...

The heavy door swung open again and a porter struggling under a precarious stack of books bumbled into the bare apartment, almost dropping the tomes in the process. A tall elezen in a neat suit and sporting a gleaming monocle followed him, his sharp eyes darting around the room. He coughed and waved the porter away after the books were deposited on the door. “Fetch the mistress’s luggage. Take care not to drop anything this time.”

The elezen then cleared his throat and offered a hand to Beren. “Young mistress, are you certain this...” He paused, sucking in a deep breath before continuing.  “This apartment, I suppose...are you certain it is sufficient? If you have your heart set on this city, I am sure I could write to your father and have him secure some rooms for you with one of the fine, upstanding noble families in the area. In the meantime, I could arrange lodgings in one of the more suitable--“

“This is what I want,” Beren said, cutting him off. She took his hand and lifted herself to her feet. “My allowance wouldn’t cover much more anyway, Philbert.”

Philbert sighed. He fingered his monocle. “The allowance is undoubtedly flexible, young mistress. Your father would be disappointed if I let you stay in such...humble...surroundings.”

“My father is not here,” Beren told him firmly. “And he is a seasoned traveler himself; I am sure he has stayed in less glamorous places. No, he agreed to let me go abroad this year and I intend to immerse myself in the places I am visiting.”

The elezen groaned before turning around and ushering the harried porter through the door again. The poor hyur was now groaning beneath the weight of several large trunks.  “Place the wardrobe trunk by the far wall. That one – the one with the brass latch, yes – put it down here; I need to take out the writing desk.” Philbert then glanced at Beren pointedly. “You will write to your father and let him know of your safe arrival?”

“Of course.”

“And, please,” Philbert added with the tone of a parent scolding an errant child. “Please do not let me find you gallivanting around the city with some troop of would-be adventurers in the name of your immersion.”

We were talking about Encanto in the car this week, specifically about the different characters’ gifts. Anne listed them off and then I asked her about her favorite character, Mirabel, and her gift.  “What gift does Mirabel have?”

“No gift! But she has a power.”

I’m confused at this point because I consider the point of Mirabel is that she doesn’t have a gift.  “What do you mean?”

“Her power is saving the world!”

Today a mom stopped me at the playground. Anne had been playing ball with her two children - two younger kids, one not even two years old. 

“Is she your daughter?” the mom asked me. I nodded and she continued. “She is so sweet and kind; she’s an amazing kid, so thoughtful.”

For a moment, I didn’t know quite what to say. “Thank you,” I finally told her. “I’ve been worried since she hasn’t been to preschool much due to everything going on.”

“No, no, she is great.”