“Big Girl School” - Admission
My bachcha Mishtie, I know I have not written in a long time. There are all these beautiful, wonderful episodes from our life that I keep storing in my head but have not gotten around to documenting. How you’ve grown “my sweet darling”! :)
You have been studying at Bloom Montessori now for 2 years. You started at Roots and then they changed association and rebranded to Bloom. And hard as it is to believe, you’ve been going to a school (technically pre-school), for more 2.5 years now! You will turn 5 in September which means next year onwards you will go to a big school. Class 1. The real start of formal education.
On August 1st, your Papa, you and I went to Greenwood High on Bannergatta road. We had attended open house at this school (along with you) sometime in April. The school looks like a resort! But what stood out most for both your Papa and me were the quality and quantity of sporting facilities. We both (your Papa and I) as kids did not really have a sport we took to or played with all our heart. And back then, there was not so much of a focus on sports either. But as we’ve grown older, both of us but I especially, have realized that sports do so much for you. For both body and mind and even for the spirit. It teaches you that you will lose at times but you cannot stop playing because of it. It gives you something that you look forward to doing once you grow older and get caught up in life and its many demands. People who’ve ever played any sport, especially team sport, cope better. They have the option to, even if once or twice a week, take a break and go play that sport and feel rejuvenated. You know Papa and I are playing tennis and we have fallen in love with it. But learning and playing a sport in late thirties vs learning and playing it when you are under 10 are two totally different things! But I digress.
At the school, they took you in for an aptitude test. You coloured, identified the odd item out, wrote numbers and words. All by yourself in a room with a teacher. Then you did something brave - you faced the Principal for an interview. Also all by yourself! You were a little nervous and at least twice it looked like you would cry. But you held your own. You were sort of embarrassed that you said the food you least liked was poori - you were nervous and cringed just like an adult would when they did something out of nervousness. But also like an adult, despite your fears, you held your own. The Principal is a large-ish man with a bald head, some salt and pepper hair framing it. He has a definite presence. And for you, since you’ve only had female teachers at school, it was unusual to have a male educator interact with you, ask you questions. But you prevailed. You answered questions, you came out of the room all by yourself and in general, the way you carried yourself - it amazed me, made me proud and made me feel like you would be fine at navigating a new world starting next year. Your Papa was equally proud and happy.
What’s more, your friend Jiya from your current school is also joining you on this journey!
Picture 1: You looking at Jiya in the window.
Picture 2: You eating poori later in the day. All that talk about poori being your least favourite food and you really were craving it :)
You know, in addition to your Papa and me, your entire family - Dida, Daadu, Pamma, Taatha, Mashi and Mesho are super happy and proud of you! We wish you a fantastic school journey with plenty of memories, both bitter and sweet, lots of opportunities to learn, play, make friends, build character and come into your own. God bless you my sweet darling. :-* :)
