Luuuucy. . .what are you thinking, Lucy?
It has been a big two weeks for Lucy. She had her birthday party, her "clausura" at school which is different than graduation-I'll explain later, her work in an artshow and in two days she is graduating from kindergarten.
Last week we celebrated her birthday--a few weeks early because her actual birthday falls the day before we leave San Cristobal and we figured it would be way too hectic to have a party then. Then we discovered that a few of her friends were leaving for most of July so we had the party on the 1st with the 5 friends that she is closest with: the son of one of our oldest and dearest friends here, her best friend at school and her sister, the girl whose mom used to work next door at the pet store and the and used to come over every afternoon to play with Lucy, and the daughter of some more recent friends of ours who also goes to Lucy's school. It was a small party and I think after experiencing small kid's parties and big kid's parties-I prefer small ones. The kids have the same amount of fun, they can run around more without causing total havoc and there are way less tears. In Brooklyn we felt obligated to invite Lucy's whole preschool class--how could we invite some and not others? And that is how you end up with 15 4 year-olds in your apartment and after it is over it looks like the FBI came in with a warrant and turned the place upside down looking for the "smoking gun." But not here and Lucy had a blast, which was, of course the whole point.
Then there was the clausura--which every grade at Pequeno Sol does. Just a special day to close out the school year with the parents, some activities, a little ceremony and a big group lunch. The kids got called up one by one and received a crown of flowers, a piece of their own weaving in a frame and a little diploma. Then they sang a song and their teachers led them out of the room and the first grade teacher led them back in. I could tell Lucy was starting to feel a little sad about not being here next year, but I am not worried about it too much because next year she will become just as attached to her new school and classmates.
After the clausura we left Lucy at school because they have a "campamento" where all the kids spend the night at school together in their classroom. They all have sleeping bags or blankets and they have a scavenger hunt and a campfire. We picked her up the next morning and she was still blissed out. She loved it but also said she didn't want to do it again for a long time. Funny, I guess it was just too much fun?
Lucy at the clausura
On Friday she graduates from kindergarten and she has to dress up in a yellow elf costume. Beyond that I have no idea how it is different from the clausura, except of course it is because they are leaving preescolar and entering primaria. All the grades have a clausura but only certain grades graduate.
Oh! On Monday her class had an art show of their watercolors at TierrAdentro, the Zapatista friendly cafe in town. You can tell the Waldorfian roots of Pequeno Sol by the way they take water colors so seriously. The Director of the school, the director of the arts program, her teacher and the teacher's assistant all spoke about the importance of watercolors for children. Okay. I didn't really get it. But whatever. It isn't like I am against watercoloring. Lucy loved having her art up and running all over the cafe with her friends.
And what about Joey? He is happy as ever, walking completely independently now. He still doesn't have any words but his receptive language has grown by leaps and bounds in the last month. Lots of imitating behavior too. The other day he dropped a strawberry on the floor, then got a paper towel from the kitchen, "wiped" it up, and then threw the paper towel in the garbage. The kid's a friggin' genius, I tell ya.
Last week we celebrated her birthday--a few weeks early because her actual birthday falls the day before we leave San Cristobal and we figured it would be way too hectic to have a party then. Then we discovered that a few of her friends were leaving for most of July so we had the party on the 1st with the 5 friends that she is closest with: the son of one of our oldest and dearest friends here, her best friend at school and her sister, the girl whose mom used to work next door at the pet store and the and used to come over every afternoon to play with Lucy, and the daughter of some more recent friends of ours who also goes to Lucy's school. It was a small party and I think after experiencing small kid's parties and big kid's parties-I prefer small ones. The kids have the same amount of fun, they can run around more without causing total havoc and there are way less tears. In Brooklyn we felt obligated to invite Lucy's whole preschool class--how could we invite some and not others? And that is how you end up with 15 4 year-olds in your apartment and after it is over it looks like the FBI came in with a warrant and turned the place upside down looking for the "smoking gun." But not here and Lucy had a blast, which was, of course the whole point.
Then there was the clausura--which every grade at Pequeno Sol does. Just a special day to close out the school year with the parents, some activities, a little ceremony and a big group lunch. The kids got called up one by one and received a crown of flowers, a piece of their own weaving in a frame and a little diploma. Then they sang a song and their teachers led them out of the room and the first grade teacher led them back in. I could tell Lucy was starting to feel a little sad about not being here next year, but I am not worried about it too much because next year she will become just as attached to her new school and classmates.
After the clausura we left Lucy at school because they have a "campamento" where all the kids spend the night at school together in their classroom. They all have sleeping bags or blankets and they have a scavenger hunt and a campfire. We picked her up the next morning and she was still blissed out. She loved it but also said she didn't want to do it again for a long time. Funny, I guess it was just too much fun?
Lucy at the clausura
On Friday she graduates from kindergarten and she has to dress up in a yellow elf costume. Beyond that I have no idea how it is different from the clausura, except of course it is because they are leaving preescolar and entering primaria. All the grades have a clausura but only certain grades graduate.
Oh! On Monday her class had an art show of their watercolors at TierrAdentro, the Zapatista friendly cafe in town. You can tell the Waldorfian roots of Pequeno Sol by the way they take water colors so seriously. The Director of the school, the director of the arts program, her teacher and the teacher's assistant all spoke about the importance of watercolors for children. Okay. I didn't really get it. But whatever. It isn't like I am against watercoloring. Lucy loved having her art up and running all over the cafe with her friends.
And what about Joey? He is happy as ever, walking completely independently now. He still doesn't have any words but his receptive language has grown by leaps and bounds in the last month. Lots of imitating behavior too. The other day he dropped a strawberry on the floor, then got a paper towel from the kitchen, "wiped" it up, and then threw the paper towel in the garbage. The kid's a friggin' genius, I tell ya.