Bored? Not for Long!!

Check out this AMAZING collection of activities and projects. There is SO many gorgeous ideas - it's just a matter of how many ink cartidges you have in reserve!! It's the activity page of Jan Brett's website... staggering!!! Check it out. (clic on the title of this post)

Meer's First Day of School

Well - HOW EXCITING! Meer has a fantastic first day at school! He was a bit shy - didn't want to play in the same room as the rest of the kids. But was totally happy hanging out without Kasimbi and I for about 2 hours straight! Then he wanted Kasimbi - I think mostly because he was hungry. After a snack, he was fine going around with the teachers.

Tomorrow they asked me to just drop him off - Kasimbi and I both not stay with him. I basically said NO, and suggested that Josaphine stay with him instead. I mean - my version of school for Meer at this stage in his life (he turns two at the end of June), is purely enjoyment. And any sort of seperation anxiety is absolutely unacceptable at this stage in his development!

The rest of the kids are super cute and great - only 11 students total, so it is a nice small group. There are a few charmers - sweet little talkative girls, and couple boys that don't want to really speak, but want to stand very close to me! Sweet little hunnies.

I scooted off for a bit this morning - sans Meer. It was SO freaky! I can't even say that I liked it. I felt all weird and guilty - like I was a bad mom, or something! Well - not really, but it was weird. I found myself speedwalking through Nakumatt so I could get back "just incase" he needed me... which he didn't!

The rest of the kids are between the ages of 3 and 6. So Meer is the definately the youngest. His attention span is short as well... about 5 minutes, and then he wants to see something new. Having about 10 different rooms with new stuff in them doesn't help! Apparently one of the other young girls did the same thing for the first month that she was there - just going around from room to room exploring. After the month, she began to follow the group and participate with the rest of the kids.

Meer is enrolled in the morning class - 8:30 - 12:30, Monday to Friday. We are going again tomorrow morning - with Josaphine in tow! Let's see if he keeps on enjoying it as much as he did today!

And WHAT am I going to do with my TIME?? I will have practically FIFTEEN HOURS A WEEK all by myself... IMAGINE! Weird...

Well - I am TRYING to upload a photo or two for you, but my connection is too slow... sigh... HEY! Maybe I will take my laptop and go and sit at Java House for a few hours tomorrow morning! They have free wireless internet - and it is faster, and really close to Meer's school! Yet another brain wave hits me!

Love and light...

... is it still 2008??

Yes - I KNOW - long time, and no update what-so-ever. Horrible of me. True. In any event - we are all alive and well - and happily back in Kenya!

Life in Kenya is wonderful. Absolutely great. Meer is LOVING it! Today we went to see a new Montessori preschool that is nearby... it was 4pm when we got there, so all the kids and teachers had left for the day, but there was an askari who let us in, and then an employee dude of some sort showed up to tour us around.... A good thing, considering Meer had already cased half the place!! ha ha ha! They have converted a house into a school, basically. Every room has a different theme: Nature, Human Body, Space, Numbers, etc. There are cubbie holes for the children's shoes - with their names and pictures on cute laminated cards on each cubbie. (and we all know how many points I assign for proper laminating! ha ha ha!)

So Meer walked around everywhere looking and saying the words excitedly for everything he saw. He found these marble type plastic beads that can be sorted out into a compartmentalized tray, and that was the end of it - we couldn't peel him away or get him back intothe car without a HUGE protest! I always imagined driving away from preschool to the sounds of a screaming child - but I always thought it would be because I was leaving them behind, not taking them with me! ha ha ha!!

I called the head of the school when we got home and asked it Meer could join them for the last month of the semester. The school is really for 3 - 6 year olds, but Meer has been welcomed to join them - starting tomorrow!!! NATURALLY Kasimbi (our houseman) and I will stay there with him. Half day runs from 8:30 until 12:30, so let's see how long Meer lasts! I have this fantasy of dropping Meer and Kasimbi off at school, and then going to the gym for a yoga class... IMAGINE!

The school is small - probably around 12 kids? One of the pictures on the cubbies was of our neighbour's daughter - Yein. (Korean) So this afternoon I saw her mom out in her yard, so we had a chat over the fence. I was all happy to tell her that Meer will be going to school with her daughter tomorrow, and she was like, "Oh REALLY? You no tell me! I get you discount!! The owner is Korean!!" HOW HANDY!

Anyway - that really IS the latest!

Thanks for kicking me in the butt and getting me to post again.
Love to all...