And one thing that’s certainly taken a bit of adjustment is Chica’s new school—but in particular, the slight lack of socialization I get in comparison to our last school, due to one thing: location, location, location.
Our last (beloved) elementary school was nestled back in a neighborhood, across one main street from our house. And although we didn’t walk for drop-off/pick-up (we drove, parked and then walked to the pick-up spot), so many families did—and then proceeded to spend time on the playground after school and visit and really make those daily connections.
Well. Through no fault of its own, Chica’s new elementary school (an excellent, highly-ranking, friendly school), just isn’t in a similar geographic position.
So, no walking to school, for the majority of families. And certainly no natural gathering time/place to meet people at pick-up.
I mean, who knew what a golden, amazing, kind of unicorn situation we had before, with lots of family interaction on a playground mostly covered by trees!
Deep sigh.
Now...looking on the bright side...things are much lazier now, ha.
I mean, I stay in my car at pick-up and drop-off—and more importantly, so do Chicklet and Little Man! No more prodding them along like reluctant cattle on days they just don’t want to have to deal with it all, no more sweating in the Texas heat on the short walk from the car to the pick-up location.
We. Just. Sit. Tight.
And act lazy in the car with our music and iPads during the twenty or so minutes the whole process takes in the afternoon. I mean...awesome. Right??
Well, kinda.
I miss the interaction.
I miss the daily connectivity.
Every single mom friendship I made at our old school, blossomed from a playground connection.
But.
Onward and upward, right?
I can’t lament what once was (well, I mean, I can, but it ain’t healthy for an overly long time).
So I’ll just continue to enjoy the stay-in-the-car laziness as much as possible.
I’ll definitely continue to enjoy the hubby’s shorter commute, and the fact that he stays home with the younger two in the morning, so I don’t have to take all three at the crack of dawn for drop-off.
And...I’ll try my best to make those school-related connections at other times, in other settings, whenever opportunity presents!
And today was one such opportunity.
I received an email about a Pre-K Story Time in Chica’s elementary school library, and made a mental note to take advantage of the activity. And it turned out to be just fantastic!
I was worried at first, when I arrived to find only two other moms and their kiddos in attendance. But you know what? It made for a lovely and intimate hour, with lots of good conversation with fantastic librarians, to boot. And though I didn’t make an insta-love friendship bond with anyone, I spent some quality time with the staff, Chicklet and Little Man had a wonderful chance to get more familiar with the school that will be theirs some day, and...we did projects and read books!
It was really, really lovely, and since it’s a monthly thing, we’ll definitely be joining in on a regular basis.
This month’s theme was “Spring” (duh), so after we got comfortable with some LEGO’s, the kiddos enjoyed an adorable little book about blades of grass growing.
And then we got to enjoy not one, but two, happy projects. Planting our own little seeds in some cups we brought home, and creating a seed/root/flower creation on construction paper.
We wrapped it up with more block playing, and then a send-off with a sticker and a book. I mean...seriously lovely.
So...the moral of this very long story is: sometimes you can’t replicate what you had, but you can find the sunny in a situation, if you try. No after-school socialization, but a monthly Pre-K Story Time of loveliness.
I’ll take what I can get. :)
And I’ll also try not to keep a running tally of positives and negatives.
Well...at least not forever. ;)
Over and out.
P.S. Chicklet and Little Man had a blast.
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