Changes - Part 4 - Leaving Karen's

I've been going to Karen's house since I was 4 months old. She's a really nice lady who has 3 grown sons. Mommy and Daddy heard about her through one of Mommy's co-workers. One day in the spring, Karen told Mommy "I need to talk to you". Mommy never liked hearing those words... Karen and Jerry (Karen's husband) told us that they were going to be moving to a place called Modesto to be nearer to their grandchildren. They were building a new house and would be selling the one I had been coming to everyday. They told Mommy that she would continue to take me until they moved. (I've always been one of her favorites: I'm usually happy and I'm a good listener.)

I had a really hard time with the preparations for moving. While the house was torn up for painting and new carpeting and furniture kept disappearing, my stuttering came back. I was not really comfortable. Once things settled back down, even though most of my toys were gone, I felt better.

They sold their house at the end of the summer and moved to an apartment nearby while their house is being finished. I have been going there for a little over a month now. It's much smaller than her old house but we still had fun. It was just me and Ofri there everyday and sometimes our old friends Amanda and Michael would come back for a day to play. Karen told Mommy that December 15 was her last day working and then she would be retiring. So, Mommy and I started looking for schools. Mommy didn't want me to go to another home daycare, get settled and then go to school when I turned 3.

I kind of liked the first one we went to. I got to play outside with the kids and then participated in "circle time" (although there was no circle involved). Mommy was unhappy, however, after seeing that potty time was totally impersonal (everyone was herded in at once) and that the teacher wiped the kids' hands with a wipe and then wiped their faces with the same one (she even used the same wipe on multiple kids)!

A few days later, we went to a school called "Merryhill". It is really near my Daddy's school - just 2 blocks away! Daddy's co-worker's daughter goes there so Mommy and Daddy thought it must be pretty good. The school Spanish teacher, Miss Elena (turns out she is the Mommy of one of Daddy's students), took us to meet the director. She had some toys for me to play with while Mommy talked to her. Then she took us to the room. All the kids were eating snack at their tables. She showed me the playground outside. There is a special playground just for my room. It's next to the playground for the bigger kids, but it's separated by a fence. They are getting brand new tricycles and they have a new buggy for walks to the park. I got to participate in circle time here, too. Miss Maria led us all. She's been at the school for 14 years! This time it really was a circle. The children were shouting out colors, numbers and shapes. I did too! Miss Juliana could tell when the kids were getting bored and got out toys for us (unlike at the other school where everything was running on a clock schedule, not a kid schedule). We played legos and musical instruments. There were a couple of children who were very interested in me. They tried to play with me and they shared their toys. I wasn't too friendly because I was a little scared. Maybe they will be my friends.

Mommy talked to the director and found out that they have an opening on November 6. She didn't know when the next one would be because they promote on readiness, not on birthday. Since Mommy and I both liked the school, she decided to sign me up.

So, yesterday was my last day at Karen's house. I told her as we were walking back from the mailbox "I go to school now. I not coming to Karen's house any more." Karen gave me lots of my favorite toys when I left. I have some blocks, legos and cars and...my pirate ship! Karen won't need them anymore so she wanted me to have them. She also gave me a book Mommy said is called "Tom Saywer". They said it was for me when I got a little bigger. There are no pictures. I helped her put a picture of us on the inside cover so I can remember her. She was sad to see me go and Mommy was sad too. I blew her kisses as we drove away.

Today I told my Auntie that I would be going to school in "2 days" (it's Saturday today). Mommy and Daddy don't know how I figured that out. Neither of them talked to me about it in that way. Mommy says I have lots of supplies I need to get tomorrow before school. I need to have some things in case of emergency, but I also need a pillow and blanket for nap time.

I'll post again to report on my first day of school!