Friday, November 21, 2008

Preschool Tour #1

On Friday morning, Momily, Mather and I took a tour of the Sunset Co-op, our first pre-school visit. We are starting to consider Magoo's future! It's amazing how much time has passed and how much she's grown up and changed.



Sunset is a parent-participation co-op, which means that tuition is kept low by having member parents assist the paid teachers in managing the students. The advantages of a co-op preschool are many: they are more affordable, there is more parental involvement, and they create a tightly knit community. I went to a co-op preschool myself*, and a number of the families we met then remain amongst my parent's closest friends.

Sunset Co-op was thoroughly charming. The interior is a riot of color and play areas: there is a bouncy-room filled with mattresses, easels ready for young painters, a clay table, a playdough table, books, puzzles, a play kitchen, chests of dress-up clothes, hammocks, just tons of stuff to explore! The building is a bit old, but they will be rebuilding it next year. The yard is fantastic, with colorful old play structures, a wickedly twisted climbing tree, swings, and an inspiring salt-sea air and vibe (the co-op is across the street from Ocean Beach).



Since we were there for a "school" day, we got to witness the morning ritual: the kids arrive and start playing in the yard, then they check in with the school director and mark their attendance on a big chart, then there is a circle time which marks the official start of the day. All the students sing a welcoming song in about ten different languages (English, German, Gaelic, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, Czech, Russian, a couple more).

The child whose parent brought the snack for the day receives the honor of "child of the day", so he got to call out roll and name some of the activities available for the day. Then the kids dispersed to various play stations around the facility, guided only by their own desires and inspiration. This is play-based learning. The kids get to choose an activity, and can pursue it for as long as they wish. Parents and teachers are there to keep everyone safe and to provide materials and project concepts, but there are minimal restrictions.

Mather was a little shy but really came out of her shell for the chance to paint. She put quite a bit of work into her first of many masterpieces:



The only downside to the Sunset Co-op is that it's only a part-day preschool -- either 9-12 or 1-4. It doesn't solve the complete daycare need. And of course, it requires a lot of hours from the participating parents. But we like that. We've submitted an application.

*My own preschool is upcoming on the tour itinerary.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Mather's Owie Update

After a cranky day yesterday, Mather was back to being herself today. The bruise is smaller, but darker in near the eye. Here's the latest:

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

A Sad Rite of Passage

Not all is always well in Matherland. Yesterday, she took a hard fall off the top of her diaper table onto the floor. She landed face-first. I had been reaching for a shirt from her drawer after changing her, and didn't realize she was off-balance.

Mather and I were alone with together, with Emily far away in Half Moon Bay. The thud was, for lack of a more palatable word, sickening, and Mather was crying almost instantly. That was actually a good thing, a quick confirmation that she never lost consciousness. I held her in my arms and tried to soothe her, but she was horribly upset. She did manage to choke out her desire for both her binky and her sleepy bear, so I grabbed those from the crib.

After a little while, the pace of the crying slowed a bit. However, she was clearly groggy and not herself, and one eye was starting to swell up and blacken. After consulting with Em on the phone, we were off to Kaiser. Instead of going to the ER, I went straight to pediatrics. That worked out great, since they slipped us in between two of Dr. Newell's scheduled appointments. She's our regular pediatrician and we love her. She did a great job of keeping Magoo calm while she had to poke and prod her. She's a big reason we've stuck with Kaiser the last couple years.

While Mather was still a bit addled, she was slowly snapping out of her funk. When Dr. Newell needed to see her walk, I was nervous - I hadn't let Mather try to stand on her own two legs yet. But with the promise of a toy chest at the end of the hall, our adventurous girl was off to claim her treasure, clad only in her diaper (dignity is a foreign concept). She walked as well as she ever does (there's always a bit of a wobble...) and even wove around nurses, strollers and other kids.

We've kept a close eye on her since the fall to watch for any signs of head trauma, but so far, so good. The black eye hasn't really darkened or gotten worse. When Momily came home from work, Mather pretty calmly told her that she had a "big owie". This morning she was pretty oblivious to the injury, even when she looked in the mirror (she thought her belly button was far more interesting than some silly bruise).

In many ways, injuries like this are a rite of passage, as tough as they are to witness. Mather survived her first cold (it came at six months old), her fair share of lesser falls, and her first cut (as an early crawler she came across a food processor blade and thought it was a cool looking toy). Obviously, it's a huge reminder to be more careful when Mather is high up, but in the end, I might have been more upset and affected than she was.

And hey, I've already had two black eyes in 2008. It runs in the family.

We've got a lot of other updates we should cover soon -- we've moved, for one, after successfully closing the sale of our Page Street flat. We've started our first experimentations in potty training, and just celebrated our anniversary. So we'll write about all those things soon.

Saturday, November 01, 2008

Happy Birthday Mather!

I have balloons!

I open presents!

I eat cupcake!

Ubiquitous toddler cake face.