Spreading Christmas Cheer

There are several options for preschool in our little town. Vivi was waitlisted for one of them. We were fine with that, we started her in the preschool that Jack attended.  We love it, she loves it too.

 

When school started in August, Bernie offered to drive Vivi's friend, Morgan, to the waitlisted preschool. He drives Jack to school, and transporting Morgan is not out of the way. Vivi's friend Dante is also in Morgan's class. The first few weeks of school when Bernie and Vivi dropped Morgan off, Vivi wanted to stay. Bernie tried to explain that Vivi wasn't a member of the class, and had to leave. She wanted to be with her friends. She felt slighted and left out. Vivi was so mad at Bernie, she gave him the silent treatment.

 

Vivi eventually got used to the idea that she had her own preschool and everything was fine. A few weeks into school, the older three year olds, including Vivi, were moved into a 3/4 combo class. Vivi enjoys that class and has really learned a lot. When she initially switched classes,  it was like her second first day of preschool.

 

Last week, Vivi was offered a spot in the waitlisted preschool. We would have turned it down if she hadn't been so adamant about wanting to go. When we told her she could go, her whole face lit up. The dilemma we have now is that we don't want to pull her out of the first program, and the new program is an even bigger time commitment.  She has her whole life to be in school and on a schedule, the last thing I want to do is stress her out, or put undue pressure on her. The decision for now, is that she is attending both, and we will see how it goes.  Today was her third first day of preschool. She was very excited.

Vivi's 3rd First Day of Preschool

 

Acts of Kindness day #1 didn't go so well. Jack said hi to a lot of people but didn't give out any complements, or at least not that he could remember. Vivi really didn't either. Jack said he was going to make his own list and say 10 nice things. We'll see.

For book #2 we read, "Elf: A Short Story of a Tall Tale." Jack loves the movie, "Elf", so he was happy to read this book.

This morning, the elves left this note:

 

Act of Kindness task #2 was to go Christmas caroling. Jack is constantly singing and many of his selections are Christmas songs. I really thought he would be excited about this one. I was wrong. He indicated that he isn't allowed to sing in school. He was disappointed that the elves were on the piano and not wreaking havoc elsewhere in the house. He was sulking, and said, "I hate this Christmas." 

I had created task #2 to correspond with a carol sing planned by the Lions Club (there is a method to my madness - at least sometimes). Jack didn't want to go when the time came. I told him he could stay home with Bernie but would have to be productive; meaning the iPad wasn't an option. He reluctantly put his on coat and shoes and came along. This picture was taken shortly after we arrived. He looks thrilled, doesn't he?

  

After we sang the first song, Jack said it was "kind of fun" and that we should do this every year. He then said that he wanted to take the book of carols home so he could practice. By the end of the night, he wanted to add a book of carols to his Christmas list, and asked if we could do this again this year.  That's my boy! :-)

 

Vivi didn't know many of the songs, so she didn't sing very much. She did put her on her own show for the residents by dancing to the music.

 

 

She even got her friend, Oliver to dance.  Oliver was in preschool class #1. The residents enjoyed watching the kids interact.

 

The pleasant surprise of the night was seeing Colleen Harrison.  When I was in junior high school, my absolute best friend was Allison Pascucci.  I spent a lot of time at Allie's house. I even considered Allie's mom, Colleen, to be my second mom.  I haven't seen Allie in way too many years. So many years in fact, that she hasn't met any of my children, including Nicholas. We have had great intentions of getting together since reconnecting on Facebook, but we just haven't been able to make it happen.  Allie is a first grade teacher.  I'm hoping we can get together for coffee over her holiday break. Here is Jack and Vivi with Colleen:

 

Jack and Vivi were beaming as we walked to the car. They knew that they had helped make tonight a special night for some of the residents. They had fun while spreading Christmas cheer.  This Christmas is likely to be a whole lot better than Jack opined this morning.