The kindy mum

"she gets me toy cars" - that's love

I've been becoming more and more fascinated with education as Tricky has grown. From reading to him every night since he was born to creating laminated writing sheets to now labeling our entire house in that god-awful Victorian Cursive font (what the hell was wrong with the ol' stick and ball, hey?), it's developed in to a bit of an obsession.

The chance to have a sneak peek in to his school world yesterday had me practically frothing at the mouth. I was certain it would be the cutest thing ever and give me some tips and ideas of things to do with the boy as he demands school work at home. No, really. His second favourite game, behind playing LEGO, is playing schools. He can read. From a few weeks ago when he was trying to, now he can (a bit). The kid blows me away.

I headed in and was not disappointed. The kids were so eager to sit next to the new adult in the room (one little boy insisted on hugging my leg and nuzzling my knee), show me their work and tell me their stories. I heard tales about Guinea Pigs, boxes of grapes, Buzz Lightyear, a windmill and every single one of them told me how old they each were after we sung happy birthday to one of the boys.

I tell ya, the cuteness was on par with a box of puppies. Freakin' adorable.

Sadly, said gorgeousness dissipated super quickly when I was sneezed on, coughed on, and had little snot covered hands grabbing at mine. You can take the gross with your own kids, but someone else's little germ filled munchkin? Ick.

The best part of the day though was being able to see how Tricky interacts in that environment. My little introvert has taken a while to warm up, so to see him participating in the singing and dancing was pure joy. He is really coming in to his own lately, and has progressed so quickly. He is blossoming and his confidence is growing so much - he will even talk to other children now - shock, horror!

I'm loving watching his development and I swell with pride that I've had something to do with it, but I know a huge part has been going to "school" and the influence of his awesome teachers, who, after today, I have even more respect for than before.

I stayed for three hours before I had to rush off to feed Bobbin. Three hours of just helping; cutting up fruit, keeping kids on task ("what great colouring in"), stopping them from climbing shit they're not meant to ("chairs are for bottoms"), and playing with them, and I was absolutely knackered. Teachers need a raise. A big one. I need a sleep. A big one... but I can't wait to do it again.

Do you like being the parent helper?