New day care

Biscuit started going to a new day care today. I don't want to go into all the details, but we decided that his old day care just wasn't the right place for him anymore.

The biggest and most important reason was because of the curriculum. Because the old day care was part of a chain, the curriculum was locked in with no room for any improvisation. And after looking at the curriculum at the last parent-teacher conference, I didn't feel like it was going to get Biscuit ready for kindergarten. Because Biscuit's birthday is in November, he'll have an extra year before he can start kindergarten. So it was important to us to make sure that the extra year was well spent.

And let me say that if you haven't been to kindergarten in a while, you would be so surprised at what is required of these little people. We didn't even learn our letters and letter sounds until kindergarten. Now, they're expected to know that and much more before they even start kindergarten.

Anyway, we found a day care just 1 mile from our house that has a kindergarten prep class. Biscuit will finish the 4-year-old class there, then move up to the pre-K class.

We went for a tour a couple of weeks ago, and I thought it would be a good idea to take Biscuit. He's like me in that he doesn't have much of a poker face. So I knew I would be able to tell if he liked the place.

Biscuit and I got there before Jeff did. The front door has a 4-digit combination lock, so the assistant director was waiting for us. She opened the door, and Biscuit walked right in. As soon as the door closed and the assistant director turned around, Biscuit said, "My name is Griffin, and we came to see your school today."

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Griffin," she said. "We would love to show you our school."

Jeff was a few minutes behind us, so we waited in the lobby for him to get there.
 
The assistant director saw that Biscuit's shirt had a car on it, and said, "Hey, that's a cool blue car on your shirt."

"That's not a car," Biscuit said. "That's a Barracuda."

"Like the fish?" the assistant director asked.

"NO! That's not a fish," Biscuit said. "Barracudas are cars. My Dad has a Barracuda, but his is not blue, it's yellow."

"I'd like to have an old silver Impala myself," the assistant director said.

"Yeah, that would be good," Biscuit said, like he knew exactly what she was talking about.

About that time, I looked up and saw Jeff walking up the sidewalk. And I realized that I couldn't remember the assistant director's name. I was wracking my brain trying to remember her name so I could introduce her and Jeff to each other.

Biscuit looked up and saw Jeff and said, "Excuse me, Jennifer, that's my Dad. But some people call him Jeff."

No need for me to be concerned. Biscuit had me covered.

Jennifer seemed impressed with Biscuit. She talked to him a lot, which I really liked. I told her up front that Biscuit was the important one, not me.

And then we saw it ... a firetruck.

We could've stopped the tour right then. This place had a firetruck, and Biscuit's mind was made up.

After the tour, I took Biscuit to his old day care.

As Biscuit and I were walking toward the front door, he said, "My old day care has an America's flag, and the new school has an America's flag, too."

"Let's not talk about the new school, okay?" I said to Biscuit.

"Okay, Mom," Biscuit said. And I was hoping he understood what I was saying.

Jeff and I had called the director at the old day care to let them know Biscuit would be late. We assumed that she would tell Biscuit's teacher and the lady who cooks for them, just for planning purposes.

But as we were walking down the hall, the teacher and the cook both asked, "Where have you been?"

I answered before Biscuit had a chance to. "Tell them we've been out and about all morning," I said.

So Biscuit said, "Yeah, we've been out and about, and Mom said don't talk about the new ..."

And before he could say "new school," I cut him off.

"Let's blow your nose," I said, trying to divert his attention and keep him from telling them about the tour.

Over lunch that day, Jeff and I talked out all the details of the new place and decided we were satisfied with everything we learned. The only negative thing is that it's about $25 more per week than the old place. But big picture, we're fine with that.

When we got home that night, the new day care had called and said they enjoyed meeting us and offered to waive the registration fee ($80!). We filled out all the paperwork, and Biscuit was ready to go.

Our tour was on Wednesday, and we told his old day care on Thursday that Friday would be Biscuit's last day. Jeff and I made some ladies cry that day, but they all said the same thing ... that we need to do what's right for Biscuit.

Biscuit started that day care in February 2009. In his time there, he learned and accomplished so much. We are very grateful that we had such a good experience there for so long.

We planned the time Biscuit spent at my parents house last week as a buffer between the old day care and new day care. Jeff and I talked about it and just thought it would be a good way to transition from one to the other.

This morning, Biscuit and I were in the car, and I said, "Hey, you remember that you go to your new day care today, right?" 

"Yes!" Biscuit said. "Mom, I'm going to go there and play and learn things, and it's going to be awesome."

A minute or so passed, and Biscuit said, "Mom, it's going to be better than life!"

In my head, I was thinking, "What in the world is he talking about?!?" But what came out of my mouth was, "Yeah, it's going to be great."

I have no idea what he meant by what he said, but he was enthusiastic and seemed happy, and that was what was important.

As Biscuit and I walked into the new day care this morning, he spoke to everyone and walked toward his class like he owned the place. I had to call him back over to get a goodbye hug. It makes me very proud to see his outgoing personality and his independence.

Jeff picked Biscuit up this evening. "Did you have fun today?" he asked.

"Yeah," Biscuit said. "I had fun. I played with my friends."

"Which friends?" Jeff asked.

"I don't know their names," Biscuit said.

I'm sure his friends' names will come in time. And for a first day, I'd say this one turned out okay.