La Rentree

...or first day of school, in English.

In the midst of all the activity and excitement surrounding Ryan's birth, the start of public school was a little further from my mind than it would have been otherwise. I knew a long time ago that it would be an emotional day for me, but I had been a little preoccupied and slightly sleep deprived, and had not given it too, too much thought...until I pulled into the parking lot on the first day of school. It hit me. My BABY was starting school. Real school. Not daycare, where he can come and go as he pleases, and where there is a ratio of 5 kids to one caregiver. In North America, real school doesn't even begin until approximately the age of 5...what was I doing sending my two year old BABY off to school??? The last two years and 9 months have been, BY FAR, the absolute best times of my life, and now he's off to start school, for the rest of HIS life. There are 25 kids in his class, one teacher, one assistant. He is expected to go to the potty independently, how was he going to manage without Mommy??? Holy moly, did it ever all hit me that moment I pulled into the parking lot. I happen to know one other friend whose children go to that school, though her girls are older than Andrew and therefore not in Andrew's class. Anyway, the moment I saw her in front of the gate, I felt the tears welling up in my eyes...trying so hard to hold them back...and after a few minutes of light conversation, I broke down. Thank God my face was hidden from Andrew when she embraced me, and kindly reassured me that everything was going to be fine. And as it turned out, she was right. After walking Andrew to his class, and hanging around with him (along with the other parents for about 15 minutes), I saw he was completely relaxed and content, and that I was not needed. So I told him I was leaving and I'd be back later, and his response was simply "Au Revoir Maman"!!! (so funny how it converts to French as soon as he is in a French setting now) We are now on the third full week of school, he does not cry when he is dropped off in the morning, his French has continued to improve, he has learned two new songs, and when I pulled out his artwork from his backpack last Friday, he proudly identified the character of the colouring he had done as "Speederman"...aka Spiderman in English!

School hours are 8:30 to 4:30, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. (no school on Wednesdays in France) School holidays are two weeks long, and are every two months. Bringing lunch is not an option. He eats lunch in the "cantine" i.e. cafeteria, and is fed very well, and much more gourmet than the peanut butter or grilled cheese sandwich he would otherwise eat at home! I will attempt to post this week's menu in a future post.