Today Elaine went to the kindergarten in our compound for the first time. She is now 16 months old and is able to walk and talk very well, so she is ready for kindergarten. It is the same one where Scott also went until a couple of months ago, and she went there many times already to take a look.

Elaine was very excited when we told her yesterday that she could finally go, and she could not wait this morning to leave the house. Grace dressed her up very nicely (actually, she always gets dressed up nicely) and she could carry her own little back pack.

When we arrived at the kindergarten she immediately felt at ease. We changed her shoes and after she got used to one of the teachers she followed the teacher to some toys. She seemed to totally forget about us, which was actually good (it’s so difficult to leave your kid alone if she is crying).

Elaine didn’t even notice that we left and kept on playing happily. A few minutes later we came back to take a secret look at her and she was still playing nicely with the teacher and another kid. However, we later heard that she started crying loudly a while after we had left and could not stop anymore. Poor baby…

When we picked her up, however, she was fine. She was drinking something and looking around with a serious face. She was very happy to see us though and only wanted her mom to hold her. We also took Scott with us to pick Elaine up, and he was very happy to see his old teachers and some of his old classmates. He now understands that he is a big boy and that he therefore has to go to another school (he told me this). He loves his new school as well and I hope Elaine will soon be just as happy in her kindergarten as Scott always used to be.

For now Elaine will only go one day a week to kindergarten to get used to spending time with other kids a bit. If things go well she will probably go full-time after Christmas and New Year. It’s so nice to see your kids grow up, but in a way it is a bit sad as well. They change from cute innocent babies into naughty toddlers so quickly… But the older they get the nicer it is actually, because you can do so much more with them. I love being a father!