Thankful

My baby 'graduated' on Friday ... and I've had a wonderfully crazy weekend celebrating her turning five.

I am so thankful for the NZ early childhood centre that she has attended.  She has been in ECE care since she was one and a half and attended 3 different centres as we moved from the North Island to the South when she was two and a half.  All these centres, both daycare and a stint at kindy when we first arrived in Twizel have given her skills she needs to now navigate the school system.  She is so excited about starting school - but I'm also a bit sad to leave behind her amazing teachers in this early childhood setting.  These teachers have given her the confidence to ask questions, developed her caring and nurturing side, pushed her to grow skills when she needs it, but also have given her space and place to just be as she needed it.

This is the end of an era for our family - we are now all school side and again, I count the blessings of working in an Area school.  I know for her first school lunchtime I will actually be 'on duty' in the junior lunch area and will be able to smile at her as she settles next to her bestie to eat the kiwi classic marmite and cheese sammies!