Cruz Morning Routine

Well today my morning routine was different... I went to work alone and it felt weird.

September 2014

For the past 9 months part of my morning routine was taking Mari to daycare, and then bringing Cruz with me to La Casa for Yo Puedo Leer. We enrolled Cruz in our preschool class called Yo Puedo Leer, which means "I Can Read". The class is designed for Spanish speaking 3 and 4 year olds to get ready for kindergarten. The unique curriculum, which is proprietary to La Casa, teaches the kindergarten prep materials in both languages. Our success at getting kids ready for kindergarten wasn't the only reason I put him in it, I really wanted Cruz to learn more Spanish since we don't speak it at home. What he learned, and I learned, was a whole lot more.

The first month or so Cruz cried at drop off, he would do that at daycare as well and hated switching rooms and new teachers. Most kids don't like transition, but I realized there was a little more to it here at La Casa. In the fall the kids didn't speak much English, and Cruz didn't speak Spanish... he was left out and it was hard.

At first I felt bad for him, and wanted to see what I could do to help... you know, typical parent instinct. Then I thought, this would teach him to be flexible, teach him grit, teach him not to give up. I moved to the US and was forced into school right away and didn't speak the language. I survived it, and I think experiences like that teach you to be resilient. Cruz made it through, and in no time made good friends with his class, and learned some Spanish.

My Graduate

I really enjoyed getting to see him each morning. Him waving as he walked by my door on the way to get a drink. Hearing him saying over and over... "Ms Ana, Ms Ana, Ms Ana"... when asking the teacher a question. Being able to pick out his voice when the class was singing. Or beaming the one day when giving a tour that I walked into the classroom while he was standing at the board using the pointer and doing his alfabeto. I for sure will miss the drive to ECDC at lunch time and having him sing Dos Elefantes for me.

It was fun being there while he was growing up. Seeing him become confident, watching his shy personality come out, hearing him sing new songs, and just watching him learn. I will miss his "Adios Abuelita" to our classroom Foster Grandparent as we left each day.

Well summer will be different as he will be all day at ECDC. I won't get our midday drive, or see him during the day. I am a really proud papi and glad we had this fun time together as the rest of his schooling won't be as close.