Star of the Week

This was Maria's first full week of school and she was the Star of the Week, so that was a good way to start.  They do it alphabetically - I can remember being in school with kids whose last names started with A or B and being hella jella that they always lined up first.  Then sometimes, to be fair, the teacher would start with the names at the END of the alphabet, but as I recall, the teachers at Catherine A. Dwyer grade school never started in the, say, MIDDLE, for those of us with a last name that started with K.  Anyway, enough about ME!, ha!

When you are the Star of the Week, you get this painted coffee can to bring home and you bring one of your favorite things to put in the can.  It has to start with the same letter as your first name.  We kept thinking and thinking, what the hell are we going to do?  What starts with M?  Then one of my parents, I can't remember who, or maybe it was my sister Laura, said Monkey George!  I still think of him as Curious George, but Maria thinks of him as Monkey George and he is, in fact, a monkey, so it all worked out.  I had to make him hug his own neck and put his feet up by his ears to get him to fit in the coffee can, but he did so off he went on Monday and Maria let her classmates guess some things about him and then POOF! brought him out of the can and showed him off.

Also when you are Star of the Week, you get to bring the snack on Monday and Tuesday, so Maria brought strawberries and grapes for Monday and cheese cubes for Tuesday.  Not to brag, but her teacher said I was a good snack parent.  I was grateful and relieved because I had no idea what to do.

Lastly, Maria granted Miss Stacy an interview today, and when asked what she wanted to be when she grew up, the answer was "a kitty cat".  That's super cute and funny on it's own, but I think it's funnier that that is the answer that Maria has for "what do you want for your birthday?" that Dora asks in one of her library books.  I think she just has the one answer, regardless of the question.

She is doing very well in school and I am thrilled. I think it's a good fit.  I think she'd be fine if she went on a longer day on Monday, or another day of the week, but this is what we started with and what I'd like to continue with if it's possible.  We'll see - maybe I'll have the baby and Maria will go insane, in which case I will put her in boarding preschool.  Kidding!

She loves her teacher and her teacher, of course, loves her.  And she is so smart - because it is such a small world, there is a boy in her preschool class who is also in Anthony's school - that's crazy, right?  I saw one of the case managers from Anthony's school there on the first day and she mentioned that she had a therapist there with one of the kids.  Then Maria's teacher said to me, does Maria have a brother named Anthony? and I told her yes.  She said that the kid's therapist said to her, "that has to be Anthony's sister, it looks just like him!".  Miss Stacy said she told her, "I only know about Veevsy Voo!".  Ha!  Anyways, back to the genius of Maria - today we were picking up Anthony, and the little boy came out with his ... grandmother, I think, and she said "heeeeey Mooooom!  That little boy  - that boy - I know that boy from my class and my school!".  This was only her third day!

I told Laura today - I am a wreck.  Thank God I have preschool to send Maria to, and speech therapy for Veronica, because I don't know what kids are capable of, and I fear I'd hold them back if it was just me.  I am so used to NOT pushing them and NOT expecting too much that I don't even know what they can do.  I'm learning, but it's lucky that there are other, professional people involved.

So she is doing well.  Tomorrow we are going to a story hour at the Library and Friday we start ballet again, so we are moving along on our fall schedule.  Things are going to be so different four weeks from yesterday, I can't even imagine it, and I bet our sweet Maria can't either.