With great angst I took my little Ella to her first day of preschool two days ago. You may ask why at only twenty-three months I am taking her to preschool. Well, Ella lives her life in a home surrounded by adults in a beautiful neighborhood where there are no other children around during the day. This summer she became interested in being around other children, and I decided that a few hours a week at preschool would be beneficial and enjoyable.

Being a major fretter, I searched high and low for the perfect program. I found it but had to have a friend pull a few strings to get her in. The building is a charming bungalow decorated for children and organized with thought for the children’s comfort and convenience. The atmosphere was warm and calm; the children were happy and friendly (at least that day…) and there were only seven of them. Perfect! The children appeared to be very attached to the teacher who was gentle and quiet voiced. Ella immediately took to all the toys, and I had to drag her away when it was time to go.

So two days ago we got dressed earlier than we ever dress and drove on down to the preschool which is conveniently close to our home. Ella jumped right in and started playing with the toys, smacked a couple kids when they wouldn’t let her take their toys (learning curve here) and was happy to be there. I stayed for about an hour and then told her Mommy was going bye-bye, and I would be back. Ella took one look at me, grabbed my hand and waved bye-bye to everyone. Now came the moment we all hate – the difficult goodbye. I picked her up, gave her a big hug and kiss and handed her over to her preschool teacher. Heavy of heart and not at all convinced that I wanted this preschool thing after all, I left.

I managed to keep myself busy with long overdue errands for the next hour and a half, missing my side kick but yet delightfully reminded of how fast things get done when you are alone. I had my cell phone in my pocket in case I needed to pick her up early; this preschool teacher doesn’t let miserable children cry for hours if they want their parents. My cell phone never rang.

One and a half hours later I pulled up to the preschool. One of the play rooms has a window facing the road. Little Ella was playing there and “S” told me that the moment she spotted my car, she started to cry. I could hear her as I walked up the path.

If you don’t know me personally you might think that I’m calm in these situations because of my calm exterior demeanor. Actually I was really upset as I hadn’t heard her cry this hard in a long time. The door opened and Ella propelled her sweet little self into my arms. We hugged as if we hadn’t seen each other in years, and that is when I noticed that there weren't any tears in her eyes.

Her teacher reported that after I left she whimpered a little; I wanted to ask her to define whimper but controlled myself. Then she was given her “blankie” and apparently went to play. During circle time she sat on the teacher’s lap. That is a first for Ella because she won’t sit in anyone’s lap unless she’s known them for a very long time.

Today Ella was supposed to go to preschool again but she vomited several times after breakfast, accompanied shortly after by diarrhea and a fever. It seems that Ella has already caught a virus. I would be lieing if I said I didn’t feel guilty for taking her to day care and exposing her to all the viruses going around,I do, but I’ll get over it. Sooner or later she had to go into the “big, bad world,” and she'll probably make the adjustment faster than me!

Petition to send to the DOS:

If you haven’t read yesterday’s blog and the statement by the DOS (Department of State), you should read it now.

Here is a petition going around that you, your family and friends can sign. Over 25,000 children have been adopted from Guatemala since 1990. If you do the math, that could be a lot of signatures and a lot of pressure on the DOS to stand by Guatemalan adoptions in process when we become Hague compliant next spring.

Apparently a man named Gerry Fuller is assigned to the Guatemalan situation and his email is: fullergw@state.gov