1st Day of School

Today may have been one of the most stressful days I have had during my time in Spain. Maybe I should say I was more anxious and nervous than stressed. Rebecca started kindergarten today and Lily started pre-k. Although they went to a spanish preschool (they call it a guadaria) together this past year, the teachers spoke both English and Spanish and there were American's as well as Spanish children at the school. Today the girls started public school out in town. School starts at age 3 in Spain so they will both be going to school full-time this year, which is only 9-2. To say I was nervous is an understatement. I think I always knew that dropping Rebecca off at kindergarten would be hard but I never thought it would be this hard. I've also always had a picture in my head about what the first day of school would be like for my kids (especially since I'm an elementary school teacher) and it didn't involve being in a foreign country where they didn't speak the language. What if she didn't know what the teacher was saying? What if the other kids didn't play with her because she was American? What if she was sick or had to go to the bathroom and didn't know what to say? These and a million other questions were running through my head. I was especially nervous that I wouldn't be able to communicate with the teacher because I'm not fluent in Spanish.

It turns out I had nothing to worry about. Eric said Lily didn't even turn around when it was time to leave. As it turns our there was a girl in her class that she knew from the guadaria and she was very happy. Rebecca had a little more of a tough time and cried a little but was fine once she went in the classroom and saw the other kids. Of course as soon as I left I started crying...all I could think was I hope I'm doing the right thing by not sending them to school on base. There are no other American's in Rebecca's class but her teacher speaks a little bit of English. When I picked her up she said she had a great day! I was so relieved. She understood everything the teacher was saying (I guess she learned more spanish this past year than I thought) and has already made new friends. Lily didn't really have much to say about the day, I don't know if she understood the teacher or not, but her teacher doesn't speak any English so she must have figured it out. She also only went for an hour...the 3 year olds go for an hour or two a day leading up to a full day to adapt. The hour must have wore her out though because she passed out in the car!

I still can't believe that my baby is going to be 5 on Saturday and is in kindergarten. I know that every parent says this but I really can't believe how fast the time goes by!