The Hickeys have a reputation already...

Maddie: "Mom, I help the teachers."
Kat: "Really, Mad?" She pauses and looks around.
Maddie: "Can I talk to you in private?" She gestures toward the music room. We walk in there and sit down.
Maddie: "Today, when we were in line to go to the Grey House and the other teacher wasn't there, Miss Angie asked me to go from the middle of the line to the back of the line. One of the kids wasn't staying with the line and she needed my help."
Kat: "Wow, Maddie! It sounds like you are a big help to your teachers."
Maddie: "I also do the dishes. And sometimes, if my teacher is too busy, she says, 'Excuse me a moment (to the imaginary child the teacher is talking to).... (calls across room) Maddie? Could you please help Bhavani?'"

I am so proud at this moment, that I can hardly stand it. After being at this school for only two weeks, she has already made a name for herself. She is known as being kind, compassionate and helpful.

Since I was working until 12:30, we had arranged for Isabella to stay after 1/2 day dismissal (at 11:30) and eat lunch in Maddie's classroom with the kindergarteners. She loves it, so we're going to keep doing that through the next six weeks, even though I'm not working. The assistant in Isabella's class takes her to the kindergarten and assists with lunch in there. She was telling me how "motherly" Maddie is toward Isabella, to the point that she almost forgets to eat her own lunch, she's so busy caring for Isabella.

Liam was telling a story about being a little too loud in the hallway. The teacher asked him to sit in the chair and practice being quiet. After only a moment, she came back out and said, "Liam, you're being very quiet now. Would you like to come back in?" He has such nice things to say about this teacher. He says, "She always has really great ideas and I can always count on her." She, in turn, always has incredible things to say about him - how well he's focusing, how hard he works.

It feels good for my kids to have a positive identity at school. I know they're not really mine to be proud of - these achievements are truly their own - but I am proud nonetheless.





This is Isabella yesterday, eating her "laptop lunch." For those of you who've heard me rave about the infamous "laptop lunch," here it is in all its waste-free, reusable glory. Notice Isabella has already eaten all the fruit out of the two little containers. She will then go on to pick the salami out of the sandwich and leave the bread. Ah, the preschool Atkins diet.

Kat