first day

although the first day of kindergarten was some time ago, way back in august, i think this is one story worth telling.

usually, when we see pictures of the first day of pre-school, kindergarten, first grade, middle school, high school, college, and the first day of the rest of our lives, the subjects are smiling. there is an aura around them, excitment, suspense, knowing there are going to be new adventures, new friends, the smell of new books, new paper and pens, new teachers, and sometimes new classmates.

our first day was anything but that.

she was nervous.

here in switzerland, the first day of kindergarten is just 2 hours in the afternoon. so when my darling daughter woke up at 5:30 am, i knew it was going to be a long day.

she woke up, looked at me with big eyes and asked: 'mom, am i going to kindergarten today?'
i told her, 'yeah! are you excited to go?'
she said, 'of course mom!'

such a sassy young lady.

and then she ran to the toilet and threw up.

finn followed her in, stroked her back and blubbered something in a language only he understood at the time. he looked after his sister the way i hope they'll look after each other in 15 years time when either, or both, will be too drunk to walk.

this went on for quite a while. the last time she threw up was around 12:30pm, an hour before the bus would have come to pick her up. i was still asking myself if it was just nerves or if she was really sick when she started eating lunch with gusto, and keeping it down.

will she always be like this? will she be throwing up every time she has a test, an interview or even a date?

oh help.

we got that cute 'first day' picture right before she left with her dad:

the day my daughter didn't come home from school

[ this title sounds a lot more tragic than it was, in hindsight of course. ]

let me try to describe my daughter to you; she's full of energy 100% of the time, she's stubborn like her mom, she has a mind her own, she loves annoying her brother, she gets up between 5 and 6 am abd there's never a dull moment when she's awake - which comes to about 14 hours a day. i've had my hands full since she was able to walk... at 11 months.

she started her first year of kindergaten (they have to go 2 years here in switzerland) in august and the kids are required to walk to school by themselves; mind, she's 4 years old. so she walks to school, gets on a bus that takes her to another town (because there are so many kids in our town that she has to go to another kindergarten), the bus drops her off right in front of the kindergarten, then she has to do the same shenanigans coming home again.

on monday, a 'friend' of hers (i put friend in parenthesis because amelie keeps telling me she doesn't like her) decided to go to the supermarket after school, then go to the big playground together - without telling anyone. at such a young age, the don't understand the worry they cause when they just disappear like that, obviously.

i was at home, making lunch, minding my own business and not looking at the clock, when amelie's friends mom calls and asks if amelie's home yet. i look at the clock and oH SHIT! she should have been home half an hour ago. you know the feeling where you feel like someone is grabbing your insides and squeezing? yeah, that happened.

there have been stories going around lately about weird people hanging out in the woods close to our neighborhood, so of course i do the worst thing possible and imagine the worst thing that could possibly happen..

i call the kindergarten (maybe there's a delay?), no one answers.

i call the bus driver, he nonchalantly says: 'i dropped them all off, i have no idea where they could have gone.' THANKS!

the friends mom calls again: 'i'm walking around on the other side of town looking for them. have they come home yet?'
'no, not yet.'
'i'm starting to get worried.. oh wait! is that amelie's coat? i think i see her coat on the big slide at the playground,'

pause

'yeah, that's them! oh, they're in so much trouble!!!!'

*insert huge sigh of release from everyone involved*


needless to say, i grounded my 4 year old, we're walking them to the bus and picking them up from the bus again and amelie is upset because she can't go on playdates for a while.

i hope she learned her lesson, i seriously hope so.