Class Photos.
Friday, May 22nd, 2009We got P’s class photos back yesterday. Take a look. Do you notice anything about P that makes her stand out from the other kids?
We got P’s class photos back yesterday. Take a look. Do you notice anything about P that makes her stand out from the other kids?
Isn’t it obvious?
I often wonder how much P will remember about her time in China. Given her age, it’s unlikely she’ll remember much. Nevertheless, I’m certain the experience will have a long-lasting, positive effect on her. First, being immersed all day in a Chinese school has allowed her to learn quite a bit of Mandarin. She loves saying, “I speak a little English and a little Chinese,” and she’s beginning to be able act as our interpreter when Ayi needs to tell us something. The other day, Ayi was going on and on about something that seemed relatively important, so I asked P to translate, and she said, “Ayi says Wee P’s feet are cold, and she needs socks.” At the very least, Wee P and her feet appreciate P’s language skills.
Did someone really think this would be a good name for a snack food marketed for kids?
As I’ve mentioned before, P gets lots of attention when we’re out. For a while, she would scream at people who tried to take her photo, but now she’s learned to embrace her celebrity in true Hollywood fashion. We went to the Beijing Botanical Garden this weekend, and when the photogs descended, P flashed them her best smile and oh, so much more.
Wednesday was Olympics Day at P’s school, and all the parents were to come and participate in various relay races with their kids. I had no idea this was the plan – I only knew Chris and I were expected to be at her school wearing comfortable shoes that morning. We began to figure out what was going on when we saw the opening ceremonies. Here’s P’s class’ arrival.
P has always been a super sociable kid, but I was still a bit nervous about her friend-making abilities when she started going to daycare a couple of days a week last August. To my relief, she came home the first day talking about Kaden, her new best friend. From that point on, every time I asked P what she did at daycare, she’d tell me simply that she played with Kaden. One day, I asked a teacher to point out Kaden to me. The teacher looked confused and informed me that Kaden had moved away months ago. This made me very sad. My child’s “best friend” didn’t exist.
P’s school serves the kids three hot meals a day, but other than a few bites of rice and an occasional bun, P refuses to eat the school’s food. I’ve been really surprised by this – I was sure that within a week, peer pressure would kick in, and I could stop packing P’s supplemental peanut butter sandwiches. After all, look at how much the other kids seem to dig the food.
There are many, many things I will miss about China; however, bathing my children in a bucket on the bathroom floor is not one of those things. Wee P seems not to mind, though.