She was excited to start. Actually, they were all a bit excited and anxious and no one had trouble waking up. I was a bit worried as we had all been suffering from jetlag and sleeping in until 10 - 11am since our return home from the US.
The day started the earliest for Ali and Mia. Ali had to be at the school at 8:30am; Mia had to be there at 9am and T just 10am. So, we left T home with Erika, the nanny, while Curt and I took the girls for the first day. Ali wasn't as difficult as I thought as there were lots of little Hungarian speakers in her class. Mia helped us take her into her classroom, introduced Ali to the teacher and TA (teacher's assistant - same one that was Mia's), and showed her around. Since Ali is so little she has to nap every day at school after lunch for about an hour so we had all her sleeping stuff and a cuddly animal (which they call doo-doos).
We gave Ali lots of cuddles and kisses and took off to get Mia set up. I was surprised it went so easily and not one tear was shed.
Photos at home.
Above and below are of Ali in her new classroom. Her teacher's name is Isabelle and the TA is Erzsebet (like Elizabeth).
Since Mia is now in the 1st grade (CP in French system) she has to enter into the big school because she is now a big girl!! We walked her over and she quickly reunited with her posse! These girls are all very, very good friends. Almost all of them are 1/2 hungarian (mom's side) and 1/2 french (dad's side). So, they converse in... Hungarian. Very funny as they are at the French school but that is what they feel most comfortable speaking in.
from l - r: Rebeka, Anais, Eszter (peaking over), Flore, Dora, Lea, Mia, Sophie, Laura, Olivia
Mia in her new classroom. Her teacher's name is Marie-Pierre and Mia is familiar with her as she was assigned to Marie- Pierre last year for a project that she worked on. I'm very happy with her having Marie-Pierre. However, she is currently away until the end of the month due to a death in her family. In the meantime, the new school director's wife is substituting.
Below is Mia showing me her loose tooth. Her top front tooth has been wiggling forever! She actually lost it that evening but more on that in another post soon.
Then, it was Terence's turn. He knew in advance who is teacher was and also that he'd be in the same class as his two best buddies (thanks to some insider information at the school). Charlie and Tom have just been enrolled at the French school (with each of their 2 siblings) after only being at the British school. They are both British and neither speak any French yet.Below is T with Charlie and Tom. And, on the below right photo is the 3 of them waiting to be introduced to their new teacher, Jean Luc. T is very excited to have a male teacher. And, Jean Luc is super cool! So, things look good.
Once their names were called by the director they had to go stand in front of their teacher. They were called alphabetically and Terence was first, Charlie Cooper was 2nd and Tom Doherty was 3rd.
Below is T's new classroom. I had a long talk with him the day before advicing him that the best way to get on his new teacher's good side is to sit in the front row. Normally he goes straight to the back row (trying to hide probably). So, he took my advice to heart and went up to the front (he's in the front right putting his pencil case in his desk). The cool thing was that Charlie and Tom followed him. Currently Jean Luc has kept them all together but I think this coming week they will be assigned new seats. PS The new school director's daughter is in their class too... I introduced myself to the director and apologized in advance ;-)
And the end of the day (photo below) at 3pm. Ali came running out in a flood of tears. She only started to cry when she saw me. I asked her what was wrong. When she finally calmed herself down she told me in between sobs, "Me hungry!" She was also tired as a little girl named, Emily (French and our next door neighbor), cried all through nap time.
