It's Official

Well, Madison is all signed up for VPK! She will be starting school 3 days a week for 3 hrs a day in January. I really believe she needs this in order start kindergarten in the fall. Plus, she is such a quick learner and I think she will learn SO much.

Let me go back to last week when we went to the school for a tour & to get information. I told Madison what we were doing ahead of time because for most adopted children, knowing what is going to happen at all times helps them to feel safe. So we always try and explain to her where/what we are doing. Sometimes she understands & sometimes she doesn't. We walked in & she was smiling & happy  but once the tour started & the director took us to the snack room (this is a big room with small round tables & chairs) Madison's demeanor changed. The room was full of 4 yr olds eating snacks & the three teachers all had on little smocks, walking around talking to the children. We believe this brought back some bad memories for Madison because she immediately started crying BIG tears, shaking her head no & backing out of the room. You talk about something that will break your heart. I picked her up & explained to her as best I could that we were NOT taking her back to an orphanage & we would NEVER leave her . We would always come back to get her. She slowly calmed down as we went on from room to room as David showed her some toys & art supplies she would be able to play with.

After we left she kept saying "no school, no school." I honestly never expected her to react his way but after we left I told David that it did have a lot of similarities to her orphanage, the "nannies" all had on blue smocks the day I went to visit her orphanage & all the kids in one big room, etc. It also had a lot of gates and security just like the VPK school we visited.

I spent the rest of that day talking with Madison about what school was and that she would go to learn her ABC's, sing, play, eat a snack & then Mommy would come get her. I also reminded her that just like we take Morgan & McKinley to school and every afternoon we go pick them up, that is what we would do with her. Once I told her that, she perked up and then started asking if she could go to school, and she has asked everyday since to go to school:)

I really like the school & feel a peace that this is where she should be. I cannot wait to see how much her English grows in the next few months.

She was "vacuuming" with a light saber:)

Blessings-

Melissa