Maneuvering

We've now maneuvered thru Day 4, with much sweating in this steamy heat! Blaine had his first day at work on Monday and Lucinda went to a "screening" at the Nishimachi International School that was much more nervewracking than I'd anticipated - like sending a child to be looked over at Seattle's University Child Development School or something.

Arno, Lucinda and I strolled to Nishimachi (a 25 min walk in 90+ degree heat) for a 1pm meeting w/ the kindergarten teachers. I'd insisted that Lucinda wear shorts and a t-shirt to stay as cool as possible, and I was wearing the same - I didn't want to dress up to make her feel that it would be a pressured situation. It was, then, a surprise to find most other parents and some children dressed up as if it were a job intvu - and I started to worry that Lucinda might be rejected at the last minute because of her mother's poor fashion sense.

In June, Nishimachi's friendly elementary principal told us that this screening would likely not present any problems for Lucinda - but that Nishimachi would not formally admit her until they met her and, I assume, confirmed that she was the girl they expected. The screening turned out to be, or feel like, a much bigger deal - for me, anyway. We were told it would take 90 minutes (!) with 6 teachers and a handful of other children. Not the brief meet-and-greet I'd expected.

They had to sing the alphabet song, play "I Spy" with letter sounds, count into the 30s, cut an apple out of some paper, tell a story, listen to a story, play catch, write their names and play w/blocks and legos and other kids while they weren't being questioned by the teachers. Fortunately, Lucinda wasn't at all stressed out by the experience and told me it was "fun".

The school then waited till after supper to email a confirmation that - yes - Lucinda could actually attend school there! Lucky thing, because we had no Plan B for school - and I was sick thinking that we'd have to scramble at the last minute. Geez. I'm glad it all worked out.