Graduation

Ethan is now a preschool graduate. On the 19th June, Little Beaumont had their end of the year talent show and graduation. I can't believe my child has graduated. He starts the French School in September. Before you know it, he'll be bringing girls over to the house. lol

Ethan's "talent" for the show, was a Superman dance. He then donned his graduation cap, received his certificate and a T-shirt with the class photo on it.

Sequencing

I love Jenny! She's has to be the greatest teacher ever. However, there are times, I'd like her to stop teaching Ethan. He not only grasps what she teaches, he decides to use it, over and over and over and over again. The newest lesson, sequencing.

It started really simply. Ethan was given a set of 3 directions. First do this, after that do this, and finally do that. Ethan was learning to put things in order, and learning that something always happens after something else. And, Ethan being Ethan, took things one step further.....

Here's a conversation Ethan and I had one morning as we were walking down the stairs at 630am.

"Mommy, where we going?"

"We're going downstairs for breakfast."

"And after breakfast is......?"

"After breakfast we'll changed for school."

"And after getting changed for school is....."

(This is the umpteenth time we've had this conversation, so I now limit my answers to 4 words of less)

"Brush your teeth time."

"And after brush your teeth time...."

"Going to school time"

"And after going to school time is..."

"Home time."

"And after home time?"

"Eat your lunch time."

"And after eat your lunch time is......?"

"Today you'll go to Georgie's to play."

"And after Georgie's is?"

"Home time."

"And after home time is....."

"Dinner time."

"And after dinner time is...."

"Bath time."

"And after bath time is..."

"Brush your teeth time."

"and after brush my teeth time is?"

"Pajama time."

"And after pajama time is....."

"Story time."

"And after story time is...."

"Bed time"

"And after bed time...."

"Go to sleep time"

"And after go to sleep time is"

"Good morning sun."

"And after good morning sun is...."

"We start all over again"

"And after we start all over again?"

"I don't know Ethan, what's after that?"

"We start all over again, and again, and again"

Now, can I point out we then have a repeat of this conversation on the way to school and on the way home from school, and at random times during the day! Oh, and if Ethan doesn't like the order of things, he'll correct you, as he did a couple of Saturdays ago.

"No Mommy, first we go Imaan's house, then Maa's house and then we go home!" (There was no Imaan's house in my answers)

Ghosts

At school, there is a song about ghosts. Jenny has 4 ghosts costumes in different colours (red, white, blue and green), and 4 children would dress up in them. A song would be sung, and they'd come out. After a series of questions, the children guess who is the ghost.



At first Ethan was terrified. He'd often tell me about the ghosts at school and how he was scared. It took awhile before I realised what he was talking about, and was told by Waheeda and Jenny, that he would hide behind one of them, whenever the song would be sung. Then began the fascination. Ethan wanted to be a ghost, but as soon as he was given the costume, he'd get a look of terror in his eyes, and throw it away. I once agreed to go with him, in his costume, and that made it easier. And that began the month long ghost conversations.



Everyday, on our way to school, Ethan would sing:

"Four coloured ghosts,

Four coloured ghosts,

Four coloured ghosts....

Floating in the air.

Whoooooo"



Oh wait it doesn't end there.



"Mommy, choose a ghost."



"Red one Ethan."



"Red ghost, are you a boy, a girl, Spiderman, banana-chichi? A boy! Who is it? Ethan! Ethan! Ethan! Give it to someone. Give it to someone. How many ghosts now? Three"



And so Ethan continues. All the way down to the last ghost. And if we haven't reached school yet, then he'd continue with the second group of children. But I have to say, Ethan was always fair. He made sure everyone got a chance to be a ghost. It just drove me crazy!

The Conversation

Yesterday we decided to spend the day on South Beach. The cue was long, so we decided to drive there. It was a long-ish drive, but Ethan napped, so that was good.

The drive back was..... not so quiet. We decided to take the ferry back, and it wasn't the waiting that was horrible. Ok, horrible isn't the right word. Let me do this. Let's just play back the conversation Ethan had with us.... or himself, we haven't figured that out yet.

Where are we going? And after we get home? And after dinner? And next? And next? And next? Where are we? Is that the ferry? I want to go the ferry! I can't see. Daddy I can't see! No Mommy, I talking to Daddy. Where? What? I see a boat! Who driving the boat? I can't see. I drive boat. We fly. What's captain's name? Daddy what's captain name? Mommy, who's captain? I can't see. Oh, I be pirate and fly a boat. I want to go on ferry. I see ferry. Let me go on ferry. Is this the ferry? Look mommy the tree is moving. No Daddy, I talking to mommy. The tree is moving! No not the boat, the tree! I want to go on boat. This is boat? This ferry? Where? I can't see the ferry? Where we going? And after we get home? And then? And next? .....

Star of the Week

At Ethan's school, they have the Star of the Week. Each week, a different child is awarded the SotW. There's a wall dedicated to the person. Their picture is placed on the wall. They are encouraged to bring more pictures of friends, family, pets, etc. They can also bring some of their favourite toys and books. Everything is displayed on the wall for the entire week. During the week, the SofW gets to sit on Jenny's lap and choose all the songs that they will sing during circle time, they get to choose the book that gets read at the end of the day (usually one of the books they've brought in) and they choose who gets to go home in what order. On Friday, they bring in their favourite DVD to share with the class, and some of their favourite foods. They end their week by receiving a crown, and a special book all about them (thanks Natalie - Ethan loves his!)

So this is a great idea, and the kids love it. My son......... it went to his head. Ethan believed that SotW meant he was awarded king of the week! He wouldn't always respond to his name, but preferred to be addressed as "Ethan, Star of the Week". And every morning he would ask, "Who's the Star of the Week? It's me!!!!" Jenny created a monster!!!!!

We spent the early part of the week discussing what food he wanted to bring on Friday. After much conversation, he decided on chapatis (train shaped), cookies and ice cream. After the baking was done, he decided he wanted cake instead of cookies. I think not. Then when Friday finally arrived, what did he eat? The ice cream. That's it!!!!! Ahhhhhh!!!!

Tomorrow's Monday and Ethan is no longer the Star of the Week. He goes back to being a commoner. Wonder how that will go?

Guardian Angel

So I've always heard people talk about guardian angels, and while I do believe in them, I have to admit, I wasn't 100% convinced. Well now I am. Not only is there an angel watching over Ethan, but there's one watching over my sanity!



My biggest fear has always been Ethan being injured, and well last week, that fear became a reality. Every Saturday, a bunch of us get together. The mums (and few dads) have coffee and a bite to eat, and the kids play. There's a bouncy castle, and a climbing structure. Suddenly it started to rain. No pour. So we ran for cover. I saw Ethan still in the climbing structure, and decided since when it pours here, it tends to be short lived, so maybe he was better off there, where he was dry. Within 3 minutes of deciding this, I saw the Ayah (child-minder) carrying Ethan who was screaming like crazy.



Ethan's mouth was bleeding. It took a bit to clean it out, and when I finally did, I could see there was something wrong with his tooth. I couldn't quite tell if it had been chipped, or broken, or pushed back into his gums. We knew Ethan needed to see a dentist, but the problem with Dar, is there are no child-friendly dentists, and who knows who'd be available on a Saturday. We finally decided we needed to get an X-ray, and I called a dental clinic I've used. I was still a little nervous, as I wasn't sure how well they'd do with someone so young. I call the clinic as we walk towards the car. Not even seconds after I hang up, a man walks towards us. He introduces himself to us as an orthodontic surgeon from the US and offers to take a look at Ethan. He tells us that there's no permanent damage, and describes it like jamming your finger. His tooth was jammed into his gums, but he would be OK, and the tooth should make it's way down again.

That's when I first believed Ethan has an angel looking after him, and my sanity.

Well, you'd think that would be it. But no. Saturday night, actually 3am to be exact, Ethan woke up screaming. His gums were bleeding, his mouth was swollen (which it hadn't been the day before), and now we could hardly see his tooth. Had it moved further into his gums we wondered?

Sunday morning came along. And we debated for hours what to do. We could take him to the hospital, where we would wait for hours, and after my experience with the casualty ward a few years ago, we couldn't be guaranteed they'd call a dentist to look at him. There's a new Trauma Centre that's opened. We knew we'd get serviced right away, but again, we didn't know what kind of dentist they'd have. We finally remembered there's a local doctor that's seen Ethan before and his clinic is open on Sundays.

So off to the doctor's we went. He said what we already knew. Ethan needed to see a dentist, but assured us, that Ethan was fine, and we (and I mean me) needn't panic. We asked if he knew any dentists that specialised with children. Of course not! (Any kiddie dentists - want to start a practice and make tons of money, come to Dar!) But he knew a dentist that has children as patients. So we grabbed his number, and decided to call 1st thing Monday morning.

Well Dr Shivji is our 2nd angel. Knowing that I'd probably have a heart attach if had to wait till the following morning, he called the dentist. And our 3rd angel made his appearance. It just happened that he was at his clinic on a Sunday, because there was some painting being done, and he agreed to see Ethan right away.

So off to the Dentist's we now went. He took a look at Ethan and announced that Ethan's tooth was dead, however he didn't recommend pulling it. There was nothing seriously wrong. His main concern was infection, and told us to watch for further swelling, or signs of infection.

Over a week later and Ethan's doing great. He's adjusted to having half a front tooth, and doesn't notice it. I still feel guilty but am so glad Ethan has great angels looking after him and his mother's sanity!

Becoming Greek

Hanging out with Georgios an his family has made Ethan appreciate the Greeks. Maybe a little too much. It seems, Ethan would like to be Greek!

It started with Grrek Easter. Or Orthodox Easter. While Janita mentioned it was a whole weekend affair, Ethan and I joined them for the Sunday "party" (Scott was away for work). It was a rainy day, so the kids didn't have a lot to do, but Georgie's cousins were there to entertain the two boys. And they were entertained.

Ethan was also extremly fascinated with the Arch Bishop. He couldn't stop staring at hm. He loved his clothing (especially the hat) loved how great he was with the kids, couldn't quite understand why he was blessing all the kids and they were kissing his medallion, but it was so exciting for him.

Ethan and Georgie checking out the roast pig.

Cutting the goat

Ethan stuffing himself with the "kuku"

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Last week was Georgie's name day. To celebrate, the family had a dinner in his honour. Being Georgie's best friend, Ethan was invited. While we normally don't take Ethan out at nights, this was an exception. Once again all the older cousins were there, and Ethan had a blast. Well that and he got to stay up way past hs bedtime. Now he wants to know when his name day is and when he can become Greek!