Kindergarten

So, imagine all the fears and adjustments involved sending your first child to school for the very first time and multiply that by (oh, I don't know) A MILLION, and you have an idea what Ilya's first two days at preschool (or Kindergarten as they call it here) was like. All of the typical fears are there: will the other kids be nice to her? will the teachers be nice to her? will she eat well? will she miss me too much? ... etc ... Then there was the added difficulty of not not understanding a word anyone was saying, and, of course, teaching styles are very different here.

Apparently, I am the only one who is struggling. Ilya spent all morning in preschool by herself today (the teacher told me to go, and - not being able to speak the language - I couldn't argue even though I really wanted to) and loved it. When I walked in to pick her up expecting shouts of joy and bear hugs, I received a passing glance and demands to know where daddy was. Awesome.

I guess in addition to being brilliant, Ilya is also completely comfortable without mommy and daddy. She doesn't seam to mind that no one understands her; she keeps talking away and making friends with everyone. Now, if only I were as comfortable without her as she is without me...