When's The Right Time For Pre-School? A Letter From Father To Son
Today you tried to jump into a waterfall & we're wondering when's the right time to send you to pre-school
We were all sick this week, the three of us.
I think it was the chicken we had at the farm last Sunday.
It is one of the worst experiences in my life to be sick and having to look after a sick infant.
It is true what the say…
A healthy man has a million wishes while a sick man has just one.
But we’re feeling better now and have been going to bed at a good hour and waking up about 7:30 the last few days.
That may sound like a small detail but as you get older you realise how important these small daily details are; getting enough sleep and having consistent routines.
Life can be chaotic enough without adding to it with your own unreliability.
Humans need set operating systems for living.
So we woke up well and decided to go out to a cafe this morning for breakfast.
We have the key to the subterranean garage now and it was the first time we were taking the car out from having parked there.
You wanted to sit on my lap and drive and which made it hard as the exit of the garage is small and tight and you need to line the car up straight because it’s a steep incline to get out.
That’s harder than you can imagine with an infant fighting you for the steering wheel and turning the window wipers and indicators on and off.
We found a cafe about 15 minutes away up into the mountains slightly that served churros and chocolate.
You were a bit of a pain squealing as you wanted to sit on my lap and bang the table and smash the hot chocolate and I was hungry by this point and getting a little irritable.
Mum took you for a walk so I could try and eat but the further you walked away, the worse the squealing got.
So I got up and walked outside and you were at the end of the little street crying and fighting your mum to come back to the cafe so I walked over and picked you up and we went back to our table.
You sat calmly this time and we let you sit in a grown up chair and eat some of the thick, melted chocolate that had cooled down now.
You dipped the spoon and brought it to your mouth but, being 16 months old, you could barely get your arm up and over the mug to dip it in properly and the chocolate went everywhere as you can see from your clothes in the photo below.
We didn’t mind and it was nice to see you sit still and enjoy the chocolate for a little while.
We don’t really let you eat sugar but this wasn’t particularly sweet, and all things in moderation.
Tantrums at 16 months old because I wouldn’t let you jump in the waterfall
We left the cafe and went to the botanical garden.
It had been raining a little today, which is rare here even in winter.
By now it was after 11am and there was sun and clouds and no more rain.
The botanical gardens can take hours to walk around, and even longer when you’re with an infant that splits his time between dragging his own tricycle instead of riding it and wanting to be carried.
We decided to see the waterfall and the left half today, and the caves and most of the uphill climbs another time.
On the way to the waterfall you had stopped to jump in the puddles — every puddle you could find.
Eventually we got to the waterfall, which was tiny and needed a water pump to keep it flowing, probably because this winter has been more dry than usual.
It was a waterfall and stream with multiple levels that you could walk down alongside for about 50 metres before it led into two large ponds.
But you didn’t want to walk alongside the waterfall, you wanted to jump in it.
Not just once, oh no, you kicked and screamed and tried to fight your way into the waterfall fully clothed. You can’t swim but you love water and you have no fear.
At the swimming pool you will see water and try to run straight in. We never had to encourage you, we have to stop you.
We have to be careful around water with you, because you’re crazy. I blame your mum and all that baby shark business.
We continued our way around the botanical gardens, through the collection of palm trees from the around the world, and walked back to the car before stopping off to buy some meat to cook a Sunday roast.
You fought against being put into the baby seat (are you noticing a theme?) so your mum asked me to sit you down and you complied, which was nice.
This is all to say that you’re a remarkable little boy — and I’m not saying that because I love you.
Everyone says it everywhere we go.
No one can believe how advanced you are at 16 months.
How energetic and capable you are.
We never had to teach you to use cutlery, you just copied us.
And we never have to show you anything more than once.
You’re a smart kid.
I worry most schools are places designed to force compliance, to diminish the soul.
So when we do send you to school, it’ll have to be a good one.
There is a private, bilingual school that’s excellent and you deserve a proper education.
But it’s not cheap, and when’s the right time?
For now, you spend your days with mum and Dad and see Auntie Ara a few times a week and your grandparents and cousin often at the weekend, and you make friends with kids and adults naturally when we’re out and about, and there’s no great rush to send you to pre-school.
It’d be useful to have the time and the structure for me and your Mum, but the most important thing is when is the right time for you?
It’s something for us to think about.
Well, it’s getting late and you’re already in bed and I’ve committed to posting on a Sunday so it’s time for me to end this letter here.
I’ll post it now and edit in the morning.
Love,
Your Dad