Fridays my work closes at Noon for Summer Hours so I was able to go get Riley a little early, she's been missing me and I've been missing her since I went back to work so I was looking forward to a little time with her with no pressure to get her bathed, fed, and in bed for school the next day. I headed over there around 3:30 after her nap and snack and planned on picking her up, heading home, and then walking down to the park for some play time and maybe some frozen yogurt. When I got to her classroom they were doing circle time, no one saw me come in because they were all engrossed in "The Very Hungry Caterpillar," so I stood off to the side and watched Riley interact in circle time. After a few moments she headed over to her friend Jimmy who was reading his own book and they looked at the pictures together (quietly, which for Riley is shocking). A few minutes later the story was over and Jimmy looked up and said "Riley your Mommy is here!" Well, since the secret was out, Riley came running over, yelling "My mommy here!" and asked if she could go outside, I had told her the week before when she told us she was afraid to go outside that I would come one day and go outside with her and show her that there was nothing to be afraid of, I guess she was having me deliver on my promise to her. The older kids in the class were heading out. Since her teachers and I had spoken about her hesitancy to go outside and I was there her teachers let her go outside with the pre-school group so that I could go with her and show her it was ok. Riley was SO excited to have me head outside with her and she jumped right in line against the wall. I was standing off to the side and Riley said "No mommy, you line up here [for] outside!" Apparently I was breaking the rules, leave it to RiRi to set me straight. It was
stinking adorable.
After we got outside Riley nabbed a piece of chalk and she had me follow her around while she colored on the wall. Then we chased bubbles together. Then more chalk came out and she got me my own piece had me follow her and draw lines on the wall outside with her. When we got to the end she had me draw her an owl, I told her Monday when she went outside she could go and find the owl and think of me (except that it rained this weekend so the owl is probably gone). All of her friends came and gave me hugs and wanted me to see their drawings and told me about their Nonna's and their birthday parties and their Batman Capes. It was awesome!
After the chalk lost it's appeal and after everyone else had ridden the lone tricycle it was Riley's turn (I should mention that she wanted to ride it since the beginning and when I told her it was someone else's turn she did not throw a fit, she just said okay and found something else to do, I was very proud of her maturity). I was shocked to see that Riley could reach the peddles and peddle on the tricycle (she still can't reach the peddles on her tricycle at home). She rode it up and down the playground. When I yelled, "Good job RiRi!" one of her friends informed me that her name was Riley and not RiRi, you have got to love 2 year olds to set you straight! Then it was time to go in and Riley went right to the wall and lined up for roll call. She saw 4 pieces of chalk that had been left out and picked them up and handed them to her teacher to put away. I was so proud of her helpfulness.
Her teacher gave me an impromptu parent-teacher conference and let me know that in the last few months Riley has grown leaps and bounds emotionally; she listens, follows directions, shares and when she does do something wrong that they can see her conscientiously try not to do it again and she always says sorry. She told us not to be too hard on her when she does make mistakes because adults make mistakes too and she's only 2, it was a good reminder that maybe sometimes our expectations of Riley are a little too high for a 2 year old. We just know how special she is and how much potential she has so we have high standards for her but it was a good level set that she is only 2 and her teacher was right, adults do make mistakes and so Riley should be entitled to some as well. They also said she's speaking more like a 3 year old than a 2 year old, she's very verbal and is starting to express her emotions rather than biting or throwing a fit.
After we went inside the play-dough was out so of course we had to play with that, again, Riley shared the cookie cutters with all of her friends. After spending 45 minutes with Riley at school I finally convinced her to leave so that we could go buy cookie dough at Fresh & Easy so that we could make cookies for Daddy, she'll do anything for cookies and her Daddy!
I left her day care feeling so refreshed, realizing that experiences like that is what life is really about, sure I had a plan for the afternoon that got scrapped but seeing Riley beaming with pride and joy at sharing all of her experiences and friends with me was priceless and time with her I will never forget. And seeing her interact with the kids so nicely made me so proud of her, I asked her teachers if she was just showing off for me (because let's face it, there were some points outside where I could see her showing off) but they said that she almost always interacts that way. I was just so proud to see her acting so positively and so honored to share her day with her, because let's face it, it won't be all that long until she won't want to be caught dead at school with me. Sometimes I wish there was a way to just snap a picture or series of events of a moment in time so that you never forget the memory, so that you can relive it over and over again, Friday afternoon was one of those days.
