spain dad, a baby blog

Baby Blues

2009-12-03T23:17:00.003+01:00

Working from home

2009-12-02T17:16:00.002+01:00

In case you've ever wondered what it's like to try to work from home while your toddler is supposed to be taking a nap. Press the arrow below to listen in...

Alleke kept this up for a good 45 min. until I gave in and let her watch TV. This is not an ideal world, my friends.

Delivery Room

2009-12-01T11:32:00.007+01:00

This post is part of a series telling Teo's birth story. Click here to start at the beginning.

I went downstairs to check April into the hospital, and when I got back to the delivery room, I found the doctor and the midwives chatting on the couches in the small waiting room outside. I felt like I had walked into a break room where even the doctor was just another woman sitting on a couch with her feet up.

They didn't notice me at first, but eventually one of them got up, hushed up everyone, and explained to me that April had requested to be left alone to take a nap, but that she wanted me to be in the room with her.

The nurse showed me into the room, and I sat down in one of the two stackable chairs sitting along the wall. The room was quiet and gray, and April lay on the hospital bed with her back to me. She looked like a statue on display in a museum: her body the focal point of the room, a representation of this moment cut into stone.

I had some time to think since I was trying to be quiet and I hadn't remembered to bring anything along with me, not that a book would have done me much good in the dim light, and so, for the first time that night, I thought about what was happening to us.

I was embarrassed, actually, to be here. Everything felt too mellow. We couldn't actually be having a baby if April was taking a nap, and I was bored. A birth was surely more adventurous than this. It wasn't so much that I was worried they would send us home, as much as I felt out of place in a delivery room on what seemed like an ordinary day to me. Today was so unimportant, in fact, that I didn't even know the date. Was it the 14th or the 15th? If we were going to have a baby, the least I could do was know what day it was, I thought.

I sighed, leaned back in my chair, and closed my eyes. April was right to take a nap. If we were going to have a baby tonight, this was the last normal moment we would have for a while. I might as well enjoy it while lasted.

Check back in the next couple days for more of the story...

Taxi

2009-11-27T18:49:00.002+01:00

I will be telling Teo's birth story over the next few days. Let's begin with the taxi ride to the hospital...

Taxi by Daquella manera.

I didn't say anything to the taxi driver about my wife being in labor when we climbed in the back seat of his car, but when I told him to drop us off at the hospital, I saw him eying April's round belly in the rear-view mirror.

I wanted him to drive fast like a scene from the movies, but instead, he was cautious and pulled away from each stoplight like he had a trunk full of china dishes.

As we pulled up to the curb at the entrance of the hospital, I turned to April, "Alright, last chance, do you think we're having a boy or a girl?"

April pushed open the car door, grabbed the doorframe with both hands, and grimaced as she hoisted herself to her feet.

"I don't care what it is," I heard her say as she started walking towards the entrance. "I just want it out."

CONTINUE READING TEO'S BIRTH STORY: "I went downstairs to check April into the hospital..."

Bottom of the Totem Pole

2009-11-24T23:07:00.002+01:00

Totem Pole Vancouver, originally uploaded by Kevin Grahame.

I stirred awake to the sound of Alleke sobbing from her bedroom. "Daddy," she screamed, trying to escape a bad dream.

I opened my eyes. I was sitting in the rocking chair in the living room, blanketed by shadows, with Teo asleep in my arms.

I struggled out of the chair like a pregnant woman and felt my way through the apartment to our bedroom where April was napping between feedings during the graveyard shift. I wanted her to sleep, so I reached across the bed and turned off the red light on the baby monitor. The speaker went dead, and the tormented ramblings of Alleke untangling herself from a bad dream shifted next door where I found her sitting up in bed and blubbering nonsense like someone who had just witnessed something so horrible they could no longer get their words straight. I closed the door behind me, and with Toe in one arm, I ran my finger through Alleke's silvery hair, and I said, "Alleke, I'm here."

As if released from a spell, she lay down in bed, still whimpering, and I pulled the covers up over her shoulders. I sat on the edge of the futon on the far side of her room and sang lullabies to my children. When Alleke was fast asleep, I sat down in the rocking chair in the living room again and fell asleep until the alarm on my mobile phone woke up me up. It was time to get Alleke ready for school.

Later that morning after I had dropped Alleke off at school, I made a pot of tea, and April and I sat on the couch while Teo napped on April's lap, and we talked—for the first time since Teo had been born a week earlier.

"How are you?" April asked.

I smirked. "You know better than to ask that question," I said. It seemed almost cruel to ask the question when we had a newborn in the house, like asking a college student in the middle of final exams how he was doing. It was better not even to ask, but simply to push through.

I entertained the question, however, and then I said something that seemed entirely random.

"I'm at the bottom of the totem pole, aren't I?" I asked.

April smiled gracefully and thought for a moment, and then said, "Yeah, you are."

"You're definitely the busiest person in our family right now, but I'm the last priority," I continued. "I take care of you and I take care of the kids, and you take care of you and you take care of the kids, and that's the way it should be, but it means I don't make the list right now."

April smiled an apology, which didn't help me as much as it did to simply put into words how I was feeling about being the dad of a newborn again. I really don't know why we as adults want to have kids when in the end what it really amounts to is giving away our rights and our time and our resources and our ambitions to take care of someone else. We give away our freedom to be someone else's servant, but somehow in the end when we ring it all up at the till, it's priceless, and we would fight to the death for the experience to raise our children.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

2009-11-22T09:47:00.000+01:00

Moo Cluck Chocolate Chip Cookies Baked by Veganbaking.net.

The buzzer rang. Alleke beat me to the front door, and while I picked up the phone and buzzed in our friends below at the entrance to our apartment building, Alleke pounded on the door and chanted, "Open, open, open." I clicked open the door, and she escaped into the hallway, shivering with excitement.

Of course our friends had come to see the baby, Teo. They would not have been sitting on our couches on a Thursday afternoon otherwise. Still, Alleke was doing everything she could to entertain them. She asked me to toss her in the air like a trapeze artist, but when our friends were taking pictures with Teo instead of watching her, she disappeared in her room to regroup.

"Look at me," Alleke said from her doorway in a yellow sundress with white polka dots and rainbow tights as she walked her invisible catwalk through our living room. Our friends said how cute she was, but Alleke still didn't seem satisfied. Maybe she sensed their hearts were divided.

In a last ditch effort, Alleke asked me if she could hold her baby brother. As they say, "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em."

I frowned and shook my head. "No," I explained, "our friends are only here for a short visit, and we want to give them the chance to hold Teo too."

As soon as the words left my mouth, I knew I had I said something wrong. Alleke crawled into my lap and buried her head in my chest. I held her in my arms and looked around the room for something that might make her feel special. I spotted a Ziploc bag full of chocolate chip cookies sitting on the kitchen counter. April had made them the day before Teo was born.

"I've got an idea," I whispered in Alleke's ear. "Follow me."

She took my hand and followed me into the kitchen. She started to giggle when she saw me open the Ziploc bag and shake the cookies onto a plate.

"Do you think our friends might want a cookie?" I asked Alleke.

She nodded her head excitedly. I handed her the plate, and she turned and ran out of the kitchen. Just as I started to yell after her, "Alleke, don't run with the cookies," I watched her foot get tangled in a pile of laundry sitting in the doorway. She stumbled forward, broke free, and then dove head first for the floor. She landed on the floor with the plate in her hands in front of her like a football player diving for the end zone, but when the plate smacked the floor, the cookies sprung into the air like grasshoppers. Some fell to pieces when they hit the ground, and others rolled under the furniture.

Everyone was watching Alleke as she picked herself up off the ground and ran over and hid behind the television. It was the first time I had seen my daughter embarrassed of herself, and I hated it. It seemed unfair that she had to feel ashamed of herself for something as insignificant as dropping a plate of cookies when she was already dealing with so much this week. She was entirely unsure of who she was now that she had a little brother to compete with, and she was hoping that someone...anyone...would notice her as the little girl who had not changed. The little girl who used to get everyone's attention.

Parents with two or more kids had told me that when we had our second we would discover that there's always more love to give. You never run out of love, they said. They may be right that our capacity to love is infinite, but I say it's still hard to pay attention to two kids at the same time.

Teo's 1st Bath

2009-11-19T16:43:00.002+01:00

As a form of self redemption, I post this video of me giving Teo his first bath. Some of my oldest blog readers will remember how painful it was to watch me as a new dad give Alleke her first bath back in 2006. Well, if you're willing to give me a second chance, watch the video below...

Alleke thought Teo's bath looked like fun, so she took a bath too.

Rewind back to 2006 and watch me as a new dad give Alleke her first bath...

Teo photos

2009-11-18T20:51:00.002+01:00

Watch slideshow fullscreen...

Alleke, Meet Teo

2009-11-18T08:00:00.000+01:00

Alleke meets her baby brother for the first time.

Alleke, Meet Teo from Kelly Crull on Vimeo.

More photos on the way tomorrow...

2009-11-16T23:24:00.005+01:00

Update: Wednesday, 8:03am
Click here to see photos of Teo as I upload them...

It's a BOY!

2009-11-16T21:03:00.005+01:00

SATURDAY
6pm we went for a walk
8:45pm we called the midwife
10:20pm we called the midwife again
10:30pm we left for the hospital (see blog post)
11:10pm we checked into the hospital (see blog post)

SUNDAY
12:00am April labored on a yoga ball
12:30 April moved to the bathtub for a water birth
1:35am Teo was born
11:20am Alleke met her baby brother
6:00pm we arrived home with Teo

We´re at the hospital.

2009-11-14T23:50:00.002+01:00

April is 4 cm dialated, and it looks like we´re going to have a baby soon.

Last time we arrived at the hospital just in time for the doctor to catch little Alleke, so we´re thankful that this time is proving to be quite different. April is asleep in her hospital bed, and our doctor let me borrow her laptop for a couple minutes to write you this update.

Alleke is asleep at home. Our friend and colleague Amy is having a ¨slumber party¨ with her. When we were still at home, I put Alleke to bed, and I said, ¨Alleke, tonight, I´m not going to have time to sing you a lullaby and rub your back. I have to help mama.¨

¨That´s okay, daddy,¨she said and gave me a big hug.

I´m so proud of her, and I´m amazed at how aware she is of the whole thing. Smart cookie!

Nervous

2009-11-13T09:29:00.000+01:00

The only time I thought about being a parent today was a short five-minute conversation I had with April before we went to bed. The conversation wasn't much, but it's all I have to tell, so here goes.

I was sitting on the couch, and April was stuffing residency paperwork into a folder at the table. I was trying to convince her that we should finish watching a movie we had started a few days ago. She said she was too tired, and we should just go to bed instead. I got all mopey and said, "Is it too much to ask for one hour in a day to relax with your wife?" April got the hint that I needed a little extra attention, so she came over and sat on the couch and we talked for five minutes before we went to bed.

I said, "I don't know if I had too much caffeine or what, but I've been nervous all day."

"Did you have any caffeine today?" April asked.

"No," I said.

"What are you nervous about?"

"I don't know," I said.

"Are you nervous about something at work?"

"I don't think so."

"Are you nervous about having the baby?"

"I don't know how I could be nervous about having a baby," I said. "I haven't had any time to think about it all day until now."

April thought for a moment. "That's probably why you're nervous," she said. "We're ten days from our due date, and you didn't have time to think about having a baby today."

Nesting

2009-11-03T16:15:00.002+01:00

nest•ing in•stinct
n. refers to an instinct or urge in pregnant animals to prepare a home for the upcoming newborn(s). It is found in a variety of animals (both mammals and birds) and can occur in human mothers as well.

April stopped and set down the shopping bag in the middle of the sidewalk.

"You're going to have to carry this one too," she said with a sigh.

Both of us watched a couple in the parking lot. She was pregnant and stood next to the car while he lifted their bags out of the grocery cart into the trunk. Eventually they both got into the car and sped away.

We also had enough shopping bags to fill a trunk, but unlike the couple in the car that was already on their way home, we were still standing in the middle of the sidewalk. Our bags were filled with pots and pans and glass tumblers and fluffy pillows and waste baskets and other trimmings for our apartment, and somehow we had managed to stuff them all in the back of Alleke's stroller and the backpack I was wearing and the shopping bag that was now sitting on the pavement.

"We need a car," is what I said to April as I wondered how we would ever get all this stuff down the stairs to the metro station when April was nine months pregnant. I would have to figure out some way to do it by myself.

I was also kicking myself for not being smarter. April had admitted to me that she was nesting, and yet, despite the obvious implications, I had let her drag me and Alleke out to the IKEA at the edge of the city and even watched as she bought all this stuff that I wouldn't be able to carry home.

I envied the guy with the car. In his world, nesting amounted to driving his pregnant wife to the store.

Sending Kids to School in Spain (podcast)

2009-10-28T17:44:00.009+01:00

Hi, this is April, the mom from Spain Dad. Today I'm going to be interviewing Kelly, the dad from Spain Dad, about sending kids to school in Spain. We are far from experts on Spanish schooling or even sending kids to school in general, but we've experienced the whole process once now. We have a three-year-old daughter who started school in Spain this fall, so we thought we would share our experience with you.

This interview is also available to listen to as a podcast.

April: So, Kelly, first can you explain a little bit about Alleke's schooling situation.

Kelly: We really had four options for Alleke in terms of schooling. The first one was simply not to send her to school. As far as I know, I don't think Alleke's really required to go to school in Spain until she's five or six.

The other three options were to send Alleke to a public school, a private school, or in Spain what's called a concertado, which is a mix of the two. We decided not to send Alleke to a public school because she would be required to go all day every day, and we were looking for a school that would allow us to send Alleke to school half days.

We also could have sent Alleke to a private school, and I'm sure we could have found one that would have allowed us to send Alleke to school only half days, but because these schools are private that means the parents pay full tuition.

The last schooling option, which is what we decided on, was a concertado. The school gave us the option to send Alleke to school only in the mornings, and it was cheaper because concertados are partly subsidized by the government.

So, on a normal day we drop Alleke off at school in the mornings between nine and ten, and we have to pick her up at twelve thirty. All the other kids in Alleke's class come back after lunch, and they're at school from three to five. Alleke's teacher sends home her afternoon schoolwork, and we do that work together at home. We're happy because we don't have to send Alleke to school all day.

April: Why did you decide to send Alleke to school at three years old?

Kelly: Good question. I've discovered that people have very strong opinions about when kids should start school and why. Even within the culture where I grew up in the States kids had a variety of different experiences. In my family specifically, we all started school at age five. Because this had been my own experience, I was looking forward to having Alleke at home with us for as long as we could. Also, our job situation allows for one of us to be home with Alleke, so we even could have kept her home with us until she was five. But, it matters that we live within another culture.

It mostly matters that we live in another culture because I noticed over the last nine months that Alleke was old enough—she's three years old now—that she really wanted to play with the other kids at the playground and talk to them. Before that point, she was young enough that she mostly just played by herself. Once she was old enough to play with other kids, however, she ran up against the language barrier. Even though we speak English with her at home and Spanish in the street—so she hears a lot of Spanish—she didn't need Spanish enough to learn it, so she was never able to communicate herself with words to the other kids at the playground. I realized that we were going to have to put Alleke in a situation where she needed to learn Spanish, and school seemed like the best option.

I think it's also worth mentioning that a few years ago we realized that we were living year to year in Spain. We never knew how long we were going to be here, so we kept thinking of our situation as temporary. Eventually we got to the point where in order to really live in the present, to "live in the now," we needed to at least act like we were living in Spain long term, even if we didn't know if we would be living here.

The reason this realization is important in regards to sending Alleke to school is that most children in Spain are in school by the age of three. Kids are expected to be in school by age three, even if it's not mandatory. We wanted to put Alleke into school this year because that's what people do in the culture where we live. Alleke is already different enough from the other kids in our neighborhood. I mean, there's plenty of diversity where we live, but you know, she's got American parents. She's got blond hair. She's got blue eyes. None of the other kids in her class have these things, and I guess I don't want to be making American decisions in Spain. I want to be making decisions that make sense here, and that contribute towards Alleke feeling like she's a part of the place where she lives, instead of always feeling like her parents are making parenting decisions that are contrary to the culture where she lives.

April: How did you prepare Alleke for going to school at a young age and in Spanish?

Kelly: Well, we almost missed our chance. We were in summer mode, and all of sudden before we knew it school was starting. I don't think we really talked with Alleke about going to school until maybe a week or two before it started. The beautiful thing about toddlers is their sense of time is really different than ours. I'm not a psychologist, so I don't know this for sure, but I've noticed that usually Alleke does better with a transition if I tell her just before it happens. If I tell her too far in advance, she gets impatient having to wait so long for it to happen.

When we did tell Alleke she was going to school, we made sure to talk through the transition in depth. We took the time to imagine what it would be like for her to go to school and what she would encounter.

Also, whenever we had to physically go to the school like last spring when we signed up, we always took Alleke with us. I had to stop by the school this fall to get some information, and I made sure to show her that there was a playground at the school, so there was something that she could be excited about.

As far as long-range planning, I think we've been preparing Alleke for school for a long time. First of all, we made the decision to be a bi-lingual family, like I mentioned earlier. Because we're both English speakers, we decided to speak English at home and then doing the best we could to speak Spanish outside of the home, so that Alleke would get used to encountering Spanish when she wasn't at home.

Another trick that we use all the time is Alleke has a couple of older kids that she really looks up to, so whenever we're going through a transition, I just mention the names of these two kids, and it's like magic. All of a sudden she wants to do that thing. So, the fact that these two older kids go to school in Spain meant Alleke wanted to go to school too.

April: We saw the video of Alleke's first day of school and how all that day went, but how has she been doing since then in the month or so that she's been at school?

Kelly: There was definitely a honeymoon phase the first week. Alleke loved the first week. Every day she wanted to go school and she was happy when she came home. Then the weekend came, she was home with us for a couple days, and I think she realized how good it was to be at home again. The second week was the hardest. The worst part was dropping her off at school because she would cry. What keeps me going is that she seems happy when we pick her up. Even though she's hesitant to stay in the morning, at least it's a positive experience for her, and I can tell that when I pick her up.

One of the mistakes we made was we didn't explain to Alleke that going to school was something she would be doing for a long time. In other situations where we were looking forward to something, like going to the amusement park or celebrating a birthday, it was always a one-time event. I don't think we really realized this in advance, but Alleke most likely thought she was only going to school for a day or a couple of days. I'm sure she had no idea she would still be going to school a month and a half later. Poor kid!

April: What do you think Alleke's enjoying the most about school?

Kelly: Her teacher. I'm not exactly sure why. I think it's been a great experience for her to trust another adult when we're not around. We were the immigrant family that had no idea what we were doing. We didn't know Alleke's teacher in advance, and I'm not even sure how we would have found that information out. We lucked out, though. Alleke's teacher is great. I have great respect for her, and she's really what makes the whole thing work. In the morning when I drop Alleke off, her teacher always makes the effort to come over and say hello and start a conversation with Alleke and get her involved playing with the other kids so that I can leave.

April: As a parent, what have you found the most challenging about Alleke being in school?

Kelly: I hate dropping Alleke off at school in the morning when she doesn't want to be there, even if when I pick her up she's really enjoyed it and talks about how she got to do all this fun stuff. Also, I miss having her around when I'm at home. There are certain days of the week when I would be home during the time when she's now at school, and we got to do a lot of really domestic things like hanging up laundry or going grocery shopping, and now I have to do these things by myself. It's just not as much fun. I liked having a companion—somebody to laugh with and have fun with.

Also, to be expected, Alleke's been sick since she started school. I hadn't really thought about it until now, but it's been one illness after another. It's been a lot of work having to take care of a sick kid for a month and a half straight.

April: Do you have any advice for parents who will be sending their children to school in Spain at the age of three?

Kelly: One practical thing is that if your kid starts school at the age of three that's not actually very much time after they're born to figure out the whole schooling system. I remember thinking, "Oh, there's going to be plenty of time to figure out schooling later," but before I knew it, Alleke was already at the age where we needed to start thinking about schooling, and it was just by coincidence that one of our Spanish friends, Clara, mentioned that March of the year before Alleke started school was when we needed to visit schools, decide on one, and sign up. If Clara hadn't mentioned this to us, I don't know where we would be. We just had no idea. I was not even thinking about school, so my main advice would be get started early and find somebody with experience in the schooling system that can give you advice.

Also, on an emotional level, it's okay that it's hard to send your kids off to school. Give yourself permission. I try to give myself permission to feel sad about Alleke going to school, but I also try to stay positive. It wasn't easy for Alleke to start school. But I try to see it as an opportunity for her to learn and to grow, and I try to remember that she gets something out of it too. She's learning the language, and she's making friends. I try to focus in on these goods things as much as possible.

April: Well, that's all the questions we'll be answering today. I hope that something from our conversation has helped you in your situation. Feel free to leave a comment with your own experiences, corrections, or questions.

For more, watch our video series of dads giving advice on sending kids to school in a foreign country...

Stick People

2009-10-25T09:45:00.000+01:00

Alleke drew people today for the first time.

Happy and Sad
The happy person is the one on top, and the sad person is the one on the bottom. April drew the body of the sad person.

Boy and Girl
The boy is the one on the left. April drew the eyelashes, bodies and chair at Alleke's request.

Family
I guess Alleke thinks of us as a worm family. She's the colorful one in the middle, and of course, I'm always the big one. The lines are trees.

Shaving Cream

2009-10-21T17:25:00.001+02:00

How to Make Paper

2009-10-13T07:18:00.000+02:00

Watch How to Make Paper on Vimeo.

The sad truth is kids can have fun without their parents.

2009-10-09T15:23:00.063+02:00

We are celebrating Alleke's 3rd birthday today. I'm eating a cupcake with sprinkles as I write these words.

This morning I hesitated before asking Alleke's teacher if she could take a picture of Alleke's preschool birthday party, but I'm glad I did. She took 22 pictures in two hours!

See all the photos Alleke's teacher took this morning...

Teddy Bear

2009-10-04T22:54:00.001+02:00

For Alleke Amsterdam will forever be the city where anything goes. Not because she noticed the skunky smell of marijuana as we left Centraal Station or the coffee shops with their chalkboard menus listing Moroccan hash for five euros a pop, but because when we arrived at our friends' house in the quiet suburb of Amstelveen, we discovered that they had converted their guest bedroom into a magical place.

A crowd of stuffed animals, including a teddy bear from Las Vegas that was taller than Alleke herself, welcomed Alleke into her new room with a tea party already underway. She ran over and pointed at the Care Bears on her bed spread, and by the time she had brushed her teeth and put on her pajamas, she had been convinced that the night light at the end of her bed, which was nothing more than an orange bulb, was in fact her very own kid-sized full moon watching over her as she slept.

I kissed Alleke goodnight and walked over to the turn off the lights.

"Daddy, I don't want you to leave," Alleke said on cue.

I looked around the room and spotted the giant slouching teddy bear at the end of the bed. "I'm sleeping in the room next door," I said, "but guess who's going to be with you while you fall asleep tonight?"

Alleke stared at the ceiling, deep in thought.

"God," she said.

I grinned. "Well, actually, I was thinking of the giant teddy bear at the end of your bed, but yeah, God too," I said.

Convent

2009-09-24T19:04:00.002+02:00

I stood at the door of the convent and put my phone to my ear.

"Hi," I said. "I just dropped Alleke off at her classroom, and she was crying."

"Did she say what was wrong?" April asked.

"She told me this morning that she didn't want to go to school, and then when we got to her classroom, she said she didn't want me to leave. When I handed her to her teacher, she reached for me and started to cry."

"Did you stay or did you leave?"

"I left. I said goodbye first, but it didn't seem like it was going to help if I stayed. The teacher walked away with Alleke and tried to distract her at one of the tables where the kids were playing with blocks."

I paused.

"She feels safer with you, you know," I said. "I'm the one who pushes her out there. Today was the first day she cried when I dropped her off, and I wanted to make sure I didn't push her too far. I don't want to be the reason she hates school for the rest of her life."

April laughed.

"So she was with her teacher when you left?" she asked.

"Yes"

"Then she'll be fine," April said. "She's not alone."

Alleke's First Day of School in Spain

2009-09-14T19:34:00.000+02:00

Grab your backpack and tag along with Alleke on her first day of school...

Watch Alleke's First Day of School on Vimeo.

Starting School in a Foreign Country (Jay Sensenig)

2009-09-11T15:12:00.001+02:00

We continue our series on dads talking about sending their kids to school in a foreign country. Jay Sensenig raised three kids in Venezuela. He talks about setting aside time each day after school to listen to your children talk about how things are going at school.

If you would like to ask Jay a question, feel free to email him at jay@mountainview-church.com.

Starting School in a Foreign Country (Lawrence Braniff)

2009-09-09T11:10:00.000+02:00

We continue our series on dads talking about sending their kids to school in a foreign country. Lawrence Braniff has two kids in school in Madrid. He suggests that the traditional school setting is not the only option. He and his wife Cathy have sent their two kids to Spanish school half days until they're six, and then home-schooled them.

If you would like to ask Lawrence a question about homeschooling in Spain, feel free to email him at CathyandLawrence@hotmail.com.

Candy

2009-09-08T18:11:00.000+02:00

飴 / candy by yomi955.

I emailed my friend Joe to see if he had any advice about sending Alleke to the preschool where he sent his daughter last year. He wrote back later in the day. I read April the email while we were sitting at the table drinking a cup of tea, and Alleke was sitting in her high chair making shapes out of a lump of clay.

The last lines I read from Joe's email said, "Also, be resigned to the fact that the teachers are going to feed Alleke candy from time to time."

Alleke looked up from her lump of clay.

"Daddy," she asked, "what did you say about candy?"

I smiled. "Joe said sometimes the teachers at your school will give you candy."

Alleke clapped her hands. "How fun!" she said.

While I am thrilled that Alleke is looking forward to starting school in a little over a week, I wonder if she has the whole picture considering what she knows about her preschool is the following:

a) teachers will feed her candy

b) the school is one big playground, since she's never seen a classroom, only the colorful playground in the courtyard

c) the students play games all day, since sometimes the teachers bring the kids outside the school to play games during the day, and we see them when we walk by on our way to run errands.

Ignorance is bliss, and perhaps best. I can only hope that Alleke's enthusiasm about school, as romanticized as it may be, will help her make it through the first days when she discovers that the other kids don't understand her when she speaks English.