Alfie goes to Kindy in BA

It’s orientation day at Florida Day School (FDS) and Alfie is understandably apprehensive. FDS is Agus’ old school and we have enrolled him to attend Kindergarten whilst we are here for 3 months. I am very keen for him to start speaking in Castellano (Argentinian Spanish) and not just understanding it. Agus is very nostalgic as we enter the school building, she tells me the room he is in was her old music room. The school has expanded a-lot since her time here, this was her senior school, it’s now the junior school – they have acquired other properties in the area and relocated the senior school there. We are introduced to his teachers (Mestras) Nancy and Micah. The seem lovely and after Alfie plays a bit so that they can observe him (I’m told to stay outside the room to help with adjusting to us not be there) we are interview by them. They are super thorough and ask us all about him, his likes, dislikes, allergies, routines, social interactions and a whole lot more (this was all on the mountain of forms we filled in btw so they could have read it all there) – I’m impressed and can’t help but think that it really highlights what our Australian teachers lack. We only spend about 1.5hrs at FDS as this day is designed only for students brand new to the school, tomorrow is the real thing and he will meet his 15 other classmates. We leave though the front door (later I’ll find out there are other entries), turn left and Agus immediately points out that the house next door was Magi’s old house and she was always late to school! We walk a block down the road, only to see German (Magi’s husband) on the balcony of their apartment – Agus yells at him, he yells at Magi, she rushes down, there are more happy tears, it’s the first time they have seen each other in person for 3 years!

We go upstairs to their apartment where we Alfie introduced to their 4 kids, Sofi, Franco, Juli y Martu – they have all grown! We’re meeting Martu for the first time, she is 2. Alfie is a hurricane, I think that he is super excited to see kids and be able to play with people his own age for the first time in a week. Franco is super patient with him and Alfie is enamoured with him. Martu doesn’t get him, he’s a boy and he’s basically destroying her room – they are being to nice to the gringo and not telling him to stop. I have a word to them and let them know that he understands Español todo so they should just tell him to stop when he gets to be too much. They all seem to get along ok and we stay for lunch.

K3 – La primera dia

It’s Tuesday 22nd Feb and Alfie is ready in his new school uniform. I can’t believe that it is all white, it’s not going to stay that way for long. We try to take a picture of him in the backyard but he’s not in the best of moods and doesn’t want to go to kindy. Tio Pato picks us up in his “spaceship” (it’s not a car daddy) and we make the short trip to FDS. We get out of the car and join the other parents outside the school walls waiting for the doors to open. Alfie has turned into a koala and is clinging to us both, other kids are experiencing the similar emotions, some are super keen to see their friends and rush in once the guards open the doors. We head in through a side entrance tunnel this time not the front door and out to the back courtyard to find that he is in another classroom today. He is one of the first to the room and after a few tears, Nancy and Micah show him some of the power tool toys they have laid out on the floor (they really did listen to us yesterday) and he starts playing with them. I leave as planned and go down the road to meet Pato at a cafe close to his (now rented out) apartment. Agus stays behind as requested by the staff, but out of sight so that they can try to settle Alfie in. The first day doesn’t go to plan and Agus joins us with Alfie in tow about 45mins after I left them. This week they gradually increase the time the kids go – today was meant to be 1.5hrs. It was a start at least. For our friends Ines and Boris, things with their daughter Anna were a bit more challenging – she didn’t want to leave the outside play area, and didn’t make it into the classroom on day 1.

K3 – La seconda dia

It’s Wednesday morning and it is raining cats and dogs. Luckily we had arranged the night before to get a lift from Mily which proved very handy. We timed it pretty well and got there when the school doors were open so we didn’t have to wait around in the rain. Alfie was pretty good and didn’t put up too much fuss when both left him with his Mestras…mini-breakthrough! We headed off to find a laundromat – I had my golf raincoat on, but Agus forgot to bring her umbrella so was getting pretty wet now. What do you do in this situation – just rock up to your friend Magi’s house, buzz the door and request to borrow an umbrella. Magi brings one down, but it was never going to be as simple a transaction as that, we were required to go up for coffee…ok twist my arm. We head back to FDS, Alfie has stayed the full 2hrs today, played well with the other kids, no tears – big win!

Dia 3

Agus takes an Uber today to drop off Alfie at FDS, I don’t go. He seems pretty comfortable with the idea now that he is going to kindy everyday. I get him ready to go – feed him breakfast, change him into his uniform and pack his morchila (backpack). Drop off goes well Agus tells me, he went straight in and said by mummy. Today was a 3hr day and there were no issues to report. Tomorrow is a public holiday, so I’m not counting my chickens just yet..it’s only been 3 days. Side note – for our Argio friends the saying is “don’t count your chickens before they hatch” (we were comparing phrases in English and Spanish and how they translated one night).

Fast Forward to the present week

Alfie’s second week of kindy went really well, 4 straight days, stayed the full 4 hours, drop offs were very easy – no tears, straight in, by Mummy. We thought there might be some regression after a 4 day long weekend. Most days were challenging from when we picked him up though, mainly because he was tired & or hungry we think. It started with him not wanting to walk home and wanting to be carried, then it was some minor tantrums (e.g. collapsing on the sidewalk) and lashing out and hitting us. Usually this subsided when we got him home or to a friend’s place though. He was starting early (7:30am) not napping and not getting to sleep at night until 8-8:30pm (maybe later some nights, esp. when we had friends over for dinner). The Argentinian lifestyle is different that his normal Aussie routine.

The next week was a similar 4 day week for him as he was missing the Friday because his uncle Santi and aunty Caro were getting married, and then we were crashing the newlyweds honeymoon in Mendoza the week after. So he missed 9 days of kindy in total. But he was ready and raring to go on Monday this week and drop off and pickup have been a breeze. He is also now staying the whole day – this consists of Kindy K3 in his homeroom & lunch (prepared by the school) with his Maestras Nancy and Micah (07:30-12:30) then playgroup from 12:30-16:30 with Maestra Emma. Fingers crossed this rich vein of luck continues. They do let them nap though after lunch and we need to tell them to only let him do 20mins max, not the full hour he did today as he then doesn’t fall sleep until 9/10pm at night.