Alfie’s Nursery

So Alfie has completed his second week at the spectacular Network Nursery and today for the first time I was able to drop him off and pick him up. I couldn’t get him home! He loves the place and the best thing for me is that I get loads of feedback from the teachers about how wonderful he is. There is a certain glow within that occurs when you hear your offspring praised by people other than friends and family and I am a VERY proud mummy.

First they told Amber (who is still staying with him although out of sight) that they feel they have made a new friend in Alfie because he is so chatty (compared to some of the Asian children especially, bearing in mind that bi- and multi-lingual children do speak much later in any case) and he is ‘very interactive’. He is confident using all the toys and equipment and they can’t believe how quickly he picks songs up; today he sang an entirely new song to me on the way home, about a lion, and he’s only been to nursery 5 mornings so far. Three teachers stopped me on the way to the office to tell me how well he is getting on and how they love having him in class; one teacher said that at story time, Alfie is the one to always answer her questions which she thinks is great because it encourages the other children too. Yesterday my friend Rachel went to the nursery to have a look and put her son Axel on the waiting list. She told me that she shamelessly used Alfie as an example of how some children are ready for nursery before others (there is an age limit as they won’t take children under 2) and the teachers said yes, he is very smart. That’s my boy!

It’s a real joy to feel so confident about your childcare arrangements and I have no doubt that Alfie will thrive; he’s already learning about playing together, sharing and taking turns and this morning I was impressed watching a male teacher quietly help him to play with another boy and his toy, deftly if narrowly avoiding the shouting and frustration that we so often seem to experience at home when he wants a toy that the other children have. Because I go to school 2 out of the 3 days Alfie goes to nursery, Pete has been taking him and picking him up and we are now fighting over the privilege! Although I’m sure that in time the novelty will soon wear off and it will become just the school run. In the meanwhile, it’s a real pleasure.