Before Ethan started going to Nursery, I always thought I'd find it hard, I thought I'd maybe be a little uncomfortable letting other people, people that I don't really know, take care of him.
But Ethan would only see children at playgroup and at his weekly swimming lesson and I wanted him to have more interaction with children of his age to help grow his confidence and his independence. And so we started looking around at nurseries. The first we visited was lovely, but I didn't get 'that feeling' and so I didn't want Ethan to go there. The second we visited was more expensive and it's policy meant we'd have to put him in an extra morning, making it two mornings a week, when we'd initially planned for just the one. But as soon as we visited, I instantly got the feeling that I was looking for. Maybe it's because the children had free-flowing access to the outside (where Ethan loves to spend the majority of his time!) or maybe it was something else, but whatever it was, it was the one. So we shuffled around our weekly routine and we made it work!

Ethan fit right in to his nursery straight away. He played with all of the children and joined in from the first taster session. When he started there, he barely said a word, but almost straight away his speech improved and no longer did we have to worry and involve the health visitors regarding his speech delay. He's made a great set of friends who'll he often talk about at home and he has the biggest smile in the mornings when he knows he's going to nursery that day. He absolutely loves it.
The other evening, I was going through my emails when I came across a link that the nursery had sent to me showing Ethans own online nursery journal. It has so many wonderful little entries showing snippets of his time at nursery. One in particular was a photograph of Ethan drawing, the text underneath it read, "Ethan comes and sits down to do some drawing. He picks the pencil up in his right hand. Ethan makes a selection of large and small lines and circles. Carer asked Ethan, "What are you drawing a picture of?" Ethan replies, "Mama.".".... I actually nearly cried when I saw it! It's so nice to know that he still thinks about me even when I'm not around!
I'm so proud of Ethan. He's growing up so much lately and I feel like we're almost the best of friends (apart from at dinner time! ;)..). He makes my heart melt and he's so funny, he's always making me laugh. I love knowing that he has so much fun at nursery and I get so soppy when he brings things home that he has made - I keep everything! These little online nursery journals are so lovely for parents, I'm so glad that I get to have a little peak in to what he gets up to when he's off being Mr Independent!

It's great isn't it when they are excited about going? I know I was worried about sending Alice to preschool, but she has been going to a year now and she continues to love it. I'm so pleased that Ethan loves it too, it makes it so much easier at drop off. x
ReplyDeleteAwww that is amazing! Well done Ethan! I work in a nursery and I always think it's amazing how much children come on after only a few days there. It sounds like you've found a really great nursery for him and he's doing really well.
ReplyDeleteMy son loved going to nursery and it gave him a huge amount of confidence, especially when it came to making new friends :)
ReplyDeleteAh this is so lovely Alex and it would have made me emotional too. When I picked up LL from nursery the other day her key worker says she talks often about the baby in mummy's tummy, it early made me burst into tears in the middle of the classroom. LL went to nursery a lot earlier than Mads did as Mads went to a family friend and my Mum when I went back to work, but actually I love it, I love that she gets to interact and enjoy time with other children and adults. x
ReplyDeleteAww that's so sweet! It sounds like you found the perfect fit for him and it must be wonderful to see him so happy and clearly thriving 😀
ReplyDeleteI completely understand when you say you just got 'that feeling' about a nursery. Its a feeling that you definitely need to feel comfortable about them going! It's so good he's settled so well! x
ReplyDeleteBoth my girls love going to nursery.
ReplyDeleteZoe