The waiting and preparing is finally over and we are here, ready to get started. Currently we're struggling with an hour time difference and a late afternoon nap making bed the LAST thing on our daughter's mind. She needs plenty of sleep, though, for her first day of Real Preschool tomorrow.
Real Preschool. I'm not sure I'm ready. Maybe I'll just keep K home until Monday. Or next year. Ahem. I think it'll be easier to let her go to school this time, actually, because we are already used to her "school" in England. That was the difficult adjustment, but still, starting this school feels different: it is actual, official preschool because my daughter is an actual, official preschooler. The other one was just for fun, just to get K out with other children. This is Structured.
I was supposed to have another baby to take care of by the time I sent K off to preschool! I guess that shows you what plans are worth. I do have tons to do while K is in school, so I guess it's good that I'll have a few hours a few days a week in which to do it.
More tomorrow on how it goes!
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Random Declarations and the Balancing Act of Being Two
"I no go to school. I go walking in the countryside."
K made this declaration on the way to her last day of school in UK. I'm pretty sure I know where she got the phrase from, after thinking about it, but it was pretty off the wall at the time. She then repeated herself several times, ending with, "Countryside, countryside, countryside, crountryside, crunchy, crunchy, crunchyside..." Which is actually kind of clever in a way. We had to admire her vocabulary level in English.
She has also taken to saying, "It's a rainy day," "It's a windy day" or "It's a sunshiney day" instead of just "It's raining" and so on. That one she learned from me - and surprised Apo with her sophisticated phrasing when he heard it the first time.
---
K declined to take her nap today, so after bouncing off the walls for a while in the hotel room, we went in the late afternoon to Starbucks. We had coffee, juice and a chocolate muffin and read books. We made it through The Gruffalo and part of a book about pyramids, with K snuggling further and further into my lap as we read until, midway through the second book, she started snoring. Not such a big girl after all, I guess!
It must be exhausting to be her age, so poised between toddler and big kid. She does a good job negotiating her way back and forth as needed. I just have to follow her lead and try to be what she needs, alternating between snuggly Mama, in-the-background Mama and Egyptology teacher.
K made this declaration on the way to her last day of school in UK. I'm pretty sure I know where she got the phrase from, after thinking about it, but it was pretty off the wall at the time. She then repeated herself several times, ending with, "Countryside, countryside, countryside, crountryside, crunchy, crunchy, crunchyside..." Which is actually kind of clever in a way. We had to admire her vocabulary level in English.
She has also taken to saying, "It's a rainy day," "It's a windy day" or "It's a sunshiney day" instead of just "It's raining" and so on. That one she learned from me - and surprised Apo with her sophisticated phrasing when he heard it the first time.
---
K declined to take her nap today, so after bouncing off the walls for a while in the hotel room, we went in the late afternoon to Starbucks. We had coffee, juice and a chocolate muffin and read books. We made it through The Gruffalo and part of a book about pyramids, with K snuggling further and further into my lap as we read until, midway through the second book, she started snoring. Not such a big girl after all, I guess!
It must be exhausting to be her age, so poised between toddler and big kid. She does a good job negotiating her way back and forth as needed. I just have to follow her lead and try to be what she needs, alternating between snuggly Mama, in-the-background Mama and Egyptology teacher.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Moving, Day 2
K: "Mami, daj!" (Mama, give me that!)
Made me slightly nervous until I realized which language she was speaking. "Daj" sounds like English "die". Cheeky child.
---
Me, discussing fitting houseful of things into an apartment: "We're going to have to využívat the sklep." (take advantage of the basement storage area)
I could have also said it the other way: "Budeme muset jůznout (n.b. use-nout) ten basement." The Slovak of my dreams would have understood me either way. How awesome is language mixing, anyway?
---
K and I watched some Bořek Stavitel and Prasátko Pepinka on the internet yesterday. That is, the Czech versions of Bob the Builder and Peppa Pig. I am slightly mystified as to why they went with "Bořek" for Bob's name instead of something alliterative like "Standa Stavitel". That will not, however, keep me from singing "Znáááte Bořka? Všechno staví!" for the next few days at least.
I totally should have thought of that before - the problem with finding traditional Czech children's entertainment online is that a lot of it has no words or, all too often, words that I wouldn't want my preschooler hearing! Or else it's just over her head, like the classic Czech fairy tale movies we have. K isn't quite old enough for Pyšná princezna or Princezna se zlatou hvězdou na čele yet...although come to think of it, maybe I should try them out soon. She IS very into all things castle and royal lately.
We also watched some (more) videos of Czech and Slovak kids' songs. I particularly look for songs K knows, sung by children, like home videos of someone's two-year-old singing a barely recognizable Prší, prší. I think it's good to see the language and the songs K hears at home from Apo also being used and sung by real children like her. Plus she really likes babies.
Made me slightly nervous until I realized which language she was speaking. "Daj" sounds like English "die". Cheeky child.
---
Me, discussing fitting houseful of things into an apartment: "We're going to have to využívat the sklep." (take advantage of the basement storage area)
I could have also said it the other way: "Budeme muset jůznout (n.b. use-nout) ten basement." The Slovak of my dreams would have understood me either way. How awesome is language mixing, anyway?
---
K and I watched some Bořek Stavitel and Prasátko Pepinka on the internet yesterday. That is, the Czech versions of Bob the Builder and Peppa Pig. I am slightly mystified as to why they went with "Bořek" for Bob's name instead of something alliterative like "Standa Stavitel". That will not, however, keep me from singing "Znáááte Bořka? Všechno staví!" for the next few days at least.
I totally should have thought of that before - the problem with finding traditional Czech children's entertainment online is that a lot of it has no words or, all too often, words that I wouldn't want my preschooler hearing! Or else it's just over her head, like the classic Czech fairy tale movies we have. K isn't quite old enough for Pyšná princezna or Princezna se zlatou hvězdou na čele yet...although come to think of it, maybe I should try them out soon. She IS very into all things castle and royal lately.
We also watched some (more) videos of Czech and Slovak kids' songs. I particularly look for songs K knows, sung by children, like home videos of someone's two-year-old singing a barely recognizable Prší, prší. I think it's good to see the language and the songs K hears at home from Apo also being used and sung by real children like her. Plus she really likes babies.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Moving Day, take 1
I am keeping out of the way blogging while the movers pack up all our stuff. This definitely beats our DIY move within Prague. Of course, then we didn't have to deal with changing countries, or, indeed, metro (subway) stops. We moved about a ten minute walk from where we had been. CZ to UK (and back) is a bit different.
The guys moving us are Polish, which is awesome, except that we don't have a secret language if we need one. Of course, neither do they. That's the fun thing about language cousins.
I'm glad K isn't here to see her toys being boxed up. She feels pretty threatened even when I just organize them, so I don't see her being down with seeing the ujos take them away. I asked her this morning if she knows who is coming to our house today. She thought for a minute, then remembered, "Ujos. They take my toys to Prague."
I've been preparing her for the move for the past few weeks. She keeps asking if we're going to "Pwague" yet. Last night we did our final pre-move organizing and packed our suitcases for the week we'll be without our things. When I put on my pajamas and sat on the bed, K told me, "No sleeping! We have to go to Prague!" I had to explain that we weren't going to Prague RIGHT THEN.
She is signed up for nursery M-W, to give her somewhere fun to be while we pack and clean. Then Thursday we fly and Friday she has her first day of real preschool.
I'm still debating half-day v. full day. Full day would be convenient especially Friday and Monday, since we'll have plenty of work to do at home, but full days are obviously more expensive and also it might be better to ease in with some half-days for the first few weeks. Especially since full days are 8 - 3:30 and I have a child who still likes a good two-hour nap in the afternoons. It'll be interesting to see how THAT develops with the advent of big kid preschool.
Then next week I start on my work-related paperwork. Ach, too many changes at once. Plus who knows what other government office visits and official things related to work, preschool and generally re-integrating into Prague life.
The guys moving us are Polish, which is awesome, except that we don't have a secret language if we need one. Of course, neither do they. That's the fun thing about language cousins.
I'm glad K isn't here to see her toys being boxed up. She feels pretty threatened even when I just organize them, so I don't see her being down with seeing the ujos take them away. I asked her this morning if she knows who is coming to our house today. She thought for a minute, then remembered, "Ujos. They take my toys to Prague."
I've been preparing her for the move for the past few weeks. She keeps asking if we're going to "Pwague" yet. Last night we did our final pre-move organizing and packed our suitcases for the week we'll be without our things. When I put on my pajamas and sat on the bed, K told me, "No sleeping! We have to go to Prague!" I had to explain that we weren't going to Prague RIGHT THEN.
She is signed up for nursery M-W, to give her somewhere fun to be while we pack and clean. Then Thursday we fly and Friday she has her first day of real preschool.
I'm still debating half-day v. full day. Full day would be convenient especially Friday and Monday, since we'll have plenty of work to do at home, but full days are obviously more expensive and also it might be better to ease in with some half-days for the first few weeks. Especially since full days are 8 - 3:30 and I have a child who still likes a good two-hour nap in the afternoons. It'll be interesting to see how THAT develops with the advent of big kid preschool.
Then next week I start on my work-related paperwork. Ach, too many changes at once. Plus who knows what other government office visits and official things related to work, preschool and generally re-integrating into Prague life.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Neither Here Nor There
We took our last trip to London today. Went to the Natural History Museum, which was pretty awesome in fact. We didn't see everything, but that leaves us something to look forward to if we ever come back here again. K was down with the dinosaurs and the bugs, just like in the Smithsonian earlier this year.
The Slovak of my dreams is watching college football on ESPN tonight. I think he's going to miss it when we move, unless our cable provider has improved its American sports selection while we've been gone.
In an attempt to amuse myself while failing to get very excited about American football, I have added a short list underneath the blog archive to the right over there. I thought it might be useful to link to previous blog posts with some basic information about us/this blog. Is there anything else I should cover?
The Slovak of my dreams is watching college football on ESPN tonight. I think he's going to miss it when we move, unless our cable provider has improved its American sports selection while we've been gone.
In an attempt to amuse myself while failing to get very excited about American football, I have added a short list underneath the blog archive to the right over there. I thought it might be useful to link to previous blog posts with some basic information about us/this blog. Is there anything else I should cover?
Friday, September 24, 2010
On Being the Expert
We had a first this week - the first of what will probably become commonplace in a few years. K asked me how to say something and I didn't know the answer!
"Mama, I put this on table. What this called?"
"That's a banana peel."
"What Apo call this?"
"Um, I don't know! We'll have to ask Apo when he gets home."
And with that, a bridge was crossed. All because I don't eat bananas.
---
I'm in a peculiar position at the moment, because we are moving to a country where I know the language and my daughter doesn't. I am the expert in her eyes. But, since it isn't my native language, she will have the occasional question that I can't answer and the day will come when she will know the language better than I do. For the moment, though, I still know more than she does. I'm enjoying it while it lasts.
(That applies to more than one area of life, doesn't it? I also am retaining my edge in technology and gadgets, by the skin of my teeth. K can do things with my phone that it took me ages to figure out...)
---
Also, even once K both speaks Czech and works my phone better than me, I will still be the one with the driver's license. And the bank account. Thus guaranteeing me a few more years of relevance to her life!
"Mama, I put this on table. What this called?"
"That's a banana peel."
"What Apo call this?"
"Um, I don't know! We'll have to ask Apo when he gets home."
And with that, a bridge was crossed. All because I don't eat bananas.
---
I'm in a peculiar position at the moment, because we are moving to a country where I know the language and my daughter doesn't. I am the expert in her eyes. But, since it isn't my native language, she will have the occasional question that I can't answer and the day will come when she will know the language better than I do. For the moment, though, I still know more than she does. I'm enjoying it while it lasts.
(That applies to more than one area of life, doesn't it? I also am retaining my edge in technology and gadgets, by the skin of my teeth. K can do things with my phone that it took me ages to figure out...)
---
Also, even once K both speaks Czech and works my phone better than me, I will still be the one with the driver's license. And the bank account. Thus guaranteeing me a few more years of relevance to her life!
Thursday, September 23, 2010
September Carnival on Bilingualism
We took a break for the summer, but the Blogging Carnival on Bilingualism is back this month, hosted by Fab Mums! Take a look at my submission, Parenting Now, if you missed it. Maria also linked to my post on Multilingual Mania earlier this month.
Enjoy!
Enjoy!
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