365-73: I love my town.

Today I was scheduled to be in my oldest son's Kindergarten classroom for "table time", where you go in, read a story, help some kids with an art project. I like getting into the classroom - I didn't manage it at all in the Fall, so it's nice I can do it. However, what with vacation and all, it had slipped my mind that I had to go in, and I hadn't arranged childcare for the other two, both of whom I have home on Tuesdays. I put a plea up on Facebook and within an hour I had two offers of childcare.

I love it when it works out. I took DS2 and DD over to my friend N's house. Her oldest is in school with DS2, and she has a daughter a few months younger than mine. We parent pretty similarly, I love her kids, and it was just great. We went over, I hung out for a bit and then left them all perfectly happily. I did my classroom thing which was fun - it's funny, I think DS1 is so *big* until I see him in Kindergarten and I'm reminded he's really still little. Even though he's the oldest in the class due to a Sept. birthday. I *love* that I didn't have to make the call to send him or not. Academically he was totally ready but socially, he was a bit young. Also, I'm just thankful that when 12 or 13 rolls around, he won't be the absolute youngest. Obviously somebody has to be, and given his birthday and our cut-offs, he'd be one or the other, so I'm glad he'll be older. But anyway, when I got back to N's, it turn out our other friend M was on her way too, with N's middle son who is in preschool with her two boys (we all go to the same school), so there was an impromptu hangout and playdate.

I just feel really lucky that we landed in a community with people with really similar parenting and other values. Most the moms expect the kids to be polite, share nicely, and have similar values to me about electronics, tv, that sort of thing. (I can still remember a woman telling me that because her son was an only child and didn't have to share at home, she wasn't going to make him share when on a playdate. My eyes just about fell out of my head at that one!) It's such a gift to know we've got back up, and that we can provide that for our friends as well.