Preschools!

The other day someone asked me if I had started thinking about preschools yet. Uh, preschools? Isn't it a little early? No. The very next day, our nanny (part-time) announced that she was taking a job with Google, and I was thrust into a new nanny search and a quick education on daycares and preschools.

Turns out there are a lot of cool preschools in Portland. Some of them are co-ops, where parents work one day a month or so doing various odd jobs. Some of these charge very little and some of them charge a whole lot ($750 a month for three days a week of care). There are also lots of private preschools. Some have gardens, some have chickens, some teach your kids new languages, some focus on science, some are organic, some seem to be completely unstructured. Others have lots of rules. Most of them won't take kids under three, which was a problem since Melina is only 21 months now.

After a lot of research, I found both a nanny who I like, who will begin working with us in February, and a preschool that Melina can enter next fall. (I had to sign up this week to get a spot!). They have a garden, and organic food, and a guinea pig, and an emphasis on arts and reading and playacting and child-led activity (apparently this is the Emilio Reggia approach - or something like that. It was new to me last month and I haven't quite figured it out. Emilio Reggia is a town, not a man named Emilio.)

Anyway, it looks like Little M's environment will be changing quite a bit in the next year. I'm going to miss Youngsoon and Norah, her 2-year-old, and I'm sure Melina will too. I think our new nanny is going to work out great, though, and I think that she will really enjoy the preschool when she gets there. She seemed right at home when we went to visit, and spent most of the time threading beads onto pieces of wire, and pretending to pour tea.

A new adventure!