A taste of things to come

Stopping to enjoy the flowers on the way to school.

Tom had his school visit this afternoon. We took a slow walk up the lane after lunch and Tom was quite excited about going to see his new classroom. However, he lost his enthusiasm a little when it came to leaving my side and actually going with his new teacher. He hung back slightly and said he didn't want to go, until his teacher smiled, held out her hand and asked him if wanted to go and play with them today. When she said they would be doing something about dinosaurs he walked towards her, took her hand and quietly walked off down the corridor without a backward glance.

I had slightly more upset from Lily who called out "My Thomas!" and fell dramatically to her knees as the doors closed behind him. They are best friends and she was quite upset at the prospect of being without him. She cheered up when I suggested we go to the park for a little while and pick Tom up later. Lily and I spent a happy hour watching the tractors in the fields, admiring the horses and playing in the park. It was lovely to spend some one on one time with her. It was very strange only having one of the children with me though. Lily seems much quieter without her brother to play with.

Enjoying a lovely afternoon

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As we walked back up the lane to go and collect Tom, Lily decided to pick him a bunch of flowers and collected a handful of cow parsley heads. They were looking slightly worse for wear by the time she gave them to him, but I thought it was so sweet of her to think of picking flowers for her brother.
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Tom came out of school with a smile on his face and a painting in his hand. I get the impression he had a nice time, but I'm short on the particulars. Tom isn't one for talking about what he's been up to, so I just have to piece things together from the snippets of information he does part with. I know they did painting because he gave me the end result (he tells me it's a daytime picture and he wants us to paint a nightime picture tomorrow). He told me that they had a story, that he had to listen during the story and that "I don't like listening" (oh dear!) Oh yes, and he also washed his hands in the sink. However, when I asked him if he thinks he will like going to school, he said 'yes', so that's reassuring. In a few short months, he will be spending a great deal of his time in school, so I'm glad his first experience of the place seems to have been a positive one.

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