Productive Procrastination

Tonight before Max went to bed, he insisted on picking up all the stuffed toys off the floor.  This was 100% procrastination on his part, but who am I to complain?   I’m just relieved that they are up off the floor. 

After two attempts yesterday to put the stuffed toys on their shelves, only to have them knocked down almost immediately by Maggie and then Max, I surrendered to a play area with a plush floor.   So tonight, when Max was picking up the toys to avoid going to bed, I didn’t fight with him.  He stuffed and crammed them into all the available spots in the toy bins.  If they didn’t fit into the bins, he stuffed them on top of the books, and when there was no more room there, he piled them up on the toy kitchen.  Of course this means that he completely overlooked the four empty shelves where the stuffed animals normally sit. 

At one point this would have freaked me out.  Every toy has its proper space, and I’ve spent many hours sorting out the toys and separating the blocks into their appropriate bins.  I would dive under the furniture; pull up the couch cushions and search the corners until every last block, ball and car were accounted for.    Now, I’m just grateful for any help in trying to conquer the toys that have taken over our lives. 

It is definitely tempting to let him delay his bed time this way every night, even if a few toys end up in the kitchen sink.

Endearing

After living in Germany for almost three years, the novelty has worn off. Every once in awhile though, something surprises me. Like this, the surprise in the cereal box, or Müsli bag in this case:  A miniature wooden train car.

Unlike the typical surprises in the cereal box of plastic straw etc., this one actually encourages me to buy more of the Müsli.  The little train came inside of this red plastic egg that my children are modeling here,

and here.

Things like this make me smile and think, "Wow, this is pretty cool."

Driving

Today was my first day driving stick alone. I had finished my lessons at the driving school, and I had been practicing with Paul in the car. When we woke up this morning and it was raining, and with a little encouragement from Paul, I decided to be brave and drive Max to Spielgruppe (pre-school).

I stalled at every intersection, and I was honked at by numerous motorists. Max, to his delight, learned a new explicative on our way, and every time I stalled, he would say it in unison with me. I wonder if the teacher will notice... hmmmm.

I was shaking by the time we reached school, and though the drive home was much smoother, I can still feel my heart pounding. I need a little more practice before I do that again.

Update on Kindergartens

I swore I would not be one of those moms, one of the moms who freaks out about what preschool her child goes too, but when I wrote this post, I was dangerously close to crossing the line.  We had only applied to three kindergartens for Max, Waldorf A, Waldorf B and the Waldkindergarten.  After receiving letters putting us on the wait lists of two of the three, Paul and I started to worry and wonder if we should start applying to other kindergartens.  Most kindergartens open their admission in February, but maybe we could get on some more waiting lists, increasing our odds of finding a spot for Max.  The biggest concern of course, was the gap in his language skills.   He was finally starting to make progress in the German language, and we were worried that any length of time not in school would set him back.

Needless to say, I was quite relieved when we received the acceptance letter to the local public kindergarten.   We had applied over a year ago, but after having an underwhelming experience at the information afternoon, we quickly forgot about it.  Once we were accepted to this kindergarten the pressure was off, and before we knew it, all of our ducks seemed to line up.  A couple weeks later, we were accepted into Waldorf B which is very close to where we live.  And at the beginning of this week, we received a call from Waldorf A where Max is currently attending a Spielegruppe.  They had a spot open up, and they offered it to us.  We declined, as we had already accepted the spot at Waldorf B.

Maggie is guaranteed a spot in the Spielgruppe at Waldorf B, and later in the Kindergarten class, so I can be sane once again, at least until we start looking at Grundschulen (elementary schools) in three years.