Oct 24 2008
Our other family
We're preparing to go to a friend's wedding in Vegas this week. It's the first time we're leaving the kids with a non-family member for more than a day. I'm excited to go, but a little anxious about leaving them, too.
Nathan and Lucie are staying with my friend Linda, who works in the office at their school. Linda has two daughters -- Ashley, who was in Nathan's homeroom last year, and McKenzie, who is a kindergartner.
The nice thing about leaving them with Linda, besides that she has girls around my kids' age, is that she's used to the whole allergy thing. However, her family's allergies are completely opposite of Lucie's, so I've jokingly told Linda that Lucie will be fine on just bananas, popsicles, and Oreos for a few days. We had a good laugh at that, knowing how challenging food allergies can be.
Linda has a unique childcare arrangement at school. McKenzie attends afternoon kindergarten but hangs out with the preschool class in the morning and with one of the preschool teachers at lunch when her mom's working. Lucie will have a similar arrangement or will hang out in Linda's office all day when I'm gone.
I was a bit nervous that Linda was going to get in trouble with her boss, the principal. So I told him what was up, and he said that was fine. In fact, he came across as looking forward to having Lucie hanging out in school all day. I don't know why I was nervous about it, because Lucie's been hanging around at school and with the principal and his family for over two years now.
That's the nice thing about starting a charter school. You become close with your fellow board members as well as the office staff, teachers and administration. Because of the challenges we've faced, we've become a very tight knit bunch.
So I really have nothing to worry about this week. Nathan and Lucie will be staying with family members after all.
