The Beginning

      I had 28 years of childcare experience before my daughter was born. I knew what to expect and how to handle most situations that would arise. I was not prepared, however, for a child who rarely cried, was exceptionally well-behaved, and seemed far older than her age. We knew by the time she was two-years-old that she would have a difficult time in school. Her Grandma had been a first grade teacher for thirty six years and would say, "I do that with my first graders" about whatever Molly was doing at the time. First grade was a very distant 4 years away...what would she be doing then?!
     We decided to try preschool when Molly was three. I dropped her off and she was excited to get to experience school. When I picked her up she told me, "I let them teach me how to put my coat on" in a rather dejected voice. It was not the challenge she was hoping for. Every time I took her, she happily went in but came out frustrated each time. She would tell me, "The teachers don't know about authors" (yes they do, they just don't think you should). She was hoping to get into a lively conversation about the illustrator and what other books he worked on. Instead she was told to sit down and be quiet. Three weeks into her class and she still was not allowed to hold her little pitcher to pour water even though she bakes with me almost daily and can pour quite well. She would come home from school and cry for two hours because she was so frustrated. This is a child who rarely cried so it was very hard to witness.
     My husband finally said to me one day, "Go get her out of there!" so I picked her up and took her for ice cream. I looked at her as she was devouring her mint chip ice cream and said, "You never have to go back." It was one of the greatest, and most frightening, moments in my life. Now I am solely responsible for making sure that she learns everything she needs to learn. I cannot express how exhausting her desire to take in everything in the world is. She often wakes up in the morning with an agenda like, "I need to know what the inside of a bee looks like." In one sitting she may tell me that she needs to know how to knit, needs to learn Spanish, sign language, ballet, and the violin. It makes it quite daunting to facilitate learning for a child like Molly. What if I choose the wrong ones to focus on? What if I am not challenging her enough? How will we fit it all in? How will we afford it all? I decided that my husband and I are her best bet. We want nothing more than for her to have the best foundation and have only her best interest at heart. I figured that I would find resources and support to help me. I would just take it one day at a time and see how it goes. That was in October of 2010. This blog is a loose account of what happens after that point.