As yet unnamed!

College bound?

Noemie got her PJ top wet last night before bed time while brushing her teeth so while we cuddled on the sofa before she went up to bed, she asked to wear my sweatshirt. Really, it's Kirk's from his Uni but it's all beat up and soft and I've claimed it for myself. Seems I am going to be fighting N for it now. She looks like she's wearing a dress! 

Even once we went upstairs she asked for another PJ top but then insisted on wearing the sweatshirt as well. She slept in it all night! 

Either she likes to wear Mommy's clothes or the school assessments have her all confused and she thinks she's applying to Uni rather than pre-prep school. Easily confused with how nuts it all is.

I had my first training session at the gym today and am a bit sore. I am sure tomorrow I will barely be able to move when I get up. But it was fun, the trainer guy was nice and totally worked beyond my laziness and whining. I signed up for several more sessions as I'm on a mission to get fit before I turn 40. I have 13-1/2 weeks to try and get into shape and lose 25lbs. It should be doable, especially with someone coaching me. I have weekly training sessions on Monday's at 10am. I figure it's a good way to kick start my week.

I'm taking tomorrow off but am going to a Pilates class on Wednesday morning. The kids will go to an activity session at the gym while I'm in Pilates as I signed Susanna up under a nanny package. It's cool. For £20 a month she can go to the gym with the kids as Charlie can't go to the activities without a chaperone until he's either 2-1/2 or 3 and I want him to be able to join in with stuff with Noemie. And I doubt N would be pleased if I dumped her some place on her own.  Also I want the kids to go swimming with me but I am not comfortable taking both kids on my own as neither are overly confident in the water. This way S can deal with one kid and I can deal with the other. I'm also signing them up to swimming lessons at the gym. Noemie is so excited to go to the gym. Both kids have membership cards with their names on them! It cracks me up what life is like these days for kids. Won't be long until they have cell phones to take to nursery with them in case they need to text me or something.

The boy's got rhythm (and moves)

Charlie takes ballet at school and likes to show us his moves anytime we ask. Well, actually they call it ballet for the girls and physical movement or something like that for boys. But we call it ballet as that's what Charlie knows it as. School says he listens very well during class and follows all the moves that the teacher demonstrates. Kirk is just so proud that his son excels at a very girly activity. I think the next step is for us to get him a pink tutu, tights and little girl shoes to complete the ensemble.

Immediately following his ballet moves, Charlie found Noemie's Peppa Pig noise book and danced to the theme song for us. A few times. And it continued a few more times once I stopped filming him. He loves to dance, will do it on command and is pretty good at it. He has rhythm and isn't as awkward at it as Noemie is.

In school news, Noemie has gotten one official acceptance to prep school and one rejection. The rejection was from a small all girls school which I wasn't overly interested in (though the school uniform was cute!). It's a really good school but tiny, has no facilities on site as the school building is so small and the all girl factor was just a turn off for me. The school she got into was my fave of the bunch. Co-ed, academic but not pushy/intense, is larger than all the other ones that we've applied to but as a result has very good facilities onsite. We're waiting to hear back from 2 other places this coming week, one from the snotty school that I really disliked and then one other co-ed school that was very nice but also so tiny with no facilities onsite.

It's a shame it's hard to find a school in London with everything as space is at a premium and many things are still quite "traditional". I feel like I was very fortunate growing up in Japan where my schools had the best of all worlds. International, not tiny but good teacher to student ratio, academic enough to be good but not pushy and intense... I had a lot of fun in my schools I attended and wish my kids could experience something similar. Things seem a lot more competitive and stressful in London in my view and I think part of that is the area we live in where the private schools are tiny with very few spaces compared to the number of kids wanting a place. Maybe that's a good thing for some but it's just not my thing. It just feels way too intense especially when it comes to kids this young. This entire process has been far more intense than when I was applying to University myself. I'm all for more intensity when the kids are older but in the early years I think it should be more about having fun and enjoying going to school without too much stress and pressure.

Many of these prep schools are feeder schools for the "right" secondary school which adds to the competition to get into the "right" prep school. I don't buy into the "right" school mentality. I guess to me the "right" school is the school that is best suited to the child, not the school that looks good on paper. I guess to a large degree it'll be up to the kids to carve their paths and what school N goes to is beyond our control at this stage. Besides, it's hard to know what is the right or wrong decision to make at this stage in their education. I'd guess that even a good State school wouldn't hurt them this early on!

The Tigers

The kids at Gambado today. Apparently they had free face painting. I'm surprised they were willing to sit long enough to have it done! Charlie looks a bit confused! 

Noemie is now done with her assessments and it's a case of wait and see where she got in, if anywhere. So long as she is happy and enjoys school I will be fine with any place she goes (except for the snotty place). 

Not a ton of news to report. Been busy doing stuff but nothing that's really newsworthy. Noemie and I are taking Mimi the cat to the vet tomorrow morning for her annual shots (jab jabs as the kids call them). I was meant to go to a scrapbook crop but decided that by the time I was done with the vet visit it would be a mad dash to get up to Notting Hill and then to have to pack up my stuff and whatever... so I'll play with the kids in the morning and while they are at school I will finish painting my fireplace. It needs a second coat but it's been raining so much lately that I've been waiting for a dry day. Tomorrow is looking like it will be dry! 

Assessment attire

Noemie chose this outfit for her assessment today. Shame the only cool thing about the assessment was her outfit! Nana gave her this coat and hat last year but it fits her perfectly this year and is just so cute. Someone even stopped us in the street to ask where we got the coat and was disappointed when I said in the US. 

This school was pretty unfriendly. I don't expect it to be like a fun social gathering by any means. But what this school has in academics, it lacks in social skills. At least that was my first impression. We got there and the school buzzer to get in wasn't working. A few of us were waiting and kept buzzing but no one answered the door but finally someone came out (not to let us in, just that they were coming out) so we managed to get in. We all said thank you but the person didn't smile, didn't respond, nothing. So we all carry on inside and sit in the waiting room until they come to get the girls. I did mention to the lady in reception that the buzzer didn't appear to be functioning and got an "oh dear". There were 6 girls for this session. They come to the room, cart the girls off and no one tells us how long before we should come back to get them. So I ask and am told "1 hour" and off they go.

I went to sit in a coffee shop across the street and chatted with one of the other Moms for the hour. We go back and have the same issue with the front buzzer. One guy who was picking up his daughter called the office to ask them to let us in. Nice huh? Not like they weren't expecting 6 parents to return at that time. So we all go back in, wait 15 extra minutes and the girls come back up and are handed back to us. No comments. Nothing at all. So we all stand there for a few minutes wondering if anyone is coming back to say anything... nope. So we head out. I see the Headmistress in the office and say "thank you, goodbye" and got a waved hand over the back of her head. 

So it's a good school academically. Maybe it's too much to expect common courtesy along the lines of "thank you for attending the assessment today, we'll be in touch in a few weeks, please call in the meantime if you have any queries". It's scary to think that the school is led by the Headmistress and with an attitude like that, what is the rest of the school like? Not the sort of place I'd want Noemie going. Chances are she won't get offered a place anyway. When they brought the girls back they all had a drawing, except for Noemie. I asked and was told she didn't want to do a second drawing to bring home with her and chose to do something else. On our walk home I asked N what she chose to do instead and she said "I played".  That's my girl. I hope she always continues to have a mind of her own :) 

There's a school for everyone and to suit all attitudes/needs ;) 

Assessments and Sibling Togetherness

Here they are this afternoon, sharing a sticker book. Nevermind that I always make sure to buy them one each so they don't fight. So long as they don't HAVE to share, they want to share. Noemie from time to time insists on moving her chair to be next to Charlie's at the head of the table. "I sit next to my baby brother". She does this at dinner time sometimes too but that worked against her once when Charlie threw up mid-meal. Amusingly she hasn't wanted to sit *that* close to him at mealtime since then. I have to commend Kirk for being a good stylist today for the kids... their clothes complement each other rather than being a mish mosh of colors. 

Noemie has an assessment last week at Falkner House. She was thrilled that her little friend H was in the same assessment session. They held hands as they went in so I think it was good as it was the first time for both of them so it might've relaxed them a bit. It was a pretty school, very clean and posh looking but it's pretty darn hard to get into with something like 22 places for 125 applicants. We find out in about 10 days if she is being offered a place or not. Tomorrow she has another assessment. It's a very intellectual school and reading the reviews in the Good Schools guide was amusing. Sounds like a posh place with posh Moms (I'll just pretend I'm the nanny on school runs) and it's an all girls school as well. One last assessment next week at Cameron House (co-ed but tiny, only 115 students) and we're done. It's kinda like applying for University. I'm surprised they aren't making the kids write a 2000 word essay on the merits of playdoh. Come to think of it, Falkner House sent along a drawing of the school for the girls to color in "if they wanted to". I asked Noemie if she wanted to color it in about 15 minutes before we left the house. Good thing as everyone brought theirs and turned it in. I'm telling you, it's all very serious business and no amount of cuteness guarantees you a place. 

Back to school in the afternoon for the kids tomorrow and my first time alone without the nanny or the kids around. I am actually really looking forward to it. Peace and quiet and space all to myself for a blissful 3 hours. I hope I don't get too lonely. Bwahahahahaha. As if.

Leaving you with some photos that Charlie will no doubt appreciate when he's a teenager and I show the scrapbooks to his girlfriends. 

Charlie starts nursery!

Happy New Year and all that! I have more photos to share of course from the rest of the holidays but there's something far more exciting to share today!

Charlie started nursery! He's going to the same place as Noemie and during the same hours so they do get to see each other at dinner time there. She's upstairs though and he's all the way downstairs so they don't get to play together much to Noemie's disappointment. She told me about how excited she was to see Charlie at dinner time and his teacher also said the kids were both thrilled to see each other though they sat with their respective groups. Charlie did well but they said he was tearful and asking for Mommy a few times. I know he's been really Mommy lately but I thought it would be a case of "out of sight out of mind" for the few hours he gets to go to what is much like a playgroup. I guess it's true what they say about boys and their Mommies. 

When I dropped them off Charlie was a bit unsure and stood next to me but then a cute little girl came up to him, took his hand and led him over to some toys and that was it... "bye bye Mommy see you later!" It's great as one of his teacher's is the same person Noemie had when she first started last year. 

It was sweet (and weird!) to go and pick them both up at school and to see Charlie waiting in his classroom. When he saw me he got up and did a little dance while holding his arms out and saying "Mommy mommy mommy!" and then once he established I wasn't going away he showed me the toys he had been playing with during the day. Then we went upstairs to get Noemie and they chased each other around for a bit. It must be so much easier being the second child in many situations as Charlie seemed so much more relaxed in his sister's presence. 

Tomorrow Noemie goes for an assessment session at one of the prep schools we registered for. It's in South Ken so I figure I'll take her, sit in a coffee shop and knit for the hour or so and then pick her up and take her out to lunch just the two of us. She has two more assessments in the next two weeks and then hopefully we have a few choices though I have to admit to leaning toward one school which is co-ed as I really want both kids to go to school together. I also find the all boys/all girls thing really unnatural so it's not something I would go. But we shall see!