Making Friends

The kids are doing really well now. E loves her school and seems to mingle well. She even went on her first “play date” yesterday. These are different than in the UK: as school finishes at half past 2, the afternoon is longer, which means the play date usually ends at 5, or before dinnertime, anyway. So I no longer have to deal with the whole “what on earth am I gonna cook for this friend who doesn’t eat A, B, and C?” Hooray! E is happy, and when I pick her up, the girls are all smiles, and have been making Brownies, which of course were SO much better than any brownie I’ve ever made. And no ready-made Brownie mix either, E tells me. No, they made them with these, like, really amazing ingredients? Which make them, like, taste just sooooo good? (I’m making up the American accent here, E still sounds like a little English rose)
Anyway, I get to talk to E’s friend’s mum (mom), who gives me the lowdown on the school, the town, the best gym, etc etc. I get included in the moms’ email list, which is nice, as I can learn their names now before I meet them (I can never remember a name when I’m introduced to people, much better if I turn up prepared).
People here are really incredibly friendly and welcoming. One of E’s classmates lives just a few houses down from where we’ll be living, and her mum rang me to say what a lovely, child-friendly road we’ve picked, and that she’d be happy to take E to school for me in the mornings. I can’t wait to move now, it’s nice meeting our future neighbours!

I’m loving today: Drive-thru child pick up! What a fab idea! Went to get F from pre-school today and didn’t park up and walk over as I usually do, but drove up in a queue of cars. So all you have to do is wind down your window, the supervisor hands you the register, you sign your child out, and she informs the keyworker inside by walkie-talkie to bring your child, you drive on in the queue, stop (but leave engine running), keyworker puts your child in the car for you, tells you how much she loves your child, and off you go. You don’t even have to leave the car. Wow! I might give that another go, especially when it’s raining. And it’s been raining quite a bit here, which, as we’re told repeatedly, is NOT normal for this time of the year.