Kids’ world
We considered to bring the kids in kindergarden here in Hawaii. Why? Didn’t we say, we want to spend time with our kids? Oh yes! But perhaps we want to do other things as well :) And perhaps the kids like to spend time with other kids better than hanging around with us?
So we contacted various pre-schools and got two places in the “Kamaaina Preschool Kailua”. So Preschool is frorm 2-5, Kindergarden from 5-6 years….There are mostly Hawaiian kids with dark hair and darker skin with names like Lahela, Kekama, Alakai, Hi’ilei, Malialani, Kamalu, Jewels,…
Robinson is in a class with 20 kids with Ms. Shirina and Ms. Laurie and a yellow-and-black salamander. Robinson has already some friends, speaks happily English and a few words and songs in Hawaiian language. The fish is the i’a; the wave is called nalu, ocean – moana, kid – keiki, good morning – aloha kakahiaka, thank you – mahalo. He showed his book from the Munich preschool with all his friends, the snow and the leafs in fall, the visit to the farm and the pyjama day, which the kids liked a lot!
In the first week they did already a field trip in a yellow schoolbus. They visited the tidal pools, watched crabs and fishes. Last week Robinson brought home baby Lucie from preschool. She was with us for a whole evening until the next morning.
Sienna enjoys being barefoot all day. She loves to listen to Ms. Jackie’s turtle books. But what she really loves, is dancing the hula.
Sienna and Robinson on their way to preschool
Robinson loves the trips in the yellow schoolbus
Robinson is now in preschool
Lucie - our preschool baby
hula girl Sienna with a flower lei
The kids love to be with the other kids. But we had to get through some days of serious nerve killing exercises.
Day 1: Gerry stayed with Robinson and I stayed with Sienna the whole day. Sienna did not say a single word and smiled only once by accident. Robinson was very excited and happy and Gerry could leave already in the morning.
Day 2: Sienna was sitting down for breakfast, giving me a smile and saying bye bye. Robinson was screaming as if we would break his heart, when Gerry wanted to leave the class room. I took over after a while, he was having lots of fun with me, but when I wanted to leave the crying was heart breaking again. But I left. And after 10 minutes everything was good.
Day 3: Robinson started at 6 a.m. in the morning, that he does not want to go. I only remembered that it is good to let kids grow into new challenges and that it is all about comforting them. All my words did not stop the crying crying crying.
Then I told him the story about the happy and the miserable boy. The happy boy lived in a very simple shack and with old clothes and has had very few toys. And always a very happy smile. When he was asked “why are you so happy, boy?” He answered: “I decided to be happy, and, somehow, I see lots of great things, find great toys, meet great friends to play with. And they all like me a lot”. And there was the miserable boy. He has had a brand new bike, he got a big box of toys and was in a preschool with playground and everything. But this boy looked very very very miserable. One day an old man asked him:”What’s wrong with you my boy? Why are you so miserable?” And the boy answered: “I cannot ride my bike, half of my toys are boring and in preschool I have no friends”. The old man just said to him: “If you choose to be happy, you will be happy. It is all in you, not in the things around you”.
From that moment everything changed. Robinson gave me a big smile and said:”I choose to be happy..”. He put his Kamaaina T-Shirt on and was waiting outside at the stairs, that we would bring him to preschool…..
Categories: Hawaii - Oahu